CORDELE MOTOR SPEEDWAY PHOTO
CORDELE, GA. – The zMAX CARS Tour’s inaugural appearance at Cordele Motor Speedway on Saturday evening was dominated by Connor Hall and Mini Tyrrell.
South Georgia racing fans were excited to see the zMAX CARS Tour, steered by the ownership group of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin Marks, come to the Watermelon Capitol of the World.
Entering the Byron Outdoor Superstore 225 as the only two winners on the 2025 CARS LMSC Tour season, Hall and Tyrrell showcased all the characteristics at Cordele than earned them their early-season triumphs. The two stalwart competitors stayed within each other’s sightlines all evening, each one refusing to concede any ground.
By the time the checkered flag waved on the 125-lap feature, Hall emerged victorious over Tyrrell for his second LMSC Tour victory in three races. Hall was joined in Cook Out Victory Lane on Saturday evening by Tristan McKee, who survived an eventful PLM Tour race for his fourth career win in the division.
Connor Hall solidifies status as title favorite with Cordele triumph
For the opening half of the Byron Outdoor Superstore 225’s Late Model Stock feature, Connor Hall found himself tailing Mini Tyrrell.
Hall could only observe as Tyrrell consistently bested him on restarts by utilizing the top line. Realizing his No. 88 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet could make speed on the same groove, Hall altered his gameplan and gained the upper hand over Tyrrell, earning the distinction as the first CARS LMSC Tour winner at Cordele Motor Speedway.
“I don’t exactly know what clicked, but I guess watching Mini [Tyrrell] drive away from me the [previous] 50 laps made me decide to move up,” Hall said. “I’m really glad we did, because this was a completely different race car when we moved up. It’s super awesome to win the inaugural event here at Cordele. This is a first-class facility.”
Hall is no stranger to excelling at new tracks for the CARS Tour. When the series visited New River All-American Speedway for the first time in 2022, Hall brought home a checkered flag that evening by leading a race-high 58 laps.
Unlike New River, tire conservation was not at the forefront of the strategy Hall and JR Motorsports devised for their maiden voyage to Cordele. With the facility offering multiple grooves for racing, Hall had to be aggressive early to stay up front, especially with Tyrrell being equal with him when it came to overall speed.
Outlasting Tyrrell in unknown territory like Cordele only reinforced the belief Hall has in himself to win an LMSC Tour championship with JR Motorsports. There have been some challenges for Hall in his transition to full-time duties with the team, but he knows the strenuous work is going to pay off with long-term success.
“I’m misunderstood a lot,” Hall said. “I moved away from my hometown, my girlfriend and I live in separate states now, but I’m fully committed to making this work. I’m so thankful to Dale Earnhardt Jr., his family, Kelley Earnhardt and L.W. Miller for giving me an opportunity to drive this race car. I’m with the best group possible.”
Mini Tyrrell one spot short of second consecutive LMSC Tour win
After going nearly four years between CARS LMSC Tour victories, Mini Tyrrell was on the cusp of earning his second in a row on Saturday at Cordele.
Tyrrell’s strong start to the Byron Outdoor Superstore 225 was curtailed by Connor Hall, who took advantage of Tyrrell getting loose in turn two on a restart with 42 laps to go. Although he tried everything feasible to take control of the lead again, Tyrrell ended up settling with a disappointing but solid second place finish.
“We had a ton of speed at the beginning,” Tyrrell said. “I slipped up off turn two on that one restart and that’s when Connor [Hall] took the lead from me. I just couldn’t quite accelerate super hard on the outside out of turn two like I could. It was a combination of the tire going away and just the way [Cordele] is out there.”
The day at Cordele for Tyrrell began just like his stalwart outing at Wake County Speedway. He qualified on pole with a time of 16.307 before proceeding to set a commanding pace during the opening half of the LMSC Tour feature.
A key difference between the two events was that Tyrrell could not separate himself from Hall, who consistently traded blows with Tyrrell across several early restarts. When Tyrrell finally established separation from Hall on a long run, a competition yellow erased his progress and opened the door for Hall to assume control of the race.
Tyrrell felt he could have mounted a challenge on Hall had the timing on the late-race cautions worked more in his favor. Despite coming up one spot short, Tyrrell found plenty of aspects to cherish from his performance at Cordele and is eager to put together more strong weekends over the rest of 2025.
