Alfredo, Craig and Lessard Victorious in CARS Tour Duels at Hickory
NEWTON, NC (May 7, 2017) – Saturday’s CARS Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway, the McCorkle’s Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels, was anything but predictable as three different drivers visited victory lane over the course of the event. Raphael Lessard and Matt Craig tasted victory in the super late model duels while JR Motorsports driver Anthony Alfredo dueled with Austin McDaniel during both late model stock duels to take his first two career CARS Tour wins.
LATE MODEL STOCK RECAP
Josh Berry captured another Hedgecock Racing Pole Award during qualifying and started the first duel from the pole position and quickly jumped out to an early lead. It was a dominating performance by Berry until his engine blew on lap 56 in spectacular fashion, billowing smoke and flames from underneath of his Chevrolet.
Austin McDaniel inherited the lead and appeared to be en route to his first career series win until the final ten laps when Anthony Alfredo began to reel in the No. 12 Chevrolet. McDaniel gave Alfredo the inside line and the Connecticut native took full advantage of McDaniel’s generosity. For multiple laps, the pair traded paint, banged doors and raced side-by-side until Alfredo solidified himself as the leader with just a pair of laps to go before cruising to his first career win.
“I knew we had a good car from the start, and Josh and Austin got way ahead of us,” Alfredo said in Edelbrock Victory Lane. “The caution came out since Josh blew a motor, and I felt terrible about that, but that caution got us back up to the front. I thought we’d be able to get rolling better on the outside, but I kind of rode with him there and started to change up my line a bit and I was able to get under him. That was good racing and the hardest I’ve ever fought, for sure, and it was a blast.
“I’ve raced with Austin and he always races me clean, but it was just good racing and we were racing for the win,” Alfredo continued in response to the suggestion a payback could be coming in the second duel. “I didn’t feel like we did anything wrong and we both race each other really hard. To win one of these races is really hard. I’m so happy, I didn’t expect it to come this soon. I knew I was with a team that was capable of it, and I’ve been learning a lot from the whole team and Josh, so to be able to do this is really awesome.”
Berry was scheduled to start the second duel from the pole, but given his engine woes, he was forced to start in the tail as the JR Motorsports crew and other team members miraculously changed the engine in the No. 88 between races, just in time for him to tag the tail. His misfortune once again placed Austin McDaniel on the point as the No. 12 led the field to green.
An early caution for a spin by Chris Davis restacked the field after a pair of circuits were completed but nothing changed at the front of the field as McDaniel led the next 63 laps. With ten laps to go, much like the first race, Alfredo once again emerged as a challenger to McDaniel but the two swapped the lead multiple times while Alfredo’s teammate Josh Berry quickly closed in.
Alfredo took the lead for good on lap 69 of 75 while his teammate Berry worked by McDaniel for second with two laps to go. By virtue of his best average finish (1.0), Alfredo locked himself into the U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks.
“I knew I was working with the best team in the business and it was only a matter of time before we got a win together,” Alfredo said during his second visit to Edelbrock Victory Lane. “I thought before it was pretty early to get a win and that’s awesome, we could build on it. To do it again in the same night, two wins in one night already this year is just crazy. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous about how the tires were and racing with Austin as hard we did. All I remember hearing with two to go was that Josh was in second and I thought ‘oh, no, I’ve gotta keep going,’ but it was awesome to have a 1-2 finish for JR Motorsports.”
SUPER LATE MODEL RECAP
Brandon Setzer captured his second consecutive Mahle Pistons Pole Award in qualifying and led the field to green in the first super late model duel of the evening. Much like the late model stock race, Setzer ran away early before Tate Fogleman chased him down for the race lead and completed the pass on lap 53.
An incident involving Setzer and defending series champion Raphael Lessard on lap 62 brought out the first and only caution flag of the race with Tate Fogleman as the leader. Fogleman restarted alongside of eight-place starter Matt Craig who won the drag race to turn one at the green flag and led lap 63.
