Dale Jr.’s Enthusiasm for North Wilkesboro Contagious for Teammate Carson Kvapil

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 30, 2022) — The Race Track Revival at North Wilkesboro Speedway has plenty of storylines for JR Motorsports, starting with team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s return to his Late Model Stock Car roots after 25 years away from the driver’s seat and following through Carson Kvapil’s pursuit of the CARS Tour LMSC championship.

Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 3 Sun Drop Chevrolet in the event, painted just as it was when he raced it there in 1997, the last time he raced on the venerable speedway in the discipline. The car will also have Josh Berry as the crew chief for the 125-lap feature race on the .625-mile layout.

While Earnhardt Jr. will be coming back to his roots, Kvapil has a championship-caliber season in the works, and the return to the venerable track has a different meaning to him.

“It’s still a CARS Tour LMSC points race,” Kvapil said. “It wasn’t supposed to be, but they replaced one of the other events so it could be a points race. Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be any different from any other CARS Tour race. If anything, we might have a little advantage, because there aren’t that many guys who have actually raced here. It’ll be pretty equal for all of us, and it will come down to who gets their car the best.”

Kvapil has been a force in his first full-time season driving JRM’s No. 8 iRacing Chevrolet, winning twice and logging nine top-five finishes in 10 CARS Tour races so far. The second-generation driver’s average start is 6.4 and his average finish an even better 3.6.

“Every race, we look forward to winning and that’s what we focus on,” he said. “If we’re a little off, if I haven’t gotten the car exactly how I want it…if you’re off just a touch, it’s going to be third or fourth (finishing position). The racing is so close and it just comes down to who hits their car perfectly and hopefully we do.”

One of the interesting facts about the resurgence of North Wilkesboro Speedway is the role that iRacing played in its resurgence, Kvapil said.

“It’s pretty cool, obviously, to be running with Dale,” Kvapil said. “It’s huge for him, and I’ve kept up with the progress by Dale and some of the other guys trying to bring the track back for a few years now. I think what really helped it out was when they brought it to iRacing. That definitely brought some attention to it, it definitely got my attention. Yesterday, I was on iRacing doing a test race for this event. It’s going to be pretty cool and hopefully it stays around and we can keep racing there from here on out.”

Earnhardt Jr. and his Dirty Mo Media group helped clean up the track so that iRacing could scan the track and put it on their simulation platform, and that obviously paid huge dividends.

“I’ve learned a bunch about Dale, honestly. I couldn’t believe how excited he was for this race. I get his side of it; he ran there back in 1997 and it was a great time. It’s been five or 10 years that he’s been working on getting Wilkesboro back and for him, this has got to be huge.”

Earnhardt Jr. will have an ace atop his pit box for his return to the LMSC ranks in Berry. The two met via online racing and there’s a ton of history between them, as Earnhardt Jr. hired the Tennessee driver to run the Late Model program at JRM.

The partnership has paid many dividends, including 94 victories to date, a pair of CARS Tour championships, the 2019 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and the 2020 NASCAR Weekly Series championship.

Berry sees the potential for success, both on the track and going forward.

“I think it’s going to be fun,” he said. “Obviously I’m excited for Dale and I hope he has a good experience. I think he’ll be competitive and I don’t want him to think he can’t be competitive, because he can be, he can have a good race. It’s good for the program, good for the series and the track. I hope it goes well.”

For his part, Earnhardt Jr. is eager to relive some of his memories and to get back to his racing roots.

In a recent interview with Matt Weaver at Racing America, Earnhardt Jr. said that finishing the race having completed all the laps was his main goal, and that to do so would fulfill a desire to go back to that time in his career.

“My heart is really in that series and that type of cars so I’m super pumped about it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Love the Sun Drop connection and love the design. I’m looking forward to that. I’ve wanted to drive the Late Model car for a really long time but just didn’t have the guts to do it.

“I have the opportunity, I have the cars, right? I haven’t gone off and done it because I don’t want to get beat or embarrassed or not run well. I’m going to have fun and I think I’m old enough now that I can just blame being old if I don’t run well.”

No matter how it turns out, the third-generation NASCAR star has an end-goal in mind.

“I hope after this race I’ll have so much fun that I will want to do more next year,” he said. “I really love the Late Model divisions and running the local tracks and love the idea of showing up somewhere on a Friday or Saturday unannounced.”