NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – It took over two months, but the zMAX CARS Tour finally was able to complete its biggest race of the year at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday (Aug. 3).
After rain forced the postponement of both the Pro Late Model and Late Model Stock Car events from NASCAR All-Star Week in May, the series took advantage of NASCAR’s Olympic break to make the race up.
That allowed several stars to return and beef up both entry lists. Along with a bolstered purse and its overall prestige for the Tour, plus the two-and-a-half month wait, and it made for a great night of racing.
Here’s what happened in a long-overdue night at North Wilkesboro.
Tristan McKee Earns Huge Birthday PLM Win
For racecar drivers, there’s no better way to celebrate one’s birthday with a win.
A win at North Wilkesboro? In the biggest race of the year for the Tour, and specifically the Pro Late Models? Even better.
That’s exactly how Tristan McKee celebrated his birthday on Saturday night, taking the lead earlier from polesitter Nick Loden to earn his first CARS Tour win of the season. Despite the best efforts of the Wilson Motorsports duo of Corey Heim and Spencer Davis, McKee was able to hold strong in the waning laps to take the win.
Oh, did I mention his age? It’s only McKee’s 14th birthday.
Aside from a scheduled race break at lap 40 of the 100-lap feature. The caution only came out once for incident, when polesitter Loden hit the wall with 28 laps to go. That bunched the field back up, giving Davis (then running second) and Heim (then running third) one last chance to pass the Setzer Racing Development No. 6. Heim was able to pass Davis for second, but couldn’t quite track down McKee.
Though he feels like he could have if he had more time.
“I think if I had a few more laps,” Heim told Frontstretch after the race. “I didn’t really get to race around him much to figure out his weaknesses and whatnot.
“If I could have found out kind of where he was lacking speed, maybe I could have sized him up and maybe got into him or passed him clean, whatever it took.”
Behind Davis in third came Dylan Fetcho in fourth while Matt Craig rounded out the top five.
Treyten Lapcevich Earns First Career LMSC Win Despite Several Close Calls
If the Late Model Stock Car race on Saturday was a part of the 2024 Summer Olympics, we’d be hearing O Canada ring out through the speakers for the winner.
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