GOING FOR IT – 2024 zMAX CARS Tour Drive For Puryear 125 At Wake County Speedway

“Don’t let fear make your decisions for you.”

Annette White

The zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stocks came to Wake County Speedway at a crucial time for the tour. With just five races left to decide a champion in an extremely tight points race, we couldn’t think of a better track in the region to start off the end of the season run than at the challenging quarter mile known as “America’s Favorite Bullring”. A track where, for the most part, it’s all in the drivers hands. There’s little to no room for error here and on a tour like the CARS Tour, you know it’s going to come down to a battle. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and the Wake County Speedway contingent came out in droves with nearly every seat in the house taken. How did it all play out? Let’s take a closer look at the racing from North Carolina’s Capital this past Saturday night, August 24th.

BANDOLERO FEATURE

Gavin Holland in the sporty # 1 machine rolls off first, starting alongside the # 38 of Aidan Zschiedrich with the # 3 of Landon Burbage rounding out the top three. zMAX CARS Tour flagman Brandon Willard looks over the field of young up and comers, likes what he sees, and we’re green! Holland will clear coming off of turn two as Zschiedrich and Burbage battle for second. Burbage barely gets the edge but there’s contact behind between Zschiedrich and the # 22 of Noah Evans! Zschiedrich somehow saves it but Paxton Cole in the # 46 spins to avoid and we’re under caution for the first time for an incident out of turn four. # 12 Jay Hemenway now lines up in third as Holland retains the lead on the restart. Cole gets a piece of the outside wall out of four and now slams the inside wall at nearly full speed! Thankfully, Cole is okay as the field is slowed once more. When all of the wreckage is cleared, it’s the same song and dance for Holland as he gets another perfect launch at the line. We’ve got a case of yellow fever though, this time for Zschiedrich who spins out of two. Prior to the caution, Evans had got around Hemenway, shuffling the top three for the restart. One more caution for Rylan Speight in the # 45 stopping in turn two would impact the event, but it was no problem for Holland as he gets the big win ahead of Burbage and Hemenway.

BOMBER FEATURE

Perennial contender Andrew Watson in the # 08 starts first ahead of # 28 Danny Mitchell, # 77 Chris Singletary, # 88 Doug Smoot, and the # 8D of Daniel Stephenson in tonight’s nightcap. Willard looks over the stacked field, approves the formation, and the race is underway in no time! Mitchell gives Watson a fit on the outside, but it’s not enough as Watson gains the advantage early. Stephenson makes his way around Smoot, but all eyes are ahead as Mitchell goes around in four! He rolls away unscathed as Dylan Page in the # 82 will move up to fifth. Watson executes a masterful restart while the # 75 of James Barbour is on the move behind, up to third ahead of Stephenson and Smoot. And now Smoot goes around with the help of # 28D Hunter Courtney! This sets up a chaotic restart that sees Mitchell make multiple drastic moves to position himself in fourth. Before he can move up any further, the # 06 of Celeste Clevinger slows, meaning another yellow. While Watson gets another fantastic restart, Mitchell tries his hardest to fight off Courtney, unfortunately losing that battle. But on the last lap, he has one last gasp of breath and takes back the spot as Watson adds another Wake County Bomber win to his resume. Singletary comes home second joined by Barbour, Mitchell, and Courtney.

zMAX CARS TOUR LATE MODEL STOCK DRIVE FOR PURYEAR 125

Clocking in at 12.078 seconds, Mason Bailey in the # 05 claims his first career zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock pole ahead of Wake County regular Carson Haislip in the # 08H. Starting third will be the # 22 of points leader Connor Hall accompanied by # 55 Isabella Robusto and # 77 Treyten Lapcevich who round out the top five. Willard sets his sights on the hard nosed field, loves the view, and we’re green for 125 laps of bullring action! There’s a stack up on the initial start with Hall not getting up to speed the way he’d like! That moves Robusto up to third followed by # 81 Mini Tyrrell and # 29 Brent Crews. Hall is meanwhile stuck on the outside lane with no opening in sight. He’ll finally slot eleventh in line behind the # 15 of Ryan Millington as Bailey and Haislip look to gap the field. That mission will be aborted however as the # 08 of Deac McCaskill smacks the outside turns three and four wall hard, bringing the SHITI Coolers Caution out for the first time tonight. McCaskill is fine but his night is unfortunately done as Lapcevich is on pit road for a flat tire, sending him to the rear for the ensuing restart. After the choose, Bailey keeps grasp of the lead now joined by Robusto on the front row followed by Haislip, Crews, and Tyrrell. Bailey stands his ground on the inside and bursts ahead as the field is stacked behind.

