MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 26, 2026) – Caden Kvapil is stepping full-time into the cockpit of JR Motorsports’ legacy Late Model in 2026, and he’ll do so with a familiar face atop the pit box.
Wyatt Miller will take the next step on his journey to the top levels of the sport as well, and he’ll have the same situation with master crew chief and team builder Bryan Shaffer.
Kvapil, younger brother of current NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Carson, will drive the team’s No. 88 Jerky Boys Chevrolet in a championship chase for the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car division and other major LMSC events including a bid for the Virginia Triple Crown Series leading to the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Additional sponsorship for the multi-championship-winning team will come from Sun Drop, Roto-Rooter, LKN Mechanical and Corvette Parts.
For the younger Kvapil brother, it’s an opportunity to step farther up the ladder on the path that landed older brother Carson a full-time ride with JR Motorsports in the NOAPS last season. Carson made the Championship 4 in his first full-time season, racing for the series title.
“I’m really excited,” Caden Kvapil said. “I can’t really explain how cool it is to drive for Dale and Kelly and L.W. (Miller) and kind of follow the path my brother did, watching him win a handful of times, more than 10 races in the CARS Tour, two championships and Martinsville, some of the biggest Late Model races you can name.”
The younger Kvapil had a great season himself last year, winning two big late-season events (the Florence 400 at Florence Motor Speedway in South Carolina and the CARS Tour season finale at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The latter win came with a slick last-lap, last-corner pass for the win off Turn 4.
Heading into the 2026 season as the lead driver for JRM, Kvapil recognizes the standard attached to the seat as he follows Josh Berry and his brother as standard-bearer.
“It’s really exciting for me to get behind the wheel in which he (Carson) had so much success in, and hopefully I can carry the same momentum that he had when he was driving it,” Caden said. “It’s really special, and being able to race alongside Dale (team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.) this year and Wyatt (Miller, son of Kelley Earnhardt Miller and L.W. Miller). It’s going to be a lot of fun.
“Last year I ran a handful of races and got a couple of really big wins at the end of the year, so I feel confident that it’s going to be another good year.”
As for his crew chief, it’ll be someone with whom he’s quite familiar: his father Travis.
“He’s going to be crew chief for me all this year,” Caden said. “All last year, when I ran the second JRM Chevrolet, he was my crew chief, and I’ve never really had any other crew chief other than him, so it’s going to be pretty normal.”
The elder Kvapil, the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion as a driver, runs the family Pro Late Model operation and was a huge factor in Carson’s rise to the NOAPS. He’ll play the same role for his younger son as well.
“It’s going to be really cool,” Caden said. “It’s a lot more hands-on for him, I feel. He’s been my crew chief in the Pro Late Models and it’s not like he’s had a break, but it’s going to be really cool for both of us to be able to work on the same car week in and week out. If we have a good season like Carson did and maybe even do better than what he was able to do his first couple years, that would be really cool for sure.”
Running the LMSC version will be a bit different for the young driver, but his late-season efforts last year did wonders for the learning curve, he said.
“Obviously, my dad and I can work that well together, we’ve done it for years in the past,” Caden said. “The LMSC stuff is a little different for us, but I’m sure we’ll be just fine. It’s mainly just the quality of the competition. Late Model Stock Cars are a lot harder. Everyone’s a lot closer throughout the field. On a weekly basis, there could be at least 10 cars that can win the race. In the Pro Late Models, there are maybe five and the field isn’t as tight. It’s just a lot tougher. Everyone races a lot harder in the LMSC than in the Pros,” he continued. “Your car’s got to be perfect to be able to park it in Victory Lane.”
The zMAX CARS Tour schedule is typically a tough one, and Kvapil pointed out the tracks that might be wild-cards on the way to the title.
“I’ve never been to Nashville,” he said. “It’s kind of a different style of track than we’re used to. It’s really fast and has a lot of banking. It’s going to be even quicker. Carson won there in the Super Late Model a few years ago, so at least he’ll have some tips to give me, but the LMSC cars race a little differently. Newport (Speedway in Tennessee) is on the schedule this year, and I’ve never been there before. It’s a short track instead of a half-mile like Nashville. Langley (Motor Speedway in Virginia) is going to be a new track that I had never been to. I’m just kind of eager to get to those new tracks and try my hand at new surfaces I’ve never raced on.”
The younger Kvapil races quite a bit like his brother, and both learned from their father, so it’s a family trait.
“I’d say the biggest thing is just staying in it all race, not getting myself in trouble early,” Caden said. “I feel like that’s kind of a real important thing about racing in these LMSC cars, that and staying competitive all season. I feel like to be there at the end of the year to compete for a championship, you’ve got to have consistent runs and not fall out of the races early. It’s kind of just take what you can early, but you don’t want to put yourself in a bad spot.
“I feel like as a driver, I do that pretty well. I know when I should try to get that position or when I need to back out of it in case my car’s going to get wrecked and the LMSC cars are obviously really competitive so it’s going to be hard. You have to be there at the end of every race, you can’t take yourself out early. You’ve just got to play it smart until the very end.”
Miller, the soon-to-be-14-year-old son of Kelley and L.W. Miller, takes another step on his career path with a limited schedule in the Late Model ranks as part of a wide-ranging 2026 season that will see him in at least five different categories.
The Late Model program joins off-road trucks, sprint cars, micro-sprints and Outlaw karts for the young pilot.
“This is part of the ladder system for me,” the young driver said. “I want to learn and run well in the Late Model, and I want to win a race, because that’s why you do it, right? The Late Model is, of all the types of cars that I’ll drive this year, the hardest to switch in and out of, along with the off-road Truck, where you’re on dirt, it’s not an oval and you’re hitting jumps.”
The learning takes precedence, he said, and that will mean as much track time as he can get. “I just want to run well, learn a lot, finish all the races,” he said.
With Shaffer at the helm, Miller has another mentor alongside his parents and famous uncle Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Shaffer led the legendary Dick Trickle to his only NASCAR national-series victories, and his teams have delivered zMAX CARS Tour Series championships, ValleyStar Credit Union 300 wins and scores of victories for JRM. The young driver will also count on Kvapil for advice.
“They’re all in that mentor category and they’re all tied for first,” Miller said. “I learned a lot from Caden, and Bryan pretty much tells me the basics and then Caden goes into it deeper.”
The Late Model season begins this weekend at Southern National Motorsports Park in North Carolina, with both drivers in action.
