Before NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway, the zMAX CARS Tour will kick off Labor Day weekend festivities in South Carolina on Friday evening at Florence Motor Speedway.
Over four decades of racing at Florence has seen the facility welcome premier short track touring divisions such as the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series and the UARA STARS Late Model Series. Florence is also the site of the South Carolina 400 in November, a crown jewel Late Model Stock event that acts as a spiritual successor to the Myrtle Beach 400.
The CARS Tour visited Florence for the first time in 2020, which only happened after the series was forced to shuffle its schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from 2022, the CARS Tour has come back to Florence every year since, with the CARS PLM Tour having accompanied the Late Model Stocks there in the past two seasons.
One aspect that separates Florence from other asphalt short tracks in the region is its abrasive surface, which forces drivers to rigorously save their tires during the opening laps. Patience and composure are going to be two essential qualities for competitors if they wish to visit Cook Out Victory Lane at the end of each race in the Cook Out 225.
Track Facts:
Track: Florence Motor Speedway
Location: Timmonsville, South Carolina
Length: .400 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 100 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 5
CARS PLM Tour races: 2
Florence LMSC winners: Nolan Pope (1), Kaden Honeycutt (1), Carson Kvapil (1), Ryan Millington (1), Landen Lewis (1)
Florence PLM winners: Spencer Davis (1), Keelan Harvick (1)
CARS Tour LMSC Entry List (30 cars)
#03 Brenden Queen, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #4 Parker Eatmon, #4G Matt Gould, #5 Chase Burrow, #5B Carson Brown, #7 Tyler Reif, #8 TBA, #13 Cody Kelley, #14 Owen Zacharias, #15 Jace Hale, #16 Chad McCumbee, #16K Casey Kelley, #18 Max Reaves, #23 Kade Brown, #28 Ryan Glenski, #37 Chase Robertson, #41 TBA, #44 Conner Jones, #51 Matt Cox, #51 TBA, #57 Landon Huffman, #62 Keelan Harvick, #71 Jake Bollman, #77 Landon S. Huffman, #77L Treyten Lapcevich, #88 Caden Kvapil, #88B Doug Barnes Jr., #95 London McKenzie, #99 Brandon Dean
CARS Tour PLM Entry List (20 cars)
#1 T.J. DeCaire, #5 Chris Hettinger, #6 Mason Walters, #11 Jack Baldwin, #15 Case James, #17 Chad Kearney, #20 Evan McKnight, #22 Dusty Garus, #22R Jimmy Renfrew Jr., #23 TBA, #25 Rodney Dowless Jr., #27 Vito Cancilla, #30 Treyten Lapcevich, #31 Brody Monahan, #44 Conner Jones, #49 Jeff Batten, #51 Donovan Strauss, #54 Kaden Honeycutt, #83 Bayley Currey, #97 Dylan Garner
CARS Tour LMSC Point Standings
Caden Kvapil
Treyten Lapcevich -21
Conner Jones -38
Chad McCumbee -66
Chase Burrow -75
Carson Loftin -92
Carson Brown -95
Landon Huffman -103
Parker Eatmon -108
Landen Lewis -109
CARS Tour PLM Point Standings
Mason Walters
Conner Jones -10
Brody Monahan -17
Treyten Lapcevich -32
Kaden Honeycutt -39
Evan McKnight -40
Case James -46
Rodney Dowless Jr. -48
Dylan Garner -58
James Seeright -101
Doug Barnes Jr. Returns to Driver’s Seat
When Doug Barnes Jr. sustained a hard crash during testing for the CARS LMSC Tour race at North Wilkesboro, he never imagined he would be sidelined for nearly two months.
Barnes was diagnosed with a concussion following the accident and worked diligently to get back behind the wheel. Nothing about the process has been easy for Barnes, but he now feels comfortable enough to compete in the LMSC Tour at Florence, which he considers a fitting track for his return given his past success that includes an Icebreaker victory.
“It’s been a longer road back to getting in the car than I thought it was going to be,” Barnes said. “I still tried to race North Wilkesboro the following week and it just did not go well. I practiced for probably 10 hours at Florence the other day tweaking on the car, making laps and having fun. I felt well with zero symptoms for the first time in a long time.”
A hung throttle going into turn one sent Barnes nearly full speed into North Wilkesboro’s outside retaining wall. Initially believing he only suffered a sprained left foot, Barnes suddenly began dry heaving, which he tried to brush off. After experiencing more dry heaving, nausea and sensitivity to bright lights, Barnes knew he needed to get checked out.
The first doctor Barnes visited told him to rest for a week, but with North Wilkesboro coming up that Friday, he was determined to quickly rebound. Barnes went about his weekly workout routines and felt his condition improve, only to experience severe tunnel vision during his first practice laps, prompting him to withdraw from the event.
CARS Tour co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. recommended Barnes see Dr. Michael ‘Micky’ Collins, who is the clinical and executive director of the Sports Medicine Concussion Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Collins wanted Barnes to lean into the symptoms as part of his recovery, which he described as arduous but productive.
Despite enduring plenty of miserable days, Barnes commended Dr. Collins and his staff for their efforts, as he believes his vestibular system is much stronger now than before his North Wilkesboro crash. While the treatments continued, Barnes gradually re-acclimated himself to racing with some test laps, battling concussion symptoms along the way.
With no more symptoms and his Late Model Stock in a great place setup wise, Barnes is ready to move forward from the past two months and chase a victory in the Cook Out 225. No matter how Friday turns out, Barnes intends to be more appreciative of every chance he gets to race, as his concussion reinforced how nothing is guaranteed to him.
