What’s Happening?

JR Motorsports late model star Carson Kvapil is making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. The three-time CARS Tour Champion comes from a racing family. Here is everything you need to know about Carson Kvapil.

• Carson Kvapil currently competes full-time in the CARS Tour for JR Motorsports. While he has made sporadic appearances in ARCA and one Truck Series start, he has remained largely a late-model star. Many believe that, given the right opportunity, he could be a NASCAR star.
• For now, Martinsville in April is scheduled to be Kvapil’s only Xfinity Series start of the season. However, his connection to JRM means that he is a driver to keep an eye on.
• Fans are clambering to see what Kvapil can do. This is the best NASCAR opportunity he has gotten yet, and it could be his breakout performance.

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Early Life

Carson Kvapil was born on May 22nd, 2003 in Mooresville, North Carolina. Born in the heart of NASCAR country, Kvapil appeared destined to race stock cars, especially given his family heritage.

Die-hard 2000s NASCAR fans may recognize the name Kvapil from Carson’s dad, Travis. While many fans may remember Travis for his mediocre Cup Series career, Travis is quite the accomplished racer himself. His crowning achievement came in 2003 when he won the Craftsman Truck Series Championship in maybe the wildest season finale in series history, at least pre-2023.

Side note, what a year 2003 was for Travis Kvapil with the birth of his son and a Truck Series Championship.

Regardless, Carson grew up around the race shop. As his father continued his journeyman Cup Series career throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. Pretty soon, Carson was racing for real.

Early Racing Career

According to jrmracing.com, Kvapil started racing in 2013 in Bandoleros. He then spent time racing in both Legends Cars and Outlaw Karts at MIllbridge Speedway. He then made the move up to late models in various series.

For most of this time, Kvapil was racing for his family’s race team, and he showed some promise in the late 2010s. This included wins in ASA and Southeast Limited Late Models. In the early 2020s, Kvapil began breaking out.

Late Model Stardom

In 2021, racing for his dad, Kvapil made his completed his full-time CARS Tour season with 4 victories, taking home the Championship in the Pro Late Model Division. This caught the eye of 15-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver, Dale Earnahardt Jr.

Kvapil joined the JRM late model program for 2022, and he continued to win races. Kvapil won the CARS Late Model Stock Tour Championship in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. He’s won 10 races in 21 starts for JRM in the series.

The moment that put Kvapil on the map likely came in the fall of 2022. He took home the win in the Racetrack Revival race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a race that featured Dale Earnhardt Jr.

While remaining primarily a late model star, Kvapil started to poke his head up the ranks a little bit. He made an ARCA Menards Series start at Kansas where he finished 2nd. He also competed in the Craftsman Truck Series at Bristol, where he overcame a 27th-place qualifying run to finish a respectable 12th.

Now, Kvapil has an opportunity to race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. How will he do?