The zMAX CARS Tour (formerly known as the USARacing Pro Cup Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, CARS Pro Cup Series, Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series, CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series) and the SPEARS CARS Tour West are a pair of

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

series in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They are sanctioned by the Championship Auto Racing Series and sponsored by zMAX and SPEARS Manufacturing. The series competes in the United States, on paved short tracks in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

History

Chase Elliott and John Gibson North Wilkesboro 2010

The sanctioning body was formed by

Hooters Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with Tr ...

owner Robert Brooks. Brooks created the organization to honor the memories of four people who died in an April 1, 1993 airplane crash: Brooks' son Mark Brooks, reigning

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

champion

Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and "the Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local Short track motor racing, short tracks in Wisconsin bef ...

, Dan Duncan, and pilot Charlie Campbell. The sanctioning body started as the Hooters Cup late model series in 1995. Brooks decided to stop sanctioning the late model series in favor of the Pro Cup series while at the September 1997 race at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectat ...

. Brooks wanted to move to steel-bodied racecars much like those raced in the NASCAR Busch Series (now NASCAR Xfinity Series) and ARCA Racing Series at the time. There were eleven races in 1997. The series was expanded to twenty races in 1998. In 2001, the series devised a "northern division" and a "southern division" that race separately. After the regular season, the top drivers from each division participate in a five-race playoff series called the Four Champions Challenge. Winners of the respective division are awarded a 25-point bonus for the playoff and a cash bonus as regular season champions. The driver who gets the most points in the Four Champions races, and the seeding points, (four races in 2001, five races from 2002 until 2005, six in 2006, 5 races in 2007) is declared the USAR champion. At the end of the season, each of the top 30 teams that competes in at least half of the series' regular season races in their division is given entry points based on the number of points one competitor can earn for finishing in that respective position in a race. Beginning in 2006, the top 15 in each division automatically qualified. Each driver collects points for each race they participate in during the Championship Series, adding to their entry points collected from their regular season finish. A ten-point bonus is awarded for every driver who attempts to qualify at every race, although driver must race three of the six races to qualify for postseason bonus prizes. Cash bonuses are available for winning four, five, or all six postseason races. In 2003, Shane Huffman won a bonus for winning three of the five races. The success of this series led to NASCAR devising its own playoff system in 2004. The sanctioning body's owner, Robert Brooks, who also owned the Hooters restaurant chain, died in July 2006, leading to the eventual sale of the series and the restaurant chain's disassociation. USAR officials combined the Northern and Southern divisions in 2009. Hooters dropped its sponsorship of the series the same season, and the series later re-branded itself as the USARacing Pro Cup Series. On August 25, 2011, Series Director and Owner Jack McNelly announced that the series would be operating under the name "Championship Auto Racing Series" (CARS Pro Cup). The series picked up title sponsorship from Revolution Oil, renaming the series the Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series through the 2013 season. After entries began dropping through the final years of the season, during the 2014 playoff (only ten cars were entered at some races during the season with a low of four cars at Coastal Plains Raceway in Jacksonville, NC), CARS began to transition the series into a Late Model Stock Car series. Late Model Stocks (which use perimeter chassis, not to be confused with offset chassis Super Late Models) were permitted in selected races. By the end of the 2014 season, with the demise of the UARA-STARS Tour after a year's suspension, CARS effectively transitioned the Pro Cup into the CARS Tour which effectively absorbed the former UARA tour by adding a division for Late Model Stocks (the perimeter style cars run at places like Martinsville and most tracks in the southeast) and Super Late Models (the types of cars run in the Snowball Derby, Winchester 400, Oxford 250, among other races nationally). The new two-division format started in the 2015 season, with car counts averaging 55 cars per stop in the ten-race tour combined. The sanctioning body once again broke the mold in 2015 by becoming the first asphalt tour to carry its own streaming and broadcast service, CARS Tour TV, a division of Pit Row Media and their Pit Row TV brand. For the first time in asphalt late model history, an entire tour's schedule was broadcast online and has been since the tour's re-inception in 2015. Pit Row Media has a long-term agreement with the tour to produce and carry event broadcasts, including syndication agreements to REV TV in Canada, SPEED SPORT on MAVTV in the USA, and other networks and distribution partners. The new format consisted of a 100-150 lap race in each division. The Super Late Model Tour has a working relationship with the United Super Late Model Rules Alliance, which consists of the ARCA/CRA Super Series, ARCA Midwest Tour,