Crews gets into the back of Haislip, making it two by two behind Bailey and Robusto. Eventually, Haislip loses third to Crews while Tyrrell fends off the # 62 of Landen Lewis for fifth. Tyrrell muscles Haislip out of the groove, allowing for Millington to swoop in right behind to grab fifth. Millington won’t stop there, now passing Tyrrell for fourth while Crews starts to pressure Robusto. The bumper is soon used, moving Robusto back to third. Haislip recovers from his drop, settling into ninth as the action continues to be hot and heavy. Lewis gets a fender to the inside of Tyrrell and soon breaks into the top five. Now for the lead! Crews dives below Bailey and takes the spot, becoming the pacer of the field. Caden Kvapil in the # 8 finds trouble in turn four, Sparks flying from his machine, meaning another yellow. The second choose of the night produces a top five of Crews, Robusto, Bailey, Lewis, and Millington. Crews will clear with authority as Bailey gets by Robusto. But that only lasts for a split second as Robusto gives him a little nudge, putting Bailey out of the groove and the top five. The # 03 of Brenden Queen makes his first top five appearance around Tyrrell as Crews opens up the lead. The battle for second is anything but calm though as Lewis is under Robusto, but Robusto is somehow making her machine stick to the outside without issue. After numerous laps, Lewis finally prevails on the inside as a competition caution flies. Crews will continue to lead alongside Robusto who takes the choose followed by Lewis, Lapcevich with another amazing comeback, and Queen.

Crews wins out on the bottom as Robusto holds off Lewis. Tyrrell wiggles his way around Queen but Queen will continue to breath down Tyrrell’s neck. Just as it seems that Crews has the win on lock, a spin in turn two from Landon Huffman in the # 57 changes everything! Crews. Robusto. Lewis. Queen. Lapcevich. That’s your lineup with fifteen laps to go. Who wins it all? Crews gets a great restart, but teammate Lewis gives him a shove! Now Lapcevich is there! Put the entire top five under a blanket as the fans go wild! Now Robusto and Crews make contact heading into three, sending Crews around and into the wall! The # 55 of Holden Haddock and the # 1J of Clay Jones are also involved. Yellow is out as Robusto is sent to the rear as a result of the contact with Crews. Another shake up in the top five now sees Lewis as the leader accompanied by Queen, Lapcevich, Tyrrell, and Millington. Lapcevich puts the bumper to Lewis, but Lewis will clear regardless as Lapcevich takes over second. Tyrrell and Millington fight hard for fifth, however, it’s Landen Lewis who wins his first ever zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock race! Lapcevich rebounds for a fantastic second place finish. Queen gets a sneaky third. Tyrrell hangs on for fourth while Millington notches a solid fifth.

MY TAKE

Landen Lewis’ win and the entire race at Wake County Speedway was a perfect example of why the CARS Tour is one of the most important series in all of stock car racing. First of all, we were reminded why Wake County Speedway is one of the central east coast region’s most exciting tracks. The simple truth is, that they know how to put on a great show. If you’ve never seen a race there, don’t take my word for it, go see for yourself. This is a track that takes fan entertainment seriously. They are purposely aware that the fans that come to their facility deserve more than just great racing on the track, they deserve an event that leaves them wanting more. Wake County Speedway understands that the fan experience is vitally important and that fact alone sets them above not just many tracks in the region, but in the country. Add to that the fact that the track is itself not only challenging, but one that is made for door to door racing, and you understand why it is a great place to watch short track racing. Their fans know this, and so when the CARS Tour came to the track this past weekend, it was standing room only. And what they saw was nothing short of an amazingly competitive race from start to finish. It’s what the tour is known for.

