The zMAX CARS Tour stayed in Virginia for its second race in the state this month, heading up north to Dominion Raceway in Woodford, Va.
The Mini’s Mission 125 on Saturday night (June 14) ended up being way more than just the race name. Mini Tyrrell picked up his second win of the year in dominant fashion, claiming the pole and controlling the entire race.
Although Langley Speedway is the track known for Hampton Heat, the race at Dominion was one of the hottest CARS Tour drivers have faced all year, with the ultra high humidity leading to several drivers enduring exhaustion as the night progressed. And as is the case is most short track racing in the summer, the temperature wasn’t the only thing getting some drivers hot under the collar.
Tempers flared further back in the field while Tyrrell and one of the championship contenders enjoyed fruitful nights.
Here are three takeaways from the Mini’s Mission 125.
Mission Accomplished for Mini
When he was just six years old, Tyrrell, now 20, started Mini’s Mission, a fundraising program that raises money and awareness for pediatric cancer and other causes. He started it after his childhood friend, Ella, was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
For the past three years, Mini’s Mission has served as the title sponsor for the CARS race at Dominion, which is less than an hour away from Tyrrell’s hometown of Manassas. As part of the event, the children benefitting from the program, or Mini’s Kids, have not only been invited to come to the race as VIPs, but are each partnered with a driver to hang out with for the weekend. Despite that last part, the whole big section of Mini’s Kids in the grandstands appeared to be staunchly pulling for Tyrrell in the race, and for good reason.
Tyrrell didn’t let them down. He endured several restarts and hard charges from the likes of Conner Jones, Chad McCumbee and Connor Hall, holding them off every single time. After a few laps, the No. 81 machine would build up a gap, and no one had a shot at catching him the rest of that run. He picked up his third career win and second of the year on Saturday, but this one was by far his biggest to date.
“I’ve been running this race for so many years,” Tyrrell told Frontstretch. “The past three years, it’s been my race. Everybody asks me, “When are you gonna win it? You gonna win it? You gonna win it? Finally, we just broke through and did it.
“I think the coolest part was walking out with all the kids on the walkway. They all came out and surprised me. I guess they all wanted to wish me good luck and for getting the pole. They all just poured back on, and it was just hugs all the way around.
“Man, it’s the most emotional race I’ve ever been to in my life. I’m just so so so thankful for all those kids. They’re stronger than me, you, anybody here. They are going through hell and back. They are fighters, and I’m just so thankful they could be here with me tonight and get to watch. Getting to watch me win was awesome, so I hope they all had a great weekend, and [I] can’t wait to do it again.”
Our eyes are sweating 🥺@zmaxraceproduc1 | @SoundGearHear | @FloRacing pic.twitter.com/sfdk4XRhs5
— CARS Tour (@CARSTour) June 15, 2025
Landen Lewis Is Getting Blamed for Everything
Landen Lewis had been on a tear since NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers joined his team in May. He won at Ace Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway, and led the most laps at Langley Speedway before he fell out of the event.
That run hit a snag on Saturday night at Dominion, as Lewis struggled to get a 10th-place finish. Restarts were a melee behind the front row throughout the night, and as usual, that leads to damaged racecars, rising tempers and finger-pointing. The guy Jones and Tristan McKee were both pointing their fingers at after the race was Lewis, although it’s uncertain if the incidents were truly his fault.
The three collided right after they went three-wide on a restart with just over 20 laps to go, and the contact sent Jones – who ran second most of the day – spinning around. Jones was only able to salvage a 12th-place result afterward.
💥 With just over 20 to go in the #MinisMission125 at @DominionRaceway, @connerjones88 goes around on the restart!@CARSTour #CARSTour pic.twitter.com/982wxvElM2
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) June 15, 2025
“Just felt someone just driving into my door,” Jones told Frontstretch. “We wrecked, so.”
Jones guarded his words when first asked about it, but the anger about the incident was clear in his voice. When pressed more about it, he elaborated.
“I definitely think we’re just still trying to put our cars in places where they shouldn’t be,” Jones said. “But it sucks when you get wrecked by the 29 [Lewis]. It’s a Harvick car, and they don’t get put in the back, but they’ll put everybody else in the back.”
Kevin Harvick is one of the co-owners of the CARS Tour. The team he owns, Kevin Harvick Inc., fields Lewis’ entry. When Frontstretch asked if he would talk to Lewis, Jones replied with, “No point.”
McKee, who was on the inside of that three-wide gone wrong, finished fourth in Saturday’s race and showed significant pace at certain points, but he said the toe got knocked out a few times.
“I was below the 29 [Lewis] one time, I thought, going down the front straightaway, and he kind of turned left on me,” McKee told Frontstretch. “I thought that kind of knocked the toe out a little bit. The wheel was a little off. Then, I was three-wide with him another time, going into [turn] 1, and he kind of came down on me and knocked the toe out even worse.”
I didn’t see the first run-in between McKee and Lewis, so I can’t speak to that. But if you look at the three-wide instance where both McKee and Jones blamed Lewis, it’s hard to really put the blame on him. Jones and Hall were racing side-by-side when contact between the two sent Jones up the track. McKee and Lewis, who were side-by-side behind that, then both tried to fill the hole, and it seems like Jones didn’t realize there were two cars going underneath him. So it looked more like a racing deal.
But in McKee’s and Jones’ defense, I don’t think either had seen a replay of the incident at the time of the interviews.
Connor Hall Strikes Back
With the way the season started, it looked like Hall was going to run away with the championship. The JR Motorsports newcomer had finished top-two in the first three races, including two wins. Then, Lewis went on his tear and took the points lead from Hall, who had three races in a row with finishes of 10th or worse.
Hall’s seventh-place run at Langley to Lewis’ DNF cut the latter’s lead down to two points entering Dominion. Then on Saturday night, Hall looked back in early-season form, picking up another top-two finish. On top of that, he finished eight spots ahead of Lewis, putting him back out front of the championship battle by just six markers.
But you know who doesn’t care at all about that? Hall.
“I’ve led the points probably 20 different times in my CARS Tour career,” Hall told Frontstretch. “I’m not worried about points until going into the last [race at North] Wilkesboro. And even probably then, I’m gonna be more worried about riding an elevator than I will be some points. Win races, run up front and points will take care of themselves.”
When Hall mentions “riding an elevator,” he’s referring to the lift to get to victory lane at North Wilkesboro. Still, there are only seven races remaining in the CARS Late Model Stock Car season, so the championship battle will only intensify from here.
What’s Next?
The Tour will take the next two weekends off before contesting a midweek race at Caraway Speedway on Wednesday, July 2. Both divisions will be racing, with the Pro Late Models in action for the first time since mid-May. All coverage from Caraway can be found live on FloRacing.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.