Florence is Barnes’ favorite track across the entire southeast. Earning his first LMSC Tour victory there after the mental rollercoaster of a concussion is something Barnes would consider to be the most cathartic moment of his career.
“You’d probably see me cry,” Barnes said. “It’s been a long road back and I’ve never been through something like this before. It’s been frustrating for me, my sponsors and my team. Everybody’s been really chill through the whole process, but I [didn’t] know how to tell [them] that I can’t turn my head side to side without throwing up.
“Being able to come back on top would mean a lot.”
Casey, Cody Kelley Ready to Excel in Front of Hometown Crowd
Twin brothers Casey and Cody Kelley sit atop the Limited Late Model standings at Florence Motor Speedway, with Casey currently holding a 30-point advantage over Cody.
Before the Limited Late Model title gets wrapped up, Casey and Cody will attempt their second consecutive CARS LMSC Tour event on Friday after placing 10th and 15th respectively at Anderson Motor Speedway. For Casey, the chance for him and Cody to defend his home turf against the LMSC Tour regulars is one he eagerly anticipates every year.
“[Florence] is our home track,” Casey said. “We grew up here since we were kids watching our dad race. When we race here, it’s like home for us. Every time they are open, we’re pretty much there racing. It’s just a special weekend for us whenever the big teams come to town, [so we] try to run good and finish well against them.”
Both Kelley brothers have the privilege of being track champions at Florence. Casey earned his first and so far only title in Florence’s Late Model Stock division back in 2024, while Cody possesses two Super Truck championships at the track.
Cody managed to earn an LMSC Tour pole at Florence in 2023 and secured his lone top five during the series’ most recent visit to the complex. Those milestones required a strenuous, committed effort on Cody’s behalf, who knows his absolute best will be needed once again when the LMSC Tour regulars arrive this weekend.
“It’s really tough,” Cody said. “Everybody’s got great cars, great motors, great teams. You’ve got to stay sharp and do everything right to have a good finish. Honestly, you’ve got to do everything right to get a top 10. We don’t know what it takes to get a CARS Tour win yet because we hadn’t got one, but we’re doing everything we can to make that happen this year.”
Given the copious laps they have logged around Florence, Cody believes he and Casey have an advantage when it comes to how much tire they need to save for the second half. The caveat to the tire conservation strategy is track position, as Cody and Casey do not want to fall too far back to the point where they run out of time to reach the front.
Cody intends to secure a strong starting position and ride near the front, something he knows his No. 13 June Racing Chevrolet is more than capable of achieving. Winning on Friday is going to be a challenge, but Cody has plenty of motivation on his side to put together a stalwart showing on Late Model Stock racing’s premier stage.
“It would mean everything,” Cody said. “Being at home at Florence, the big stage [of] the CARS Tour, everybody’s watching. It’s pretty much like NASCAR. I’d be very, very happy to be able bring this home in front of all of our family and friends at our home track.”
While each Kelley wants to prevail in the Cook Out 225, either one of them winning on Friday would be a momentous occasion for the family. The brothers have always supported the other’s racing endeavors, with years of hard work and sacrifice having molded them into drivers capable of battling the elites of the Late Model Stock discipline.
Casey is content with staying in Late Model Stocks, but he wants that elusive LMSC Tour victory on his resume. With a great team and plenty of confidence behind him, Casey does not see why he can not parlay a strong 2026 into the most prestigious win of his career to date.
“The CARS Tour is kind of like our [NASCAR] Cup Series,” Casey said. “When me and Cody were growing up, we honestly weren’t really looking to go to NASCAR. We were wanting to be late model racers. It’s going to take a really fast car [to win], but I know [AK Performance] will have a rocket ship up under me.”
Case James Seeks First Top Five of Rookie PLM Tour Season
At 14 years old, there is still a lot about full-bodied stock cars Case James is trying to figure out in his debut CARS PLM Tour season.
James has three top 10s to his name in 2026 but is also fresh off two consecutive DNFs at Hickory Motor Speedway and Anderson Motor Speedway. Despite the setbacks, James is maintaining a positive self-assessment of his campaign as he looks to rebound on Friday at Florence Motor Speedway.
“I feel like it’s been going really good,” James said. “We started off the beginning of the season really good. Here lately, we’ve been struggling a little bit. I would say we’ve kind of been a bit unlucky. We’ve been learning as the races go on and I feel like [we’ve been getting] strong finishes.”
The NASCAR Youth Series is where James got his start in motorsports, where he earned plenty of victories and championships across several different divisions on the platform. When James graduated to Legends cars in 2025, he also began making a handful of starts in full-bodied cars before going full-time this year.
With his father Colt James, a successful racer himself, guiding him, James feels his venture into Pro Late Models is progressing the way it should be. The most pertinent piece of advice James has absorbed from his father revolves around being aggressive, which requires a different mindset with the much heavier Pro Late Model.
Aggression is a concept that requires balance at a track like Florence, but James feels a sense of ease going into the Cook Out 225 since he made his PLM Tour debut there last year. James considers Florence one of his favorite tracks, so he hopes the knowledge acquired from 2025 translates into a career-best PLM Tour run.
“I’m definitely going to try and race and qualify inside the top five,” James said. “I know I can qualify inside the top five because I qualified second [at Hickory]. A top five in everything [is what I want]. I feel like my team is going to give me a really good car. Hopefully I can contend for a podium.”
The zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour kicks off the racing action with their 100-lap feature at 7 p.m. ET, with the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour immediately following. FloRacing will provide live coverage of the entire Cook Out 225 starting with qualifying at 5 p.m. ET.
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 at cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC at 704-662-9212.