ALTAMAHAW, N.C. – Ryan Millington edged Layne Riggs at the line to win the The Race at Ace 125 presented by LessExpensiveCars.com at Ace Speedway on Saturday night. After back-to-back defending CARS Tour Champion Bobby McCarty dominated the majority of the race, an incident between the No. 22 and Josh Berry changed the complexion of the event with five laps to go.
On lap 80, McCarty and Berry made contact in Turn 3, and Berry spun up the race track and into the wall. Berry retaliated on lap 120, and sent McCarty into the inside wall at the entrance of Turn 1. Ryan Millington inherited the lead and appeared poised to score the win before Layne Riggs roared past in the closing laps. However, Millington saved his best for last and carried the momentum on the outside of Turn 4 to pick up his first-ever Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour victory over Riggs by 0.040 seconds.
“I would have been happy with a second-place finish tonight,” Millington said. “We worked so hard this week. I am so thankful for this one. Praise the Lord we won this one. We’ve worked so hard. We’ve had such tough luck in the CARS Tour, and man, this one is just bittersweet. It sucks we didn’t get to win it the proper way but I’m glad we won it. It’s part of racing. Next time, maybe Bobby [McCarty] will slide around a little different so he doesn’t put himself in that situation.”
Millington relished his first series victory at a track where he has enjoyed plenty of success in recent years.
“It is amazing,” Millington said. “I can’t thank everybody enough. We do everything in the shop behind our house. This one’s amazing. I’m just glad we were able to pick one off.”
Riggs had hoped to snap a two-year winless streak in the CARS Tour but took his second-place finish in stride.
“That’s the best racing you can get without wrecking the guy for it,” Riggs said. “Thanks to Ryan for running me clean. Thanks to Ace for putting this race on and having fans in the stands. You might not think it, but the drivers can see the fans. They know that they’re cheering for you and it really brings excitement to the racetrack.”
Jared Fryar finished in third while Nolan Pope and Sammy Smith rounded out the top-five.
After qualifying 13th, Josh Berry raced his way up to second before the lap 80 incident with McCarty. Race officials parked Berry and disqualified him from the official results for the accident on lap 120. Berry said he wanted to deliver a statement.
“We didn’t qualify great, but we worked our way up to second,” Berry said. “The first restart, he played games and jammed on the brakes and I thought, ‘here we go again.’ And he went into (Turn 3) and turned. That’s what I saw. I’ve got a lot of people congratulating me. Sometimes, enough is enough man. I’m tired of getting run into. It looked like he was having a lot of trouble lapping me, I don’t know. He could have just gone high but it took a little time to do that. I’ve heard them make every excuse in the book. Overall, I hate to race like that and be like that. I represent good people who are well respected in this sport, but sometimes enough is enough.”
McCarty expected some retaliation from Berry, but did not expect to be taken out of the race by the veteran driver.
“I had a feeling something was going to happen, but I didn’t think it was going to be that,” McCarty said. “But, you know, you get frustrated, you do stuff like that. It’s just part of it. I felt like getting into (Turn 3), my spotter was telling me, ‘rear bumper almost clear, you’ll have him clear by center,’ and he just sailed it off in there and caught me in the right rear. It’s frustrating. I felt like we had a good car up until that point. Stuff happens. I don’t hide behind race cars. He can do whatever he wants.”
McCarty said he would be back at Hickory next Saturday night.
“I go to win races. I don’t hide behind race cars.”
The Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour will return to action on Saturday night for the RaceFace Tel-Med 300 at Hickory Motor Speedway. All races of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour are broadcast live on CARSTour.TV.
Feature Results:
1) #15 Ryan Millington
2) #99 Layne Riggs
3) #14 Jared Fryar
4) #1 Nolan Pope
5) #12 Sammy Smith
6) #57 Justin Carroll
7) #19 Blake Stallings
8) #78 Corey Heim
9) #2 Brandon Pierce
10) #01 Camden Guillie
11) #8 Connor Mosack
12) #12p Gage Painter
13) #77 Trevor Ward
14) #2s Jonathan Shafer
15) #51 Matt Cox
16) #17 Taylor Gray
17) #19c Jessica Cann
18) #22 Bobby McCarty
19) #41 Adam Lemke
20) #63 Tyler Mathews
21) #74 Ronald Hill
22) #44 Justin Johnson
23) #26 Bubba Pollard
24) #4 Jonathan Findley
25) #16 Chad McCumbee
26) #81 Mini Tyrrell
27) #08 Deac McCaskill
28) #88 Josh Berry
Qualifying Results:
1) #22 Bobby McCarty
2) #78 Corey Heim
3) #15 Ryan Millington
4) #12 Sammy Smith
5) #77 Trevor Ward
6) #57 Justin Carroll
7) #44 Justin Johnson
8) #14 Jared Fryar
9) #99 Layne Riggs
10) #81 Mini Tyrrell
11) #4 Jonathan Findley
12) #1 Nolan Pope
13) #88 Josh Berry
14) #17 Taylor Gray
15) #16 Chad McCumbee
16) #26 Bubba Pollard
17) #19 Blake Stallings
18) #51 Matt Cox
19) #08 Deac McCaskill
20) #2s Jonathan Shafer
21) #12p Gage Painter
22) #2 Brandon Pierce
23) #8 Connor Mosack
24) #74 Ronald Hill
25) #41 Adam Lemke
26) #63 Tyler Mathews
27) #01 Camden Guillie
28) #19c Jessica Cann
CARS Rock Solid Carriers Tour Press Release
