HICKORY, N.C. – Of the drivers that were entered in the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour portion of the Spears Manufacturing Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway, Matthew Gould was a name not many would have considered as a favorite.
Yet there were plenty of factors supporting Gould as he made his first attempt at one of the CARS Tour’s most cherished events. Not only did Gould have copious laps logged around Hickory, but his Niece Motorsports Late Model Stock was prepared by eight-time CARS LMSC Tour winner Connor Hall.
While Hall was off at his home track of Langley claiming one of the track’s two Late Model Stock features on Saturday, Gould took care of business Hickory. Gould capitalized on misfortune encountered by contenders such as Kaden Honeycutt, Corey Heim and Lee Pulliam to earn his first CARS LMSC Tour checkered flag.
Joining Gould in Cook Out Victory Lane was T.J. DeCaire in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, who survived a chaotic 100-lap feature marred by numerous cautions. The second CARS PLM Tour triumph for DeCaire also served as the first career victory for his team in LowCountry Motorsports.
Patience pays off for Matthew Gould in Throwback Classic
From all the time he spent around Connor Hall and his father in veteran crew chief Phil Gould, Matthew Gould knew it was imperative to keep his Late Model Stock in one piece if he wanted a shot at winning the Spears Manufacturing Throwback Classic.
Gould’s car was one of the few in the 29-car Late Model Stock field that had minimal scratches on it at the end of 125 laps. Avoiding trouble was an arduous task for Gould given how intense the racing was Saturday evening, but he trusted his instincts and the advice provided to score one of the biggest accomplishments of his young career.
“I just had to be patient at the beginning,” Gould said. “We ran a mistake-free race and we put ourselves in the right position on restarts. I was skeptical on whether to take the top or bottom and lose a row, but at the end, I felt like it worked out for us. I can’t thank everybody enough and I’m just really blessed to be here.”
Saturday’s Throwback Classic was only Gould’s fifth start in the CARS LMSC Tour, with his best showing being a 10th in his most recent appearance at Dominion Raceway. Gould also possesses four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts with Niece Motorsports, the same team Phil works for.
The appearances Gould made in the Truck Series made him realize he was not yet ready for NASCAR, so he sought to further refine his craft at the Late Model Stock level. Having Niece Motorsports bring in Hall to build up their own program has left a profound impact on Gould, who feels he is much wiser and more composed behind the wheel.
Without Hall’s guidance and expertise, Gould knows it would have been far more challenging to hold his own against numerous other Late Model Stock elites. Gould is proud of all the progress he has made with Hall over the past several months and intends to cherish his Throwback Classic victory before regrouping for his next event.
“This is the biggest day of my career,” Gould said. “In practice, I thought we weren’t very good. I messed up in qualifying, so to be able to come from mid-pack and come all the way to the front is incredible. I joke that I race at Hickory every year and sit on the couch for the Throwback race. For our first attempt and win, it’s awesome.”
Treyten Lapcevich settles for strong points day in Throwback Classic
Although Treyten Lapcevich gained crucial ground on Caden Kvapil in the CARS LMSC Tour standings with a runner-up in the Spears Manufacturing Throwback Classic, he would have preferred to celebrate in Cook Out Victory Lane.
Lapcevich inherited the lead after late contact between him, Kaden Honeycutt and Lee Pulliam took the latter two out of contention, but he could not fend off Matthew Gould on the ensuing restart. Were it not for a mechanical failure, Lapcevich believed he could have been able to snag his first LMSC Tour win in two years on Saturday.
“It’s disappointing for sure to come up short,” Lapcevich said. “It’s a good points day and that’s what you take from it. I thought we had a really good car today, [but] it seems like the left sway bar arm fell off right at the last restart of the race. I kind of had a handful there. It’s disappointing for sure. I thought we had a car we could take to victory lane tonight.”
Lapcevich possesses plenty of experience when it comes to winning titles, especially in his home country of Canada. In 2023, Lapcevich put together a stellar season in the NASCAR Canada Series that saw him win the championship with seven victories in 14 starts.
Consistency has been a hallmark of Lapcevich’s second full-time LMSC Tour season, as his worst finish of the year was a 17th in the most recent event at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Prior to that weekend, Lapcevich had not finished outside the top 10 once and previously scored another runner-up at Ace Speedway back in May.
The primary issue for Lapcevich is that Kvapil has been slightly better than him with two victories to his name, which helped him build a 28-point advantage going into the Throwback Classic. Kvapil placing eighth at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday allowed Lapcevich to erase a decent portion of his deficit, which gives him momentum to work with.
