JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Bobby McCarty picked up his first win since last June in Saturday night’s sold-out National Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram 250 at New River All American Speedway.
McCarty started from the outside of the second row in the 125-lap zMAX CARS Tour race, three positions behind Brenden “Butterbean” Queen. After managing his tires for the first two segments of the race, he finally raced his way to the lead on lap 90 – snapping a winless drought and returning back to form in a series he has won three championships in.
“This was a great night man,” McCarty said after the race. “We had a good strategy. We played the right strategy on each restart of being in the right position to be there when it was time to go. Then [Mini Tyrrell] and [Queen], from my viewpoint, it was just a racing deal. They came together at the wrong time and allowed me to take the lead and once we got the lead, we just had to maintain.”
Tyrrell and Queen tangled while racing for the lead on lap 87, resulting in Queen cutting down a tire which derailed his efforts to remain undefeated. He was able to rebound to finish 11th, but the Waffle House celebration was put on hold.
“We were talking about what we were going to do and we’re going to do beers with me podcast and then we’re headed to the Ale House,” McCarty joked. “I know Waffle House and yada yada yada, but we’re adults so we’re going to the bar. We’re going to set the trophy on top of the bar.”
Runner-up Mini Tyrrell is close friends with McCarty and was happy to see him win, but disappointed he could not come away with the first-place prize himself.
“It really stinks,” Tyrrell said. “Happy for Bobby. He had a really good car there at the end. I think our car was really good until I got together with Brenden in turn three. I’m not sure what exactly happened, whether it was my bad or not. If it was and it hurt those guys the rest of the night, I’m sorry to those Lee Pulliam guys. They work their tails off. I’m just really proud of this team. We’ve come a really long way from last year to this year.”
Connor Hall, who won the CARS Tour race at New River in 2022, finished third while Treyten Lapcevich and Carson Kvapil finished fourth and fifth. Chad McCumbee, Ryan Millington, Landen Lewis, Andrew Grady, and Isabella Robusto rounded out the top 10.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. rebounded from a mid-race entanglement with Landon Huffman to finish 14th.
“I had a great time,” Earnhardt told reporters after the race. “I made a few mistakes on the racetracks that cost us an opportunity at a good finish but just a great racetrack, great turnout, great crowd. I signed a lot of autographs and met a lot of folks and definitely want to come back and try to race again and do better than I did tonight. I can’t say enough about the facility and the people who run this place and the effort they put into it.”
The finish:
Bobby McCarty, Mini Tyrrell, Connor Hall, Treyten Lapcevich, Carson Kvapil, Chad McCumbee, Ryan Millington, Landen Lewis, Andrew Grady, Isabella Robusto, Brenden Queen, Kade Brown, Cody Dempster, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bryce Applegate, Brent Crews, Buddy Isles Jr., Jacob Heafner, Brandon Pierce, Paul Williamson, Katie Hettinger, Logan Clark, Deac McCaskill, Landon Huffman, Ronnie Bassett Jr.