While the NASCAR grid is on holiday, the Late Model fold is up and buzzing. The recently unfolded CARS Tour race was an aggressive spectacle to watch. It featured banged-up fenders and unbridled tempers as drivers clashed mid-race. Some even claimed to clash with no fault of their own, like Dale Jr’s bright pupil Carson Kvapil.

The CARS Tour champ boasts an impressive resume and shined brightly at “America’s Most Famous Short Track” last year. However, that luck did not play out this time on the same track. The eventful race staggered his pace as Kvapil himself recalled post-race.

Carson Kvapil bumps into a drab run

The No. 8 Late Model driver started 2024 with a bang. Carson Kvapil collected his 15th CARS Tour victory at Southern National Motorsports Park in March. He put up a tough battle against rival Connor Hall, fending him for the last few restarts that extended the 125-lap race. In the end, he hailed his competitive rival and let out a sigh of relief for having a strong ride. “We had a really good piece, and that made my life a little easier there.”

Fast forward a few months later, and the tables seem to have turned. The zMAX CARS Tour SoundGear Throwback 276 at Hickory Motor Speedway threw a wrench in Carson Kvapil’s winning ambitions. He detailed his struggles post-race: “Tonight was rough. That’s probably the roughest I’ve ever encountered for a race…especially this JRM team, we’re usually always upfront and clean. So, a little bit of a contrast for us tonight. Obviously not what we were hoping for…I felt like qualifying, we just didn’t have a good speed, honestly. Just been up 14th…sometimes we were nicer than that – 10th, 12th.”

Then Carson Kvapil broached the wreck fest topic. Even Cup Series driver Josh Berry got entangled in it and drew the ire of another one of Dale Jr’s pupils. Kvapil narrated: “We just didn’t seem to have a good fire-off…Once we got stacked up, and knocked the nose off it, obviously, it doesn’t help…Lost a few spots into that deal and I think we piled into another wreck again. That really about finished it off…I think we hit somebody else too.” 

The No. 3 driver, Buddy Isles Jr, apparently lashed out at Kvapil who found it puzzling. He explained their encounter during the race: “I felt like whenever we hit, he was holding me pretty tight and I was just following the guy in front of me in the bottom. All of a sudden, the wheel got knocked out of my hand. So I don’t know why he’s so mad, but I guess he has the right to.”

Flaring tempers and dented fenders aside, Carson Kvapil’s expectations slumped. Last year in April, Hickory Motor Speedway was the track where he achieved a doubleheader.

Kvapil glittered in the same place before

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The recent Late Model race must have stung Carson Kvapil more due to one reason. In 2023, he dominated the CARS Tour series with a back-to-back win. For the second time in a row on the CARS race schedule, you could see the familiar black-colored No. 8 car. Kvapil dominated the Tuff Shed 250 at Hickory, yet his victory was nothing but easy. Tough rival Connor Hall who is a close contender for points this season, was a constant thorn at his side. Kvapil somehow managed to slip through for the win by 0.025 seconds over Hall in a thriller race.

Carson Kvapil retold his nerve-racking experience after the race. “I was giving it about all I had those last 30 just waiting for him to fall off. Every lap we’d match times or he’d be just barely faster than me, so I knew it was going to be really tight at the end…With about three to go my car really took a turn for the worst. He was able to just get to my bumper there. I was trying to get to the outside of that lapped car into three so if he went to my inside there was no way he could have beat me at the line. But he just drove up into my left rear and I guess got a chance at it there. Luckily we were able to gather it back up and just barely edge him out at the line.”

Sadly, Kvapil could not replicate his 2023 glory at Hickory Motor Speedway this year. Let us see how he fares for the next zMAX CARS Tour event at North Wilkesboro Speedway on August 3.