The wait was well worth it. More than two months after its original May 15 date was rescheduled due to inclement weather, an action-packed doubleheader of zMAX CARS Tour action lit up the night on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Treyten Lapcevich scored his first CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car win in a carnage-filled Window World 125, while Tristan McKee celebrated his 14th birthday with a nail-biting victory in The Reverend 100 Pro Late Model event.
Brenden "Butterbean" Queen dominated the early stages of the Window World 125 nightcap. A 14-car melee on a Lap 8 restart eliminated a slew of contenders, including NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Sammy Smith's No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. The accident began when Lapcevich, who was in fourth at the time, struggled to get going as the green flag flew. Lapcevich's brief pause in momentum caused a chain reaction that swept up championship leaders Connor Hall and Brent Crews, among numerous other front-runners.
When the smoke cleared and the red and yellow flags were lifted, Queen held serve out front, but his lead didn't last.
Lapcevich took the lead with 57 laps to go after he passed Queen on the inside entering Turn 3, and withstood several challenges from Queen to pull away by more than two seconds over the next 50 circuits. A caution with four laps to go for fluid on the track didn't help matters for Lapcevich, who narrowly avoided spinning into Brandon Pierce's stopped car after the yellow flag flew.
Lapcevich didn't put a wheel wrong over the final four circuits, speeding to victory by 1.071 seconds over Corey Heim. Mini Tyrrell was third with Carson Kvapil fourth and Queen fiffth.
"It's unreal," said Lapcevich, a Canadian who won the 2023 NASCAR Pinty's Series title. "I've got to thank all the people who've gotten me to this point. These Chad Bryant Racing guys gave me a great car. I'm just so excited to be here."
NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, a co-owner of the zMAX CARS Tour, finished 11th.
The Reverend 100
Tristan McKee wasted no time in clearing pole winner Nick Loden on the outside, as the driver of the No. 6 Setzer Racing & Development Chevrolet led the first 40 laps before a competition caution bunched up the field for the second time. Spencer Davis passed Loden for second on the restart and set after McKee.
Loden's crash with 29 laps to go brought out a caution that afforded Davis and Corey Heim with a golden opportunity to find a way past McKee's dominant Chevrolet.
Davis took advantage, passing McKee on the restart before McKee retook the point two laps later and sped to his second win of the season. Heim posted his first of two runner-up finishes on the night, after he overtook third-place finisher Davis on Lap 99. Dylan Fetcho and Matt Craig completed the top five.
"My car was getting tight there and I wanted (Heim and Davis) to keep battling at the end, and they did," McKee said.
The zMAX CARS Tour returns for two days of grassroots racing featuring the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Cars and the CARS Tour Pro Late Models on Oct. 18-19. Short-track racing's rising stars will compete for the ultimate bragging rights just two weeks after the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour tackles North Wilkesboro on Oct. 5.