SOPHIA, N.C.- Round nine of the 2025 zMAX CARS Tour season brought the Tour to Caraway Speedway this past Wednesday night, with the North Carolina track putting on a special midweek race for the third year in a row.
After chaos on a late restart, 2020 CARS Tour champion Jared Fryar picked up the win, his second of the season and third overall at Caraway. Fryar becomes the fourth driver this season to win multiple races.
🏁 @JaredFryar14 wins the @CARSTour #Firecracker265 at @carawayspeedway!#CARSTour pic.twitter.com/sgCMoLOv3U
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) July 3, 2025
The incident that set up Fryar’s victory had major championship implications and may be the turning point of the 2025 title fight. From good nights gone bad for multiple title contenders, to an under-the-radar points night for another, here are three takeaways from the 2025 Firecracker 265 at Caraway.
Caraway Is Fryar’s House
Fryar continues to prove that sometimes, less is more.
Running on a part time basis with the Tour in 2025, Fryar has made the most of his appearances with the series, having now won multiple Tour races in a season for the first time in his career.
With two wins along with a runner-up run at Langley, the argument could be made that a full-time Fryar would be a championship contender. But who’s to say Fryar and Jimmy Mooring Racing could maintain this level of performance on a full-time basis.
Either way, Fryar and the No. 14 team have mastered Caraway.
Fryar’s three wins at Caraway are more than any other driver. He remains the only competitor with multiple Tour wins at the track. Whatever the team has figured out at the facility works, as they’re a threat to win every time they hit the .455-mile oval.
Wednesday night, the seas parted with 19-laps to go as Landen Lewis and Mini Tyrrell tangled on the front row, opening the door for Fryar to turn a top-five run into a win.
“I just saw them make a little contact and lock wheels, slide up the racetrack there,” Fryar told Frontstretch. “It just opened the bottom lane for me, I was able to slide on by without any damage or anything. Took advantage of somebodies misfortune there.”
The success for the No. 14 team came despite minor changes to the racetrack. Caraway Speedway removed the curbing at the inside of each corner, opening up more of a racing grove to the inside of the speedway.
“It definitely didn’t hurt it, I’d say,” Fryar said. “I kinda liked it. Before, it was not very forgiving. You hit the curb and you bounce up the racetrack, or if somebody made a mistake and hit the curb trying to divebomb you, they’d bounce up into you and wreck you. It’s definitely more forgiving, I’d say.
“But it did open up some more bumps in the racetrack. We’re running on different parts of the racetrack than we did before.”
From here on out, no matter the track, Fryar should be considered a threat to win – even at big upcoming events like Hampton Heat and the Throwback Classic at Hickory. And when the Tour comes back around the Caraway next season, Fryar may just be considered the odds-on favorite.
Tyrrell, Lewis and Huffman Watch Points Gain Slip Away
What a costly set of corners for the championship battle.
In a flash, what was going to be a massive points gain for Tyrrell, Lewis and Landon Huffman turned to another frustrating setback in their pursuit of Connor Hall‘s points lead.
💥 Major @CARSTour points implications as there is a pileup at the front of the field at @carawayspeedway!#CARSTour #Firecracker265 pic.twitter.com/vpklPOQdck
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) July 3, 2025
With 19 laps to go, the trio had been the best three cars of the evening. They lined up first, second and fourth on what looked to be the restart that would decide the race.
Ultimately, it was. But not in the way anyone expected.
Race leader Lewis lined up on the inside with Tyrrell to his right. Lewis then washed up into Tyrrell and climbed the left front of his No. 81. Huffman nearly had the incident missed, but got clipped by the nose of the No. 29 and piled in.
On a night when Hall was pedestrian, running down in 15th, three of his biggest threats for the championship blew their shot to gain ground.
Was it a racing deal? Yeah. But it was a costly one and one that could have been avoided.
For Tyrrell and the No. 81 team, it’s another torn up racecar in a year full of misfortune thanks to other’s mistakes.
“I didn’t like the way [Lewis] ran me the last restart,” Tyrrell told Frontstretch. “He doored me pretty hard getting into turn 1. … I beat him on the restart, still beat him after that, got the edge getting into 1, so I pinched him down a little bit, just to the line, as I’d expect him to do to me.
“I don’t know (what happened). Rodney [Childers] came in here and told me he just got tight. It was like we got to the center of the corner and he, I guess, just drove into me.”
Huffman’s season tells a similar story, one full of bad luck with fast racecars. Without a competition caution with 25 laps to go, Huffman could have driven to the front of the field. Instead, he was left with another instance of ‘what if.’
“He [Lewis] just screwed up, [got in] over his head,” Huffman told Frontstretch. “Got beat on the restart, drove into Mini [Tyrrell] and took us all three out. Unfortunate. Another badass racecar from Carroll Speedshop, [on] that long green run we were mowing them down. If it would’ve went green I think we could’ve drove all the way to the damn lead.”
Instead of a 1-2-3 finish for the trio, Lewis crossed the line 13th, with Huffman 20th and Tyrrell credited with 24th. All of this while Hall climbed to 12th by lap 125.
So, the story of the season remains the same. Hall and the No. 88 team are beatable, but not if the others fail to capitalize on their off days, which has happened continually throughout the year.
Don’t Sleep On Ronnie Bassett Jr.
Amidst the chaos at the front of the field, Ronnie Bassett Jr. put together yet another top-five finish at the end of the night.
Bassett has been the model of consistency in 2025, quietly remaining in the hunt as the season continues to age. When others around him have a bad day, Bassett and the No. 04 team capitalize.
A fourth on Wednesday night inches Bassett further back into the championship fight. Next the tour is heading to the site of his maiden CARS victory in 2024, Hickory Motor Speedway.
Last year Bassett won the Hickory race thanks to a last-lap clash between Hall and Ryan Millington, as Hall went spinning and Millington was disqualified. Bassett was the second car to cross the line and was credited with the victory.
This year, the stakes are higher, with $50,000 going to the winner in the CARS Tour Throwback Classic.
“I’m excited,” Bassett told Frontstretch. “I love Hickory Motor Speedway. Back in the UARA days we ran good there, had some wins. I’m excited to get back there, hopefully this time we can cross the finish line first.”
Outside of a flat tire at Dominion, Bassett has been the car avoiding chaos. Quietly securing great results instead of having to replace a front clip or a right side door weekly. Should the trend continue, he’ll be squarely in the championship battle off consistency alone.
What’s Next?
The Pro Late Models will be back in action on Saturday, July 12 at Hickory Motor Speedway for a stand alone event. Both the Pros and Late Model Stock cars then return to Hickory on Saturday, August 2 for the highly-anticipated Throwback Classic.
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.