“Hats off to [Connor Hall] and all the [JR Motorsports] guys,” Tyrrell said. “That car was definitely hooked up and I think we needed a little more short run speed to fire off as good as he could. All in all, I’m stoked. We got the pole, led the most laps I think and ended up second with all four fenders on the car. You can’t ask for a much better night than that.”
Tristan McKee survives wild PLM Tour feature for first win of 2025
The season-opening CARS PLM Tour feature at New River All-American Speedway ended in disappointment for Tristan McKee, as he finished runner-up to Jade Avedisian after leading 96 of 100 laps.
Determined to shake off the frustrations from New River, McKee showcased speed and composure in the inaugural PLM Tour event at Cordele Motor Speedway. McKee kept his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet out of trouble before making the race-winning pass on Colin Allman with 23 laps remaining.
“I was trying my hardest right there,” McKee said. “We didn’t quite have the best car, but I made use of the top, which came in after that [long run]. I made the pass for second and was kind of riding until the last red flag. My car was really good and this is a group effort, so I’m really thankful.”
McKee needed to exercise patience during a PLM Tour event that lasted nearly two hours. As several strong cars fell out of contention due to various issues, McKee maintained solid track position inside the top five while waiting for a chance to make a run for the lead.
A missed shift from leader Keelan Harvick during the penultimate restart of the night briefly stymied McKee’s momentum, but he gradually worked his way towards the second position behind Allman. Isaac Kitzmiller’s spin bunched the field back up for one more restart, where McKee easily dispatched Allman to pull away with the victory.
Now maintaining an average finish of 1.5 through the first two PLM Tour events, McKee feels confident in his outlook for 2025 with the support of Spire and Matt Piercy at his disposal. If his team builds on their early-season strengths, McKee said trips to Cook Out Victory Lane are going to be a common occurrence.
“I’m glad we got another one,” McKee said. “Whatever happened [at New River] happened, so it feels good to get another one. I definitely expect a lot more. We’re all working hard, so this [win] feels really good.”
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Following an eventful debut showing at Cordele Motor Speedway, both divisions of the zMAX CARS Tour are heading to a familiar location in Orange County Speedway on April 26. FloRacing is set to provide coverage of all the on-track action.
For more information on the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on X (formerly known as Twitter) and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC, at 704-662-9212.
LMSC Results:
- 88 Connor Hall
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 44 Conner Jones
- 4 Kade Brown
- 11 Buddy Isles Jr.
- 69 Michael Hinde
- 22 Carson Loftin
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr.
- 16 Chad McCumbee
- 1 Daniel Webster
- 54 Michael Fose
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 40 Taylor Satterfield
- 12 Hudson Bulger
- 2W Ryan Wilson
- 4S Donovan Strauss -1
- 7 Tristan McKee -1
- 03 Lanie Buice -3
- 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. – OUT
- 2 Brandon Pierce – OUT
- 71 Jake Bollman – OUT
- 24 Cody Dempster – OUT
- 28 Landon S. Huffman – OUT
- 4E Parker Eatmon – OUT
- 15 Ryan Millington – OUT
PLM Results:
- 7 Tristan McKee
- 67 Colin Allman
- 50 Jett Noland
- 54 T.J. DeCaire
- 62 Keelan Harvick
- 17 Hudson Bulger
- 62X Luke Yarbrough
- 54C Seth Christensen
- 97 Dylan Garner
- 25 Isaac Kitzmiller
- 99 Cody Martell
- 16S Timothy Sozio
- 16H Patrick Hodges -1
- 38 Cody Haskins -1
- 33 Hunter Johnson -2
- 08 Spencer Bragg – OUT
- 51 Carson Ware – OUT
- 6 Brandon Lopez – OUT
- 6M Ben Maier – OUT
- 62R Casey Roderick – OUT
- 31 Brody Monahan – OUT
- 15 Rodney Dowless – OUT
- 35 Gage Gilby – OUT
- 43 Augie Grill – OUT
- 47 Tyler Reif – OUT
- 5 Garrett Gumm -OUT
- 44 Logan Jones – OUT
- 32 Stuart Dutton – OUT
- 2 Jaxon Bishop – OUT
- 12 Brandon Brilliant – OUT