SRL Southwest Tour The StockCar Racing League is a late model stock car racing league operating since 2001. The series is a continuation of the Tri-Track Challenge run in California between 1997 and 2000. The series is also connected to the former Supermodified Raci ...

and the Southern Super Series for a common Super Late Model rules package to establish teams in any of the major tours can run all series with few changes. After three seasons with the format, CARS split the two divisions on selected weekends beginning in 2018, in order to prevent conflicts with major Super Late Model and Late Model Stock races from a regional and national basis. In 2021, the Late Model Stock Tour had plans to once again visit

Rockingham Speedway Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway from 1998 to 2007 and North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 1996) is a D-shaped oval track in Rockingham, North Carolina, United States. The track h ...

, formerly known as "The Rock" during its NASCAR days, reviving the dormant track for a second time under new ownership and management. Starting in 2022, the CARS Tour will discontinue the Super Late Model Division and replace it with a Pro Late Model Division in an attempt to draw more competitors. In 2025, the CARS Tour will make its

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

broadcast debut during the

NASCAR All-Star Race All-star game, All-Star events are annually held in the NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Beginning in 2008, NASCAR began the practice of using Roman numerals to identify each race, but ended one ...

weekend at

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a paved oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1947; primarily races sanctioned by ...

New ownership

On January 9, 2023, the CARS Tour was acquired by a consortium of four companies: DEJ Management, Jeff Burton Autosports, Inc.,

Kevin Harvick Incorporated Kevin Harvick, Inc., colloquially referred to as KHI, is a racing team owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana, who is the daughter of former Busch Series driver John Linville. The team owned cars in the NASCA ...

, and Trackhouse Racing Team. All four are NASCAR-related, with two current national series team owners, a Cup Series champion, and a Cup Series veteran. FloSports will have media rights in 2024, and the

races (one on

week and one in September) will be two-day events while the others are one-day events. A new title sponsor deal with zMAX was revealed on November 27, 2023. In addition, the winner of the Cook Out 225 as part of the Prelude to the Southern 500 in Florence will determine pole position for the Charlie Powell Memorial 400 (a non-championship race) in November at the circuit. On January 5, 2024, the CARS Tour announced that Pro Late Models will be split into an East and West Tours. Co-owner

Kevin Harvick Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for '' NASCAR on Fox''. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewa ...

made the expansion of the tour part of his goals. CARS West will use the same Pro Late Model rules but will be a separate series for West Coast drivers, with races in California and Nevada. The new West Tour races will be broadcast live on TrackVision TV, which is a partnership with local west coast racing broadcaster Low Budget TV and Speed Sport. On November 4, 2024, the CARS Tour announced the 2025 East Tour schedule. The 15-race Late Model and 13-race Pro Late Model schedule will feature events with the

and the Cook Out Southern 500 (the CARS Tour race is held at Florence Motor Speedway, 13 miles from

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

). The winner of the Cook Out 225 feature at Florence will again earn pole position for the 33rd Charlie Powell Memorial 400 in November. On November 15, 2024, the CARS Tour announced the 2025 West Tour schedule. The current Pro Late Model division will be rebranded to the Limited Pro Late Model (LPL) running Hoosier 980 slicks. The new Pro Late Model divisions rules and regulations will be exactly like the East Tour's Pro Late Model division. The West Tour will also introduce a Super Late Model and

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

s division.

