MOORESVILLE, NC (June 21, 2016): The only new track that competitors will visit this season will be Greenville-Pickens Speedway as the CARS Tour heads to the Palmetto state this weekend. The historic paper-clipped shaped half mile track bares legendary names such as Pearson and Earnhardt and could be an unfamiliar place for many on the CARS Tour. However, the biggest Late Model Stock event each season is held at Martinsville Speedway, a track that has almost exact characteristics to that of Greenville, making two time Martinsville 300 winner Tommy Lemons Jr. an instant threat. Chase Purdy, who has struggled on the CARS Tour circuit but leads Greenville-Pickens points, could get his opportunity to shine at his Hawk-McCall Motorsports’ team home track. On the Super Late Model side two familiar faces in Harrison Burton and Kyle Grissom return to action to try and slow down the success of the David Gilliland Racing Toyota’s who have won the tour’s last two events. Series point leader, Raphael Lessard, will have a veteran teammate in the form of Anthony Anders, the 2014 NASCAR All-American Series champion, who hails from Easley and literally has thousands of laps around the paper-clip shaped track.
LeftturnsandSunburns.com 200 NOTES & QUOTES
NOTES:
Track/Location: Greenville-Pickens Speedway – Easley, SC Track Size: .500-mile
Event Name: LeftturnsandSunburns.com 200 Laps/Distance: 100/50 miles
Event Schedule: 12:30PM-2:45PM Practice, 4:30PM Qualifying, 6:15PM Fan Fest, 7:30PM Green: LMSC-SLM
Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / @GP_Speedway / #LTSB200
CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #6 Brandon Setzer, #7K Jody Lavender, #8 Tate Fogleman, #12 Harrison Burton, #16 Lucas Jones, #17 Quin Houff, #25 Stephen Leicht, #31 Kyle Grissom, #40 Tanner Gray, #49 Jeff Batten, #54 Matt Craig, #56 Gus Dean, #57 Cole Timm, #58 Tyler Ankrum, #77 Zane Smith, #97 Anthony Anders, #99 Raphael Lessard (17 total)
CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #07 Hayden Humphrey, #08 Deac McCaskill, #1 Christian Eckes, #4 Dylan Hall, #5B Jeremy Burns, #7 Justin Crider, #12M Austin McDaniel, #16 Colby Howard, #27 Tommy Lemons Jr, #28 Chris Hudspeth, #31 Thomas Beane, #41 Chase Purdy, #42 Craig Stallard, #57 Justin Carroll, #74 Ronald Hill, #82 Will Burns, #88 Chris Davis, #88B Josh Berry, #88T Robert Tyler, #94 Dylan Murry, #95 Chad McCumbee, #98 Stefan Parsons (22 total)
***Official Entry Deadline: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 4PM***
Media Coverage:
-Speed51 (speed51.com) will provide Trackside Now Live Updates
-RACEFEEDX (www.racefeedx.com) – LIVE Pay per View Video Coverage
-CARS Tour Facebook (facebook.com/CARSTour) and Twitter (@CARSTour)
QUOTES:
Representing the Palmetto State:
Gus Dean’s home track might be Myrtle Beach, which is a lot closer to his Bluffton, SC home, but the South Carolina native is proud to represent the Palmetto State at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Saturday night’s LeftturnsandSunburns.com 200. While the two tracks are across the state from one another they have similar flat and abrasive characteristics. It’s those characteristics that Dean is focusing on to build a successful outing against his competition in front of the sponsor he is hosting at the track Saturday night.
“Greenville-Pickens and Myrtle Beach are two of my favorite tracks and even though the shape of them isn’t the same they are both flat and you have to save your tires until the end of the race. The mental role of having to do so throughout a 100 lap race like we’ll have Saturday night is a major factor to having a good run. We’ve made some pretty big changes to our car after Tri-County so we have some pretty high hopes for a solid finish. We’ve got a crowd of folks from Baker Distributing and Gree Cooling Products that will be in attendance so we want a good outing for them. CARS Tour events are something they’ve enjoyed bringing employees and customers to over the past two seasons.” Gus Dean – #56 Baker Distributing/Gree Chevy Super Late Model
Purdy Please:
Chase Purdy had big shoes to fill stepping into the 2015 CARS Late Model Stock Tour champions ride that was vacated by Brayton Haws due to sponsorship woes. The youngster has struggled a bit adapting to the new and different tracks on the series schedule, however, he has dominated in weekly events at Greenville-Pickens and has won seven out of twelve races thus far. Purdy feels this weekend’s race at Greenville Pickens Speedway could be his big break to win a race amongst Late Model Stock touring’s best.
“I feel I have a great chance of picking up my first CARS Tour win this weekend at Greenville. It’s my Hawk-McCall Motorsports teams home track and they have given me a great car all season there. This race will be the toughest challenge I’ve had there as far as competition goes that’s for sure. But if I can keep my head focused and realize there’s no pressure to perform I think we will have a good race this weekend.” – Chase Purdy – #41 Bama Buggies Ford Late Model Stock Car
Benefiting Bradley:
CARS Tour regular and 2015 Late Model Stock Car Concord feature winner, Bradley McCaskill, who was recently burned in a non-CARS Tour sanctioned event on June 12th, has been recovering in the hospital after several surgeries. The Wendell, North Carolina driver along with his wife, Mary Candace, and daughters Kinley, Amzie, and soon to be born Ellen have been at the hospital since the incident. This weekend at Greenville-Pickens the CARS Tour will host a 50/50 drawing with 100% of the money being raised going toward Bradley McCaskill’s recovery expenses. McCaskill will also Skype in and give the command to fire engines from his hospital bed at the UNC-Chapel Hill Burn Center in Chapel Hill, NC.
“Bradley has been a regular on the CARS Tour since its inception running most of our events and he just finished wrapping several of our series vehicles. In addition, he’s been a personal friend of mine. It just makes sense for us as a series to do our small part and help out one of our own. I know I speak for the tour staff, its drivers, and teams that we hope Bradley a speedy recovery so he can be back behind the wheel soon and add to his win numbers in the series down the road. ” Chris Ragle – CARS Tour Director of Operations
For more information and to stay up with all the latest news and information about the CARS Tour, featuring both Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model divisions, visit www.carsracingtour.com or contact the tour’s office directly at 704-662-9212. Stay social with the tour by “liking” the CARS Tour Facebook page and following along on Twitter @CARSTour.