What Is the CARS Tour?
The CARS Tour (Championship Auto Racing Series Tour) is the premier regional stock car racing series in the eastern United States, operating as a key development pipeline between weekly short-track racing and the NASCAR national series. The tour traces its lineage to the USAR Hooters Cup series founded in 1995, which evolved through several iterations before becoming the CARS Tour around 2014.
In January 2023, the series was acquired by a consortium of racing icons: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, and Justin Marks (owner of Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series). The new ownership group brought national visibility, increased purses, and a clear mission — to make the CARS Tour the most competitive and best-produced regional touring series in the country. The series is officially known as the zMAX CARS Tour.
Divisions
The CARS Tour operates two competition divisions:
Late Model Stock Car (LMSC) — The headline division. These are purpose-built stock cars running on short tracks across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. The LMSC division is where most of the championship drama and star power resides.
Pro Late Model (PLM) — A slightly different rules package that attracts its own dedicated field. Pro Late Models run on the same cards as the LMSC division at most events.
2026 CARS Tour East Schedule
The 2026 CARS Tour East features 14 races across some of the most iconic short tracks in the Southeast:
| # | Date | Track | Location | Divisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 28 | Southern National Motorsports Park | Kenly, NC | LMSC / PLM |
| 2 | Mar 28 | Wake County Speedway | Raleigh, NC | LMSC |
| 3 | Apr 11 | Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway | Nashville, TN | LMSC / PLM |
| 4 | Apr 25 | Caraway Speedway | Asheboro, NC | LMSC / PLM |
| 5 | May 9 | Ace Speedway | Altamahaw, NC | LMSC / PLM |
| 6 | May 30 | Langley Speedway | Hampton, VA | LMSC |
| 7 | Jun 13 | Dominion Raceway | Thornburg, VA | LMSC |
| 8 | Jul 17 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | North Wilkesboro, NC | LMSC / PLM |
| 9 | Aug 8 | Hickory Motor Speedway | Hickory, NC | LMSC / PLM |
| 10 | Aug 22 | Anderson Motor Speedway | Williamston, SC | LMSC / PLM |
| 11 | Sep 4 | Florence Motor Speedway | Timmonsville, SC | LMSC / PLM |
| 12 | Sep 12 | Tri-County Speedway | Hudson, NC | LMSC / PLM |
| 13 | Oct 3 | Newport Speedway | Newport, TN | LMSC / PLM |
| 14 | Oct 17 | South Boston Speedway | South Boston, VA | LMSC / PLM |
New for 2026: Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway joins the schedule for the first time. Newport Speedway in Tennessee is new to the CARS Tour. The season finale moves to South Boston Speedway. North Wilkesboro Speedway — the legendary track revived in recent years — hosts its first CARS Tour event.
2026 Race Results and Standings
Through two races, Caden Kvapil leads the LMSC championship standings. Here are the results so far:
Race 1 — Southern National Motorsports Park (Feb 28): Caden Kvapil charged from 29th to 1st, taking the lead from Lee Pulliam on lap 108 and holding off a late restart for his third consecutive JR Motorsports victory.
Race 2 — Wake County Speedway (Mar 28): Conner Jones passed defending champion Landen Lewis on the final restart to win a chaotic race. Jones ran out of fuel under caution but was never officially lapped, then found speed when it mattered.
CARS Tour West
In addition to the East series, the CARS Tour expanded to the western United States with the CARS Tour West division (Spears CARS Tour West). The 2026 West schedule features a $2.1 million total payout — a massive purse for regional touring series racing. Kevin Harvick's 13-year-old son Keelan Harvick competes in the West series and has already won a Pro Late Model race at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Recent Champions (LMSC)
| Year | Champion |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Landen Lewis |
| 2024 | Brenden Queen |
| 2023 | Carson Kvapil |
| 2022 | Carson Kvapil |
Drivers to Watch in 2026
Caden Kvapil — Driving the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet full-time. Younger brother of two-time champion Carson Kvapil. Leads the 2026 standings after two races and is emerging as the driver to beat.
Landen Lewis — The defending 2025 LMSC champion. Lewis made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at St. Petersburg with Niece Motorsports in 2026, signaling his upward trajectory.
Conner Jones — Already a 2026 race winner after taking the checkered flag at Wake County Speedway. Jones is a championship contender with four career CARS Tour LMSC victories.
Lee Pulliam — One of the greatest short-track drivers of his generation. Pulliam remains competitive in CARS Tour events and made his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Martinsville in March 2026.
Sam Butler — A consistent front-runner and championship contender in 2026. Butler combines veteran racecraft with the speed to win on any given weekend.
The NASCAR Pipeline
The CARS Tour has become the most direct path from short-track racing to NASCAR. The series' most prominent graduate is Connor Zilisch, who raced in the CARS Tour before advancing to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and earning a full-time NASCAR Cup Series ride with Trackhouse Racing for 2026 — at just 19 years old. Carson Kvapil now races full-time in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series with JR Motorsports.
The ownership group's NASCAR connections (Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Burton, and Marks) give CARS Tour drivers unprecedented visibility with Cup Series team owners and talent evaluators.
How to Watch
All CARS Tour events are streamed live and exclusively on FloRacing (floracing.com). FloRacing also operates the Flodium program, a $100,000 content creation fund that incentivizes CARS Tour teams and drivers to produce behind-the-scenes content and grow the series' digital audience.
Why It Matters
Under its new ownership, the CARS Tour has become the most important feeder series in stock car racing outside of the NASCAR national ladder. For Grand National Today, the CARS Tour is a primary coverage beat — the place where tomorrow's NASCAR stars are racing today.