The proud heritage of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour is set to be honored this weekend with the series’ annual throwback event at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Teams from both the Late Model Stock Car and Pro Late Model Tour will adorn tribute schemes that honor many of the best drivers that competed in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series such as Bobby Gill, Shane Huffman, Clay Rogers, Woody Howard, Mardy Lindley and many more.

Created in 1997 by late Hooters owner Robert Brooks, the USAR Pro Cup Series became a premier short track division during the 2000s as it travelled to different tracks across the southeastern United States. Brooks’ passing in 2006 eventually led to the USAR Pro Cup Series’ demise, but its spirit lives on through the CARS Tour.

Motorsports fans will have one more opportunity to witness the USAR Pro Cup Series in its prime as the CARS Tour celebrates those who laid the foundation for what the series is today while simultaneously continuing to build towards a prosperous future.

Event Notes:

Track: Hickory Motor Speedway

Location: Hickory, North Carolina

Length: .363-mile

Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 100 (PLM)

CARS LMSC Tour races: 18

CARS PLM Tour races: 3

Hickory LMSC winners: Josh Berry (4), Bobby McCarty (3), Anthony Alfredo (2), Brayton Haws (1), Deac McCaskill (1), Justin Carroll (1), Taylor Gray (1), Ryan Repko (1), Corey Heim (1), Chad McCumbee (1), Connor Hall (1), Carson Kvapil (1)

Hickory PLM winners: William Sawalich (2), Mike Hopkins (1)

LMSC Point Standings:

Carson Kvapil

Brenden Queen -19

Connor Hall -36

Kaden Honeycutt -78

Chad McCumbee -80

Ryan Millington -84

Bobby McCarty -86

Mason Diaz -91

Jacob Heafner -106

Brandon Pierce -106

PLM Point Standings:

Katie Hettinger

Caden Kvapil -11

Ashton Higgins -53

Tristan McKee -71

Logan Jones -74

Austin MacDonald -79

Kyle Campbell -82

George Phillips -89

Brett Suggs -97

Connor Zilisch -105

Andrew Grady Honoring Bobby Gill At Hickory

No driver has earned more USAR Pro Cup Series wins at Hickory Motor Speedway than four-time national champion Bobby Gill.

Andrew Grady is looking to recapture some of the magic Gill possessed at Hickory in a car that resembles the iconic black No. 5 that Gill piloted to numerous victories as the USAR Pro Cup Series developed its identity during the early 2000s.

“Bobby is a legend,” Grady said. “When you think Hooters Pro Cup, you think Bobby Gill. The man has won the most races in series history and as soon as the CARS Tour announced what the topic was going to be for the throwback, I immediately messaged them and said I was doing Bobby Gill.”

Grady has heard countless stories from people who claimed Gill was the best driver they had ever seen get behind the wheel. Gill would dominate USAR Pro Cup Series events on a regular basis, which included a stellar year in 2002 that saw him win 11 of 14 races and a title in the tour’s Southern Division.

Although Gill bucked a long-standing motorsports superstition by finding success with a green number, Grady admittedly has reservations about wrapping his own car with any green but said the decision to use Gill’s most iconic paint scheme in the USAR Pro Cup Series was an easy one to make.

Grady hopes that Gill’s scheme enables him to keep making progress after he scored his first Top 10 of the year at Caraway Speedway last month. He knows his first CARS LMSC Tour win is an attainable goal but reaching that milestone on Saturday would be emotional for Grady in many ways.

“I’d cry if I won any CARS Tour race, but [the USAR Pro Cup Throwback 225] would be even cooler, especially with Bobby there,” Grady said. “It’d mean a lot to me, and I definitely think it’d mean a lot to Bobby if I got this done for him.”

Kade Brown Looks To Break Through In Clay Rogers Throwback Scheme

The most recent CARS LMSC Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway saw young Kade Brown make a strong impression by leading laps from the outside pole.

An engine failure ended Brown’s night after just 43 laps, but the second-place driver in the Hickory Late Model Stock point standings returns to the CARS Tour with confidence on his side and a paint scheme that will honor five-time USAR Pro Cup Series national champion Clay Rogers.

