Caden Kvapil Claims Nashville Fairgrounds Win in zMAX CARS Tour Music City Classic, Dale Jr. 12th in Return

April 13, 2026

Caden Kvapil continued his early dominance in the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car division, embracing the bright lights of Music City to earn his third straight LMSC victory to open the season.

And he won the prized guitar that goes with it.

“I’ve been talking about wanting to get a guitar,” Kvapil said after the Tootsie’s Music City Showdown on the venerable .596-mile fairgrounds oval. “My brother Carson got one, my dad Travis got one and it’s really cool I final got one. I told them on the way here that if I win, I’m going to be playing that thing all the way home. It’s so cool and this place is so historic. For my first time here, I’m so glad we were able to get the win.”

Team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his first appearance of the season in this event, driving the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet and posted a solid 12th-place finish.

The younger Kvapil brother swept the season finale last season at North Wilkesboro Speedway and the 2026 opener at Southern National Motorsports Park in February before posting an eighth-place finish at Wake County Speedway last month prior to heading to Nashville, and it was business as usual as the race unfolded.

Despite never having raced there, Kvapil and his No. 88 Jerky Boys Chevrolet qualified third fastest and raced among the lead pack all the way through the 125-lap event, benefitting from a late-race caution that helped set him up for victory. Parker Eatmon was in control of the event and Kvapil was chasing down the leader when the caution waved with 10 laps remaining for Landon Huffman’s spin.

The final restart proved providential for the young driver, he said.

“When you’re in traffic, there’s nothing you could do,” Kvapil said. “Dirty air was really bad. We were really good at the end of the first half or so, but I don’t think we made a big enough adjustment (at the halfway break),” Kvapil said. “I was trying to keep pace with (Eatmon), but I started getting really loose and ran out of tire. The yellow allowed us to cool it down and I had really good grip on the restart to be able to get out in front and have clean air.”

That has been a familiar strategy for the young driver. In his three most-recent CARS Tour wins, Kvapil has gained the lead for the first time inside the final 25 laps.

“We definitely didn’t have the best car all night but raced a smart race and was able to make it happen when it mattered most,” Kvapil said. “It was super cool to be able to race against Dale and bounce ideas off him all weekend long. My dad (Travis) and the rest of the guys at JR Motorsports worked hard all weekend to give me an awesome No. 88 Jerky Boys CorvetteParts.net/LKN Mechanical/Roto-Rooter Chevy. Big thanks to Dale, Kelley, LW, and Bryan (Shaffer) for making this all possible!

Earnhardt Jr. overcame a 25th-place starting spot for his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet to advance up to 12th at the finish.

“That was tough,” he said at the end of the night. “I could have started around 15th or 17th and I think maybe I could have run in the top 10 from there. I didn’t love the car for the first 60 laps. We swapped the left-side tires at the break and put fuel in it, and I went from kind of too loose to too tight on entry. We never really had the car perfect, but I had a great time practicing and we thought the balance of the car was where we needed it. We did run great, competitive laps all night.”

The trip to the venerable Nashville Fairgrounds was important for the CARS Tour as well, and as a co-owner of the series, Earnhardt Jr. spoke to that.

“I feel like the race was a good success,” he said. “We loaded up a lot of clean race cars at the end of the night. I spoke with several competitors that hoped we would return for another race so that’s exciting. Nashville Fairgrounds is a special place. I know there’s a lot of challenges ahead for that facility but there is zero doubt after last night that the racing community there is as strong as ever. I’m still very optimistic that the track’s future is secure. I have no inside knowledge, but when you are there on the property you realize that anyone who walks that same ground can’t help but acknowledge the history and the potential.”

Next action for the zMAX CARS Tour is April 25 at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C.