MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 3, 2025) – In the season-opening zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car event on Saturday at New River All-American Speedway, Connor Hall served notice that the No. 88 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet is a championship contender.
The 28-year-old Virginian raced to victory in the 125-lap event, making it two wins in three starts since taking over for Carson Kvapil at the end of the 2024 season, holding off a determined charge from Bobby McCarty following a late-race caution flag that stacked the field.
In the early going, Hall started from the pole and played track position to the hilt because of the unique layout of the racy four-tenths-mile oval, choosing to save tires for the end. Despite the slower pace, Hall was always within sight of the lead.
When it was time to go in the latter stages, Hall did so and held off McCarty, a three-time LMSC champion to win by .779 seconds.
Caden Kvapil, running a limited schedule for the team in the No. 8 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, needed a provisional to start the race after an electrical issue in qualifying. Lining up 29th, Kvapil missed a couple of crashes ahead of him in the early laps and was sitting fourth with 40 laps remaining.
A car got loose underneath Kvapil entering Turn 3 and slid into the left rear, knocking Kvapil out of line and back to 14th. The contact loosened the handle on the Carolina Carports Chevrolet, but the young driver rallied to ninth with six laps to go. Following a caution, Kvapil got a solid restart and gained three positions in the remaining laps to finish sixth.
Behind Hall and McCarty at the finish came Ronnie Bassett Jr., Carson Loftin and Ryan Millington, just ahead of Kvapil.
Next race for Hall and the JR Motorsports Late Model team is set for March 29 at North Carolina’s Wake County Speedway.
Connor Hall, driver, No. 88 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet:
“It feels good just to be in Cook Out Victory Lane here with the CARS Tour. We put our Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet in Victory Lane, and I’m trying to catch my breath because I tried screaming a little bit to sound excited. I am just pumped and really excited to get the year going with these guys. Obviously, I would have liked to have seen it go green. I knew Bobby (McCarty) had a really good short-run car. I was a little worried for sure. It was nice to kind of race one out.”
Caden Kvapil, driver, No. 8 Carolina Carports Chevrolet:
“I definitely think we had a top-three car if we had not lost all that track position late in the race. Thanks to my dad Travis and the rest of the crew for giving me such a fast No. 8 JR Motorsports Carolina Carports/Bass Pro Shops Chevy! Also, thanks to Dale, Kelley, L.W. and Bryan (Shaffer) for making this possible!”
