The 2027 season-opener for the zMAX CARS Tour is primed to be one of the biggest in the history of the platform, as it will take place under the warm Florida sun.
Freedom Factory, owned by ARCA Menards Series competitor and YouTube personality Cleetus McFarland, is set to kick off the CARS Tour’s 12th season of operation on Feb. 6, 2027. McFarland is among the names expected to enter the event alongside CARS Tour co-owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick, among others.
When Freedom Factory first opened to the public in 1978, it was known as Desoto Speedway. Along with supporting several local racing classes, Desoto also hosted events for several touring series such as the ASA National Tour and the NASCAR Southeast Series.
Financial issues forced Desoto Speedway to cease operations in 2018, but the facility did not stay closed for long. In 2020, McFarland purchased the abandoned Desoto and renamed it Freedom Factory, with his initial goal to preserve the complex and use it for content creation.
Under McFarland’s ownership, Freedom Factory has become a hub for events involving Crown Victoria cars, colloquially known as Crown Vics. The most popular of these is the Freedom 500, a 100-lap race held every April that attracted notable names such as Travis Pastrana, Kenny Wallace and Earnhardt Jr.’s nephew Wyatt Miller to Freedom Factory this year.
Outside of Crown Vic races, Freedom Factory is also back to hosting races for touring divisions and other big stock car events just like it did during the facility’s original run. Freedom Factory is now the site of the Bill Bigley Sr. Memorial 128, a Super Late Model race that originally started at Freedom Factory before briefly moving to the now-defunct 417 Southern Speedway.
The CARS Tour is the latest series to become a part of Freedom Factory’s ever-growing schedule of events. This will be the farthest south the CARS Tour has ever travelled for a race, with Cordele Motor Speedway in Georgia previously holding that distinction after hosting an event for the series in 2025.
Freedom Factory’s geographical location, combined with its fast, 3/8-mile layout, presents quite a unique challenge for CARS Tour teams to start the season. Yet a unique opportunity is available for drivers in both the Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model divisions to make history by finding Cook Out Victory Lane during the Freedom Factory’s first CARS Tour weekend.
Tickets for the 2027 CARS Tour season-opening race are set to go live through Freedom Factory on Oct. 19. Additional details will be announced in the coming weeks.
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.
