Brenden Queen (left) and Augie Grill (right) scored CARS Racing Tour wins on Wednesday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Queen took the victory in the Late Model Stock feature, while Grill topped the Pro Late Model field for the win. Photos: CARS Racing Tour/Twitter
Brenden Queen and Augie Grill both added to the history of North Carolina’s North Wilkesboro Speedway in the CARS Racing Tour’s second visit to the raceway.
Queen took home top honors in the Late Model Stock Car feature, while veteran campaigner Grill scored the victory in the Pro Late Model feature.
In the Late Model Stock Car portion, Brenden Queen and Lee Pulliam Performance flawlessly executed on both tire and pit strategy to fend of the series regulars and a host of NASCAR stars for a victory that Queen described as equal parts emotional and cathartic.
“This is nuts,” Queen said. “I said to my guys all week that we were going to ride the lift and damn if we did. My family team was starting to win a lot of races, but I came over to Lee (Pulliam Performance) because I wanted to do the (CARS) Tour. We wanted a CARS Tour win and got one (on Wednesday). This has to be the coolest win of my career.”
Queen still remembers the heartbreak that hindered him during the CARS Tour’s first trip to North Wilkesboro last August. After maintaining solid track position all evening, Queen’s hood came apart during the closing stages, which forced him to retire shortly before the checkered flag.
No such issue plagued Queen during his second trip to the iconic facility. Differing strategies required him to come through the field on two different occasions, but nobody could stop him on the final restart of the evening, as he easily cleared Ryan Millington and Jared Fryar to pull away with the win.
“The hood stayed on this year,” Queen said. “That’s a plus and redemption from last year when we had such a great run in the family car. Coming back with Lee and getting it done is bittersweet, but I was nervous with all those guys staying out (during the final stop). I could go wherever I wanted to whenever, and if I could get clean air, I knew it was over.”
Millington finished in second, with Fryar in third, Connor Hall in fourth, and Kaden Honeycutt in fifth.
Layne Riggs, Chad McCumbee, Carson Kvapil, Zack Miracle, and NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe rounded out the top 10.
The field was littered with NASCAR regulars, with Kevin Harvick finishing 11th,
Brad Keselowski in 12th, Daniel Suarez in 15th, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 16th, and Ross Chastain in 19th.
In the inaugural tour Pro Late Model feature at North Wilkesboro, veteran wheelman Augie Grill held off Marietta, Georgia’s Corey Heim to add the win to his stellar resume.
“When (Heim) passed me there early, I was wanting to ride more than I did,” Grill said. “I felt like he’d be good the whole race, so I didn’t want him getting too far ahead of me. We were tit-for-tat, and I felt like he let me down in front of me on that restart. Whoever was in front was likely going to win.”
Wednesday was only Grill’s third appearance across the entire CARS Tour platform. He ended up failing to qualify for the Super Late Model Tour’s first visit to Bristol Motor Speedway in 2017 before returning to the same event two years later, where he finished behind the wall in 15th after sustaining a suspension failure.
Unlike most of his competition, Grill entered the 75-lap event having made competitive laps at North Wilkesboro. Along with running last year’s Super Late Model feature at the facility, Grill took part in ‘The Race’ in 2011, finishing ninth after leading 34 laps.
“(This win) is up there,” Grill said. “I watched racing when I was a kid at (North Wilkesboro), including the last (NASCAR Cup Series) race that was here. It’s pretty cool to be up on top (of victory lane) and waving this flag. It’s been a long time coming and hopefully I’m not done.”
Connor Zilisch finished in third, with Tristan McKee in fourth, and Katie Hettinger in fifth.
Brent Crews, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jeb Burton, Caden Kvapil, Trevor Sanborn, and Mike Hopkins rounded out the top 10.
The CARS Tour moves from one historic milestone to another next week, with both divisions heading to Tri-County Motor Speedway, which will serve as the 100th race in the history of the LMSC Tour. For more information, visit CARSRacingTour.com.
CARS Racing Tour
North Wilkesboro Speedway – North Wilkesboro, NC
Race Results – May 17, 2023
Late Model Stock Cars
1. 03 Brenden Queen
2. 15 Ryan Millington
3. 14 Jared Fryar
4. 77 Connor Hall
5. 10 Kaden Honeycutt
6. 99 Layne Riggs
7. 16 Chad McCumbee
8. 8 Carson Kvapil
9. 32 Zack Miracle
10. 5 Chase Briscoe
11. 62 Kevin Harvick
12. 6K Brad Keselowski
13. 24 Mason Diaz
14. 04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
15. 99S Daniel Suarez
16. 3 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
17. 44 Conner Jones
18. 2 Brandon Pierce
19. 28C Ross Chastain
20. 67 Cameron Bolin
21. 22 Landon Huffman
22. 42 Carson Brown
23. 87 Tate Fogleman
24. 98 Tyler Ankrum
25. 97A Jason Kitzmiller
26. 4 Dylon Wilson
27. 5B Bryant Barnhill
28. 6 Bobby McCarty
29. 20 Josh Dickens
30. 95 Jacob Heafner
31. 43 William Sawalich
32. 81 Mini Tyrrell
33. 8B Chase Burrow
34. 0 Landon Pembelton
35. 08 Deac McCaskill
36. 57 Connor Zilisch
37. 1 Andrew Grady
Pro Late Models
1. 43 Augie Grill
2. 28H Corey Heim
3. 25 Connor Zilisch
4. 7 Tristan McKee
5. 81 Katie Hettinger
6. 24 Brent Crews
7. 27B Jeb Burton
8. 96 Caden Kvapil
9. 44S Trevor Sanborn
10. 15H Mike Hopkins
11. 11 Dylan Cappello
12. 7B Jackson Boone
13. 2 John Bolen
14. 9 Ashton Higgins
15. 35 Seth Christensen
16. 9H Bret Holmes
17. 14 Carson Hocevar
18. 7T Tyler Church
19. 6 George Phillips
20. 1 Rodney Sandstorm
21. 7G Tyler Gregory
22. 03 Kyle Campbell
23. 44L Michael Lichtfeld
24. 15B Luke Baldwin
25. 33 Dustin Smith
26. 88 T.J. DeCaire
27. 27 Lee Tissot
28. 49M Luke Morey
29. 43H Joshua Horniman
30. 8 Rusty Skewes
31. 54 Matt Craig
32. 4 Garrett Smithley
33. 15 Brett Suggs
34. 44 Justin Whitaker
35. 63 Josh Lowder
36. 77 Logan Jones
37. 43 Nick Loden
38. 13 Austin MacDonald
39. 26 Dawson Sutton
40. 19 Bryan Kruczek
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