Berry, Lessard dominate Lead 2 Real Estate 200

On a night when Mother Nature tried her best to take top honors, drivers with big-name connections to NASCAR teams swept the win column at Concord Speedway on Saturday night with Josh Berry (LMSC) and Raphael Lessard (SLM) taking the wins in each half of the CARS Tour Lead 2 Real Estate 200. Each driver also started their respective races from the pole position.
 
LATE MODEL STOCK RECAP:
Josh Berry set a new CARS Tour track record in Hedgecock Pole Qualifying, bettering the previous record by over a tenth of a second. Last year’s polesitter Myatt Snider flanked Berry when the field game to the green flag.
 
On the initial start, Snider took control from the outside of the front row and led the opening handful of circuits in his return to the tour. But just four laps later, he slipped in turn one and opened the door for Josh Berry to snag the lead for the first time of the night.
 
While Josh Berry began to pull away, series points leader Deac McCaskill fought his way forward after an internal engine part failure in qualifying forced him to start last on the field. By the latter portions of the race, McCaskill fought his way well into the top ten.
 
The lone caution of the race was displayed on lap 90 when Layne Riggs suffered a blown left rear tire. The No. 99 Ford spun in turn three and nosed up to the outside retaining wall in turn four with minimal damage, though Riggs did retire from the event.
 
Berry and Justin Carroll, who ran second for most of the event, dueled for the top spot in turn one on the ensuing restart. Carroll was unable to do anything with Berry’s Chevrolet and was forced to do battle with others including Snider, Christian Eckes and McCaskill. 
 
The final ten laps were all Josh Berry’s for the taking as he cruised to his sixth career CARS Late Model Stock Tour victory. Snider trailed behind in second with Eckes, McCaskill and Carroll rounding out the top five.
 
“I heard it change tones with about 50 to go when I was in lapped traffic and at first I thought it was the cars I was around, but then I realized it was mine and I didn’t say anything until after the race because I didn’t want them to start worrying about it,” said Berry in victory lane when asked about the exhaust pipe that had worked its way loose and was hanging outside the door in Edelbrock Victory Lane. “Luckily, it didn’t hurt us too bad. What a great car we had, just a credit to these guys and they work so hard. It’s been hot and we’ve worked hard these last couple days to bring a great racecar here tonight and I feel very fortunate. This is another racetrack I’ve won at in my first try, and to my knowledge there’s only one left I’ve got to win at and that’s Martinsville, and I’d really like to get a clock.”
 
“It would take a lot of luck [to win the title], a whole lot of luck,” Berry said when asked about the championship picture. “He (McCaskill) had some misfortune tonight and I know he would’ve been tough to beat. I don’t wish any bad luck on those guys, I have a ton of respect for Deac and we’re going to work really hard to upset him because we know he’s going into next week as the favorite. I just have to thank everyone on this team from Speedco, my dad, Dale, Kelley, LW and anyone else who is watching on CARS Tour TV and here who stuck with us through the weather.”
 
SUPER LATE MODEL RECAP:
With the rainout of Mahle Pistons Pole Qualifying earlier in the afternoon, the super late model portion of the Lead 2 Real Estate 200 was set per the rulebook, using owners points to line up the starting field. Championship leader Raphael Lessard led the field to the green flag for the first time in his CARS Tour career with Brandon Setzer to his outside.
 
Lessard quickly jumped to the point on the initial green flag and led the field through the first five circuits. On lap six, Quin Houff bypassed the No. 99 in turn two, but Lessard slipped and made heavy contact with the outside wall as Houff completed the pass.
 
A competition caution on lap 25 due to wet weather earlier in the day forced the field to regroup for a restart afterwards, and from the outside of the front row, Lessard recaptured the point from Houff once racing resumed. Houff, along with Zane Smith and Matt Craig, followed in Lessard’s tire tracks through the mid stages of the event, looking for a chance to pounce.
 
Caution flew once again on lap 55 when third place driver Zane Smith literally parked his car on the backstraightaway. He exited the machine quickly, removed his helmet, and sat down in the infield grass. He was hurriedly tended to by medical personnel with fluids and oxygen to treat his fatigue but was done racing for the night.
 
Lessard once again took command of the race on the restart, stretching his advantage over Houff and company by nearly four seconds at times during the final stretch of green flag racing. The French-Canadian teenager cruised to his second career CARS Super Late Mode Tour powered by VP Fuels win by 3.2 seconds over Preston Peltier, Houff, Craig, and his David Gilliland Racing teammate Tanner Thorson.
 
“I thought I may have thrown it away because I thought we may have gotten a flat tire, but we ended up in victory lane, so it was all good,” said Lessard in Edelbrock Victory Lane when asked about the lap 6 impact with the backstretch wall. “It actually made the car a little bit worse because it got tight and I was worrying that at the end I wouldn’t be able to be there. But David Gilliland Racing gave me an awesome car and my Toyota Camry was fantastic to drive. I can’t thank my team enough. But we’re not racing for points, we’re looking to win every race.”
 
“This one is for my dad because it’s his birthday tomorrow,” he continued. “Everything he has done for me and my career is awesome and I can’t thank him enough.”
CARS Tour PR