Hall Falls Just Short of CARS Tour LMSC Crown as Kvapil Takes ’25 Finale at North Wilkesboro

Connor Hall entered Saturday night’s season final for the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car division with a chance at the series championship, trailing the points leader by 12 markers entering Saturday night’s season finale.

Despite finishing fourth on the night in the No. 88 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, the Virginia native fell 11 points short of the goal as championship leader Landen Lewis salted away the crown with a seventh-place finish.

Caden Kvapil, driving JRM’s No. 8 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, pulled off a last-lap, last-corner move on Landon S. Huffman after waging a mighty battle over the final 10 laps, getting to the inside off Turns 3 and 4 and making the pass heading up the front straight to the checkered flag.

It was Kvapil’s first Late Model Stock Car victory and gave the Kvapil family a second triumph on the .625-mile oval after brother Carson took the Race Track Revival race in 2022.

“It’s really special,” he said. “I have been waiting to get my first CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car win because the CARS Tour is tough, really hard. You have to be on your game every time. To do it on this big a stage is really cool and to join my brother as one of only five or so to come up on the elevator, it’s really cool. I remember how awesome it was when Carson won it.”

Huffman had led much of the race and appeared set to cruise to victory, but Kvapil tracked him down in the latter stages. The last five laps saw the pair locked together, with Huffman holding the preferred high line and Kvapil challenging from the low groove.

That meant the young driver had to make the bottom work to win the race, and that’s what he did.

“I was definitely faster than him,” Kvapil said. “Clean air was really important all night, and my car in Turns 1 and 2 was awesome all night. I could get to the inside but never get a big enough run to get the nose under him into Turn 3. He was controlling me from the top side, pinching hard off Turn 4 and breaking my momentum.”

A car length behind coming to the white, the young second-generation driver knew he had to hit Turns 1 and 2 perfectly to get the run he needed. Kvapil did, and that set up the pass for the win.

“At that point, that was my only option, to get to the bottom,” Kvapil said. “I wanted this win so bad, and he did too. I gave him a little bit of the door, shoved us both up the hill, and that was all she wrote. It is awesome to win here.”

Hall, knowing he had work to do to claim the championship, spent the first half of the race riding in the top five and preparing for the second half of the 125-lap event. At the halfwaybreak, he needed to be a touch tighter and elected to add two tires for the run to the checkered.

The change tightened up his Bass Pro Shops-backed Chevrolet a bit too much, and he was unable to extend his lead over Lewis, who ran a conservative race to finish seventh and claim the crown.

“I had a really good car the first half and just thought I needed to be just a touch tighter and just didn’t consider, I guess, how much the two tires would tighten me up versus any adjustment,” Hall said after the race. “I just over-relayed what I needed on my part and kind of took the speed out of it. We were a third-place car from there on out.

“I think if we had just left it alone, bolted on tires and let that be the adjustment, I think we would have been in a lot better shape for sure. But like I said, it’s just a little bit of not knowing on my part. I was loose, so I relayed to my crew chief that I was loose. I guess I should have just taken into consideration what two tires might have done and just missed it on my part.”

Next action for the JRM Late Model team will be Nov. 6 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the annual Fall Brawl.