Landen Lewis returned to zMAX CARS Tour victory lane on Saturday at Ace Speedway, winning the Late Model Stock Car portion of the Folsom Fence 275.
Lewis dominated the 125-lap Late Model Stock contest, winning by nearly two seconds over former Ace Speedway track champion Ryan Millington.
A large part of Lewis’ success on Saturday started in qualifying. Lewis qualified 20th or worse in three of the first four zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car events to start the 2025 seasons. Starting fifth at Ace Speedway made for a much easier race.
“The last two weeks we have been on a roller coaster for sure. We qualified pretty much dead last and having to run the top every race to make it to the top 10.”
With Rodney Childers in his corner, Lewis took the lead 32 laps into the Late Model Stock feature and paced the field the rest of the way for his second career win with the zMAX CARS Tour.
“This week, we came with a different plan. Rodney Childers is here, and he just got us all together. Miles has been doing an awesome job. The whole team has been doing so good. We’re just working hard and showing up to the race track with well-prepared race cars, and that’s what it takes to win a championship. We’re just going to keep fighting away.”
Those championship standings will see a shake-up after the race at Ace. Points leader Connor Hall salvaged an 11th-place finish on a tumultuous day, while Kade Brown finished sixth after entering the race second in points. Lewis was tied for third, 18 points behind Hall.
Ryan Millington finished second, with Conner Jones taking third. Lanie Buice finished fourth for the highest-ever finish by a female driver in the Late Model Stock division for the zMAX CARS Tour, while Landon Huffman rounded out the top five.
Carson Ware Claims First CARS Tour Win in Rain-Shortened PLM Feature
Rick Ware Racing made it back-to-back in the zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model division, this time with Carson Ware taking the checkered flag.
Ware inherited the lead after a multi-car incident in turn one on lap 16, with Ben Maier, Brody Monahan, T.J. DeCaire and Keelan Harvick all collected out of the top five. Dylan Garner had just suffered a mechanical failure, and those four drivers spun in fluid from Garner’s car as they entered turn one.
Ware, running fourth at the time, maintained control of his car and held off Maier on the ensuing restart. Maier started to close the gap on Ware on the following green-flag run, but rain started to fall just as the race reached its halfway mark. The yellow flag waved after 51 laps, with Ware holding on to a half-second lead over Maier, and officials declared the race official as the rain settled in at Altamahaw, North Carolina.
“I had some big shoes to fill with Luke kicking their butt last weekend,” said Ware in victory lane. “I’m glad we could do it again this weekend.”
Ware knew with the potential for a rain-shortened race, getting to the front of the field would be pivotal on Saturday.
“Troy, my crew chief, was talking to me before the race. We knew it was going to be pretty aggressive out of the gate and we were going to have to try to get as much track position as possible. Luckily, my spotter did an awesome job and we were able to get through turn one and we had it covered from there.”
When the rain came, then it was up to Ware to hang on until the yellow flag waved.
“It was a little sketchy through three and four. I felt pretty good through one and two. We were just trying to adjust the line. This car is phenomenal, this team is phenomenal, and I can’t thank my sponsors enough.
“This year, we really decided to dive deep into this CARS Tour series. FURY Race Cars, all the guys, Troy and everybody that works on these things, they’re top-tier, so I couldn’t do it without them. I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity.”
Maier finished second, followed by Monahan, Rodney Dowless and Jason Kitzmiller.
