JR Motorsports Late Model driver Caden Kvapil rallied from outside the top 10 on Saturday night at Ace Speedway to earn a third-place finish in the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car race, bagging his second straight $10,000 FloRacing Flodium bonus along the way.
The young second-generation driver of the No. 88 Jerky Boys/Corvette Parts/LKN Mechanical/Roto-Rooter Chevrolet battled handling issues on the way to the podium finish, and despite having to hunt for speed, he was the top finisher among the four eligible drivers for the bonus.
Qualifying 13th, the young driver had his work cut out for him on the notoriously racy Ace layout.
Hanging in the top 10 during the first half of the race, Kvapil let the field come to him. At lap 70, he was in the top five and ready to challenge for the win.
When the final restart of the race took place with 30 laps remaining, Kvapil had the car where he wanted it and made moves to get to third, where he would ultimately finish. His Chevrolet was free and lacking drive on exit, which didn’t help on the tight confines of Ace, and despite cooling temperatures, it wasn’t enough to advance further.
It was, however, good enough to grab the bonus money, especially since the young driver had to battle Landen Lewis for it over the final stages. Lewis was also one of the four drivers competing for the prize, and Kvapil held him off to the checkered flag.
“When I was racing him, I remembered the Flodium money was on the line,” Kvapil said. “I didn’t care if I got third, fourth or whatever, I just wanted to finish in front of him. That was pretty cool to be able to get that money. I wish we were a little better, but we definitely have something to build on and I’m excited for the next one.”
Despite not earning the victory, Kvapil was happy with the outcome, especially since it added to his lead in the LMSC standings.
“Overall, it was a solid night for the No.88 Jerky Boys/CorvetteParts.net/LKN Mechanical/Roto-Rooter Chevrolet,” Kvapil said. “My dad (Travis) and the rest of the JR Motorsports team worked really hard all weekend to give me another awesome car, but unfortunately, we just missed it a little. We’ve won both Flodium bonuses so far this year, and that shows we’ve been really consistent. It was a tough race tonight. We didn’t really have the best car, kind of like Caraway. We had to start mid-pack and kind of made our way up there through restarts, chaos and all that, but it was a good night. Thank you to Dale, Kelley, LW and Bryan for making this possible every weekend!”
Next zMAX CARS Tour action for Kvapil and the Jerky Boys JRM Late Model team will be May 30 at Virginia’s Langley Speedway, the first of a two-race stint in the Old Dominion State.