Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Driver Loses His Shot at Winning the 2023 Snowball Derby

“We feel like we dodged a bullet yesterday. We got qualifying in, which is vitally important to the Snowball Derby.” This is what the Five Flags Speedway’s General Manager and co-owner Tim Bryant had to say after Mother Nature unleashed her wrath on the year’s biggest Super Late Model race. Fortunately for those tuning in, Saturday’s misery gave way just in time for a thrilling race around the half-mile oval on Sunday, with timely help from Daytona’s Air Titan and Darlington’s Jet Dryer.

But a vital member of Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s CARS Tour camp, Carson Kvapil, missed out cashing in on the Snowball Derby 300. Just before the main event, which pays $35,000 to the winner and $2,000 to all who qualify, Kvapil, saw his last chance at qualifying slip away. The referee declared his tread had missed the mark by an eight of an inch, sitting across wider than permitted. Kvapil had done wonders for JR Motorsports in Earnhardt’s CARS Late Model Stock Tour after winning in 2022 and 2023. But the Snowball Derby proved to be a disappointment before it even began!

The Snowball Derby weekend ends in misery for Carson Kvapil

Carson Kvapil had qualified down in 34th during the Snowball Derby qualifiers with a time of 16.885, two places ahead of Ryan Moore, who was a mere 0.015 seconds slower than Dale Earnhardt Jr’s star. In a last-minute twist, Ryan Moore made the transfer instead.

Speaking with Toby Christie, Carson Kvapil reflected on his unfortunate exit after his heroics in LCQ for the Snowball Derby. He shared, “Yeah, we definitely advanced. I mean, I just don’t understand the tech process here. You go through for pre-tech twice and you jack the left side of the car up, push to eight inches on the nose, and then check the tread width. And I guess after the qualifying or whenever they wanna check you, you’re not allowed to check it at 8 inches.” Kvapil further mentioned that the practice of checking the car at whatever height they came in is “pretty stupid,” pointing out that it was downright hysterical to expect a racing car to come in with fully loaded shocks.

Kvapil cut the tech building some slack because there is little to no margin for error under their scrutiny, but something didn’t add up. He reflected, “Probably two or three times we have rolled through and checked tread width. But every time you don’t have an issue and you don’t change your wheel spacers, so an eighth inch too wide, it seems odd. I don’t know how a wheel spacer just adds on without someone putting it on, so it’s really unfortunate for the key parts and mechanical guys.”

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Whilst Preston Peltier, John Bolen and Timothy Watson made the transfer, Kvapil couldn’t help but feel defeated despite giving it his all on the half-mile oval. “I honestly think we had a pretty decent car, and we were good enough to transfer through, just couldn’t make it through the tech building.” Despite his brilliance against the competition in the Last Chance Qualifying, glory escaped the grasp of Carson Kvapil. But one question still plagues the community.

Did the excess tread width make any difference?

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In a weekend plagued with thunderstorms and delays, the driver’s struggles would have paid off for Carson Kvapil if only the tech building hadn’t put an end to his hard work. What hurt even worse for Kvapil was the fact that his car got checked three times and it was never an issue. Suddenly, they were off by an eighth of an inch!

At a loss for further words, Kvapil sighed, “Basically is meaningless when it comes down to a hundred and twenty-five thousandth off an inch. It boots you out. So if I would’ve known pre-race then I would’ve pulled a half-inch off it to make it. I don’t think it would’ve really mattered. It wouldn’t have caused anything.”

The unfortunate outcome led Kvapil to believe it would have made little to no difference in their track position even if their width hadn’t been compromised. Whilst the ultimate loser was Carson Kvapil himself, it pained the JR Motorsports driver to see the team’s efforts go down the drain. He concluded, “Just s*cks for these guys who work way too hard and we should be in the show.”

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Irrespective of the outcome, Carson Kvapil is confident there were no major issues with his car before the incident. But was the disqualification justified?