Hickory: Mason Diaz and Cole Butcher Pick Up First Career CARS Tour Wins

When folks in motorsports say persistence pays off, a prime example would be Mason Diaz.

After putting in the blood, sweat, and tears, but coming up short of victory 39 previous times in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Tour, the 23-year-old finally reached victory lane on Sunday in the USAR Pro Cup Throwback 125 at Hickory Motor Speedway.

"It's been a long road to get here, but I'm excited to get here. I know a lot of people were beginning to forget about me, but finally a CARS Tour winner," Diaz stated following his impactful win.

RELATED: CARS Tour LMSC and PLM Results at Hickory

The Chad Bryant Racing driver started Sunday's rain-delayed CARS Tour Main Event from the second starting spot, and he trailed pole sitter Kade Brown for the first half of the event.

However, Diaz made his move on a restart with 62 laps remaining in the 125-Lap race.

Battling on the outside, Diaz pinned Brown down on the low side of the track, and he utilized the momentum from the high side to snatch the lead from the grasp of Brown.

Diaz wouldn't look back. Despite a few cautions down the stretch, Diaz was able to take home the massive win by a margin of 2.141 sec. over Brown.

Brenden Butterbean Queen, who was battling an illness from inside the car, would finish an impressive third in the 28-car field.

Carson Kvapil would pick up another solid finish in fourth, and Bobby McCarty would finish the race in fifth.

Ronnie Bassett Jr., Jacob Heafner, Brandon Pierce, Chad McCumbee, and Layne Riggs rounded out the top 10 finishers in the CARS Tour LMSC race at Hickory.

As the leaders crossed the finish line, Austin McDaniel suffered massive damage to his No. 12 race car after a run-in with Chase Burrow, but he would limp across the finish line for a 21st-place finish.

Photo Credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America

Prior to the CARS Tour LMSC event, the CARS Tour Pro Late Models took to the Hickory Motor Speedway to finish their 100-lap Main Event, which had started on Saturday evening before the finish was postponed due to weather.

It was a day for first-time CARS Tour winners as Canada's Cole Butcher scored the victory in the Pro Late Model event, and it was an emotional win for the No. 28 Wilson Motorsports team as Butcher has been filling in for Isabella Robusto, who was injured at Hickory Motor Speedway in a CARS Tour event earlier this season.

Butcher's third-career start in the CARS TOUR PLM Tour began from the second starting spot, but he wasted little time getting around pole sitter Connor Zilisch as Butcher took the lead before the postponement for weather occurred.

When things got restarted on Sunday afternoon, it was all Butcher, who led the final 68 laps of the race. However, Butcher says the victory didn't come easy.

"It was a tough one for sure," Butcher explained. "I thought [Zilisch] was good all weekend, we were just able to keep the tires on it. I'm not really sure what happened on that last restart, but two in a row, and three in a row at Hickory."

Butcher has been hot as of late, as he scored the win in the ASA STARS National Tour Redbud 400 at Anderson Speedway a couple of weeks ago. For Butcher, his recent success is a real testament to the hard work being put in by his team.

"It says a lot. It just shows how good our cars are and how hard everyone is working at the shop," Butcher stated.

Zilisch faded down the stretch after he collided with the outside wall on a restart with 33 laps to go. The polesitter would go on to finish sixth, 7.275 sec. behind Butcher.

Caden Kvapil would work his way around Austin MacDonald in the closing laps of the race to secure a solid runner-up finish.

MacDonald would finish in third, while Katie Hettinger and TJ DeCaire would round out the top-five finishers.

Photo Credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America