LUCAMA, N.C. - Quin Houff captured the Super Late Model portion of the CARS Tour season opener Sunday afternoon at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, N.C.
Meanwhile, Deac McCaskill took the win in the Late Model Stock Car portion of the event.
Trevor Noles led the field of Super Late Models to green flag with defending series champion Cole Timm alongside on the front row. Timm wrestled the early lead away from Noles and held the top spot through the first eight laps. On lap nine, Houff took the lead away from Timm.
Houff began to set a torrid pace as the race settled into a long, green flag run until the only caution flag waved for a minor spin in turn four at lap 108. Timm once again had the better restart restart and retook the lead at the stripe on lap 109. However Timm’s glory was short lived, as just a few laps later Houff bypassed him once again to retake the lead.
Houff skillfully negotiated slower traffic and held off late race charges by both Timm and Zane Smith en route to his second career CARS Tour win. Timm finished in second with Raphael Lassard third, Noles fourth and Matt Craig in fifth.
“It was unbelievable how smooth it was. That is why I couldn’t even stand up because my legs got so tried from just relaxing from driving,” Houff said.
Once again, it was a home game for Deac McCaskill and he used that experience to dominate the Late Model Stock Car feature from start to finish and collect the big check at the end of 150 laps. Deac started from the pole alongside Bradley McCaskill.
But McCaskill’s second career race triumph wasn’t as easy as it seemed on paper.
Josh Berry, driving a car owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., stalked McCaskill’s every move during the majority of Sunday’s event. Twice, on restarts, Berry made an attempt to overtake McCaskill on the outside of the speedway but was unable to succeed.
Within sight of the finish, Berry began to backslide, with Tommy Lemons, Jr., moving his way up to second. Over the final ten laps, Lemons closed the gap on McCaskill but came up short, finishing mere car lengths shy of his first series win at the checkered flag.
“This is way up there man,” said McCaskill. “The CARS Tour, I just can’t thank you guys enough. You put on a phenomenal event and I’m just glad to be a part of it. I had a really great year last year and I just did not want to lose this race.
“Josh Berry is one heck of a driver. I hate that he lost out on second there at the end, but he’s going to go on in this sport and it is a real honor to be racing with so many great drivers like this.”
Up next for the CARS Tour is the Orange Blossom 300 at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC on April 17. For more information, visit CARSRacingtour.com.
CARS Racing Tour
Southern National Motorsports Park – Lucama, NC
Race Results – April 3, 2016
Super Late Models
1. Quin Houff
2. Cole Timm
3. Raphael Lassard
4. Trevor Noles
5. Matt Craig
6. Jared Irvan
7. Harrison Burton
8. Joey Mucciacciaro
9. Jeff Fultz
10. Kevin Flores
11. Brandon Setzer
12. Stephen Nasse
13. Gus Dean
14. Nicole Behar
15. Garrett Jones
16. Jeff Batten
17. Stephen Leicht
18. Lucas Jones
19. Zane Smith
20. Clay Jones
21. Jake Crum
22. Tyler Ankrum
23. Tate Fogleman
24. Dalton Sargeant
Late Model Stock Cars
1. Deac McCaskill
2. Tommy Lemons
3. Josh Berry
4. Myatt Snider
5. Matt Bowling
6. Chad McCumbee
7. Bradley McCaskill
8. Jeb Burton
9. Justin Johnson
10. Justin Crider
11. Mike Darne
12. Christian Eckes
13. Chase Purdy
14. Tal Davidson
15. Ryan Wilson
16. Jeff Oakley
17. Austin McDaniel
18. Hayden Humphrey
19. Craig Stallard
20. Michael Fose
21. Chris Hudspeth
22. Chris Davis
23. Ronald Hill
24. Thomas Beane
25. Mason Diaz
26. Stefan Parsons
27. Adam Murray
