Conner Jones WINS CARS Tour Tilt at Wake County

On Saturday night at Wake County Speedway, Conner Jones found himself on pit road as his No. 44 car was being refueled, watching a potential victory slip away.

However, Jones emerged victorious by reaching victory lane, successfully overcoming late challenges on a night filled with unexpected developments in the zMAX CARS Tour Delta Heating, Cooling and Plumbing 175.

As several leaders were sidelined due to collisions or attrition, Jones regained his momentum, skillfully navigated through the field, and overtook Landen Lewis during the final restart to achieve his first CARS Tour victory since the 2024 finale at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

"I thought it was over at that point," Jones said, reflecting on his late pit road visit. "I honestly believed we had lost a lap, but apparently, we hadn't. Kudos to my crew—they did an outstanding job all weekend."

"We had an excellent car throughout the weekend. We didn't practice as much as many others did. I believe a lot of it comes down to luck. We ran out of fuel, fortunately, at the right moment."

After Jones ran out of fuel, Caden Kvapil encountered a mechanical issue. Subsequently, Treyten Lapcevich and Landon Huffman both lost power while competing for the lead. This sequence of events handed the lead to track champion Clay Jones, who was called to the pits with a black flag due to damage on the right-front fender of his vehicle.

This situation set the stage for the final restart, with Jones surging past Lewis to claim the victory. Chase Burrow also overtook Lewis in the late-race scramble to secure second place.

"I was confident we had a strong race car," said Burrow. "We demonstrated speed throughout the day. We just needed to make it to the race.

"We managed to avoid trouble, and look at the result. It was definitely a good night."

Lewis managed to secure a third-place finish, maintaining his position on the podium despite the late drama.

"We faced challenges all night long," said Lewis. "I'm really proud of these guys. It wasn't the way I envisioned returning to the Tour, but I'm grateful to have teammates who are as determined as I am and never give up.

"We got caught in a wreck that I felt was unnecessary, and it damaged our race car. We faced challenges, but I'm proud to be part of this team."

Initially, it seemed the competition for the top spot would be between Mini Tyrrell and Doug Barnes, Jr. before Kvapil, Jones, and others contended for the win. However, Tyrrell and Barnes clashed while fighting for the lead just after the lap-100 mark, resulting in significant damage to both cars.

Barnes and Tyrrell shared differing viewpoints of the incident during their interviews on the FloRacing broadcast.

"Mini Tyrrell racing like Mini Tyrrell," said Barnes. "I got into him a little bit harder than I meant when I took the lead, but when he got back to me, dude. I need to see a replay, but all I saw was a right-front tire in my window, in Mini fashion."

"I guess he's just still bound up from last year," said Tyrrell. "I got into him here last race and tried to apologize to him, he wouldn't take it. I didn't ruin his race, I just doored him. Then I got into him at Tri-County, barely, and I told him it was my bad, but he just couldn't get over that.

"Jacked me up the last couple of Late Model races. He's just upset because every time I come back into a Late Model, I'm always faster than him and always beating him. It's okay. When you've got people to race with like that, that's what happens, they wreck you. If they can't beat you, they wreck you."

Brandon Pierce finished fourth, with Landon Huffman rounding out the top five.