With the CARS Tour season slowly winding down, the short track series ventured to Virginia’s South Boston Speedway on Saturday. All eyes were on the Late Model Stock championship fight, with title contenders separated by just a single point entering the evening. But in the end, it was a driver contending for a different championship altogether that stood tall at night’s end.
Late Model Stock Cars
The last time Kaden Honeycutt was in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock field, he was left frustrated by a late restart penalty that kept him from victory lane in Hickory Motor Speedway’s Throwback Classic. He’s since been busy with a challenging playoff run in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series.
But with the Trucks done on Thursday night this week, Honeycutt made the time to for a CARS Tour return. And at the end of chaotic race at South Boston Speedway, last year’s Pro Late Model champion ended up first to the checkered flag.
Honeycutt wasn’t the dominant car on Saturday night, but he placed himself in position to contend in the closing stages. When Mini Tyrrell spun Tristan McKee in a tense battle for the lead and was subsequently penalized, Honeycutt took advantage to rise into the lead.
From there the Snowball Derby winner fended off a hard-charging Conner Jones in overtime to score the win, making good on the pace and promise shown by his No. 17 Tom Usry Racing team.
“It feels so good,” Honeycutt said. “I haven’t won since 2022. I know that’s insane to think even think about. I’ve been so close the past three years on winning so many races. This one is for (car owner) Kenneth Packer, R&S freaking Race Cars and this whole damn team. We don’t run a lot, but when we do, we contend for wins.”
Jones rose from 15th to put himself in contention and hoped to score his first win of the year, but ultimately settled for second. Carson Loftin followed in third, with Landen Lewis and Mason Diaz rounding out the top five.
It was a big points day for Lewis, helping the championship frontrunner stretch out his newfound advantage after longtime points leader Connor Hall was relegated to 18th by a big crash.
Lanie Buice, McKee, Kade Brown, Trevor Ward and Landon Huffman wrapped up the top 10. Tyrrell came home a disappointing 17th after his penalty.
Saturday’s race saw high attrition, with just 18 of the 27 cars entered surviving to the checkered flag.
Late Model Stock Car Results
- Kaden Honeycutt
- Conner Jones
- Carson Loftin
- Landen Lewis
- Mason Diaz
- Lanie Buice
- Tristan McKee
- Kade Brown
- Trevor Ward
- Landon Huffman
- Ryan Wilson
- Chase Burrow
- Landon S. Huffman
- Isaac Kitzmiller
- Donovan Strauss
- Brandon Pierce
- Mini Tyrrell
- Connor Hall
- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- Deac McCaskill
- Brandon Lopez
- Doug Barnes Jr.
- Parker Eatmon
- Ryan Millington
- Mason Bailey
- Kyle Dudley
- Chad McCumbee
Pro Late Models
Whenever Keelan Harvick’s in the Pro Late Model field, you can always count on the 13-year-old to be among the contenders. So it’s no surprise that the promising prospect claimed his third series victory Saturday night at SoBo.
Harvick was dominant in the feature, cruising to his third win in the past four series starts. Fellow prospect Ben Maier provided numerous challenges on restarts and held pace with Harvick through the race’s middle stages, but the son of 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick stretched out his advantage when it counted to secure another series win.
Maier came home second, stretching out his championship advantage over third-place finisher Brandon Lopez. Returning Xfinity Series playoff contender Harrison Burton came home fourth, with Isaac Kitzmiller completing the top five. Jones, McKee, Dylan Garner, T.J. DeCaire and Mason Walters finished out the top 10.
There were 13 finishers out of the 16-car field, with a dozen drivers taking the checkered flag on the lead lap.
- Keelan Harvick
- Ben Maier
- Brandon Lopez
- Harrison Burton
- Isaac Kitzmiller
- Conner Jones
- Tristan McKee
- Dylan Garner
- T.J. DeCaire
- Mason Walters
- Mia Lovell
- Trey Burke
- Brody Gunter
- Colton Ingerick
- Tyler Reif
- Rodney Dowless
Next Up: After laying dormant through the second half of September, the CARS Tour will venture to Tri-County Speedway on Oct. 4 for the penultimate race weekend of the 2025 season. Both the Late Model Stocks and Pro Late Models will take part in the festivities.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.