“It’s a Bad Look”- CARS Tour Star Acquitted From Hickory Controversy as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Breaks Silence on Pit Road Skirmish

The massive brawl that occurred at the Hickory Throwback 276 zMAX Cars Tour race on July 27 invited many penalties. The figure who raked in the most penalties was Andrew Grady of TG Motorsports, and, for good reason, he almost started a wrestling match in the pit lanes. It all started with a tussle for 12th on lap 61 as Grady was spun by Landon Huffman. Words were exchanged between the two drivers with even Denny Hamlin brought up. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who co-owns the zMAX series has also chimed in with his thoughts.

After being rear-ended by Huffman, an enraged, Grady exited his car and confronted Huffman as he lapped the wrecked vehicle. Tensions reached a boiling point as Grady, in a fit of anger, hurled his HANS device at Huffman’s moving car. The two had strong words for each other and an all-out brawl between Grady’s crew and other crew members ensued. During the brawl, Grady shoved series founder Jack McNell to the ground as tensions escalated.

Repercussions? Grady’s been fined $1500 in total. Moreover, he is suspended for the next three CARS Tour events for the unauthorized crossing of the racing surface to confront another competitor ($500) and for assaulting or threatening to cause bodily harm to a CARS Tour official under Section 1D of the Rule Book ($1000), as he did so with series chairman Jack McNelly. This was essential to setting a precedent.

With Chairman McNelly being involved firsthand, it has also put the owners of the CARS Tour in a tight spot. Co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the Dale Jr. Download, opened up about the incident and also termed it “unfortunate.”

Describing his experience and take on the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the July 31st episode of DJD said, “Hickory was explosive. Hickory is a very tight, tough little race track. Leads itself to a lot of contact and there was plenty of it on the racetrack and a little bit off the racetrack as well you know I watched the race and I was relatively entertained. We have you know some different incidents during the race.”

Even though Grady was aggrieved at Huffman’s actions, Earnhardt Jr.’s comments about the racetrack do showcase he was in a tight spot.

However, what happened afterward was unwarranted. According to Dale Jr., incidents like these definitely put the owners in a tight situation, and they don’t want his kind of aggression in the events, which is easily avoidable. Emphasizing this he said, “Pushing and shoving and punching and wrestling and falling to the ground happens on flow right in front of all of our fans all our sponsors. It’s just a really bad look.”

As Andrew Grady (No. 1) will receive a three-race suspension, effective at North Wilkesboro Speedway (Aug. 3), Ace Speedway (Aug. 9), and Wake County Speedway (Aug. 24), the incident has shed light on the growing aggression in late-model stock racing.

Another driver who was involved in the brawl, Treyten Lapcevich, also took it to X on July 29 to explain what unfolded; he wrote, “Since there hasn’t really been good coverage of the whole story. Jack McNelly was trying to escort Grady back to his trailer after throwing dirt at Landon’s car. Andrew pushed Jack to the ground and he hit his head hard, which caused our crew to step in and break it up.”

After Grady was spun, he returned to the pit road and took shots at Huffan’s skills as a driver. “In the words of Denny Hamlin: Landon Huffman, you’re a hack. It’s no wonder you lost your ride with the No. 22 [Nelson Motorsports]. You’re a trash panda bud,” he said.

Huffman was signed in 2023 by Nelson Motorsports for their number 22 car in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock division. He won the Old North State Nationals but narrowly missed out on winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway. This led to him losing his ride with Nelson in 2024.

Huffman didn’t hold back when it came to replying to Grady. “He’s gonna call me a hack. I’ve watched that dude race for 15 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him win one race…He wants to call me a hack? That’s fine. I’ve got a couple championships and about 40 Late Model Stock wins he can suck on.”

In all this chaos Ronnie Bassett, Jr. emerged as the winner in dramatic circumstances. In the final lap, he was behind Ryan Millington and Connor Hall, who were battling for the final two spots. Millington made contact with the rear bumper of Hall, sending him in turn 4 towards the pit wall while he crossed the finish line.

However, the officials penalized Millington for the contact with Hall. The ensuing penalty disqualified Millington from his apparent victory, handing the win to third-place finisher Ronnie Bassett Jr. Bassett’s triumph marked his first Late Model victory.

Although it took time, the race results were as per the ruling book, as CARS Tour Executive Director Kip Childress said, “We wanted to take the time to make sure that we were making a decision based on the ruling of our rulebook, We feel that by virtue of what the rulebook said, Connor being placed in the third position is the appropriate call.”

This drama at Hickory has invited penalties for the people involved, including probation for the remainder of the season for Ryan Millington for actions detrimental to automobile racing or to the CARS Tour under Section 1A of the Rule Book. Buddy Isles Jr. of Vandyke Racing Performance also received probation for the remainder of the season and will be fined $500 for the unauthorized crossing of the racing surface to confront another competitor. under the same section.

Chris Courtney and Gage Painter received a one-race suspension, effective at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and will be fined $500.

The chaos of Hickory on July 27 saw heightened tempers, dramatic finishes, and throwing of hands. However, it was not the first such incident in the CARS Tours.

This is why Dale Jr. emphasized the growing aggression

In the 2023 CARS Tour race at Tri-County Motor Speedway, Kvapil’s journey to victory lane saw him come from the back of the field twice, with the latter occasion stemming from contact between himself and Katie Hettinger while battling for the lead. As a result, the crash led their respective factions into a physical fight. The fact that Kvapil managed to earn his third win of 2023 despite the adversity came as a major surprise for Kvapil.

“There’s a lot of emotions,” Kvapil said. “I know everyone was hating on me in the stands because me and Katie got together and caused a big wreck, but there was really nothing either of us could have done.” The same night, there was another incident between Gavan Boschele and Ashton Higgins. This last-lap crash between the two for the win was what provided Kvapil the miracle he needed to salvage the night and park the No. 96 Concord Wealth Partners Chevy in victory lane again.

Evidently, all this aggression has led to Dale Jr. highlighting this eminent issue even more. He said, “Some of the on-track racing this year has been really rough. Really aggressive. We have seen a lot of CARS Tour finishes that are exciting, namely, Caraway has a lot of pushing and shoving.”

According to Dale Jr., it is the art of racing hard if done perfectly. However, that is not visible currently. All that we can see is aggression. On the same lines, Junior said, “There is a bit of an art to using the nose to get underneath somebody and racing them down in the next corner but each lap it seems the hits get harder and harder and it goes from that art of moving a guy to basically just a punt.” Further in the conversation, he also went on to say that they are going to keep an eye on such incidents going forward.

The ZMAX CARS Tour’s next event is Saturday, August 3 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Stay tuned for more on-track updates from the event.