JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Zebulon teenager Carter Langley is hoping to be in contention for a breakthrough win in the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour’s inaugural visit to Goodyear All American Speedway on Saturday.
Saturday’s CARS Tour event will be broadcasted live by SPEED SPORT affiliate, CARSTourTV.
Langley, 17, comes to the four-tenths-mile track in Jacksonville with an advantage over much of the CARS Tour field.
He already has a top-five finish at the track, which he scored last November in the Solid Rock Carriers Battle of the Stars. Langley was able to learn a lot from that race and will apply it on Saturday night.
“I learned a lot about saving tires really and keeping pace with Josh (Berry) and them while saving as much tire as I could, having something at the end of the race to try to get up there and get the win,” Langley said. “I feel like we have a pretty good car going into this weekend. I think we might be able to pull off another top-five, if not, have a solid good top-10. Hopefully, we have a good clean race with everybody.”
Langley has won races before, but not in the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour. To date, his career-best finish is a sixth-place at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway. A win on Saturday would be a highlight for Langley’s promising young career.
“It would mean a lot for my family and I as well as Justin Johnson Racing and crew,” Langley said. “We’ve struggled a little bit the first two races trying to get used to the format of the CARS Tour and everything. A win would be really good, especially this early in the season. It would boost confidence going into the rest of the season.”
Langley began his career racing karts at Tri-County Kartway in Kenly, North Carolina. From there, he made the leap to chargers a few years ago and then moved up to late models.
Last October, he made his first start in the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour driving for accomplished late model stock car competitor Justin Johnson and impressed with a 10th place finish.
He now has five starts in the series and has finished no worse than 10th heading into Saturday’s New River 125 presented by United Rentals at Goodyear All American Speedway.
One track that Langley has won at is the now-defunct Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. That experience could prove to be very beneficial on Saturday as Goodyear All American Speedway shares similarities with the historic South Carolina short track.
“I think it’s going to be a lot like the Myrtle Beach 400 was,” Langley said. “You’re not going to be able to change tires or anything. I feel like it’s going to be a lot different than when we ran the big race there in November on the American Racer tires. I think it’s going to be who can save the most tire and last the longest.”
While tire management will be the dominant storyline on Saturday on the abrasive surface of the Onslow County track, Langley believes the racing itself will deliver plenty of excitement as well.
“There’s going to be a lot of three-wide and four-wide racing,” Langley said. “It’s going to be like Dale Earnhardt when you pass in the grass on the front stretch. I feel like it’s going to produce some really good racing.”