ALTAMAHAW, N.C. — Competitors in both zMAX CARS Tour divisions were faced with two different races in Saturday’s Folsom Fence Supply 275 at Ace Speedway: one amongst themselves and another against the weather.
A line of showers moving across the East Coast resulted in an expedited schedule, with the Late Model Stock Car Tour kicking off the evening’s festivities. With an unknown amount of time available before the weather arrived, the racing at Ace proved to be frantic and intense, resulting in plenty of attrition.
Landen Lewis remained stalwart as dark clouds gradually approached Ace from turn one, as he dominated the Late Model Stock feature to secure his second career victory. The rain finally arrived during the Pro Late Model race, which ended on lap 51 with Carson Ware celebrating his first victory in his father’s No. 51 Ford.
Landen Lewis continues KHI’s win streak at Ace
Kevin Harvick Inc. is no stranger to success at Ace Speedway, as they prevailed during the most recent CARS LMSC Tour event at the facility last August with Brent Crews behind the wheel.
Despite sporting a different driver and manufacturer, KHI earned their second consecutive Ace victory on Saturday evening through a stellar performance from Landen Lewis. The outing was a refreshing change of pace for Lewis, who was relieved to once again show the composure that netted him his first LMSC Tour win at Wake County Speedway last year.
“The first one will always be the special one for sure,” Lewis said. “Everyone talks week in and week out how competitive this series is. The last two weeks, we’ve been on a rollercoaster for sure. We qualified pretty much dead last and had to run the top every race to make it inside the top 10.”
Lewis’ worst finish through the first four LMSC Tour races was an 11th in the season-opener at New River All-American Speedway. He knew there was plenty of speed in his No. 29 Rent Source/MMI Chevrolet, the missing link was obtaining a strong qualifying effort.
A fifth-place starting position gave Lewis all the momentum he needed to showcase the strength of KHI’s Late Model Stock program. After LMSC Tour points leader Connor Hall cut a tire during the opening stint, it only took Lewis a handful of laps to assume control of the lead, with his only opposition coming on the copious number of restarts.
The tutelage of Lewis’ mentor in NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. was instrumental for him to withstand every challenge the restarts and his competition provided. Lewis wanted to reward his KHI crew members for their meticulous hard work and is optimistic he can start knocking off more victories over the rest of 2025.
“We came into [Ace] with a different plan,” Lewis said. “Rodney Childers was here and he got us all together. My whole team has been doing so good at working hard and just showing up to the race track with well-prepared race cars. That’s what it takes to win the championship and we’re going to keep plugging away.”
Ryan Millington scores season-best second place finish
The start to the 2025 CARS LMSC Tour season has been frustrating at times for Ryan Millington, yet he entered Saturday’s Folsom Fence Supply 275 at Ace Speedway confident he could return to Cook Out Victory Lane.
Although a win did not materialize for Millington on Saturday evening, he did put together his best performance of the season to date. Millington maintained solid track position inside the top five through all 125 laps but was unable to mount a significant challenge on the race winner in Landen Lewis.
Ace has always been a special track for Millington in Late Model Stocks. The first checkered flag Millington claimed with the LMSC Tour came at Ace back in 2020, where he outdueled current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Layne Riggs in a photo finish.
Since that day, Millington has gradually evolved his small program into one of the best on the LMSC Tour platform. The 2024 season saw Millington snap a four-year winless drought and finish fourth in the final standings, though the efficiency from that campaign had only translate into one top five this season prior to Ace.
Millington departed Ace having provided a solid reminder to his LMSC Tour competition that he is still capable of being a contender every week. It will take more similar performance for Millington to get back in the title hunt, but the Late Model Stock veteran is determined to re-establish consistency against the big-budget programs.
Carson Ware earns first victory in rain-shortened PLM Tour race at Ace
For Carson Ware, securing Rick Ware Racing’s second straight win and his first as a PLM Tour driver on Saturday evening at Ace Speedway came down to perfect timing in two different regards.
Ware watched as the top four in the running order all crashed in front of him after they slipped in fluid laid down by Dylan Garner. With the lead now in his control, Ware just had to manage his equipment and fend off a hard charge from Ben Maier before rain brought the PLM Tour feature to an end just after the halfway point.
“This entire Rick Ware Racing crew is phenomenal,” Ware said. “I had some big shoes to fill with Luke [Baldwin] kicking their butts last weekend [at Orange County Speedway]. I’m glad we could do it again this weekend. My spotter did an excellent job getting me through [the turn one accident] and we had it covered from there.”
Ware’s journey as a competitor has taken him to several different disciplines, including brief stints in the NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Among the achievements on Ware’s resume include a victory in Bowman Gray Stadium’s prestigious Modified division.
Finding his way to Cook Out Victory Lane on Saturday initially appeared to be an arduous task for Ware, who had to climb up from the seventh starting position with no guarantee the PLM Tour feature would reach its advertised distance. Complicating circumstances was the caliber of drivers in front of him that included Ben Maier, Keelan Harvick and others.
Even with Maier, Harvick and the other frontrunners crashing, Ware still had to be careful as raindrops began to take away Ace’s available grip. Ware kept the car straight until the final caution flag of the night waved, allowing him to celebrate a cathartic milestone that he said was indicative of Rick Ware Racing’s commitment to Pro Late Models.
“It was a little sketchy through [turns] three and four,” Ware said. “I felt pretty good through [turns] one and two, but we were just trying to adjust the line. This year we decided to dive deep into the CARS Tour. FURY Race Cars and everyone who works on these things are top-tier and I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity.”
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Both zMAX CARS Tour divisions will get a couple of weeks off before heading to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for All-Star Race weekend. The CARS PLM Tour race will be held on Thursday, May 15, while the CARS LMSC Tour feature is taking place on Friday, May 16.
FloRacing is providing sole coverage of the PLM Tour feature, all while the LMSC Tour will be broadcasted on FS1 in a collaborative effort with FloRacing.
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.
LMSC Results:
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 15 Ryan Millington
- 44 Conner Jones
- 03 Lanie Buice
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 4 Kade Brown
- 8 Caden Kvapil
- 71 Parker Eatmon
- 4S Donovan Strauss
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr.
- 88 Connor Hall
- 22 Carson Loftin
- 11 Buddy Isles Jr.
- 00 Chase Burrow
- 28 Landon S. Huffman
- 12 Hudson Bulger -1
- 81 Mini Tyrrell -1
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT
- 1 Andrew Grady – OUT
- 2 Brandon Pierce – OUT
- 41 Mason Diaz – OUT
- 05 Mason Bailey – OUT
- 2W Ryan Wilson – OUT
- 71B Jake Bollman – OUT
- 7 Austin Green – OUT
PLM Results:
- 51 Carson Ware
- 6M Ben Maier
- 54 Brody Monahan
- 15D Rodney Dowless
- 25 Jason Kitzmiller
- 8F Adrian Ferrer
- 62 Keelan Harvick – OUT
- 47 T.J. DeCaire – OUT
- 97 Dylan Garner – OUT
- 6L Brandon Lopez – OUT
Note: Race was shortened to 51 laps due to rain
