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Matt Cox Survives At Florence Motor Speedway To Win His First Icebreaker 125

by racerx55 February 8, 2025 1 comment

Story by Matthew Thomerson

UPDATE: Second-place finisher, Tristan McKee has been disqualified for being too light in post-race inspection. The new top-10 is as follows: Matt Cox, Caden Kvapil, Lanie Buice, Darren Krantz Jr., Mason Diaz, Sam Yarborough, Landon S. Huffman, Carson Loftin, Doug Barnes Jr. and Connor Hall.

TIMMONSVILLE, SC – Matt Cox was the man in Victory Lane after 125 laps at the Florence Motor Speedway on Saturday. After years of trying, Cox was finally victorious in the prestigious Late Model Stock Car race.

It wasn’t an easy day for Cox as he was in a fight for the top spot for much of the day with 14-year-old Tristan McKee. Cox harnessed the lead early on and led through the first caution on Lap 5. McKee took the lead on Lap 12 after making an early charge to the front.

The two drivers remained nose-to-tail for much of the afternoon, despite several cautions that bunched up the field. The midway point of the race saw a flurry of cautions and a lengthy red flag that ultimately involved several contenders, including Connor Hall and JR Motorsports’ Caden Kvapil and Landon Huffman.

Once the race got back going around Lap 70, McKee continued to hold the point. Another multi-car accident involving Casey Kelley and Matthew Gould brought the yellow out again on Lap 84, and on the restart, Cox took the lead from McKee and did not look back.

A caution on Lap 92 set the field up for a 33-lap dash to the finish. The race went caution free the rest of the way, and this played greatly into Cox’s benefit, as he pulled away from the McKee and the rest of the field to solidify the victory.

“We’ve run this race for several years now and have come close” Cox said. “It’s a special win for us. It’s about one of the marquee Late Model Stock races I would call it, you know the second biggest race that Florence has, so you know it’s special”.

Cox had come so close in the past to winning the famed Icebreaker 125, and on Saturday, he finally got that monkey off his back.

For McKee, it was a tough second-place finish, especially after a fast start that saw him take the lead on several occasions.

“I just needed a few more laps…he fired off really good after that caution,” said McKee. “The car was coming back to me, and I think I was better than him at the end.”

The third-place finisher, Caden Kvapil, had a hectic afternoon. He suffered from a flat tire around the midway point but had a super hard charge to get into the top-three at the end of 125 laps.

“Got lucky with that big wreck, I got a bunch of spots back and then from there, we picked them off one-by-one,” Kvapil said. “If we would’ve gotten through there a little bit cleaner and faster, I feel like we had a really good shot at the win.”

The rest of the top-10, as follows: Lanie Buice, Darren Krantz, Mason Diaz, Sam Yarborough, Landon Shane Huffman, Carson Loftin and Doug Barnes Jr. who started alongside Cox on the front row.

Up next on the schedule for Florence Motor Speedway is Opening Night on Saturday, March 1. The local weekend warriors will hit the track, as well as the stars of the SMART Modified Tour.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com