2025 zMAX CARS Tour Schedule

NOTE: Florence is tentative after the track left NASCAR and went independent in an alliance with Southern National Motorsports Park. This affects their broadcast and sanctioning issues.

2025 SPEARS CARS Tour West Schedule

2024 CARS Tour Schedule

2024 CARS Tour West Schedule

CARS Tour Champions (1997–present)

Four Champions Playoff ProCup Champions (2001–2014)

The following drivers won the Four Champions playoff series after the series was split into two divisions: * 2014 Caleb Holman * 2013 Clay Rogers * 2012 J.P. Morgan * 2011 Jeff Agnew * 2010 Clay Rogers * 2009 Clay Rogers * 2008 Benny Gordon * 2007 Bobby Gill * 2006 Clay Rogers * 2005 Benny Gordon * 2004 Clay Rogers * 2003 Shane Huffman * 2002 Jason Sarvis * 2001 Bobby Gill

ProCup Series Champions (1997–2000)

* 2000 Bobby Gill * 1999 Bobby Gill * 1998 Jeff Agnew * 1997 Mario Gosselin

CARS Tour West Champions (2024–present)

CARS Tour Rookies of the Year (1996-present)

CARS Tour Rookies of the Year

ProCup Rookies of the Year

* 2014 Codie Rohrbaugh * 2013 Brady Boswell * 2012 Dalton Hopkins * 2011 Blake Jones * 2010 Logan Ruffin * 2009 Lucas Ransone * 2008 Drew Herring * 2007 Brandon Ward * 2006 Derek Kale * 2005 Woody Howard * 2004 Matt Carter * 2003 Benny Gordon * 2002 Brian Ross * 2001 Toby Robertson * 2000

Brian Vickers Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American former professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the i ...

* 1999 Steven Christian * 1998 Jeff Agnew * 1997 Brad May * 1996 E. Shane Rice

Notable alumni, competitors and graduates (1995–present)

Anthony Alfredo Anthony Francis Alfredo (born March 31, 1999), nicknamed "Fast Pasta", is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS fo ...

* Benny Gordon *

Brian Scott Brian Joseph Scott (born January 12, 1988) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Beginnings Scott has been racing competitively since the age of 12. One of his early career highlights came at the 360 Nationals ...

* "Bubba" (Andrew) Pollard * Buckshot Jones *

Cale Gale Cale Kelly Gale (born March 5, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. He is named after other accomplished racer Cale Yarborough. Karting Gale's racing career began when his father placed him on a Kart racing, g ...

* Caleb Holman * Carson Hocevar * Carson Kvapil *

Chad Chaffin Chad Chaffin (born July 20, 1968) is an American former stock car racing driver. Chaffin has raced in all three of NASCAR's major series. He was a two-time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA, where he met his friend, Andy Ki ...

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Mo ...

* Chase Purdy * Christian Eckes * Christopher Bell * Colby Howard *

Cole Rouse Cole Rouse (born July 8, 1997) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and part-time in the K&N Pro Series East, driving the No. 99 Toyota Camry for Bill McAnally Rac ...

* Corey Heim * Corey LaJoie * Dakoda Armstrong *

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

* Dalton Sargeant *

Danny O'Quinn Daniel O'Quinn Jr. (born May 7, 1985) is an American professional stock car racer from Coeburn, Virginia. Now retired, he competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and was a winner of the ''Roush Racing: Driver X'' competition. Background O'Qui ...

* Darrell "Bubba" Wallace * Drew Dollar *

Gus Dean August H. Dean (born August 19, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for AM Racing and in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 55 Toy ...

Gracie Trotter Gracie Elizabeth Trotter (born August 27, 2001) is an American stock car racing driver. She last competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the Nos. 15 and 25 Toyota Camrys for Venturini Motorsports. Trotter also competes for Rev Racin ...

