ANDERSON, S.C. — A capacity crowd descended upon Anderson Motor Speedway Saturday evening for the zMAX CARS Tour’s first race at the facility since 2018.
The presence of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the field contributed to the influx of spectators, many of whom were eager to see the MLB All-Star Classic paint scheme he piloted to victory lane in the 2001 Pepsi 400. Those who were in attendance also got to witness the ongoing emergence of two of short track racing’s brightest young stars.
Landen Lewis ended a tough summer stretch by emerging victorious in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour portion of the Bennett Equipment 225 after a late race-winning pass. In the CARS Pro Late Model Tour race, Luke Baldwin would be the one to take home a checkered flag in Rick Ware Racing’s No. 51.
Landen Lewis finds his way back to Cook Out Victory Lane
Since earning his second victory of 2025 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May, Landen Lewis has been in contention to win almost every race since then.
Circumstances within and outside of his control prevented Lewis from sustaining his momentum, which also caused him to lose the CARS LMSC Tour points lead. A tumultuous period for Lewis finally ended Saturday evening at Anderson Motor Speedway, coming out on top in an intense battle with Jared Fryar.
“This is insane,” Lewis said. “It’s been a rough two weeks. I cancelled a jet ski trip to stay back at the race shop and help these guys fix this race car. When I walked in Tuesday morning, I got pretty emotional. We fought hard and I’m so thankful for all these [Kevin Harvick Inc.] guys for busting their butts.”
Lewis used the frustration from the Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway as motivation for Saturday evening. A hard battle between him and Tristan McKee for the lead on a late-race restart ended in a hard crash that cost Lewis an opportunity at $50,000.
With the guidance of Kevin Harvick and a seasoned team at his disposal, Lewis felt confident Anderson could be the track where he ended his winless drought. It took Lewis most of the feature to find a way around Fryar for the lead, but he finally made the crucial overtake with 13 laps remaining.
The spirited battle for the win with Fryar is why Lewis considered Saturday’s Bennett Equipment 225 one of the most enjoyable Late Model Stock races he has participated in. Besting a veteran like Fryar required plenty of maturity on Lewis’ behalf, something he said was imperative off track as he regrouped from Hickory.
“A destroyed race car is never fun,” Lewis said. “These guys are all down and out [because] we had a shot to win $50,000 and it was swept away from us. It’s so special when you can rebound like this and cap it off with a win. Definitely a new mentality.”
Landon Huffman places second after spirited, late-race drive
Having a few more laps at his disposal in Saturday’s Bennett Equipment 225 likely could have enabled Landon Huffman to snap a CARS LMSC Tour dry spell that dates to his Old North State Nationals win at Tri-County Motor Speedway in 2023.
No one in the field could match Huffman’s pace in the closing stages as he picked off his competition one-by-one. Huffman passed Jared Fryar shortly before the white flag to earn a strong second-place finish, his best showing so far in what has been a strong campaign with Carroll Speedshop.
“This is the same race car I had at Caraway [Speedway],” Huffman said. “We’ve been chipping away at it. This Carroll Speedshop group has been working hard week in and week out and I’m really proud of the speed we’ve got at the end of these races.”
Huffman has now eclipsed the number of top fives he accumulated in his other full-time LMSC Tour season with Nelson Motorsports a couple of years ago. Through each race, Huffman and Justin Carroll have only built more chemistry and inch closer to that breakthrough checkered flag.
There have been numerous instances where Huffman believes he and Carroll should have already found their way to Cook Out Victory Lane. The Caraway car Huffman brought to Anderson Motor Speedway had to be rebuilt after a late crash in which he tangled with two of the race leaders in Mini Tyrrell and Landen Lewis while inside the top five.
Coming up one spot short of a victory Saturday only fuels Huffman’s desire to add another LMSC Tour victory to his resume. He has plenty of confidence in the race pace of his No. 57 Chevrolet, but he said finding track position at the start of the feature is the missing piece the team needs to take that final step forward.
“We’re undeniably the best car at the end of these races, but we have to put a whole race together,” Huffman said. “The series is tough and competition is stout. I take pride in working myself through the field and trying not to run over people. I’m just proud of the effort and we made it home clean again with a good finish.”
Luke Baldwin shakes off Hickory heartbreak with Anderson win
Only a few inches separated Luke Baldwin from earning $30,000 in the Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago.
Baldwin wasted no time moving forward from that evening by pulling away with a commanding lead at Anderson Motor Speedway on Saturday for his second CARS PLM Tour victory of 2025. The No. 51 was so efficient at the end of the race that Baldwin backed off to conserve his tires in case he needed them for a late sprint.
“What a race car today,” Baldwin said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever saved tire harder in a Pro Late Model than I was those last 15 laps, praying for no yellow. I didn’t really do anything, so hats off to Troy Smith and the whole [Rick Ware Racing] team. I don’t think this race car was being stopped at the end.”
After qualifying in the third position, Baldwin methodically ran his own pace behind the leaders, as he knew not to expense his equipment too early on Anderson’s abrasive surface. Third was where Baldwin primarily stayed during the opening half until a crucial, mid-race restart.
While trying to hold his lead, PLM Tour points leader Ben Maier got loose under Tristan McKee in turn one, sending both cars up the track. Baldwin capitalized on the opportunity and effortlessly took control of the race, where the benefit of clean air enabled him to extend his advantage by over six seconds at the checkered flag.
Baldwin’s triumph gave Rick Ware Racing their third PLM Tour victory of 2025, with Carson Ware scoring the other one in a rain-shortened event at Ace Speedway back in May. The PLM Tour owner’s title remains firmly in Ware’s control after Anderson, which is something Baldwin is eager to help them accomplish across his remaining appearances.
“Right when I stepped in the race car, it was badass,” Baldwin said. “Troy Smith has been doing this a long time and he’s really been showing his craft this year with the No. 51 car. Carson and Cody [Ware] are doing a great job themselves building on that points lead, so hopefully we can have a few more good [races] and finish it out.”
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Next up for both zMAX CARS Tour divisions is a trip to Florence Motor Speedway on Aug. 29 as part of Labor Day weekend, with FloRacing set to provide 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:
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 14 Jared Fryar
- 00 Chase Burrow
- 88 Connor Hall
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 7 Tristan McKee
- 4 Kade Brown
- 71 Parker Eatmon
- 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- 4S Donovan Strauss
- 03 Lanie Buice
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr.
- 22 Carson Loftin
- X Thomas Beane
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 44 Conner Jones
- 88G Gary Greenwood Jr. -1
- 71B Jake Bollman – OUT
- 7H Ryan Howard – OUT
- 40 Taylor Satterfield – OUT
- 2C Ralph Carnes – OUT
- 36 Neil Meredith – OUT
- 09 Riley Gentry – OUT
- 74 Jeremy Burns – OUT
- 18 David Roberts – OUT
- 2W Ryan Wilson – OUT
PLM Results:
- 51 Luke Baldwin
- 25 Isaac Kitzmiller
- 54 Seth Christensen
- 6 Ben Maier
- 47 Tyler Reif
- 97 Dylan Garner
- 6L Brandon Lopez
- 4 Trey Burke
- 9 Ashton Higgins
- 24 Jade Avedisian
- 15 Rodney Dowless
- 2 Hudson Canipe -1
- 16 Timothy Sozio -1
- 8 Toro Rodriguez -1
- 7 Tristan McKee – OUT
- 75 Tristan Pena – OUT
- 82 Taylor Hull – OUT
