"As tough as anywhere" - NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. on CARS Tour racing

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has opined that races in the CARS Tour are as competitive as those in NASCAR. The 49-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer co-owns the zMAX CARS Tour series, which was founded in 1997, alongside Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks. The NASCAR dignitaries took over the ownership of the series last year.

The CARS Tour, formerly known as the USA Racing Pro Cup Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, CARS Pro Cup Series, Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series, and the CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series, is a stock car auto racing series based in the US, sanctioned by the Championship Auto Racing Series and sponsored by zMAX, an industry leader in the production of micro lubricants for car engines.

The CARS Tour visited Florence for Friday's Cook Out 225. Stewart-Haas Racing's Josh Berry and Earnhardt Jr competed in the 125-lap Stock Car class against CARS Tour regulars like Connor Hall, Brenden McQueen, Brent Crews, Mini Tyrell and Ryan Millington. Other NASCAR drivers to take part in different sections of the event were Bubba Wallace and Harvick.

"The competition in the @CARSTour is as tough as anywhere in oval racing. 😅" Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

While Wallace raced in the Legends Car category, Harvick ran the Pro Late Model Race. According to FloRacing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 19th and 13th in Practice 1 and 2 of the Late Model Stock Car class, respectively. The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion recorded his fastest lap of 18:065 and qualified 22nd for Friday's event. Currently, he sits 49th in the LMSC standings with 19 points to his name.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on NASCAR families showing up at Florence Motor Speedway

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry headlined the entry list at Florence Motor Speedway, several other drivers took part in Friday's events. NASCAR Truck Series driver Rajah Caruth competed alongside Earnhardt Jr. in the LMSC category, while CARS Late Model Stock Tour full-timer, Caden Kvapil, took part in the PLM category.

Furthermore, Kyle Busch's son, Brexton Busch, wheeled the No. 18B SERVPRO machine in the Bandoleros division and emerged victorious in the same. Brexton recently won the "Cook Out Summer Shootout" Bandits division race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Reflecting on the support that the CARS Tour received from the 'NASCAR folks', Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted:

"Awesome to see so many NASCAR industry families out at Florence this weekend. Loads of NASCAR folks supporting this track tonight. And this crowd will be bursting at the seams come racetrack time."

The replays of the open practices, LMSC practices 1 and 2, LMSC qualifying, PLM practices 1 and 2, PLM qualifying and PLM Cook Out 225 are now available for motorsport enthusiasts to watch exclusively on race-monitor.com powered by FloRacing.