A quiet rookie year for Landen Lewis on the zMAX CARS LMSC Tour got a much-needed jolt in Saturday’s Drive for Puryear 125 at Wake County Speedway.
Entering the weekend with only two top 10s through seven starts, Lewis utilized his experience in Legends car at Wake County to put together the best Late Model Stock race of his career to date. After methodically saving his tires, Lewis capitalized on a late restart to take control of the lead and secure a cathartic win.
Lewis’ triumph capped off a stellar end to August for Kevin Harvick Inc. His teammate Brent Crews was just one week removed from picking up his third victory of 2024 at the end of a wild outing at Ace Speedway
Composure, maturity pay dividends for Landen Lewis
Getting into the right state of mind ahead of the Drive for Puryear 125 required Lewis to lean heavily into the guidance provided by car owner Kevin Harvick and long-time mentor Ron Hornaday Jr.
With years of racing experience in his ear all week, Lewis felt everything was lining up for Wake County to be his best CARS LMSC Tour race of the year. That confidence proved to be well-founded for Lewis, who was also elated to have Hornaday in attendance watching him fend off the field for the checkered flag.
“We worked so hard this week,” Lewis said. “We’re coming off a rough couple of weeks. Last week was really rough for me because I felt like I hit everything but the pace car. This week we regrouped, had a bunch of talks at the shop. Ron came down this weekend and made sure I was feeling the car correctly, now we’re here.”
One aspect Hornaday has instilled into Lewis while developing him is mastering restarts, which the four-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion was renowned for during his Hall of Fame career.
A perfect restart made all the difference for Lewis, but it came at the expense of his teammate in Crews. The dominant car of the evening, a slight bump from Lewis caused Crews to lose control of the lead before his chances of a victory faded shortly afterwards after Isabella Robusto turned him around in turn 3.
Lewis wished he and Crews could have swept the top two spots for KHI and expressed remorse over the circumstances that caused Crews to end the evening with a damaged car. Despite this, spirits in Cook Out Victory Lane remained high for Lewis, who intends to carry over the momentum from Wake County into his remaining LMSC Tour starts.
“My apologies go out to [Brent],” Lewis said. “I told these guys that when I’ve been [to Wake County] before, the fans always show out and they did tonight. I have to thank Kevin and DeLana [Harvick] as well. Kevin had a serious conversation with me in the shop this week and that was a big part of my success [tonight].”
Treyten Lapcevich rebounds from flat tire to score runner-up finish
An eventful week for Treyten Lapcevich ended with him obtaining another stellar finish at the quarter-mile bullring of Wake County Speedway.
Lapcevich believed victory was in sight after a long, methodical climb back to the front from a flat tire sustained earlier in the evening. Although his charge came up one spot short, Lapcevich took solace over the speed his No. 77 Evirum Chevrolet displayed and the fact he brought it home in one piece.
“I tried to give [Landen Lewis] a little bit of a shot to knock him off the bottom,” Lapcevich said. “His car was a little better than ours, but [we had] some great racing with [Queen] and [Lewis]. I’m glad we could all keep it straight there and congrats to Landen on the win.”
Before Lapcevich even arrived at Wake County on Friday, he saw his maiden CARS LMSC Tour triumph from North Wilkesboro Speedway get reinstated following an appeal hearing held on Tuesday afternoon.
The adventurous week for Lapcevich carried over into the Drive for Puryear 125 with his flat tire inside the first 25 laps. Knowing how strong his car was, Lapcevich kept his composure and gradually picked off the rest of his competition one-by-one before finding himself within range of Landen Lewis during the closing stages.
Lapcevich admitted the final outcome came as a mild surprise given how much damage he sustained from his early misfortune. The adversity did not deter Lapcevich, who said Saturday evening at Wake County highlighted the cohesion he and Chad Bryant Racing have developed in their first year together.
“We had no sway bar,” Lapcevich said. “We broke the sway bar arm when the tire went down there, so it was a really good effort from the whole Chad Bryant Racing team.”
Brenden Queen gains crucial ground on Connor Hall
Saturday’s Drive for Puryear 125 might not have resulted in a trip to victory lane for Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen, but he still had plenty of reasons to celebrate.
With CARS LMSC Tour points leader Connor Hall failing to place inside the top 10, Queen gained significant ground on him in the standings. Queen’s third place showing came after starting the evening 14th on the grid, which only left him wanting more when he departed Wake County Speedway.
“We got a little damage there while battling for third and that knocked the tow out,” Queen said. “I wish the race had been 100 more laps because our car was really good on the long run. That was probably one of the most fun races I’ve had. When you start in the back, you have far less pressure. You just have to go forward.”
Three finishes outside the top 10 during the first four races of the 2024 season put Queen in an immediate deficit towards his pursuit of a maiden LMSC Tour title.
Since May, Queen has placed inside the top five in all but two of his starts. Two victories at Tri-County Motor Speedway and Dominion Raceway, both of which were wire-to-wire, have only bolstered Queen’s confidence while Hall has battled to maintain his advantage atop the point standings.
The perseverance that has followed Queen and Lee Pulliam Performance throughout the summer now has them in a heated battle with Hall following Saturday’s showing at Wake County. Queen expects a slugfest with Hall for the LMSC Tour championship, but he is ready to face every obstacle in front of him to close out 2024.
“This was a great points night for us and we’re going to fight until the end,” Queen said. “Lee and these guys work their tails off. Even when the chips are down, we never give up and stay positive. It’s not easy to come from the rear in a place like this.”
A busy three-stretch for the CARS LMSC Tour concludes next Friday with the Cook Out 225 at Florence Motor Speedway, where they will also be joined by the PLM Tour. More than a victory is on the line for Late Model Stock competitors, as finishing first guarantees them the pole for the prestigious South Carolina 400 in November.
FloRacing will provide coverage of all the on-track action.
For more information on the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on X (formerly known as Twitter) and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC, at 704-662-9212.
Unofficial LMSC results:
- 62 Landen Lewis
- 77 Treyten Lapcevich
- 03 Brenden Queen
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 15 Ryan Millington
- 05 Mason Bailey
- 08H Carson Haislip
- 23 Kade Brown
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 55H Holden Haddock
- 22 Connor Hall
- 1J Clay Jones
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 29 Brent Crews
- 55 Isabella Robusto
- 11 Buddy Isles Jr.
- 8 Caden Kvapil -3
- 50 Daniel Vuncannon – OUT
- 08 Deac McCaskill – OUT
-CARS Tour Release