Hailie Deegan Hailie Rochelle Deegan (born July 18, 2001) is an American professional auto racing, racing driver who competes in the 2025 Indy NXT driving for HMD Motorsports. She is best known for competing in NASCAR stock car racing, last driving the No. 15 ...

* Hannah Newhouse *

Harrison Burton Harrison Brian Burton (born October 9, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 25 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for AM Racing. He ...

* Jake Crum *

James Buescher James Howard Buescher (born March 26, 1990) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He is the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series champion. After parting ways with NTS Motorsports in 2015, Buescher became a real estate agent. He ...

* Jeb Burton * Joe Graf, Jr. * Joey Coulter *

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No.22 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for NASCAR operations of Tea ...

John Hunter Nemechek John Hunter Nemechek (born June 11, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. He is the son of NASCAR ...

* John Wes Townley * Jon Wood *

Josh Berry Joshua William Berry (born October 22, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Raci ...

* Justin Haley * Justin Labonte *

Kaz Grala Kaz Edward Grala ( ; born December 29, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently serves as the simulation/reserve driver for Legacy Motor Club. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 36 ...

* Kertus Davis * Landen Lewis *

Landon Cassill Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Early career Cassill was born i ...

* Landon Huffman * Lee Pulliam *Matt Craig *

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...

Matt Kenseth Biography at his official website
; 2008; Retrieved April 30, 2008 * Mason Diaz *

Myatt Snider Gurney Myatt Snider (born December 30, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet SS for DGM Racing. He is the son of '' NASCAR on Prime Video'' pi ...

* Nicole Behar *

Noah Gragson Noah Quinn Gragson (born July 15, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports. R ...

* Peyton Sellers * Philip Morris * Quin Houff * Raphael Lessard * Regan Smith * Riley Herbst * Rodney Childers * Ross Kenseth * Ryan Repko *

Sam Mayer Samuel Adam Mayer (born June 26, 2003) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory Team. His father is the founder of QPS Em ...

* Sammy Smith *

Scott Riggs Russell Scott Riggs (born January 1, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the 92 for RBR Enterprises in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Racing career Early career Riggs was born in Bahama ...

Scott Wimmer Scott Allan Wimmer (born January 26, 1976) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has a total of six wins in the Xfinity Series. His brother Chris Wimmer competed in the Busch Series. Wimmer co-owns State Park Speedway in ...

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh musician. He founded the Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", " Somebody Help Me", "Gimme Some Lov ...

*Stacy Puryear * Stefan Parsons *

Stephen Leicht Stephen Russell Leicht (born January 9, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Rise Motorsports. He has previously competed in the NASCAR ...

Stephen Nasse Stephen Nasse (born May 5, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 09 Toyota for Jett Motorsports. He also competes in various super late model events. ...

* Steve Wallace * Tanner Gray *

Tate Fogleman Tate Fogleman (born March 8, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 30 Toyota Tundra for On Point Motorsports and the No. 26 Chevrolet Sil ...

* Taylor Gray * Timothy Peters *

Todd Gilliland Todd Jeremey Gilliland (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 34 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports ...

* Todd Peck *

Trevor Bayne Trevor Mitchell Bayne (born February 19, 1991) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, Dirt track racing, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He is currently a pit reporter for NASCAR on Prime Video, ''NASCAR ...

Ty Gibbs Tyler Randal Gibbs (born October 4, 2002) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing and part-t ...

* Tyler Ankrum * Tyler Matthews * Vinnie Miller * William Byron * Zane Smith

Notes

References

External links

Official CARS Racing Tours WebsiteOfficial CARS Tour TV websiteCARS Tour Digest WebsiteCARS Pro Cup Series stats from 1997 to presentInsight to new Pro Cup owners
*https://web.archive.org/web/20120426085404/http://www.procuponline.com/trackback.php?id=20110825102747910 {{Prime Sports Hooters Stock car racing series in the United States Auto racing organizations in the United States 1997 establishments in the United States Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kevin Harvick Prime Sports