Craig and Fogleman raced side by side for the final handful of laps until Craig emerged as the victor at the end of 75 laps.
“I don’t know what happened to bring out the caution, but it was a great gift for us,” Craig said in Edelbrock Victory Lane. “We were passing a few cars and once we got by the 16, we figured we should just ride and save our tires for the next race. Then we had that caution, and I’ll take anyone who wants to start inside of me on a restart. I’ll take the outside all night long.
“Tate’s a great racecar driver and he knew exactly what to do which was wait towards the end,” he continued. “He knew if I got back behind him it wasn’t going to be a good story for him. We battled him on the outside, it was a good race, and I really hope the fans enjoyed it.”
In the second duel, Craig took advantage of a front row starting spot to lead the opening five laps before Brandon Setzer made his way around the No. 54 for the lead on lap 6. Craig powered back to the point a lap later and continued to set the pace until Raphael Lessard motored to the lead on lap 31.
A pair of mid-race cautions set up restarts where Lessard was nearly collected in an incident with Tate Fogleman but both continued. As the race wound down, Fogleman once again factored into the finish, reeling in Lessard and delivered a small shot to his bumper in turn four. The contact sucked the cars together, causing Fogleman’s car to jump off the track and resulting in substantial damage for both cars although they were able to continue.
Though substantial, Lessard’s damage was merely cosmetic and not enough to hamper his run to the checkers. He cruised to victory over Cole Rouse who passed Fogleman in the final few circuits for second.
“I can’t thank David Gilliland Racing enough because they work very hard every weekend and worked hard to fix my car after the first race. I knew Tate was fast, but I did what I had to do and I can’t thank everyone at Toyota and DGR enough. I just drove after the incident, but [spotter] Seth [Smith] did tell me about it. It was what it was, I’m just happy to be in victory lane.”
The CARS Tour visits Bristol Motor Speedway as part of the US Short Track Nationals on May 19-21. Both the super late models and late model stock cars will compete on the high banks of The Last Great Colosseum for the first time in over a decade.
For more information on the CARS Tour, visit their website at www.carsracingtour.com. Fresh content and updates can also be found on the series Facebook page (@carstour), Twitter (@carstour), Instagram (@cars_tour), Snapchat (@carstour) and Youtube channel (/carstour). The series Roku app is also available for installation to see live and on-demand available for installation to see live and on-demand events by following instructions at www.carstour.tv.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
– Josh Berry set a new CARS Late Model Stock Tour track record in pole qualifying with a lap of 15.030 seconds, nearly a tenth of a second faster than the previous record set by inaugural series champion Brayton Haws in 2015.
– Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Cole Rouse forfeited his top three starting spot in the second super late model duel by pulling into the pits early in race one. After starting at the tail, he rallied to a career-best runner-up result in the second duel.
– The next two events for the CARS Super Late Model Tour are unique, co-sanctioned events. The event at Bristol is co-sanctioned with CRA and the Southern Super Series while the event following Bristol at Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina is co-sanctioned with the Southern Super Series.
