Kvapil Ready To Chase Third Straight CARS Tour Title

Carson Kvapil hopes to capture a third consecutive CARS Late Model Stock Tour championship this year. (Photo Courtesy JR Motorsports)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two-time defending zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour champion Carson Kvapil knows he’s entering the new season with a target on his back.

After all, the second-generation driver is undefeated in terms of series titles since linking up with JR Motorsports before the start of the 2022 campaign. The pairing has won back-to-back crowns together.

That means that Kvapil, the 20-year-old son of 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, comes in as the driver everyone is gunning for in their pursuit of CARS Tour glory.

“They’re on the hunt for us,” the younger Kvapil noted Thursday during CARS Tour Production Day at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

However, that only serves as a motivator for Kvapil as he begins pursuing a historic third consecutive CARS Late Model Stock Tour championship – something no driver in series history has ever accomplished.

In fact, he’s already got the blinders on for when that quest kicks off March 9 at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C.

Carson Kvapil (8) battles Ryan Millington during CARS Late Model Stock Tour action last year at South Boston Speedway. (Photo Courtesy JR Motorsports)

“For me, the main thing now is trying to focus on being better and improving,” Kvapil said of how he’ll stay engaged during a third season with the same team and the same surroundings. “Going to the racetracks is all about being prepared, watching old film, and stuff like that where you can constantly learn and come up with fresh ideas. No matter how many laps you have at a racetrack, it’s still always a game to prepare, rather than just showing up.

“Obviously we have to have the cars put together and I have to do my part [behind the wheel], but at the same time, I have to do more, I feel like, and put in more effort to prepare for the races in order to hit the goals we want to achieve.”

Those goals include putting a stop to the surge of momentum that Brenden Queen, perhaps Kvapil’s chief rival for the crown, ended last year on with the CARS Late Model Stock Tour.

Though Kvapil captured the season trophy, he finished 10th and 11th in the final two races of the year, while Queen won three of the last four CARS Late Model Stock Tour events.

That run by Queen included back-to-back wins to close the season, something that made Kvapil’s eventual championship seem closer in the final points tally than it was for most of the campaign.

Queen returns this year to try and finish what he started during the closing stretch of 2023, joined by other heavy hitters including Landon Huffman, Connor Hall, and reigning NASCAR Canada Series titlist Treyten Lapcevich, who confirmed a deal Thursday to run the full CARS season with Chad Bryant Racing.

That means the field of talent chasing Kvapil in the CARS Tour may be as deep as it has ever been, and he knows it.

“Obviously, there are some really good talents in the field for this year,” Kvapil acknowledged. “[Brenden] Queen really came on strong late last year; they were probably the class of the field for the last four races of the season on the Tour, so they obviously got something figured out. Treyten and Chad joining, Huffman being back … it’s going to be really hard fought every single race.

“I think we probably have to catch up to [Queen] a little bit here, but I’m sure we’ll all get a piece of the pie as the season goes along,” he added. “It’s going to be interesting, for sure.”

As for where Kvapil is most excited to get to during a diverse, 17-race schedule, he’s circling the tour’s pair of visits to historic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, where he won during the Racetrack Revival in 2022 and hopes to celebrate at once again.

“Wilkesboro is, by far, the most exciting place for us in my mind,” Kvapil said. “That win in 2022 there that I got, that was a huge deal … easily the biggest win in my career so far. Now that they’ve repaved and we’re going back there, it’s going to be fun and really fast. It’ll be a whole new ballgame for us all.”

Should he come out with a third CARS Tour title, Kvapil will be able to celebrate at North Wilkesboro, the site of the series finale this year on Oct. 19.

But first, there’s 16 other races to run, and Kvapil knows it.

“I’m really just looking forward to getting things started and seeing where we’ll be when it’s all over,” he noted.