RALEIGH, N.C. – With eight laps remaining in the Delta Heating Cooling & Plumbing 175 at Wake County Speedway for the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour, Conner Jones ran out of fuel while leading.
He ended the night in Cook Out Victory Lane.
Through a sequence of events that even Jones found hard to believe, the Fredericksburg, Virginia native cycled back to the front as his fellow competitors also endured fuel issues. All Jones needed was to best a battered Landen Lewis on the final restart to triumph at the end of a long, chaotic night at Wake County.
Jones’ victory was the fourth of his CARS LMSC Tour career and his first since ending the 2024 season by sweeping the last two races. It also snapped a prolonged winless drought for owner Justin Carroll, who has fielded entries in the CARS Tour for over a decade, dating back to his first race as a driver back in 2016.
Unorthodox circumstances lead Conner Jones to victory
The emotions that best summarized Conner Jones’ demeanor in Cook Out Victory Lane were that of elation and disbelief.
Jones thought a successful sophomore effort with Carroll Speedshop would turn out fruitless after exhausting the fuel in his tank. Instead, Jones was proud to see the strenuous effort of his crew, along with the cooperation shared with teammate Landon Huffman, pay off with a finish he knew Carroll Speedshop deserved.
“I thought it was done [when we ran out of fuel],” Jones said. “I honestly thought we lost a lap, but I guess we didn’t. Hats off to my crew. They did one hell of a job all weekend. Landon [Huffman] is one hell of a teammate. He’s way better than most teammates I’ve had in the past. We work together really well and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Jones was eager to start a new chapter with Carroll’s operation after a 2025 season that was disappointing by his standards. Although he tallied a career-high four top five finishes, Jones did not take home any checkered flags and finished sixth in the final CARS LMSC Tour standings.
Eager to shake off a 17th place run to open 2026 at Southern National Motorsports Park, Jones would have to climb from the middle of the pack to contend for a victory on Saturday. By working the cautions to his advantage, Jones found himself at the front and appeared to have a victory secured after passing Caden Kvapil in the feature’s closing moments.
Jones then watched as Kvapil, Huffman and numerous others fell by the wayside late, which allowed him to reassume the lead and properly finish off his strong night. While he would have preferred a more procedural victory, Jones is confident the speed he showed at Wake County is a positive omen for the rest of his LMSC Tour season with Carroll.
“We had a really good car all weekend,” Jones said. “We didn’t really practice as much as a lot of people did, but a lot of it is luck. We ran out of gas I guess at the right time. Hats off to my Carroll Speedshop guys. They brought me one hell of a IBCI Chevy this weekend.”
Sam Butler rallies to score career-best LMSC Tour finish
The evening Sam Butler endured at Wake County Speedway was a perfect representation of the Dodge RAM branding on his No. 16 Late Model.
Although he was missing the hood and right-front fender, Butler rallied from being laps down to the leader to positioning himself for a run at the top spot. When the dust settled on an eventful evening, Butler was in the runner-up spot, a career-best showing for him on the CARS LMSC Tour.
Butler has made a handful of appearances with the LMSC Tour over the past several years, but 2021 was his busiest season. In the eight starts Butler made, he ended up scoring two top five performances, which were the two opening events of the year at Dillon Motor Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway.
For 2026, Butler is piloting R&S Race Cars’ house chassis, which carries the black and yellow colors of Dodge RAM’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team in Kaulig Racing. The first outing for Butler and R&S at Southern National Motorsports Park was quiet, but the duo did bring home a lead-lap finish of 12th.
Wake County served as a much-needed jolt for Butler and R&S despite the obstacles they encountered throughout the feature. With 12 races remaining on the 2026 LMSC Tour schedule, the two have plenty of time to gather more notes on their Dodge chassis and continue improving their chemistry.
Chase Burrow charges from rear of the field to third
A disappointing time of 12.345 in qualifying at Wake County meant Chase Burrow would have to take a provisonal to start Saturday’s Delta Heating Cooling & Plumbing 175.
Like everyone else entered in the 26-car field, Burrow’s evening was hectic and unpredictable, but it culminated with him securing a third-place finish. Burrow felt the performance in qualifying was not indicative of the potential his No. 5 Medek Corporation Ford possessed, but he was glad to see that speed translate into a strong outing.