But, when your at the top of the mountain in today’s world, there are an endless array of mountain climbers with their pick axes out hammering away with reckless abandon. At Wake County Speedway, the tour had a serious tire issue come to a head as the teams were presented with several different tire code batches. Some of the teams this year have already found it a frustrating challenge as the tour shifted away from the previous F45 tire to the new ST2, but then to get to the track and see there were several batches of the new tire was of course an issue that brings equal competition questions to bear as well. In the midst of that, social media was in a stir due to the way the ‘dilemma’ was presented online. While a tough situation for sure, it was managed as good as anyone could imagine with no impact on the race itself, although leaving the tour with a decision to go back to the F45 for their next race and an undetermined decision for the future. None of this was a surprise to us however as in our article on the tire shortages from March 22, 2022 titled “Tread Lightly” where we questioned Hoosier themselves on the then current issue and where they go moving forward, we knew there would be issues such as what arose at Wake County Speedway. What was newsworthy however was how the tour handled it, but somehow the story became more about the situation itself.

Social media has also been lit up about conversations centered around the extremely competitive racing on track by the tour’s competitors that some say is close to crossing a line. Well, our fellow short track racing fans that are followers of our pages and our website understand where we fall on the issue. Truth is, if a tour as important holding as much talent as the CARS Tour is not considered on the line of what’s expected, then they’re not doing something right. Close to fifteen cars in each and every race can win and that’s no exaggeration. Short track racing is contact racing. It’s not open wheel racing and it shouldn’t look like it. That said however, there’s a line, and it’s crossed when someone deliberately wrecks someone. That’s why the ‘Send ’em to the back’ rule is in place. But that’s not always cut and dry, nor should it be. At Wake County Speedway, there was a questionable call made in our opinion when it came to Isabella Robusto as she was looking for her first CARS Tour win. She had kept herself in contention for the bulk of the race, but when it came down to the closing laps after a restart, she closed the hole left by Brent Crews as Landen Lewis moved him up the track to put himself up front. Robusto and Crews made contact as they found themselves three wide with Brenden Queen on the bottom. Remember, this is Wake County Speedway…a very tight quarter mile track. As the three tried to get their cars in the optimal position, Robusto and Crews made contact that sent him into the wall.

Was there intention? That’s where me and Josh agree, we couldn’t find any intention. Was there fault, that’s were we vehemently disagree. We had another of what I can only describe as a ‘spirited’ debate. And with that, an understanding of how hard that call would have been to make. We’ll never know if the decision to put Robusto to the rear of the field truly came from an effort for consistency or not. It would be our guess. But even if we asked the official that made the call for an answer, we know that would be the answer they would give. What we would hope is that the tour not listen to those who think they are about to cross a line however and take each instance on a case by case basis. Intent is one thing, but a racing deal is another. Racers should not be afraid to race. And especially because it might hurt someone’s feelings. The best of the best are what they are because they take it to the edge. That’s where champions are made. Of course, if we were in this media deal just for the clicks, we could’ve produced an article titled – “The CARS Tour Makes Questionable Call At Wake County.” But we would rather tell you the truth about that race. And the truth is the closing laps of that race was as exciting as racing should be with five cars under a blanket going for the win. Landen Lewis, Treyten Lapcevich, Brenden Queen, Isabella Robusto, and Brent Crews were in a battle for the ages. A battle that you wouldn’t see most anywhere else in the country. In the end, Landen Lewis came out on top in what was, in his own words, the biggest win of his career. This from a driver with two ARCA West wins and one ARCA win. The reason he stated was the competition. As a short track racing fan for many years, there’s nothing quite like watching the best in the business going for it. It would be more than a shame if it was all brought down or ‘tamed’ by a social media or so called ‘fan’ contingent in favor of a sanitized perceived elitist form of racing. What you have now on the CARS Tour is short track racing that is as good or better than there has ever been in the sport. Why would you want anything less?

(Race write ups by Joshua Weatherman. Intro and My Take written by Billy Weatherman. Copyright 2024 SHORT TRACK REPORT)