Kvapil Dominates Early, Ends Up Eighth in Wake County CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car Run

March 30, 2026

Caden Kvapil drove from 23rd at the start to the lead in the 175-lap zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car feature on Saturday night at Wake County Speedway and was in solid position to earn a second straight victory to open the season.

Unfortunately, a broken left-rear axle while leading just nine laps from the finish put a major crimp in his chances.

When the axle went, Kvapil spun in Turn 1 to bring out the caution flag. Heading quickly to pit road, the crew got the axle changed in time to rejoin the race in ninth place, and from there, the young driver gained a position to eighth when the checkered flag waved over the field.

Despite the axle breaking and the late stops, Kvapil managed to earn the first $10,000 FloRacing Flodium bonus as well as a top-10 finish by finishing the best among the four eligible drivers. The new program from FloSports and the zMAX CARS Tour will pay out $90,000 over the course of 2026. The program, funded by FloSports, divides each respective season into several three-race segments with the eligible driver who records the best finish at the end of each segment receiving $10,000.

“Our JR Motorsports/CorvetteParts.net/LKN Mechanical/Jerky Boys Chevrolet was a rocket ship once again and had a shot at another win if it wasn’t for a little unfortunate luck at the end. My dad Travis and the crew worked hard all weekend to give me a car capable of contending for back-to-back CARS Tour wins! Big thanks to Dale, Kelley and LW Miller and Bryan (Shaffer) for making this all possible!”

Despite starting well back in the field, Kvapil advanced up the running order with good work on restarts, taking the outside lane and using it wisely. By lap 85, Kvapil ran in the top five and was in prime position to capitalize when a pair of the cars ahead of him tangled in the tight corners and put him second in line.

On a restart, Kvapil used the outside line to take the lead at lap 110 and held the top spot until lap 158. His Chevrolet began to lose rear grip at that point and he fell back to second, only to have the leader run out of fuel and lift him once again to the top spot.

On the following restart, the left rear axle broke and his late-race scramble was on.

Connor Jones won the race over Sam Butler, Chase Burrow, Landen Lewis and Brandon Pierce. Treyton Lapcevich headed the second five, with Landon Huffman, Kvapil, Clay Jones and Aiden King the rest of the top 10.

Next action for Kvapil and the No. 88 JR Motorsports team will be April 11, when the CARS Tour invades the Nashville Fairgrounds.