ASHEBORO, N.C. – Renowned for his clean, consistent nature as a competitor, one accomplishment Jared Fryar had yet to reach in the zMAX CARS Tour was a multi-win season in either platform.
The 2020 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion finally reached that milestone on Wednesday evening at his home track of Caraway Speedway. Fryar took advantage of a late crash between leaders Landen Lewis and Mini Tyrrell in the Firecracker 265 to claim his third Caraway LMSC Tour victory.
While Fryar celebrated his sixth LMSC Tour win, Brandon Lopez pulled into Cook Out Victory Lane for the first time in his CARS Pro Late Model Tour career. Like Fryar, circumstances played out in Lopez’ favor, who had to survive a chaotic PLM Tour feature to bring home a checkered flag.
Jared Fryar enjoys proper victory celebration at Caraway
When Jared Fryar last prevailed at Caraway Speedway in 2023, he did not get the chance to enjoy the moment in Cook Out Victory Lane, as he inherited the win after Layne Riggs was disqualified in post-race inspection.
There was no such wait for Fryar on Wednesday evening, who eagerly climbed out of his No. 14 Ford to celebrate with his crew. Fryar was also thrilled to finally obtain a multi-win season with the CARS LMSC Tour, adding he appreciates being able to stay competitive despite his status as a part-time driver.
“It’s awesome to win two in a year, that’s a first for me,” Fryar said. “We’ve won them and lost a lot of them, so to win two in one year is awesome. Things are clicking so good right now for me and my team. I’m super lucky to have opportunities at wins like this. They get special every time and it’s so cool to keep winning these races.”
Caraway has always been a special track to Fryar, as the facility is located less than 30 minutes from his hometown of Trinity, North Carolina. Fryar knows how to be consistent at Caraway regardless of the car, as he earned Super Late Model victories there in 2015 and 2019 with two separate sanctioning bodies.
Fryar utilized all his prior Caraway experience to knock out a third-place lap in qualifying, but he quickly found himself at the mercy of Mini Tyrrell and Landen Lewis. Despite initially being able to pressure Tyrrell for the lead, Fryar eventually faded to third while Lewis took control of the race in the closing laps.
Once Lewis and Tyrrell were eliminated from contention following a restart crash, nothing impeded Fryar from visiting Cook Out Victory Lane at Caraway once again. Fryar cherishes every opportunity to race at Caraway and considered himself fortunate everything worked out in his favor to win on Wednesday evening.
“We got lucky when [Lewis and Tyrrell] slipped out of turn two and got together in what I thought was a racing deal,” Fryar said. “I feel like their cars were definitely better than [mine]. I squeezed by, had a good restart and kept it out front. With all the rain, we only got like 12 laps of practice, so to do it like this was pretty cool too.
Another strong night for Kaden Honeycutt ends with second-place run
The lone midweek race on the 2025 CARS LMSC Tour calendar provided Kaden Honeycutt an opportunity to return to his Late Model Stock roots.
Back in the No. 17 for Tom Usry Racing, Honeycutt displayed his familiar poise and raw speed to secure a solid second-place finish in Wednesday’s Firecracker 265 at Caraway Speedway. Honeycutt wanted to chase down Jared Fryar in the closing stages, but found solace in delivering a strong performance for Usry’s operation.
“This is my family,” Honeycutt said. “I love everybody that gives me the chance to do what I love to do. We just want to win races. I’m definitely disappointed being in second, but it’s been March since we’ve ran together as a group, so I’m very happy with [everything].”
After running the CARS LMSC Tour season-opener at New River All-American Speedway with Usry, Honeycutt’s next three appearances in the series came with Hettinger Racing. Two of those starts ended in a top five finish for Honeycutt, his best showing being a third at Orange County Speedway after starting 14th.
Having previously won at Caraway in a CARS PLM Tour event, Honeycutt was confident he could finally guide Usry’s team to Cook Out Victory Lane in his first race back with the team. Although Honeycutt struggled to move forward, he did maintain solid track position inside the top five all night before settling for second.
