Who’s the Toughest out of the shed? It’s our Tuff Shed 250 preview!
By: Julian Austin
April 5th, 2024
After nearly a full month off from competition, the zMAX CARS Late Model Tour roars back into action at Hickory Motor Speedway for the start of three consecutive weeks of action. Saturday's Tuff Shed 250 will be the 20th event held at the speedway since the tour's inception in 2015 which leads all other facilities.
The tour had the extended break after a threat of inclement weather moved the March 25th event at New River All American Speedway to April 13th. Ironically, the season opener at Southern National was also affected by weather as that event was moved from Saturday March 9th to Sunday, March 10th.
You need to be Tuff to win at Hickory.
In the last nine races at Hickory in Late Models, each event has been won from a front row starting spot. So you’ll need to be fast and tough to maneuver your way through traffic but also avoid the bumper of the guy who desperately wants your spot. Perhaps no other track holds track position to this regard.
Looking back at Southern National.
Carson Kvapil picked right up where he left off for most of the last two seasons by winning at Southern National. Kvapil moved his way through traffic while saving his equipment to overtake Brent Crews with 25 to go to pick up his tenth career tour victory. Kvapil is no stranger to Hickory Motor Speedway victory lane as he is the defending champion of this event. Kvapil has yet to finish outside the top five in four starts but that streak will be coming to an end this weekend.
Carson looks to be fast as Xfinity 10G
On the heels of Bubba Pollard making his NASCAR Xfinity Series Debut at Richmond Raceway last weekend for JR Motorsports, Kvapil will step into the number 88 Chevy Camaro sponsored Chevrolet Truck Season and CorvetteParts.net. It will be Kvapil's debut and it will come Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway as the CARS Tour prepares to take their own green flag. For Kvapil, this has been in the works for a while and he told me on Saturday that he was been soaking everything in as he hung out with the crew last weekend. Live pitstops will also be a thing for him but he says that will be an expected adjustment he will have to make.
So who is going to seize the opportunity for a race win at Hickory on Saturday? Mason Diaz immediately comes to mind. Diaz won the last time the tour raced at Hickory for his long overdue first win on tour. Diaz came into the season not committing to a full season racing but was tapped to drive for Jimmy Mooring at Southern National in place of the injured Jared Fryar. On Saturday, Diaz will perhaps get the biggest opportunity of his career as he will be filling for Carson Kvapil in the Bass Pro Shops Club number 8. This deal came together during Ice Breaker Weekend as Dale Earnhardt Jr was parked alongside Mason for that event. Earnhardt mentioned Diaz on his podcast about how impressed he was with his driving back at North Wilkesboro in 2022. The decision was made during pace laps and when the pieces came together, Diaz was hired to drive the car. If Diaz is able to claim the win on Saturday, he will join Kvapil, Josh Berry and Anthony Alfredo as former winners for JR Motorsports at Hickory.
Who else you need to keep an eye on?
Connor Hall has nine wins to his credit this year in NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Competition including five wins at Hickory. Hall opened the 2024 season with a runner up finish to Kvapil. Hall captured a win back in 2022 during Throwback Weekend and just might be the favorite coming into this weekend based on the momentum that he has and his Nelson Motorsports team has since Connor first stepped into the ride.
Kade Brown won the pole position last summer at Hickory and waged a great battle with Diaz most of the event. Brown eventually had to settle for the runner up spot. The 2023 Late Model Track Champion at Hickory is looking to rebound from a tough start at Southern National.
Landon Huffman has had tremendous success at Hickory over the years however he is looking for something, anything to go his way this weekend. He failed to qualify at Southern National for the CARS Tour Opener and has experienced gremlins running Modifieds or his own stuff this season. One thing is for sure, Huffman is too talented to stay in this rut for long and a good run at Hickory may just be what the doctor ordered.
If you haven't heard the name Connor Zilisch over the last few weeks, you probably live under a rock with no wi-fi or have been unplugged on some beach somewhere. Zilisch has taken the racing world by storm this year by winning both the 12 hours of Sebring and 24 hours of Daytona. He won the pole position in his very first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start last month at COTA and finished in third. The Trackhouse development driver is going places and he is getting there very quickly. Zilisch will be running the Late Model event for Pinnacle Racing Group which is who he had a top five result last month in an ARCA East Series race. Zilisch is no stranger to the tour as he ran both races at Hickory last season with eighth as his best result so far.
Pro Late Models
The zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model Division returns to action after over a month being dormant. Kyle Campbell stunned everyone by driving his car to victory lane at Southern National back on March 2nd. Campbell told Deez Lug Nutz that he help he had received from the Kvapil family paid off huge and gave his small team a much needed boost. For Campbell to repeat, he will have to fend off an extremely talented list of drivers and we will mention a few here.
Jimmy Renfrew Jr comes down south to do one thing. Win. He was second at Southern National and had a tremendous showing at this year's World Series of Asphalt. Renfrew Jr. ran at Hickory during the St Patrick's Day 150 and Easter Bunny PASS series event in March and was third place and fifth respectively. Renfrew will be one to watch Saturday.
Max Cookson was also in the hunt on St Patrick's Day weekend. The 2023 Alan Kulwicki Cup winner is embarking on a full time venture on the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour in 2024. He won 5 races, scored 28 top tens and was the PASS National and North Champion in addition to the track champion at Oxford Plains Speedway. Cookson was 12th at Southern National but with his credentials at places just as tough at Hickory, don't be surprised if you see him up front this weekend.
We made it this far and didn't talk about the defending series champion Caden Kvapil. Kvapil is back driving for his family owned team in 2024. In four previous starts at Hickory, he has a best finish of second with an additional top five and two more top ten's.
Kaden Honeycutt won his first Pro Late Model race last fall at Caraway. He was third to open the season at Southern National. Kaden is fresh off winning the Orange Krush 200 at Orange County and once again, he will be a busy man as he will be running the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville for NEICE Motorsports the night before.
With no former winners entered as of this writing this weekend, it is a wide open field this weekend for a victory. William Sawalich swept both races in 2022 while Mike Hopkins and Cole Butcher won last season.
The event schedule is posted below. If you can't make it out to Hickory this weekend, Flo Racing has it covered. We will dissect it all on next week's podcast!