This Saturday, a full day of on-track action awaits fans at North Wilkesboro Speedway, as the zMAX CARS Tour takes to the famed .625-mile race track. The country’s top Late Model Stock Car (LMSC) drivers will convene for the Window World 125, and will be joined by Pro Late Model drivers for the Reverend 100.
Consistently touted as one of the best on-track racing products in the southeast, the zMAX CARS Tour is the home of both up-and-coming drivers and wily veterans, as well as NASCAR drivers itching to get behind the wheel during the two-week season break for Olympic event coverage.
More than 40 Late Model Stock Cars are entered in the Window World 125, including entries for NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, Cup Series driver Josh Berry, Xfinity Series drivers Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith, and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular Layne Riggs, as well as notable up-and-comers Brent Crews, Connor Hall, Carson Kvapil, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Connor Zilisch, and LMSC veterans Bobby McCarty and Peyton Sellers among many others. The event also includes more than 30 Pro Late Model entries for the Reverend 100. Fans can meet their favorites at a driver autograph session scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on race day.
With just six events remaining for the LMSC division before the season finale at North Wilkesboro Speedway on October 19, Hall leads the standings ahead of Crews and last year’s event winner Queen.
“I never try to dwell on it, but it’s cool to see the bigger names in the Late Model race and last year to know that I won and beat them all it was really, really special,” said Queen regarding the NASCAR drivers expected to compete. “We go there and do our job and put our helmet on and do our job. You want to beat the best and we love to race against them. To be the best you gotta beat the best. We love when they come and run with us because it puts a bigger spotlight on our series.”
“We're really looking forward to coming back here in a couple of weeks and getting after it,” Ronnie Bassett, Jr., the winner of the most recent CARS Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway, commented at a pre-event test session on July 13. “You’re going to get a heck of a show, that's for sure. You know, we we race hard every lap. This new tire, we're on, there's no more riding or saving, it's qualifying laps for 125 laps. So you're going to get your money's worth, that's for sure.”
“You listen to Kevin Harvick talk about the series on Twitter and he obviously loves it,” said Crews at the same test session. “The racing the past three races has been incredible. We had a three-wide finish and then that last race we had William Byron racing with him three wide, and just incredible racing, I think that's what makes the CARS Tour so special. You have so many good drivers that race so hard every week and these legendary teams like JR Motorsports and Kevin Harvick Inc., so cool race teams and cool drivers and cool cars I think will make great racing on [August] third.”
“From a CARS Tour standpoint, we need a backbone racetrack of our series to be able to say, ‘Hey, this is kind of the marquee place of where we race,’ and that is North Wilkesboro,” remarked Harvick. “I think with everything that Dale [Earnhardt, Jr.,] has done and North Wilkesboro Speedway and [Speedway Motorsports] and everybody to bring North Wilkesboro back, the CARS Tour and North Wilkesboro Speedway go hand in hand. So to be a part of that means a lot for our series. It means a lot to me to to be a part of the event. And we're pretty lucky to have a race track like this to kind of be the marquee event of the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car series.”
“The biggest thing to really take in is the fact that when they see our kids, our guys, our gals on the race track is to realize that out of that bunch that they’re looking at the next stars of motorsports,” CARS Tour director Kip Childress commented. “Brendan is a good example of that, Carson Kvapil is another good example. Our drivers who just this year are having opportunities to race at the higher levels of motorsports, whether it’s the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series. So, pay close attention to these kids that are running, because it won’t be long before you’re seeing them on Sundays.”
Fans who are missing their regular NASCAR coverage can make a full day of it at the historic racing facility, with spectator gates for the Aug. 3 Reverend 100 and Window World 125 opening at 9:15 a.m., followed by practice and qualifying for each series. A driver autograph session is scheduled for 6:45 p.m., with pre-race ceremonies and driver introductions at 7:45 p.m. Click here for a full schedule of activities.