New ownership brings new opportunities for CARS Tour competitors

daBrandon Pierce has seen the CARS Tour change tremendously since running his first race with the series back in 2017.

From weathering a global pandemic and witnessing the CARS Tour travel to different venues that include the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, Pierce has been a loyal supporter of Jack McNelly‘s vision in creating a sustainable series in which Late Model Stock Car drivers can showcase their talents to the motorsports industry.

The formation of a new ownership group consisting of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin Marks only reinforced Pierce‘s commitment to the CARS Tour. He knows their influence will only lead to more exposure for short-track drivers like himself.

“This year probably features the most drastic changes,” Pierce said. “Instead of Jack and [competition director] Keeley [Dubensky], you have four well-known and respected people of the sport headlining the ownership. I‘m proud to be a small part of it, and I‘m excited to see where everything goes.”

RELATED: Follow the CARS Tour on FloRacing

Pierce‘s motivation for initially joining the CARS Tour was simple. Even back in 2018, the series provided some of the toughest competition any Late Model Stock driver could face.

Having competed against Peyton Sellers and five-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion Philip Morris at tracks like South Boston Speedway, Pierce believed he was ready for the challenges provided by the CARS Tour but understood victories were not going to come easy.

Josh Berry, Lee Pulliam, Timothy Peters, Layne Riggs and Ty Gibbs were among the names Pierce had to deal with in his first full-time season with the CARS Tour. It would take another year for Pierce to break through for his first and only win to date, which came after he passed Berry at Southern National Motorsports Park on the last lap.

The driver roster has only improved for the CARS Tour over the years. Short-track veterans like Chad McCumbee, Brenden Queen and Mason Diaz now have a home in the series, while others like Corey Heim, Taylor Gray and Kaden Honeycutt have used the platform as a steppingstone to develop their own careers.

Pierce said a key catalyst behind the CARS Tour‘s success has been the transparency McNelly and Dubensky have with the drivers, which in turn has kept organizations like JR Motorsports around through highs and growing pains.

Now that Earnhardt Jr. directly oversees business decisions with the other new owners, Pierce believes this is an ideal time to bolster the loyal CARS Tour fanbase with ideas that will keep the series thriving in modern times.

“You hear quite a bit about supporting short-track racing,” Pierce said. “Even with the social media movement these days, you still need action. Dale obviously fields cars in this series and is present at the track. He‘s been involved for quite some time, but it‘s cool to see those other three jump on board with him. Hopefully with everyone working together, we can see this thing take off.”

Pierce has already started to see the positive impacts of the new ownership group. Every single Late Model Stock division has feature over 28 cars, while the CARS Tour‘s Pro Late Model class has averaged just over 29 cars in its first four races this year.

The allure of competitive depth is what initially convinced Connor Hall to venture away from his home track of Langley Speedway and go full time in the CARS Tour last year. Hall‘s first season in the Late Model Stock division rewarded him with three victories and a second place points finish to JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil.

While Hall would have loved to defeat a JR Motorsports driver for a CARS Tour championship, he said Earnhardt Jr. has been a tremendous asset for not only elevating the series‘ platform, but also revitalizing short-track racing through efforts that include the return of North Wilkesboro Speedway last August.

Earnhardt Jr.‘s expanded involvement with the CARS Tour has only reinforced Hall‘s commitment to the series, which he believes will keep growing in both noticeable and minuscule ways through the rest of the decade.

“Dale Jr. has almost turned into the godfather of short-track racing,” Hall said. “He‘s always had a very big imprint on what we do, but I felt like North Wilkesboro is where all this started. We have diecast bodies now, and iRacing is scanning a new [Late Model Stock] car.

“That might seem small, but we didn‘t have any of this before, so imagine what this series will look like in the future.”

One initiative Hall hopes to see from the new ownership group is an efficient method of cutting costs for teams.

Hall has seen Late Model Stock racing grow more professional in recent years with teams bringing in paid crew members as opposed to volunteer help. Although he sees the positives in that growth, Hall is worried the trend will gradually price out smaller programs that have been a cornerstone of the discipline for decades.

The growing exposure on Late Model Stocks courtesy of Earnhardt Jr. and his fellow CARS Tour owners is something Hall believes will gradually introduce cost-effective measures that bring in more cars for the series and marquee events, but he admitted to being unsure over what such actions will look like.

For now, Hall is focused on ensuring the financial investments made into his own career pay off with results in the CARS Tour. He considers himself fortunate to be with such a strong team like Chad Bryant Racing, and he hopes the opportunity to race with them allows him to build a sustainable career regardless if he moves on from Late Model Stocks or not.

“What puts the most pressure on me to perform is I have a lot of people sacrificing a lot of things for me to be here,” Hall said. “I‘m talking about both my family and my sponsors. That‘s what makes me go as hard as I go, because people are giving up a portion of their livelihood to see me succeed.”

Even if Hall does not advance into the top levels of NASCAR, he feels more comfortable about his longevity in Late Model Stocks now that so many resources are being poured into the CARS Tour.

Like Hall, Pierce plans to fully take advantage of the spotlight that‘s been cast upon him and his fellow CARS Tour competitors because of the new ownership. He admitted to feeling some pressure knowing who oversees the series, but said his mindset remains unchanged about how to claim a second CARS Tour win.

McNelly and Dubensky staying involved with the CARS Tour has made the transition much easier for Pierce, as he is familiar with the standards they have established for the series and knows those are always going to be prevalent as long as they have a presence at the track and behind the scenes.

“It all comes down to loyalty on both sides,” Pierce said. “Ever since joining, I‘ve really liked how [the CARS Tour] runs things and what they stand for. They are fair on the rules and keep them enforced. I know I‘m competing in the most prestigious and competitive Late Model Stock Car tour there is, and as a competitor, you want to know that you‘re going up against the best of the best.

“I beat one of the best [for my win] and we all know where he is now.”

Now a six-year veteran, Pierce has no idea what the CARS Tour will look like six years into the future, but he’s confident the new owners are going to build upon a sturdy foundation that will further reinforce the goals McNelly laid out when he started the series nearly a decade ago.