hen the 2015 CARS Racing Tour began on a cold March evening at Southern National Motorsports Park, Deac McCaskill (Late Model Stock) and Christopher Bell (Super Late Model) had their respective chances at victory slip away late in the race. When the tour returned to Southern National two months later, each driver not only scored a win, but won their respective halves of the Don’t Tread On Me 250 presented by Military Missions in Action in dominating fashion this past Saturday night.
In Late Model Stock, Deac McCaskill claimed the pole position for the third time in four CARS Tour races this season and and his second at Southern National. Todd Gilliland, the race winner in March who moved McCaskill late in the season opener at the same track, qualified alongside on the front row.
McCaskill, a former track champion at SNMP, jumped out to the early lead from the start and led every lap to claim an emotional win. McCaskill challenged only once for the lead following the lone caution period on lap 20 for a spin by Chris Davis. Tyler Ankrum finished second while Gilliland rebounded from early race wall contact to come home third. Veterans Jamey Caudill and Mike Darne rounded out the top five.
“I just tried to run Tyler’s (Ankrum) pace and I was more worried about (Todd) Gilliland,” McCaskill said in victory lane. “I knew he was saving his tires and when he got to third I knew he was riding because that’s where he wanted to be if we got a late race restart. I just kept cruising and with about 20 to go Tyler picked it up a little bit and I picked my car up some. Car was absolutely flawless. We weren’t junk in practice, but I wasn’t really happy with it at all.”
“I’m 37 years old and I’ve been racing for 20 some years and I was in tears,” he continued, sniffling from the emotion. “This is what this sport means to me and I really appreciate CARS. I want to dedicate this win to my mom who was diagnosed with breast cancer and she’s here tonight; my wife and kids also for all their support.”
Incoming Late Model Stock point leader Brayton Haws’ win streak was stopped at two after he was never a factor all weekend and finished in 11th.
On the Super Late Model side, March winner Cole Timm picked up where he left off at Southern National and earned the pole position over a much improved Harrison Burton who was led by new crew chief Chris Wimmer for the first time in CARS Tour competition.
Timm took the early lead but it wasn’t long before Burton would find his way underneath and around Timm to take over the top spot before lap 20. Christopher Bell, in the Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, moved around Timm as well and on lap 33 passed Burton for the lead.
Bell proceeded to check-out from the rest of the field and survived a pair of mid-race restarts to become the first two-time winner in the Super Late Model division of the CARS Racing Tour. Timm backed up his March win with a second place finish and extended his series points lead, while Burton finished third with Clay Jones and Quin Houff completing the top five.
When asked about dominant performance in victory lane Bell replied, “It’s really special to be in this Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Camry, No. 51. These guys worked their butts off and it wasn’t cool today. Nobody works harder than these guys on this 51 car.”
“I was hanging on there those last 25, 30 laps,” Bell continued in reference to saving his car. “It started to get really slick and I was sliding around quite a bit. It’s tough, and you just make sure you slow down and don’t overkill your stuff. The more I slid around the worse it got, so I just tried to go slower and slower.”
Ross Kenseth, the sixth place finisher, also delivered an impressive drive after starting 21st. After clocking in slowest during practice, his performance earned him the Cribs Creek Outfitters Hard Charger Award.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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