Carson Kvapil has never been afraid to get his hands dirty.
He was raised by his father, 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, to be a hands-on type of racer. He’s worked on every race car he’s driven, including the Late Model Stocks fielded by JR Motorsports that he‘s wheeled regularly since 2022.
Kvapil’s dedicated work ethic and skills behind the wheel have earned the 21-year-old an opportunity to advance to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, where he‘ll pilot the No. 1 Chevrolet in 2025 with support from Bass Pro Shops.
Much like his JR Motorsports Late Model Stock predecessor Josh Berry, Kvapil is a grassroots racer through-and-through.
He grew up racing just about anything he could, honing his skills on dirt at North Carolina‘s Millbridge Speedway, where he won races and multiple track championships. After making the transition to full-bodied stock cars by 2017, Kvapil continued to race anywhere he could, from the short tracks in the Southeast like North Carolina‘s Hickory Motor Speedway to Midwestern venues like Wisconsin‘s LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
His first Late Model title came in 2020, when he won the Carolina Pro Late Model Series championship, but it turned out to be the first of many. He followed in 2021 with the CARS Super Late Model Tour championship.
The 2021 season became a turning point for Kvapil‘s racing career. That was the year he got a call from Dale Earnhardt Jr. with an offer to race the JR Motorsports Late Model Stock in a CARS Tour event at South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway while Berry was busy competing in the Xfinity Series at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kvapil led more than 100 laps that day and finished fourth, but more importantly, his performance was enough to earn him a full season of racing in the JR Motorsports Late Model Stock in 2022.
He repaid Earnhardt‘s faith in spades, winning four CARS Late Model Stock Tour events and the series championship. He followed that with five more wins and another CARS Tour title in 2023.
Kvapil’s success at the grassroots level was enough to earn him the opportunity in April to make his JR Motorsports Xfinity Series debut at Martinsville Speedway, where he finished fourth. He followed that up a few weeks later with a runner-up finish at Dover Motor Speedway.
Away from the Xfinity Series, Kvapil has continued to win in Late Model Stock competition. He opened the year winning the IceBreaker at Florence, and last weekend, he won the biggest Late Model Stock race of the season, the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway. He also has two CARS Tour victories in 2024.
Now Kvapil will turn his focus to the Xfinity Series and, potentially, a chance at the NASCAR Cup Series like his father before him.
None of it would be possible if not for that phone call in late 2021.
“I‘m just super fortunate to be able to run this JR Motorsports car the last three years,” Kvapil said after his win Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. “From where I was before I got this ride to where I am now, I just never thought I would be in this position. I just can‘t thank Kelley, Dale Jr. and L.W. and all the people at JR Motorsports enough.
“Without them giving me the opportunity at Florence (in 2021), none of this would be happening.”
Read the full article here
