Landon Huffman (left) scored the win in Saturday night’s Late Model Stock Car feature, while Caden Kvapil (right) scored the Pro Late Model victory in CARS Racing Tour action at Tri-County Motor Speedway. Photos: CARS Racing Tour/Twitter
Landon Huffman had waited his entire career for a night like Saturday.
Long known for his efficiency in Hickory Motor Speedway’s weekly events, Huffman showcased his natural driving ability and determination on a national stage by taking home $30,000 in the CARS Racing Tour Late Model Stock Car tour’s prestigious Old North State Nationals at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Granite Falls, North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Carson Kvapil drove to the victory in the Pro Late Model feature, bagging $5,000 for the win.
In the LMSC feature, Huffman had to survive an arduous 200-lap feature dominated by attrition, tight racing and fuel strategy to claim his first crown jewel victory.
“It’s a surreal moment,” Huffman said. “I’m a hometown short track kid whose been working hard to get opportunities at any level of racing. I fought up the ladder, fell back down, and now we’re fighting back up. We’ve worked so hard on this car week in and week out, and we’ve been making slow but steady progress. Hopefully this is the first of many.”
Huffman’s Chevrolet had immediate pace from the first Tri-County practice session on Friday. He maintained solid track position for most of the Old North State Nationals and found himself inside the top 3 with 20 laps remaining alongside Brenden Queen and Kaden Honeycutt.
With several teams being close on fuel, Huffman waited patiently to see whether Queen and Honeycutt would be able to make it to the checkered flag. Queen running out of gas left Huffman to settle the finish with Honeycutt, the latter of which also came up short with five laps remaining.
“I knew I was better than all of them,” Huffman said. “Track position is so key, but I knew (Queen) was going to be close (on fuel) and probably run out. I didn’t know Kaden (Honeycutt) was close, so I was just biding my time. I fell back on that one restart, but we got another shot at it and were able to drive around Kaden.”
Carson Kvapil finished in second, with Ronnie Bassett, Jr. in third, Bobby McCarty in fourth, and Ryan Millington in fifth.
In the Pro Late Model feature earlier in the evening, Caden Kvapil put together one of the best races of his career.
No one else in the PLM Tour field could match Caden’s pace from the drop of the green flag. He easily earned his second victory of the 2023 season along with a $5,000 race-winning paycheck, continuing a streak of momentum that began at the end of June.
“It feels so surreal,” Caden said. “We won Caraway, should have won Wake County, finished second at Hickory and now we’ve won (at Tri-County). It wasn’t the best year to start off, but the last four races showed what we’re truly capable of, so this feels really good. The car was amazing all night.”
Dawson Sutton, Cole Butcher, Gavan Boschele, and Ashton Higgins rounded out the top five.
Up next CARS Racing LMSC Tour heads to the smallest track on the schedule in Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday, August 26. The next event for the CARS PLM Tour will not take place until October 7 when the division heads to Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.
For more information, visit CARSRacingTour.com.
CARS Racing Tour
Tri-County Motor Speedway – Granite Falls, NC
Old North State Nationals – August 19, 2023
Late Model Stock Cars
1. 22 Landon Huffman
2. 8 Carson Kvapil
3. 04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
4. 6 Bobby McCarty
5. 15 Ryan Millington
6. 14 Jared Fryar
7. 24 Mason Diaz
8. 81 Mini Tyrrell
9. 62 Layne Riggs
10. 67 Cameron Bolin
11. 12 Austin McDaniel
12. 2 Brandon Pierce
13. 4 Dylon Wilson
14. 95 Jacob Heafner
15. 8B Chase Burrow
16. 03 Brenden Queen – 1
17. 1 Andrew Grady – 4
18. 10 Kaden Honeycutt – OUT
19. 44 Conner Jones – OUT
20. 23 Kade Brown – OUT
21. 08 Deac McCaskill – OUT
22. 15C Logan Clark – OUT
23. 09 Riley Gentry – OUT
24. 7 Dylan Ward – OUT
25. 5D Dexter Canipe, Jr. – OUT
26. 57 Daniel Webster – OUT
27. 16 Chad McCumbee – OUT
28. 19M Jeremy Mayfield – OUT
29. 9W Charlie Watson – OUT
30. 97 D.J. Canipe – OUT
31. 45 Jonathan Findley – OUT
32. 77 Ryan Wilson – OUT
Pro Late Models
1. 96 Caden Kvapil
2. 26 Dawson Sutton
3. 28 Cole Butcher
4. 25 Gavan Boschele
5. 9 Ashton Higgins
6. 81 Katie Hettinger
7. 13 Austin MacDonald
8. 6 Clint King
9. 03 Kyle Campbell
10. 77 Logan Jones
11. 8 Rusty Skewes
12. 92 Levie Jones – 1
13. 43 Nick Loden – OUT
14. 43H Joshua Horniman – OUT
15. 27 Lee Tissot – OUT
16. 7 Tristan McKee – OUT
17. 55 Charlie Keeven – OUT
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