“Damon Lusk has done a lot for me this year, and he was the one who suggested we throw back to Clay Rogers,” Brown said. “We went through some of the old schemes, and he had a lot of success in the No. 44, so we went with that one.”

The No. 44 white and orange Ford driven by Rogers was one of the most iconic paint schemes in the USAR Pro Cup Series during the mid-2000s. Rogers’ most efficient year with the No. 44 was in 2006 when he tallied seven wins across the USAR Pro Cup Series platform, along with titles in the Southern Division and National Championship.

Of Rogers’ 30 career USAR Pro Cup Series wins, two of those came at Hickory in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Brown is looking to emulate the success Rogers once showed in the USAR Pro Cup Series and believes he can do so with the cars prepared by Matt Piercy Racing.

Brown has grown comfortable around Hickory’s abrasive surface with six wins to his name in the track’s weekly division. He was frustrated to not complete all 150 laps in his debut CARS Tour outing at Hickory but plans to use the knowledge obtained from that weekend to pursue his first major Late Model Stock triumph.

“I’m thinking [Saturday] will be about the same [as the Spring], maybe a little hotter,” Brown said. “With the way everyone runs Hickory, I’m thinking the pace will be very similar. It would mean more than anything to get my first CARS Tour win in a Clay Rogers scheme.”

Highlands Motorsports Bringing Back Green And White Colors For Wade Day

The influence of Wade Day on the growth of Highlands Motorsports into a top short track organization is still prevalent today.

Highlands Motorsports crew chief Josh Reeves surprised team owner Wade Lopez with a throwback scheme to Day’s iconic green and white No. 96 he ran in the USAR Pro Cup Series. Reeves hopes to park that scheme in victory lane once again on Saturday at Hickory Motor Speedway with Caden Kvapil behind the wheel.

“A lot has changed since Wade Day left, but the impact he left on Wade Lopez is tremendous,” Reeves said. “I still try to incorporate Wade Day as much as I can. I like him a lot and I think he’s very smart, especially with these types of cars. We try to utilize [that knowledge] any way we see fit.”

Highlands Motorsports has used Day’s familiar colors several times over the past several years. One of the more notable occasions saw Reeves take home a checkered flag in the U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2018, which remains a career highlight for Reeves to this day.

Reeves eventually came to fully understand the significance of that victory for Highlands Motorsports with those colors. Although he does not race much anymore, Reeves is honored to continue building upon the legacy started by Lopez and Day as a crew chief for the next generation of drivers like Kvapil and defending PLM Tour champion Luke Fenhaus.

Despite his success as a driver, Day only won once in the USAR Pro Cup Series back in 2012 at Kingsport Speedway. With Day expected to be in attendance for Saturday’s event at Hickory, Reeves and everyone at Highlands Motorsports have extra motivation to earn their second win of the 2023 PLM Tour season with Kvapil behind the wheel.

“[Winning the USAR Pro Cup Throwback 225] would rank pretty high, especially with everybody being there,” Reeves said. “We’ve missed victory lane so many times the past couple of seasons, so to win with that scheme would be pretty special for myself, Wade [Lopez], Wade Day and everyone involved.”

FloRacing To Host Best Appearing Car Fan Vote

FloRacing and the CARS Tour have announced that the fan vote for this year’s best appearing car at the annual Throwback event on July 29 will be hosted by FloRacing with the winner receiving a $500 prize from FloRacing. That is on top of the already announced full body package that will be given to the winner courtesy of Five Star Race Car Bodies.

Teams from both the Late Model Stock Car and Pro Late Model divisions are eligible to win the award as long as their scheme is a Hooters Pro Cup Series throwback, according to CARS Tour officials.

A full photo gallery of the eligible cars will be posted on FloRacing.com and the FloRacing Facebook page.

Voting will take place on FloRacing.com and will be open throughout the weekend, starting on Friday evening following practice, and ending on Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winner will be announced on Monday, July 31.

CARS Tour LMSC Throowback At Hickory Motor Speedway Entry List