The 2024 zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour kicked off its season on March 10 at Southern National Motorsports Park. The race was won by defending champion Carson Kvapil, but he wasn’t the only one to make waves in the division’s season opener.
Here are five drivers to watch leaving the year’s opening weekend.
1. Carson Kvapil
JR Motorsports’ star driver won the 2023 CARS Tour title with a five-win campaign. He had to earn the first victory of the season, battling dirty air and fellow competitor Brenden “Butterbean” Queen on a restart to win the race, clearing him to get the lead before the yellow flag waved once more.
In his third year with the team, Kvapil looks to add more wins and another championship to the trophy case — a feat that will prove daunting. He’s set to miss the April 6 race at Hickory Motor Speedway to make his Xfinity Series debut.
“I’m optimistic, but also realistic,” Kvapil said when asked if he could miss a race and still earn enough points to win the title.
Whether he makes it or not, watching Kvapil try should be fun for the CARS Tour faithful.
2. Landon Huffman
Landon Huffman has become one of the bigger personalities on the CARS Tour. This is partially due to his popular YouTube channel, where he can be seen vlogging his race prep or educating fans on the differences between a Late Model and a Pro Late Model.
However, his 27.2k subscriber count and collective 3 million+ channel views couldn’t get the car right to make the race on Sunday. Huffman failed to qualify his Jimmy Mooring machine into the field, causing him to go home early.
“Something’s significantly wrong with the race car, it’s not turning at all,” Huffman told Frontstretch reporter Chase Folsom after he didn’t make the show.
Huffman finished ninth in the 2023 standings and won a race at Tri-County Speedway, but is doing everything himself this year from his shop and missed the setup at SNMP.
He’ll have a big hole to dig out of after missing the opening race, making Huffman one to keep an eye on as he progresses and improves throughout the season.
3. Brenden “Butterbean“ Queen
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a bigger personality in the CARS Tour field than Butterbean Queen.
Sporting a unique video-game-styled livery and memorable nickname, Queen is among the CARS Tour’s most memorable drivers. But it would be a mistake to interpret his outgoing and fun…
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