Counting CARS: 3 Takeaways From Landen Lewis’ Dominant Day at Ace Speedway

ALTAMAHAW, N.C.- The zMAX CARS Tour was back in action this past Saturday for round five of the 2025 season, this time at North Carolina’s Ace Speedway.

Rain threatened to scupper activities throughout the weekend in the North Carolina triad area, forcing officials to move the start time three hours ahead for the Late Model Stock cars.

🏁 @landenlewis99 gets his second career @CARSTour win in the Folsom Fence Supply 275 at Ace Speedway!#CARSTour pic.twitter.com/FJ5xBlqdnB

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) May 3, 2025

With weather inbound, the intensity ramped up throughout the field. At the front, it was Landen Lewis who outran the field – and Mother Nature – to grab the win. It marked Lewis’ first win of 2025 and the second of his CARS career.

But there was much more to see in Ace than Lewis’ stroll to victory. From Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s secret weapon to struggled for championship contenders, here are three takeaways from the Folsom Fence Supply 275.

KHI’s Secret Weapon

That wasn’t the same KHI team seen in the first four races this season. 

That wasn’t the quiet, consistent No. 29 team that had Lewis sitting third in points heading into Ace. Instead, it was pure dominance.

So what changed?

The answer may lie with a secret weapon in the pits: Rodney Childers.

Recently relieved of his duties at Spire Motorsports, Childers returned to his roots to fill his free time, turning wrenches on a Late Model Stock car. The results were as expected, with Lewis landing in victory lane for the second time in his career.

“The addition to Rodney [Childers] here this weekend was really cool,” Lewis told Frontstretch post-race. “I told him when I won, I was pulling down to victory lane and I said ‘I got you back in victory lane where you belong.’

“He said, ‘I don’t suck after all.’

“It was pretty cool to hear that on the radio. Any time you have someone like that come over and help the team out, out of the kindness of his heart, is meaningful for all of us.”

The team has given Childers an open invitation to come help out any time he’d like, something Lewis said would be appreciated but not expected.

“I hope he comes to every race,” Lewis said. “We told him when he signed up to do this, ‘you just come and go as you please. Whenever you feel like you wanna come to the racetrack and help out, get your mind off of things, you’re more than welcome to come to the racetrack.'”

When asked what brought him back to the CARS Tour, Childers answer was simple.

“Just having fun with late models again,” Childers said. “This is my background. This is what I always loved back in the day, racing myself (while) growing up. It was a lot of fun this week just to hang out with these guys and just kind of go back through the details this week.”

Having Rodney at the track elevates not just the No. 29 team, but the competition, too. He has the ability to come and go as he pleases, but chances are he’ll be around quite a bit as long as he’s free from NASCAR responsibilities.

Lewis had quietly put together a solid season leading up to Ace, sitting third in the standings and just 18 points behind Connor Hall. Saturday’s win and Hall’s struggles (see the next point) will bring the No. 29 team nearly even with Hall in the standings.

If Childers sticks around a while, the rest of the field may have their hands full with Lewis and the KHI group for the rest of the year.

Connor Hall’s Snake-Bitten Day at Ace

Basically everything that could go wrong went wrong for Hall and the JR Motorsports bunch at Ace, leaving a likely top-two car midpack with nothing to show for it.

The evening started with promise. Hall jumped to the lead on lap 2 and set sail from there. But it all began to fall apart on lap 16 when flat right-front tire brought Hall nearly to a stop on the exit of turn 4.

That brought out a yellow, allowing Hall to bring his No. 88 to pit road for service. With a fresh right front tire, the championship leader’s hopeful march to the front began. But just as the Virginian began to climb his way through the field, trouble struck again. He went for a spin in turn 3 on lap 41.

🤯 @connorhallweb somehow avoids disaster at Ace Speedway! @CARSTour #CARSTour pic.twitter.com/VJAfjHteqV

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) May 3, 2025

Undeterred, Hall again stormed through the field. But after working his way inside the top 10 for a third time, the trouble trifecta was complete with 25 laps to go. Hall found himself in the middle of a three-wide battle down the back stretch, backing off early as Brandon Pierce made a dive bomb into turn 3.

Pierce clipped Landon S. Huffman and spun in front of the No. 88. Hall suffered damage and nearly hit the end of pit road wall trying to avoid the crashing car.

Even with a third setback, Hall’s day wasn’t entirely undone. He finished 11th in the end -a respectable result, all things considered.

“I really thought it was like game over,” Hall told Frontstretch of his race. “Like that was the best car I’ve ever had at Ace Speedway. That’s credit to all the JR Motorsports guys, … I was pretty much gone, just trying to save some brakes, save some tire.

“Next thing I know I go into turn one and two and it goes flat on me. I just all came apart after that. Tough to race in the hornets nest like that and stay clean. Just a victim of small race track and a lot of aggressive drivers.”

After two suboptimal races in a row, Hall now has a title fight on his hands with Lewis, Kade Brown and Landon Huffman closing in. North Wilkesboro Speedway hasn’t been too kind to Hall the past few times he’s been there, so he’ll look to turn his luck around in a few weeks’ time.

Lanie Buice Makes History

As it stands, you can write Lanie Buice in the history books as the highest finishing woman ever in a CARS Late Model Stock car race.

It’s been a rough start to the season for Buice, by little fault of her own. She’s been spun, run over and everything else you can think of so far in 2025. But the Lee Pulliam Performance prospect has shown plenty of speed, albeit with little to show for it.

After a nasty wreck at Orange County Speedway, Buice told Frontstretch that the series needed to start giving her some respect.

Well, she went and earned some on Saturday at Ace.

Buice was close to her first career pole, settling for second in qualifying. She led a few laps after Hall’s flat tire in the early stages. While she ultimately lost that lead to the dominant Lewis, Buice stayed in the KHI star’s tire tracks for the majority of the race.

A few late cautions shuffled the 18-year old down to fourth in the closing laps. But after the season she’s had, she’ll take it. After preaching respect, she provided a run that was beyond respectable.

With her confidence on the rise, Buice feels like a win could be just around the corner.

“Definitely, absolutely,” Buice told Frontstretch. “Especially with these guys and the incredible support I have behind me. Today I learned more than I’ve ever learned before. If we can continue to run up front and keep the momentum going, we’re gonna be up there in victory lane. for sure.”

With the way she’s been running, despite her string of bad luck, Buice very well could find victory lane soon. North Wilkesboro is right around the corner and that No. 03 car has taken a ride on the lift before.

What’s Next?

The zMAX CARS Tour will take a week off before kicking off NASCAR’s All-Star Race festivities with a pair of races at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The Pro Late Models will take to the track first on Thursday, May 15, with Late Model Stocks following on May 16.