The South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway is emerging as a proud, end-of-year tradition for Late Model Stock competitors in the southeastern United States.
Following the final running of the prestigious Myrtle Beach 400 in 2019, the track's general manager Steve Zacharias and his staff carried on the weekend's festivities at Florence with a successful inaugural South Carolina 400 despite dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now in its second year, the South Carolina 400 has already attracted a talented and diverse preliminary entry list of 52 drivers after only bringing in 35 cars in 2020, which features a mixture of Late Model Stock veterans and competitors with prior NASCAR experience.
Headlining the entry list is defending race winner Ty Majeski, whose long list of accomplishments in Super Late Model racing include five ARCA Midwest Tour titles and a Snowball Derby victory.
Majeski had never competed in a Late Model Stock prior to arriving at Florence Motor Speedway with Chad Bryant Racing in 2020 but managed to outduel Late Model Stock veteran Josh Berry in the closing laps to become the first champion of the South Carolina 400.
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Although Berry is not among the entries for this year's running, the JR Motorsports No. 8 Chevrolet is set to return with Carson Kvapil behind the wheel.
Kvapil will become the full-time Late Model Stock driver for JR Motorsports in 2022 after winning the CARS Super Late Model Tour championship earlier this year. He is looking to gain more experience ahead of his busy schedule while simultaneously avenging a narrow defeat in his first CARS Tour outing with the team back on Oct. 2, where he finished fourth at Florence after leading 114 laps.
Other notable names set to battle it out in the South Carolina 400 on Saturday night include this year's Winchester 400 winner in Sammy Smith and Corey Heim, who is returning to Lee Pulliam Performance following a full season of ARCA competition and a part-time campaign with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Florence will also be heavily represented by its local drivers. Current track champion Matt Cox hopes to cap off his stellar year with a South Carolina 400 victory while 15 year-old Zack Miracle has momentum on his side following a second place points finish in his first full time Late Model Stock season.
Only 32 cars will be able to qualify for the South Carolina 400, with three of those spots being reserved for provisionals. The Late Model Stock feature will consist of 150 laps with a break scheduled for Lap 100.
The Late Model Stock race will be the final of seven events for Saturday's on-track festivities that are set to begin at 4:30 p.m.. A complete list of drivers can be found below.
South Carolina 400 Entries:
#02 Justin Milliken
#03 Brenden Queen
#07 Averitt Lucas
#1 Trent Barnes
#1 Gracie Trotter
#2 Connor Mosack
#2 Brandon Pierce
#2 Braden Rogers
#4 Conner Jones
#4 Travis Truett
#5 Dexter Canipe Jr.
#5 Casey Kelley
#5 Carter Langley
#8 Carson Kvapil
#10 Janson Marchbanks
#10 Regina Sirvent
#12 Annabeth Barnes-Crum
#12 Timothy Peters
#13 Cody Kelley
#15 Bryant Barnhill
#15 Ryan Millington
#16 Matt Linker
#16 Chad McCumbee
#18 David Roberts
#18 Jason York
#22 Bobby McCarty
#22 Sammy Smith
#27 Coy Beard
#28 Ryan Glenski
#32 Zack Miracle
#34 Lavar Scott
#36 Neil Meredith
#40 Taylor Satterfield
#41 Tyler Matthews
#41 Magnum Tate
#43 William Sawalich
#44 Justin Johnson
#51 Matt Cox
#55 Isabella Robusto
#55 Mark Wertz
#60 R.A. Brown
#61 Justin Hicks
#70 Jeremy McDowell
#77 Ty Majeski
#77 Connor Hall
#78 Corey Heim
#88 Doug Barnes Jr.
#94 Jamie Weatherford
#95 Jacob Heafner
#98 Stefan Parsons
#99 Kade Brown
#99 Austin Somero