Dale Earnhardt Jr. laid out plans for the CARS Tour on Friday night (August 29) at Florence Motor Speedway and explained where he sees the series heading. Competing in his familiar No. 8 Late Model Stock entry, the co-owner of the tour was candid about the challenges of growing the series while maintaining its identity.The CARS Tour rolled into Timmonsville, South Carolina, for a doubleheader at the abrasive Florence track, a venue with decades of late-model history. While the racing produced a headline victory for Landen Lewis in the Late Model Stock feature and Keelan Harvick in Pro Late Models, Earnhardt Jr.'s presence as both driver and owner was just as significant.Earnhardt Jr. has owned the tour with Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin Marks since 2023. The group has made expansion, stability and racer-friendly events its main mission. When asked how he balances ambition with reality as a series boss, he was clear:"I think that we run a particular car that's always going to stay in one lane, where we're never going to leave these type of racetracks and go to better venues. We love the grassroots connection. We love what these vibe and energy that you get when you're at a racetrack like Florence or any of the other tracks we run at. So, we kind of know where we're gonna live and where our lane is, but... we want purses to get bigger, we want our sponsorships and all the people investing in the series to get larger." (0:57 onwards)From the scheduling to how events are run, Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained that every detail is scrutinized: how many support divisions tracks want, whether shows can be streamlined to get fans home at a reasonable hour, and how best to balance the needs of local racers with the traveling CARS Tour roster.Florence provided its own reminder when Earnhardt's No. 8 car was sent back in pre-race tech for being underweight and forced to add ballast before qualifying, something he applauded as a sign of fairness. But the biggest ongoing question remains prize money."We talk about all kinds of things. I asked the teams about what they want in terms of purse increase, where they would love that increase. Is it at the back, the middle, do they want to win? Are they all just going to look at what you're going to pay for first and go there? What is it that gets these guys to come out and compete," Earnhardt added. (5:47 onwards)That focus on sustainability has guided the ownership group's strategy. After experimenting with big-money one-offs that didn’t attract the expected car counts, the CARS Tour is instead concentrating on building a reliable structure where weekly racers feel they can compete without going upside down financially.With three races remaining in the 2025 campaign, the Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model championships this year are shaping into tense battles. Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself continues to make select starts to put extra eyes on the series he believes can nurture the next generation.Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s night at Florence and how the races unfoldedDale Earnhardt Jr. at the Indianapolis Star. Source: ImagnFor Dale Earnhardt Jr., Florence was about revisiting a track that shaped his own career. His night in the Late Model Stock race didn't produce the results he hoped for as he finished in P18, but he embraced the challenge."I always ran here when I was younger in the 90s. Ran a lot of laps here. And I liked the track. I had a tough night tonight, but I enjoy racing here. And just like the challenge of the racetrack, it's one of the hardest tracks." (0:10 onwards)That unpredictability was on display in the Late Model Stock finish. Championship rivals Landen Lewis and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports driver, Connor Hall, went head-to-head, with Lewis prevailing for his fourth win of the season.In the Pro Late Model division, it was Keelan Harvick who converted a pole start into victory lane, adding another chapter to the story of the second-generation drivers making their own mark in the series.For Dale Earnhardt Jr., the night was another reminder of why the CARS Tour matters, a place where fans still pack the stands, and drivers young and old test themselves on some of the toughest short tracks in the country.