HUDSON, N.C.: Fresh off an impressive victory this past weekend at Orange County (N.C.) Speedway in the prestigious Orange Blossom Shootout, teenage phenomenon Kade Brown returns to the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour looking to keep his momentum rolling in Saturday night’s Blue Ridge 250 at Tri-County (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
Rewinding a week, the recently crowned Hickory Motor Speedway Late Model champion added another trophy and checkered flag to his collection at Orange County.
Brown took advantage of a strong race car and maximized patience throughout the race to find himself in a side-by-side battle for the win, with Brown edging ahead and winning the $17,500 purse by 0.042 seconds.
The young gun hopes to continue his winning ways outside Granite Falls and deliver his first career CARS Tour triumph.
“We had the best race car by a long shot, but at a place like Orange County, it’s so hard to make a pass work,” Brown recalled his performance in the Orange Blossom Shootout.
”I definitely learned a lot for future races, and I am excited to see what the rest of the 2023 racing season has in store for myself and my Matt Piercy Racing team.”
With the penultimate Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour race on deck this weekend, Brown wants to continue to earn the respect of his competitors – while turning heads in the grandstands and the garage.
Finishing 11th in the August running of the Grand Atlantic Resort Old North State at Tri-County, Brown returns to the legendary short track looking to capitalize on his summer performance while battling the best in Late Model Stock competition.
“I really feel like you have to treat Tri-County a lot like Orange County,” explained Brown. “The tracks have similar characteristics where tire conservation is pivotal to success and patience is a premium. As we dive deeper and deeper into the CARS Tour season, the competition is fierce, and everyone wants to end the season on a high note, us included.
“I learned a lot in August and plan to utilize that experience from this summer, plus take the knowledge I’ve been able to inhale throughout the year and lay it all on the table on Saturday night.”
It has been a relatively good month for Brown.
Before focusing on the Orange Blossom Shootout, Brown was one of over 80 entries for the historic ValleyStar Credit Union 300 last month at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
With continued confidence and support from his Matt Piercy Racing team and mentoring from former NASCAR driver Damon Lusk, Brown embraced his inaugural running in the nation’s biggest, richest, and most prestigious NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race by delivering a strong seventh-place finish and an entire notebook.
With the racing season winding down, Brown looks to continue a strong trajectory and maintain his recent successes, including a respectable 12th-place CARS Tour result at South Boston (Va.) Speedway earlier this month.
“The competition in the CARS Tour is no joke,” added Brown. “Every CARS Tour race, we strive to fight for the win – like every other team, but at this point in my racing career, coming away from the race track with a solid finish and the car in one piece is a bonus.
“We came close to a CARS Tour victory in July at Hickory Motor Speedway with a second-place finish, and I’d love nothing more than to have an opportunity to challenge for the win either this weekend at Tri-County or in a couple of weeks at Caraway.”
ValAsta, Carolina Driveline, Race City Steel and Puryear Tank Lines will be the primary partners on Brown’s No. 23 Chevrolet for the 125-lap race.
“Without my partners, I realize that Tri-County and the 2023 season would not be possible,” explained Brown. “This season has been a lot of fun with all the trips to Victory Lane, but without the support of ValAsta, Carolina Driveline, Race City Steel and Puryear Tank Lines, I realize none of it would be possible.
“There is no better way to thank them than by just putting our team in a position to bring home another checkered flag.”
Sharing the track with the two CARS Tour divisions for the Blue Ridge 250 will be the GXS Street Stock Series, which previously ran with the PLM Tour at Tri-County Motor Speedway back in May. Gary Ledbetter took home a checkered flag in the series’ inaugural event.
The 50-lap GXS Street Stock Series race will be sandwiched between the PLM Tour and LMSC Tour features. FloRacing has coverage of all the on-track action starting at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
For more on Kade Brown, please like his Facebook page (Kade Brown Racing), or follow him on Instagram (@kadebrownracing), TikTok (@kadebrown99) and X | Twitter (@kadebrownracing).