Despite his success behind the wheel, Honeycutt has not won an LMSC Tour race since 2022 at Ace Speedway. Honeycutt knows he inches closer to breaking that drought with every start he makes and is confident the upcoming Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway will be the perfect chance for him to finally notch another LMSC Tour win.
“I’ll stop finishing second one of these days,” Honeycutt said. “I’ve finished second so many times over the past couple of years. We’re just fighting to be the best we possibly can going into Hickory and try to win that $50,000. I just love racing, that’s why I’m here. I definitely learned something [on Wednesday] and hopefully we can get even better.”
Brandon Lopez earns first CARS PLM Tour victory as a driver
During his time in the CARS PLM Tour, Brandon Lopez has enjoyed several victories and a championship as the co-owner of Bryson Lopez Racing.
On Wednesday evening, Lopez finally got to celebrate his first PLM Tour win behind the wheel. After starting in 10th, Lopez took advantage of several yellow flags to methodically work his way forward and earn a breakthrough victory that he admitted required tremendous patience to pull off.
“I can’t thank [Bryson Lopez Racing] enough for sticking behind me,” Lopez said. “It’s been a long two years and never really knew anything about car racing until my stepbrother convinced me to get into it. I didn’t think my first win would come in the CARS Tour, but we’re winners.”
Ever since Lopez and co-owner Dustin Bryson brought their operation into the PLM Tour, it has quickly become one of the most efficient in the series. Kaden Honeycutt brought a PLM Tour title to Bryson Lopez Racing in 2024 with a stellar stretch in which he never finished worse than fourth in all five of his starts with the team.
The best finish Lopez had tallied as a competitor prior to his triumph at Caraway Speedway was a seventh at South Boston Speedway during Honeycutt’s championship run. By being an observer to the attrition that impacted drivers like Ben Maier, Keelan Harvick, Tyler Reif and others, Lopez found his way to the lead with a handful of laps left.
Perfect execution on the final restarts was imperative for Lopez to hold onto his advantage. Although Lopez has acquired plenty of reps with restarts in a straight-rail car, he said the commitment everyone at Bryson Lopez Racing shows on and off the track was crucial towards making his maiden PLM Tour victory materialize.
“If anybody watches [Pro Late Model] races around the country, there are a lot of restarts,” Lopez said. “We’re all pretty used to it by now. It was just another restart there and we had some clear track in front of us. We knew we had a good car and we have a lot of heart. If you go to the track every weekend, eventually you’re going to win.”
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While zMAX CARS LMSC Tour competitors get a month-long break before the Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway, CARS PLM Tour drivers will make an early trip there next weekend. More than just a victory will be on the line for the July 12 date, as the driver who prevails earns a guaranteed spot in the Throwback Classic.
FloRacing will carry live coverage of all the on-track action for next Saturday’s PLM Tour event.
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:
- 14 Jared Fryar
- 17 Kaden Honeycutt
- 7 Tristan McKee
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr.
- 00 Chase Burrow
- 4S Donovan Strauss
- 4 Kade Brown
- 22 Carson Loftin
- 12W Brandon Ward
- 16 Chad McCumbee
- 88 Connor Hall
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 2W Ryan Wilson
- 7W Dylan Ward
- 71 Parker Eatmon
- 1 Andrew Grady
- 03 Lanie Buice
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 57 Landon Huffman -1
- 12 Trevor Ward -2
- 66 Zack Wells -2
- 44 Conner Jones -5
- 81 Mini Tyrrell – OUT
- 18 Max Reaves – OUT
- 15 Grant Davidson – OUT
PLM Results:
- 6L Brandon Lopez
- 24 Brody Gunter
- 47 Tyler Reif
- 61 Mason Walters
- 51 Cody Ware
- 54C Seth Christensen
- 25 Isaac Kitzmiller
- 4 Trey Burke – OUT
- 15 Rodney Dowless – OUT
- 44 Conner Jones – OUT
- 62 Keelan Harvick – OUT
- 6 Ben Maier – OUT
- 77 Darren Krantz Jr. – OUT
- 97 Dylan Garner – OUT
- 97K Jason Kitzmiller – OUT
- 7 Tristan McKee – OUT
