TOP 11 COUNTDOWN – Carlos Vieira
By Kevin Peters
Next in our countdown to number one is our 6th place driver in the Spears Southwest Tour Series points. That driver is Livingston, California’s Carlos Vieira. The 51 Fifty Energy Drink driver has had one of his strongest seasons to date and has been a model of consistency. In the 4 point races to date, Carlos has not finished outside the Top 10 and has a best finish of 5th.
Carlos began his racing career driving late models at Madera Speedway and Altamont Raceway Park in 2007. During the 2008 season he scored his first main event win at Altamont and finished 4th in the late model points standings. In 2009 he finished 6th in points in the Western Late Model Division at Stockton 99 Speedway. 2010 saw Carlos run for Rookie of the Year in the Spears Southwest Tour Series. He finished 11th in overall points and 3rd in the rookie battle, behind Jacob Gomes and Ross Strmiska. Since then he has had 3 Top 10 point finishes with a best of 8th in 2011. Carlos’ 55 starts rank 10th all-time.
In addition to his 2015 Spears Southwest Tour Series schedule, Carlos has also competed in the Nascar K & N Series as well as taking part in the Inaugural Winter Showdown at Kern County Raceway. During “The Showdown”, an Open Show for Super Late Models and Tour Late Models promoted by the Spears Southwest Tour, Carlos qualified 28th out of the 52 cars present. He would finish a very respectable 8th in his qualifying heat to make the Main Event. Carlos would start 20th in the field an run as high as 14th before being eliminated in an accident on lap 96. In limited K & N Series starts, Carlos has had 2 Top 15 finishes.
The second half of the season will get underway on August 1st at Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka, CA. In 2013 Carlos finished 15th in that event. In 2015, Carlos hopes to pick up his 2nd Top 5 of the season and get the season’s second half off to a good start. With only a 54 point gap to point leader Greg Voigt, Carlos is still very hopeful of gaining his first series championship.
