It’s Kvapils Wild in South Carolina 400 Late Model 1-2 Finish

In one of the biggest races of the fast-dwindling Late Model Stock Car season, the Kvapil family dominated the annual South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Caden Kvapil, aboard the No. 8 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, won another crown jewel by topping older brother Carson, driving the family car.

The fact that Caden’s crew chief is Travis Kvapil, the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, made the whole thing one big family reunion in Victory Lane.

The younger Kvapil, who will pilot the JRM No. 8 this coming year in the zMAX CARS Tour with Travis as the crew chief, earned his second big win in a row after taking the CARS Tour season finale last month at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

“I don’t know if the car wasn’t perfect but I felt like I drove it really hard in the first half and I still had enough pace in it before the break,” Caden Kvapil said after the race. “We made really good adjustments in the second half and I just felt like we could take the lead whenever we wanted to so we just kind of matched the pace of everyone else.

“I could put a couple of tenths of a second on them whenever we needed to. Really, I feel like we could have gone another 50-100 laps on these tires and still driven away. I’m just really thankful for my dad, Bryan (JRM team manager Bryan Shaffer), Dale, Kelley, LW (Miller), Carolina Carports and Team Chevy.”

Carson Kvapil, who will begin his second full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports in February, finished second in the No. 35 GoFAS Racing Chevrolet, which Travis Kvapil co-owns with longtime car owner Archie St. Hilaire and runs out of the Kvapil family shop.

“I kind of feel like he’s in the spot where he needs to win more than I do right now, right,” Carson Kvapil said after the race. “And he’s starting to prove himself like I did a couple years ago, so I’m not upset that they beat us. Even when we got out front, he was just riding and we pushed too hard. They all did a really good job, Travis on the pit box, and Bryan (Shaffer) gave them a real good car. We came up one spot short, and I really want to win this race someday, but I am excited for Caden. This is pretty cool.”

The Kvapil brothers led Kade Brown, Jared Fryar and Keelan Harvick to the finish line.

Next action for the JRM Late Model team will come this weekend at Southern National Motorsports Park in the Thanksgiving Classic, with Late Model legend Lee Pulliam suiting up for the team.