THE FINISHES:
CARS Late Model Stock Tour
McCorkle’s Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels
Hickory Motor Speedway – May 6, 2017
Duel #1
POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 8A Anthony Alfredo 75
2. 12 Austin McDaniel 75
3. 08 Deac McCaskill 75
4. 98M B.J. Mackey 75
5. 75 Landon Huffman 75
6. 99 Layne Riggs 75
7. 23 Dexter Canipe, Jr. 75
8. 18S Evan Swilling 75
9. 32 Brandon Grosso 75
10. 81 Jared Fryar 75
11. 98 Stefan Parsons 75
12. 18G Ty Gibbs 74
13. 87 Hayden Woods 74
14. 42 Craig Stallard 74
15. 88 Chris Davis 74
16. 28 Chris Hudspeth 74
17. 4 Annabeth Barnes-Crum 74
18. 8 Trevor Rizzo 70
19. 74 Ronald Hill 64
20. 44 Justin Johnson 58
21. 88B Josh Berry 56
22. 1M Craig Moore 36
23. 16 R.D. Smith 0 DNS
CARS Late Model Stock Tour
McCorkle’s Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels
Hickory Motor Speedway – May 6, 2017
Duel #2
POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 8A Anthony Alfredo 75
2. 88B Josh Berry 75
3. 12 Austin McDaniel 75
4. 08 Deac McCaskill 75
5. 44 Justin Johnson 75
6. 99 Layne Riggs 75
7. 98M B.J. Mackey 75
8. 32 Brandon Grosso 75
9. 42 Craig Stallard 75
10. 23 Dexter Canipe, Jr. 75
11. 75 Landon Huffman 74
12. 18G Ty Gibbs 74
13. 74 Ronald Hill 74
14. 88D Chris Davis 74
15. 28 Chris Hudspeth 74
16. 18S Evan Swilling 74
17. 4 Annabeth Barnes-Crum 73
18. 87 Hayden Woods 73
19. 98 Stefan Parsons 69
20. 8 Trevor Rizzo 68
21. 81 Jared Fryar 46 Mechanical
22. 1M Craig Moore 0 DNS
23. 16 R.D. Smith 0 DNS
CARS Super Late Model Tour powered by VP Fuels
McCorkle’s Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels
Hickory Motor Speedway – May 6, 2017
Duel #1
POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 54 Matt Craig 75
2. 8 Tate Fogleman 75
3. 16 Lucas Jones 75
4. 99 Raphael Lessard 75
5. 6 Brandon Setzer 75
6. 34 Nolan Pope 75
7. 37 Mike Speeney 75
8. 49 Jeff Batten 74
9. 7 Tyler Church 74
10. 1 Kodie Conner 73
11. 51 Cole Rouse 55 Mechanical
12. 15 Christian Eckes 0 Withdrew
13. 2 Trevor Noles 0 Withdrew
CARS Super Late Model Tour powered by VP Fuels
McCorkle’s Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels
Hickory Motor Speedway – May 6, 2017
Duel #2
POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 99 Raphael Lessard 75
2. 51 Cole Rouse 75
3. 8 Tate Fogleman 75
4. 6 Brandon Setzer 75
5. 16 Lucas Jones 75
6. 54 Matt Craig 75
7. 1 Kodie Conner 75
8. 49 Jeff Batten 75
9. 7 Tyler Church 75
10. 37 Mike Speeney 75
11. 34 Nolan Pope 41 Accident
12. 15 Christian Eckes 0 Withdrew
13. 2 Trevor Noles 0 Withdrew
Sources: Chris Ragle/CARS Tour PR
Photo credit – Sherri Stearns Photography
MCDANIEL-ALFREDO: Austin McDaniel and Anthony Alfredo traded paint multiple times over the course of Saturday’s CARS Tour Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels at Hickory Motor Speedway while racing for the win. Alfredo emerged the victor in both late model stock events.
ALFREDO-VL: Anthony Aflredo celebrates in Edlebrock Victory Lane following a victory in the CARS Tour Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night. The wins were the first of his CARS Tour career.
CRAIG-VL: Matt Craig celebrates his second career series win after the first super late model duel in the CARS Tour Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
LESSARD-VL: Raphael Lessard captured his fifth career series win on Saturday in the second super late model duel as part of the CARS Tour Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels at Hickory Motor Speedway.
LESSARD-SETZER: Raphael Lessard and Brandon Setzer tangled midway through the first super late model race of the CARS Tour Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels at Hickory Motor Speedway. Each driver was inside the top three and the incident took them out of contention for victory.
LESSARD-FOGLEMAN: Tate Fogleman attempted to move Raphael Lessard for the lead late in the CARS Tour Liberty Buick & GMC 300 Duels at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Both cars sustained damage with Fogleman’s creating a tire rub which prevented him from making any more attempts on Lessard for the race win.