Yet usurping Kvapil remains a tall order for Lapcevich and Chad Bryant Racing, especially with JR Motorsports having previously won LMSC Tour titles with Josh Berry and Carson Kvapil. Lapcevich will need to keep separating himself from Kvapil on-track if he wishes to be in the championship discussion at South Boston Speedway in October.
T.J. DeCaire delivers LowCountry Motorsports breakthrough win
After narrowly missing out on a victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway last month, catharsis hit both T.J. DeCaire and LowCountry Motorsports in Saturday’s Spears Manufacturing Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway.
The cautions that enveloped the CARS PLM Tour feature all happened behind DeCaire, who dominated the race from the pole in a car that honored Mike Garvey’s 2001 ASA National Tour paint scheme. DeCaire was thrilled to not only visit Cook Out Victory Lane again, but also reward the hard work exuded by LowCountry Motorsports as a whole.
“Obviously, Hickory is such a special place to everybody,” DeCaire said. “[My crew chief] Cody Glick put together a car [so] good, along with [co-owners] A.J. [Frank], Mikey [Kile] and the entire LowCounty Motorsports team. For our second race together, it’s been pretty impressive.”
Known for their background in endurance racing, LowCountry Motorsports entered the CARS Tour platform midway through the 2025 season with Tristan McKee as their driver. Other drivers that have competed for LowCountry Motorsports over the past year include Treyten Lapcevich and reigning CARS PLM Tour champion Ben Maier.
DeCaire felt the car LowCountry prepared for him at North Wilkesboro in his debut outing with the team was strong enough to triumph, but poor timing with slower traffic and cautions prevented him from passing the eventual winner in Kaden Honeycutt. While the outcome was frustrating, it also motivated DeCaire ahead of the Throwback Classic.
What also fueled DeCaire’s determination on Saturday was the possibility of winning in the same No.1 Tecumseh car that Garvey enjoyed so much success with during his own driving career. DeCaire considers Garvey a vital figure in his ongoing development and felt it was fitting to give such an iconic scheme of his one more victory.
“Mike Garvey is my Super Late Model crew chief and he does a great job week in and week out.” DeCaire said. “We’ve worked together [a lot] on the Super Late Model side and it’s really special to me to be able to bring Mike out here [to Hickory] and park it in Victory Lane.”
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A busy closing stretch for the zMAX CARS Tour will continue Aug. 22 when Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model competitors visit Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, South Carolina. On-track action is set to commence at 7 p.m. ET, with FloRacing providing live flag-to-flag coverage.
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 at 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:
- 4G Matthew Gould
- 77 Treyten Lapcevich
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 9 Ryan Millington
- 1 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 16J Conner Jones
- 5B Chase Burrow
- 88 Caden Kvapil
- 16M Chad McCumbee
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 51 Michael Bumgarner
- 37 Landon Huffman
- 84 Landon S. Huffman
- 7 Helio Meza
- 4 Parker Eatmon
- 95 London McKenzie
- 28 Kade Brown
- 44 Dylan Newsome
- 20 Carson Loftin -8
- 17 Kaden Honeycutt – OUT
- 5 Lee Pulliam – OUT
- 15 Jace Hale – OUT
- 6 Brandon Lopez – OUT
- 28R Landon Rapp – OUT
- 22 Corey Heim – OUT
- 71 Jake Bollman – OUT
- 06 Matt Leicht – OUT
- 99 Brandon Dean – OUT
- 37R Chase Robertson – OUT
PLM results:
- 1 T.J. DeCaire
- 44 Conner Jones
- 30 Treyten Lapcevich
- 54 Kaden Honeycutt
- 20 Evan McKnight
- 31 Brody Monahan
- 75 Keelan Harvick
- 5 James Seeright
- 83 Bayley Currey
- 47 Luke Baldwin
- 97 Dylan Garner
- 49 Jeff Batten
- 13 Ben Mack -1
- 33 Jack Baldwin -1
- 6 Mason Walters -4
- 25 Rodney Dowless Jr. – OUT
- 01 Brody Gunter – OUT
- 6C Vito Cancilla – OUT
- 12 Colton Hale – OUT
- 55 Palmer Haag – OUT
- 7 Jacob Bradley – OUT
- 15 Case James – OUT
- 43 Nick Loden – OUT
- 50 Tristan Pena – OUT
Note: Results are unofficial
