A busy stretch of events for both zMAX CARS Tour divisions continues this Saturday evening with the Folsom Fence Supply 275 at Ace Speedway.
Nestled in the small town of Altamahaw, North Carolina, Ace has boasted a proud history of short track racing since first opening to the public back in 1956 as a dirt track. Since being paved in 1990, Late Model Stocks have comprised the backbone of Ace’s weekly schedule, which culminates with the Big Ace Race in the fall.
Saturday’s event marks the eighth consecutive year in which Ace has hosted at least one CARS Tour race. Many notable moments in CARS Tour history have transpired at Ace, the most recent being last year’s AcceleratedGFX.com 285 that featured a series-record 17 lead changes and saw Brent Crews prevail in a frantic finish.
Another eventful night at Ace is in store for CARS LMSC and PLM Tour competitors that are still regrouping from Saturday’s outing at Orange County Speedway. With a marquee race at North Wilkesboro Speedway just a couple weeks away, drivers will look to enter that event with some much-needed momentum from Ace.
Track Facts:
Track: Ace Speedway
Location: Altamahaw, North Carolina
Length: .400 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 100 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 10
CARS PLM Tour races: 5
Orange County LMSC winners: Carson Kvapil (3), Bobby McCarty (1), Josh Berry (1), Ryan Millington (1), Layne Riggs (1), Jonathan Shafer (1), Kaden Honeycutt (1), Brent Crews (1)
Orange County PLM winners: Caden Kvapil (3), William Sawalich (1), Connor Zilisch (1)
Folsom Fence Supply 275 schedule
LMSC Entry List (25 cars): #00 Chase Burrow, #03 Lanie Buice, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #05 Mason Bailey, #1 Andrew Grady, #2 Brandon Pierce, #2W Ryan Wilson, #4 Donovan Strauss, #4B Kade Brown, #7 Austin Green, #8 Caden Kvapil, #11 Buddy Isles Jr., #12 Hudson Bulger, #15 Ryan Millington, #22 Carson Loftin, #28 Landon S. Huffman, #29 Landen Lewis, #41 Mason Diaz, #44 Conner Jones, #57 Landon Huffman, #71 Jake Bollman, #71E Parker Eatmon, #81 Mini Tyrrell, #88 Connor Hall, #88B Doug Barnes Jr.
PLM Entry List (10 cars): #6 Ben Maier, #6L Brandon Lopez, #8 Adrian Ferrer, #15 Rodney Dowless, #25 Jason Kitzmiller, #47 T.J. DeCaire, #51 Carson Ware, #54 Brody Monahan, #62 Keelan Harvick, #97 Dylan Garner
LMSC Standings:
- Connor Hall
- Kade Brown -9
- Landen Lewis -18
- Ronnie Bassett Jr. -18
- Landon Huffman -27
- Mini Tyrrell -29
- Donovan Strauss -33
- Doug Barnes Jr. -35
- Buddy Isles Jr. -43
- Carson Loftin -45
PLM Standings:
- Isaac Kitzmiller
- Dylan Garner -10
- Ben Maier -15
- Tristan McKee -22
- Brandon Lopez -22
- Brody Monahan -23
- Rodney Dowless -23
- Jade Avedisian -26
- Keelan Harvick -27
- Tyler Reif -27
Fresh off Orange County DNF, Mini Tyrrell looks to rebound at Ace
The sixth full-time season for Mini Tyrrell with the CARS LMSC Tour is shaping up to be one of his best.
Already possessing a victory in 2025 that came at Wake County Speedway, Tyrrell found himself within striking distance of the points lead prior to last weekend’s race at Orange County Speedway. A crash stymied Tyrrell’s momentum, but he believes his program has never been in a more optimal position to contend for wins on a weekly basis.
“Obviously, we’re super-boosted in confidence,” Tyrrell said. “Everybody behind Timmy Tyrrell Racing is stoked with how we’ve run [to start the year]. I’m always kind of looking for more. There’s a fire that’s been ignited and I want to keep pouring gasoline on it.”
Despite only being 20 years old, Tyrrell is a seasoned LMSC Tour veteran with 77 starts on his resume. The presence of other experienced short track figures in Tyrrell’s shop, which includes former Late Model Stock driver Brandon Butler as his crew chief, have been instrumental in gradually bolstering the program.
Off track, Tyrrell has taken a business-oriented approach with his team. Managing resources and bills is far from an easy process, but those aspects also influence the decisions Tyrrell makes on the track, as he considers himself a more refined, methodical driver compared to his first full-time campaign in 2019.
