HAMPTON, Va. — Since embarking on his first full-time zMAX CARS Tour season back in 2022, Chase Burrow has always shown potential to win races.
With five top fives and a pole split between Edwards Racing Enterprises and his family-owned operation, speed was always prevalent for the King George, Virginia native. Victory eluded Burrow across his first 44 starts, yet each venture with the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour brought him closer to his breakthrough checkered flag.
Everything finally came together for Burrow in Saturday’s Visit Hampton Virginia 125 at Langley Speedway. Burrow managed to save enough tires while simultaneously maintaining solid track position all evening, which enabled him to make the race-winning pass on Connor Hall with 30 laps remaining.
Meticulous hard work pays off for Chase Burrow
There were plenty of emotions as Chase Burrow exited his No. 00 Medek Corporation Toyota in Cook Out Victory Lane after securing his first triumph in the CARS LMSC Tour.
Burrow’s time on the platform provided him with plenty of insight into all the fundamentals needed to find success against so many other talented drivers. With the diligence everyone on his small operation displays in the shop and at the track, Burrow knew it was only a matter of time before the strenuous effort was rewarded.
“All these guys work so hard,” Burrow said. “We’ve had speed all year, but we just couldn’t put it together. Finally putting it together is awesome, so a huge shootout to these guys. This is all because of them. All I do is wheel it.”
Prior to Saturday’s event at Langley Speedway, the closest Burrow came to achieving victory in the LMSC Tour was at Tri-County Speedway the year before. Burrow placed second that evening to the eventual champion in Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen, which provided him plenty of optimism about his program’s progress.
Consistency proved to be difficult for Burrow, as his only other top five across his following ten appearances came when the LMSC Tour returned to Tri-County later in 2024. Despite this, Burrow and his crew kept their focus centered on the Late Model Stock’s performance, all of them determined to celebrate a win together.
Speed and tire conservation was only one part of Burrow’s winning formula on Saturday, as he had to pass the driver who claimed the last two LMSC Tour races at Langley in Connor Hall. Burrow emphasized how important pace was to besting Hall at his home track yet expressed elation over flawlessly executing his strategy.
“This is just a good race car,” Burrow said. “I saved enough tire, just barely I feel like, but I saved enough. It all worked out. We finally did it. We’re CARS Tour winners.”
Jared Fryar one spot short of second 2025 victory
Although Jared Fryar ended his night at Langley Speedway in the second position, the journey to get there was an onerous one.
A car that was initially ill-handling and mid-race contact with Donovan Strauss prevented Fryar from making significant progress towards the front of the field from the 14th starting position. Not one to be easily deterred, Fryar spent the second half of Saturday’s race vigorously erasing his deficit to come home with another Langley top five.
“[When] we fired off, we were terrible,” Fryar said. “[My crew] made a good call to come down pit road and change the rear shocks. It just woke up after that. It was kind of surprising to me, but this thing went to the front and started passing cars. It was definitely a crazy race, but having some cars fall out really helped.”
Langley has long been one of Fryar’s best tracks in a Late Model Stock. Along with his consistency there in the CARS LMSC Tour, Fryar also earned one of the most notable victories of his career at Langley in 2022 by claiming the prestigious Hampton Heat.
Fryar possessed plenty of momentum ahead of his first Langley LMSC Tour start since 2021, having prevailed during his most recent series start at Orange County Speedway back in April. While the early issues were a setback, Fryar knew the speed of his car and a little bit of luck could get him back into contention.
Several contenders being plagued by issues assisted Fryar in his valiant charge, though he could only climb to second by the time the checkered flag waved. Fryar expressed gratitude over how everyone responded to the adversity at Langley but also commended Chase Burrow for the stalwart drive that got him to Cook Out Victory Lane.
“Congrats to Chase [Burrow] and his crew, that’s awesome for them,” Fryar said. “That’s their first CARS Tour win and it’s a big deal for them. They were good tonight, and I really didn’t have nothing for them there at the end. My tires were pretty much used up trying to run hard and come through the field there.”
Matt Waltz shines once again in front of local Langley crowd
The confidence Matt Waltz had in his own No. 2 Chevrolet proved to be well-founded, as he set the fastest qualifying time in the Visit Hampton Virginia 125 at his home track of Langley Speedway.
Waltz’ speed carried over into the 125-lap feature, spending plenty of time up front before settling for third, an improvement upon his career-best showing from last year’s Langley race. Although he would have preferred a victory, Waltz said the pleasant surprise of earning the pole was indicative of the strides that have been made with his team.
“We were glad to get a pole today,” Waltz said. “That was a little unexpected for me. I knew we had a really good driving race car, [but] we just didn’t know what kind of raw speed it was going to have. We were definitely excited to get the pole, our first CARS Tour pole out here.”
Victory was within Waltz’ grasp at the end of the LMSC Tour’s 2024 visit to Langley. As Connor Hall, Brent Crews and Carson Kvapil engaged in a frantic battle that ended in a three-wide photo finish, Waltz brought his car home in the fourth position.
The 2017 Langley track champion was determined to give the local crowd something to cheer for on Saturday as the LMSC Tour made its seventh visit to the historic facility. Having made plenty of adjustments to his car over the past year, Waltz felt Saturday was his best opportunity to claim a marquee Late Model Stock checkered flag.
Waltz departed Langley disappointed but also satisfied with how consistent he was from qualifying up until the closing stages. Now that another LMSC Tour event at Langley is in the record books, Waltz is turning his attention back towards the track’s weekly class and stay fresh ahead of the upcoming Hampton Heat.
“In the race, we fired off and we were really good just riding for that first bit,” Waltz said. “As we went on, the car tightened up on us a bit and all I could do there was hang on and keep it turning enough to where I could stay up [front].”
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The zMAX CARS LMSC Tour stays in the Commonwealth of Virginia for their next stop on the 2025 schedule at Dominion Raceway, located in Thornburg. The Mini’s Mission 125, which will feature several pre-race events supporting victims of childhood cancer, will be broadcast live on FloRacing.
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:
00 Chase Burrow
14 Jared Fryar
2W Matt Waltz
7 Tristan McKee
16 Chad McCumbee
04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
88 Connor Hall
71 Parker Eatmon
11 Buddy Isles Jr.
4 Kade Brown
44 Conner Jones
4S Donovan Strauss
57 Landon Huffman
2 Brandon Pierce
28 Dustin Storm
91 Justin Carroll
22 Carson Loftin
88B Doug Barnes Jr. – OUT
29 Landen Lewis – OUT
81 Mini Tyrrell – OUT
47 Ryley Music – OUT
1 Andrew Grady – OUT
03 Lanie Buice – OUT