“I knew we had a good race car,” Burrow said. “It showed speed all day, but we needed to get through the race. Adam Medek [of Medek Corporation] was here [on Saturday], so I’m glad he was here to see that. All these guys did a heck of a job trying to keep me calm there for sure. We stayed out of trouble and look where it got us.”
Burrow is fresh off a career year in the CARS LMSC Tour that saw him earn a breakthrough victory at Langley Speedway with his own operation. For 2026, Burrow has aligned himself with Hettinger Racing, which fielded cars for Donovan Strauss, Parker Eatmon and others last year.
Wake County proved to be the opposite of what Burrow experienced in his first LMSC Tour race with Hettinger at Southern National Motorsports Park. Burrow knocked down a strong fifth-place qualifying effort to open 2026, but he was unable to maintain that consistency during the feature and faded to 16th.
By persevering through the poor qualifying effort and the on-track chaos that enveloped the Delta Heating Cooling & Plumbing 175, Burrow departed Wake County with confidence on his side. Growing pains were to be expected in his first year with Hettinger, but Burrow felt Wake County showed the duo may already be on the precipice of a victory together.
There are plenty of races ahead for Burrow and Hettinger to ascertain how to find consistent speed across qualifying and race trim. Once they do so, Burrow will be ready to build upon a stellar 2025 LMSC Tour campaign.
Landen Lewis settles for fourth in CARS Tour return
The first race back for defending CARS LMSC Tour champion Landen Lewis proved to be more eventful than he expected.
Lewis’ No. 29 Chevrolet had plenty of battle scars at the end of the evening, yet he still found himself with a realistic shot at a checkered flag. A stalwart mindset propelled Lewis to an LMSC Tour title in 2025, so he was determined to finish the Delta Heating Cooling & Plumbing 175 on a high note despite some of his earlier misfortune.
“I fought through adversity all night long,” Lewis said. “I’m so proud of these guys. It’s not how I wanted to see it coming back to the tour, but I’m just thankful to have guys around me that want to fight just like I do. Got caught up in a wreck that I didn’t think was needed, but we’ll go to the end no matter what.”
Lewis was absent from the LMSC Tour season-opener at Southern National Motorsports Park due to him running the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. Driving the No. 45 for Niece Motorsports, Lewis avoided trouble all day and secured a career-best finish of sixth.
In many ways, Wake County was a perfect track for Lewis to make his LMSC Tour return. The quarter-mile bullring was the site of Lewis’ maiden LMSC Tour victory back in 2024 and his fifth-place finish there last season was the first of seven top fives that ultimately propelled him to the top of the CARS Tour pedestal.
On a night that saw numerous drivers run out of fuel, Lewis still managed to keep his perfect LMSC Tour top five record at Wake County intact even after sustaining damage. The cadence Lewis developed around Wake County during his time in Legends remains with him and was crucial towards positioning himself for a victory.
A busy year is ahead for Lewis as he balances out his LMSC Tour obligations with the Truck Series. If Wake County is any indication, the reigning series champion is going to be a factor in every LMSC Tour event he enters in 2026.
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Following a wild night at Wake County Speedway, both divisions of the zMAX CARS Tour will head to Tennessee for the Tootsie’s Music City Showdown at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on April 11. The event will serve as the inaugural visit to Nashville for the CARS LMSC Tour and PLM Tour.
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.
LMSC Results:
- 44 Conner Jones
- 16 Sam Butler
- 5B Chase Burrow
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 77 Treyten Lapcevich
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 88 Caden Kvapil
- 1 Clay Jones
- 7 Aiden King
- 8 Tate Fogleman -1
- 41 Mason Diaz -8
- 5 Carson Brown – OUT
- 4 Parker Eatmon – OUT
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr. -9
- 6 Brandon Lopez -19
- 71 Jake Bollman – OUT
- 22 Carson Loftin -35
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT
- 14 Jared Fryar – OUT
- 81 Mini Tyrrell – OUT
- 16M Chad McCumbee – OUT
- 08 Carson Haislip – OUT
- 15 Jace Hale – OUT
- 77L Carter Langley – OUT
- 50 Daniel Vuncannon – OUT