Patience was needed from Tyrrell in the 2024 AcceleratedGFX.com 285 at Ace, as he survived several late incidents to secure a runner-up finish. Although Tyrrell does not consider Ace to be one of his strongest tracks, he said his team has everything necessary to qualify up front on Saturday and bring home another victory this year.
“I’m leaving [Ace] in my crew chief’s hands,” Tyrrell said. “Brandon [Butler] is an extremely smart guy and has his way of doing things. Me and him have never worked better than this year and last year as well. I’m going into every race with the mentality that I’m there to win and we’ve got as just as good of equipment as everyone else.”
Ryan Millington still searching for first victory of 2025
Expectations for 2025 were high for Ryan Millington following a career year that saw him break a four-year winless drought at Florence Motor Speedway.
The first four races have featured plenty of obstacles for Millington, but his confidence remains unwavering ahead of the Folsom Fence Supply 275 at Ace Speedway. Millington led a combined 176 laps between the two Ace outings last year, which is why he sees Saturday’s 125-lap event as a perfect chance for him to get his season on the right track.
“I’m very excited for Ace to come around,” Millington said. “We always seem to run really well there. We did some testing up there [a couple of weeks ago] and had an absolute rocket ship, so I’m really looking forward to this race again this year.”
Millington said the speed he displayed from 2024 is still prevalent in his No. 15 Leisure Tyme Rentals Chevrolet. He opened the year with a top five at New River All-American Speedway despite sustaining damage, but circumstances have prevented Millington from backing up that performance over the ensuing three events.
With the early season struggles leaving him with a significant points deficit, Millington is shifting his focus over to explicitly pursuing victories. Millington knows Ace can be a springboard towards potentially finding his way back in the LMSC Tour title fight, as the track has been a favorite of his since earning his first win there back in 2020.
Aside from 2018, Millington has never qualified outside the top five in a LMSC Tour event at Ace. Millington is confident he can secure quality track position before the green flag waves Saturday evening, but putting together another complete showing at Ace like 2020 would be crucial towards re-establishing his rhythm from the previous season.
“We’ll have to start up front again,” Millington said. “Even if we don’t, we’ll need to have a good race car and keep the brakes under it all night long. We continuously put ourselves in a position to win that race but have only done it once. Hopefully we can make it number two this year.”
T.J. DeCaire ready to shake off early-season frustrations
The first two CARS PLM Tour events of the 2025 season have seen T.J. DeCaire experience plenty of emotions.
After being disqualified from a victory at New River All-American Speedway, DeCaire rebounded to finish fourth at Cordele Motor Speedway, but not before missing a shift on a restart that triggered a multi-car crash. DeCaire took responsibility for the accident and is ready to move forward with a strong performance at Ace Speedway.
“I made a mistake at Cordele,” DeCaire said. “I tore up a lot of cars and I feel bad about it, but we were competitive and that’s all I can ask for. I’m looking forward to Ace where hopefully I can get that first one, but also kind of my second one as well.”
Although DeCaire was disheartened to see his New River triumph get taken away during inspection, he knew not to dwell on the situation for long. Instead, DeCaire is using the circumstances from New River as motivation to put together more similar outings over the rest of his planned PLM Tour starts.
DeCaire believes Ace presents a great chance for him to tally his first official PLM Tour victory, as he enjoys how competitive the facility is despite the bottom line being preferred. Three previous PLM Tour appearances at the track have also provided DeCaire plenty of knowledge on how to save enough brakes for the end of the night.
Now that he knows what a win feels like, DeCaire is determined to find his way back to Cook Out Victory Lane at some point in 2025. Doing so at Ace will require DeCaire to follow the same strategy that enabled him to cross the finish line first at New River; minimize mistakes and outlast his stellar PLM Tour competition.
“You have to keep the car clean,” DeCaire said. “That seems to be the name of the game with these CARS Tour races, so if we can do that until the last 20 laps, I think we’ll have a decent shot at it. Winning and getting told you didn’t win is not a subtle feeling, so [a win] would be a great bounce back for me.”
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Accompanying the zMAX CARS Tour for Saturday’s Folsom Fence Supply 275 will be Ace Speedway’s Legends division. The Legends kick off the night’s festivities with their first of two 25-lap features at 7 p.m. ET, with the green flag for the PLM Tour flying immediately afterwards.
FloRacing will provide live coverage of all the on-track action.
For more information on the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on X (formerly known as Twitter) and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC, at 704-662-9212.
