Carson
Kvapil
Born: May 22, 2003
Hometown: Mooresville, NC
0Total Wins
12Top 5's
21Top 10's
Name: Carson Kvapil
Birth Date: May 22, 2003
Hometown: Mooresville, N.C.S
Position: Driver - No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
Second-generation star driver Carson Kvapil will again seek the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship in 2026 for JR Motorsports. Kvapil, who will once again have support from Bass Pro Shops, made the Championship 4 last year in his debut season and finished fourth in series points.
In his first full season in the series in 2025, the son of former NASCAR Cup Series driver and Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis, earned his best NOAPS finish at Bristol Motor Speedway with a runner-up effort to eventual NASCAR Cup Series champ Kyle Larson. Kvapil would later match that with a runner-up finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June. On the year, the young driver finished on the lead lap in 30 of the 33 races, notching seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes while leading 104 laps.
In 2024, Kvapil made nine starts in the series, earning top-five results in three of them and four in the top 10, leading 63 laps. At Dover Motor Speedway, Kvapil led at the final restart and eventually finished second on the day.
Prior to advancing to the NOAPS, Kvapil earned zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car titles for JR Motorsports in both 2022 and 2023, as well as winning the prestigious annual NASCAR Late Model race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 2024.
Kvapil won a pair of zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car championships (2022 and 2023) driving for JRM and legendary crew chief/team manager Bryan Shaffer. In 2024, the duo captured Late Model Stock Car racing’s biggest prize, the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in the fall of 2024.
In the process of transitioning to the NOAPS, Kvapil was unable to defend his consecutive CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car championships, finishing seventh in series points despite missing four races which conflicted with his NOAPS schedule. He won at Southern National Motor Speedway, Ace Speedway and South Boston (Va.) Speedway along the way.
In the CARS Tour’s LMSC division, the younger Kvapil recorded 12 career victories in just 47 starts, adding 36 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes and winning eight poles. He led 1,221 laps as well.
Among his bigger CARS Tour victories was the inaugural Window World 125 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, part of the legacy track’s return to racing action following 25 years of inactivity. That race also featured the return of team owner Earnhardt Jr. to the Late Model ranks for the first time since 1997.
With his second straight championship sweep, the young driver became the Late Model team leader in series championships with two driver crowns and two owner titles, surpassing the talented Josh Berry in the driver ranks and tying him in owner championships. The team now has three CARS Tour driver and four in the owner ranks.
In 2022 season, Kvapil logged four wins, 17 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes in 20 starts, earning both the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car driver and owner championships. Kvapil opened the 2022 season with a splash, leading the final 60 laps to take the $30,000-to-win Old North State Nationals at Caraway (N.C.) Speedway. Team manager Bryan Shaffer and Berry, who had competed for JRM the day before in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Phoenix Raceway, set the strategy and the young driver played it to perfection for the triumph.
Kvapil also won CARS Tour events at Franklin County (Va.) Speedway and at South Boston Speedway in the same state, the latter triumph essentially locking up both CARS Tour titles.
In 2021, Kvapil campaigned his family-owned Super Late Model in the CARS Racing Tour, winning the season finale at South Boston Speedway to top year-long point leader Matt Craig by a single marker in the final standings. Kvapil had to have a perfect weekend, and he did: earning the pole, leading the most laps and securing the bonuses for most poles and victories to pull off the come-from-behind triumph.
The young driver’s career began in 2013 in the U.S. Legend Car Bandolero division, the traditional starting point for drivers who want to climb the ladder of NASCAR racing. In 2016, Kvapil moved up to the U.S. Legend Cars for a single season before moving to dirt-track racing in Outlaw Karts at nearby Millbridge Speedway, where he won several championships in the open-wheel classes.
Soon after, Kvapil spent a couple of seasons in Limited Late Model competition in North Carolina before starting Super Late Models for his family-owned team there and in Wisconsin. He competed in the rugged weekly series of the upper Midwest while in Wisconsin, where his father first started his career, including the annual Fox River Racing Club’s Red, White and Blue Series, where he won the Red race. He also showed well in the annual Slinger Nationals, the marquee race event at the legendary short track.
Moving back to the Carolinas, Kvapil focused on the Super Late Model ranks which led him to the CARS Tour title in 2021.
The young driver counts his father Travis as the person who has influenced his career the most, adding Shaffer and the volunteer crewmen from his early racing efforts to that list.
Rodney
Childers
Born: June 7, 1976
Hometown: Mooresville, N.C.
Crew Chief
2Total Wins
5Top 5's
10Top 10's
