Qualifying speed has quickly become a strong suit for Brent Crews during his rookie season as a CARS Tour late model stock car driver.
Through three races, the 16-year-old had an average start of 3.3 in his No. 29 late model, which is fielded by Kevin Harvick Inc. However, the problem has been stringing together the rest of the race weekend.
Up until the CARS Tour’s latest stop at Orange County Speedway, Crews’ best finish was sixth at the season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park back in early March.
“I think it has a lot to do with the tire,” Crews said, referring to the Hoosier ST2 tire run by the touring late model series. “(Figuring that out) was a big thing for us.”
Even so, the No. 29 team didn’t get off to a good start upon arrival at Orange County’s three-eighths-mile facility last Friday and placed well outside the top 20 during the initial practice session.
“We were horrible in practice, so I didn’t know where that was gonna lead. We had motor troubles all day — it just wasn’t running right,” Crews explained.
The engine blew up near the end of the day, forcing the KHI crew to pull an all-nighter to swap it out and be ready for the 125-lap feature the next day.
“They (the crew) were all on two hours of sleep,” Crews said. “We showed up the next day, qualified second and I still didn’t know where that would lead us.”
The rising pavement racer, who already has a Trans-Am TA2 championship under his belt, lived up to his potential under the lights at Orange County and proceeded to collect his first late model stock car win with the CARS Tour that night.
“That was just the cherry on top,” Crews said.
Not only was it rewarding for Crews, who added another impressive accomplishment to his résumé, but it was also encouraging for the KHI team. The Kevin Harvick-owned operation is still working to get their bearings as they navigate their first year back as full-time competitors in the late model ranks.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been smooth sailing — we’re working out a lot of kinks,” Crews said in relation to the team. “I don’t think racing’s easy even when you’ve been at it for 10 years. All I know is these guys work hard and I’m excited to be as fast as we are.”
Crews is planning to keep the momentum going at Ace Speedway on May 3 — the next stop on the CARS Tour schedule — now that it feels as if the pendulum is swinging in his team’s direction.
He finished 17th in last year’s late model stock car race at the four-tenths-mile oval.