Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hails Team’s Vision After Expansion Project Confirmation
Intending to build a solid foundation for grassroots racing, the zMAX CARS Tour is about to expand westward in 2023 through the 10-race long zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model Series West, which kicks off at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on March 2nd.
With the new owners: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Justin Marks, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Burton holding the reins of the CARS Tour and Kern Raceway owner Tim Huddleston tying up with them, grassroot-level racing and local tracks are bound to flourish.
On that note, Dale Jr. recently posted, “Glad to be part of this ownership group. Seeing everyone’s vision and ambition take shape has been motivating. The new season is just around the corner!” Indeed, the upcoming season is one that all the owners, including Junior, look forward to. For the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver and co-owner Harvick, the CARS Tour is a way of achieving his vision for the future of motorsport.
Glad to be part of this ownership group. Seeing everyone’s vision and ambition take shape has been motivating. The new season is just around the corner! https://t.co/2H1DqwIUi8
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) January 5, 2024
Furthermore, the #4 sensation admitted that the West Coast is home for him and the tracks that the CARS Tour would go to this year are the ones that helped Harvick pave the path of his career. Just like he did in NASCAR, the 2014 Cup Series champion wants to make it to the top of West Coast racing with the CARS Tour.
“We want to continue to build the series, bring attention to the drivers, the local tracks, and help usher the next generation of drivers to the top levels of racing,” he said. “Adding this West Coast schedule for 2024 is the next step to making that happen.”
The 2024 zMAX CARS Tour schedule
After its inaugural race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on March 2, the CARS Tour will move on to Irwindale Speedway for the next two races on April 13 and May 11. Then, the action will unfurl at Stockton 99 Speedway on May 25.
Following that, after a two-race stint at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on June 15 and July 3, the grassroots racing series will go back to Stockton 99 on July 20. From there, the last three races will be held in California on August 31, October 5, and November 16 at Irwindale Speedway, All American Speedway, and Kern Raceway, respectively.
Besides the CARS Tour, the U.S. Legend Cars will follow the same schedule, accompanying the newly announced series every weekend. Lately, the CARS Tour has made it big in the arena of motorsport. And with the series moving to the west, more drivers will have the opportunity to compete in it.
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![The RCR team had a challenging day during the third race of the Cup season. Although Kyle Busch crossed the finish line in 5th place and had been a frontrunner, having led for 43 laps, the disappointing 35th-place finish of Austin Dillon only compounded the team's frustrating results. While Busch maintained his composure, Dillon was visibly upset with the on-track incident involving Denny Hamlin. During the race at Circuit of the Americas, on lap 78, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin were vying for the P20 position when Hamlin, after locking his #11 Toyota's tires, unexpectedly collided with the driver's side of Dillon's #3 car, hurtling it into the gravel and triggering a caution. Television replays captured a trail of dust from the Joe Gibbs Racing car just moments before it seemingly lost braking power and instigated the crash. However, the situation escalated when NASCAR shared the video of the incident with the caption, "The Nos. 3 and 11 make contact and the yellow flag flies." Unable to contain his frustration, Dillon responded sharply, "Correction. The No. 11 made contact with the No. 3." The sentiment among fans largely favored Dillon's perspective. One spectator commented, "And then his teammate wins. They knew what they were doing!" while another lamented, "Sadly if this didn't happen there a good chance @KyleBusch could have won today." Yet another chimed in, "Yep! Always cover Gibbs/Toyota/Hamlin. It’s all headline semantics. He drove into your side, video supports no attempt to steer away." Due to the caution, Bell was able to have fresher tires, which helped him pass Busch with five laps remaining. Otherwise, the old tires would have most likely slowed down the #20 car. That's why the fans blamed Hamlin for instigating a deliberate wreck that helped Bell to outpace the #8 RCR driver. However, one fan referenced a past incident to needle Dillon, recalling when he maneuvered the #11 driver into the wall at Richmond last year to secure his playoff position [which ultimately did not pan out due to NASCAR's decision], remarking, "Remember when you right rear hooked the 11 into the wall to win?" Nevertheless, the replay footage seemed to clearly show it was Hamlin who initiated the collision with the #3 driver. Dillon's frustration was quite visible during his post-race interview as well, where he expressed, "Our car handled well, and we were just trying to be patient until the end. With 18 laps to go, we were running inside the top 20, and the #11 locked up his front tires and wiped us out." "My team did a great job trying to make the repairs, but the damage in the rear was too much to fix, and we had to go to the garage." He voiced disappointment on behalf of his RCR team, lamenting that they had a car capable of finishing in the top 15, and it was unfortunate they couldn't demonstrate the same at COTA. Nevertheless, Dillon appeared optimistic about the upcoming race in Phoenix, hinting at a rebound from the setback.](https://thesportsrush.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/d8fc8a02-austin-dillon-300x300.png)
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