NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – The zMAX CARS Tour took on the hallowed grounds of North Wilkesboro Speedway on Friday night (May 16), as the series made its national television debut on FOX Sports 1.
It was a struggle to get going with multiple incidents to start the show. Once the field cleaned it up, they put on a great race for both the fans in the stands and back at home. As the battles raged on behind, Landen Lewis led flag-to-flag to pick up his second consecutive win with the Tour.
There were plenty of good stories throughout the night and tons of great racing for all the first time fans on FS1 to enjoy. From a tricky track surface to Lewis’s dominant performance, here are three takeaways from the Window World 100 at North Wilkesboro.
Cup Series Rubber Caught the Field Off Guard
As the dream of having the Tour on FS1 was about to come to reality, you could feel the buzz in the air. The anticipation began to rise and 36 cars rolled through the backstretch gate to meet the crowd on the front straightaway.
As the green flag flew, Late Model Stock car racing’s best roared to life in the Wilkes County high country, but it was short lived. Just one lap later, the field came to a halt after a massive crash in turn one, a crash that started with outside polesitter Lanie Buice.
The following restart was equally short lived, as Kaden Honeycutt made an eerily similar mistake to Buice, washing up into the No. 32 of Carson Kvapil. Two early red flags temporarily darkened the mood around North Wilkesboro. To see two of the Tour’s best make an early mistake was odd, especially a veteran of Late Model Stock cars like Honeycutt, so what made the difference that caught everyone off guard?
The NASCAR Cup Series rubber plastered all over the racing surface.
The rubber from NASCAR’s Goodyear Eagles is different than that of the Hoosier tires the Tour runs, and therefore races differently than the drivers of the Tour are used to. When everyone drove off into turn one, they expected their cars to stick and they didn’t. Both Landon Huffman and Mini Tyrrell thought the entire field was caught off guard in the beginning.
“I think the Cup rubber put down surprised everybody,” Tyrrell told Frontstretch. “It almost just slickened the track up for these tires. It just got free on entry on me. Once we kind of dusted that off, it got better, but I felt like I was really good on the Cup rubber.
“Everybody just drove it off into [turn] 1 like it was qualifying, and it didn’t stick.”
While Tyrrell started up towards the front of the field, Huffman started at the rear thanks to a big slide in Thursday’s (May 15) qualifying session. As the wreck happened in front of him, Huffman nearly had it missed, but suffered damage that resulted in the loss of the right side door.
“It was loose as shit,” Huffman told Frontstretch. “It was like ice. It doesn’t surprise me that people crashed. I mean hell, I stopped for the wreck and I think some dude behind me [didn’t]. There wasn’t very many cars behind me anyway, so I don’t know how one of the three cars behind me – while 30 cars are out in front – couldn’t slow down. But he didn’t slow down.
“He hasn’t slowed down yet I don’t think. He’s on his way back home and still hasn’t slowed down.”
Once the field figured out the slick track surface, they put on a great show. That is except for race for the lead …
KHI & Landen Lewis Have Found Something … and It’s More Than Rodney Childers
The reason the battle for the lead was lack-luster was Lewis ran off and left ’em, straight up.
Lewis started from pole, and picked up right where he left off at Ace Speedway a few weeks back. He never looked back, leading all 100 laps en route to what he called the biggest win of his career.
“It means the world to me,” Lewis told Frontstretch. “It means the world to my guys. This place is special. I’ve been telling everybody I remember when Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] – it was a picture posted on Facebook when they first got the idea to run this place and Dale was cutting the grass with a weed eater. Ever since that moment I always wanted to race here, and always wanted to win a race here.
“I’m gonna put this one at the top, to be honest with you.”
From winning on national TV to breaking down with emotion beside the car, and even giving a fan the checkered flag, everything Lewis experienced at the end of Friday’s race was surreal. Not only was it a moment that will stick with him, it’s a moment that will stick with that fan for years to come, and that’s something he appreciated.
“It’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives,” Lewis said. “I tell everybody if racing ends tomorrow, I’m happy with everything I’ve done. Obviously I want to go further – everyone wants to go further – but it’s a tough deal, a tough sport out here. It’s definitely cutthroat.
“You just take every win because you don’t know when the last one will be. So taking this one all in. [It’s] really cool to be able to ride the elevator, I’ve always wanted to do that.”
What about Rodney Childers? Lewis is two-for-two since Childers came around to help the team, so how much convincing is it going to take to keep Childers at the track with KHI?
“I mean, he likes winning races, I like winning races,” Lewis said. “We keep winning races I think he’ll keep coming around and helping out.”
Back-to-back wins and another hiccup for Connor Hall now puts Lewis atop the series standings, and everyone is now gunning for the No. 29 team. How Lewis handles the target being on his back remains to be seen, but it looks like the field will have to catch him before that becomes an issue.
The FS1 Broadcast Delivered For Drivers and Fans
All competition aspects aside, how cool was it to see Late Model Stock car racing on FS1?
Sure, there may have been a few crashes in the beginning that took some good cars out of contention, and North Wilkesboro may not be the greatest track to truly show how good the on track product is with the Tour.
But still, we had Late Model Stock car racing in front of a live television audience, at North Wilkesboro Speedway, with a packed house and Earnhardt and Kevin Harvick in the booth. That’s badass.
For the fans at home, they saw a great show. Side by side battles between Hall and Carson Loftin early on, Tyrrell and Honeycutt late in the race and Huffman’s charge through the field without a left side door. The call in the booth was equally great, as Earnhardt and Harvick excelled together alongside Eric Brennan, who is always great in the CARS Tour booth.
But how about for the drivers? Getting to showcase their talents and the partners who help them along the way on front of the national audience is such an awesome opportunity, whether they run their family owned cars or for a bigger team like KHI and JRM.
One driver who took advantage of the national spotlight was South Carolina driver Riley Gentry, who wheeled his No. 09 to a ninth place finish at the end of the night.
“Dude, it’s amazing,” Gentry told Frontstretch. “There’s so much support back home. … When you come and run with these guys, nobody expects you to be up there, you know what I mean. When you put it up there with them and start being door-to-door, with all the fans at home back behind you, it’s something special.”
Tyrrell also mentioned hoping the series could strike a deal with FS1, to possibly air the series on the channel again in the future. While It likely won’t be an every week thing in the near future, the opportunity is there to air a few races every season on the channel.
What that could look like is up for interpretation. It could be the two Wilkesboro races, one with All-Star week and the other for the championship, along with the Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway or the Florence Motor Speedway race ahead of NASCAR’s time at Darlington Raceway.
Of course, this is all speculation, but it would be great to see again in the future.
What’s Next?
The Tour now has a few weeks off before heading up to one of the fan favorite tracks on the schedule, Langley Speedway. Late Model Stock cars will hit the track in Hampton, Va. on Saturday, May 31, live on FloRacing.
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.