With the new year just around the corner and the 2024 zMAX CARS Tour opener at Southern National Motorsports Park not far ahead, now is a good time to hand out some awards before 2023 comes to a close.
The 2023 season was full of surprises, fantastic side-by-side racing and plenty of memorable moments. So for the first time ever, let’s hand out some well-deserved Frontstretch hypothetical hardware to the 2023 CARS stars.
When picking the award for best driver, it’s hard to look past the guy who won the championship. It’s even harder to look past said driver when he just won his second consecutive championship while winning the most races during the 2023 season.
So therefore, despite the efforts of Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, the inaugural Driver of the Year award belongs to Carson Kvapil. Kvapil started the 2023 season scorching hot, with a second-place result in the season opener followed by three straight wins, coming at Florence Motor Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway and Ace Speedway. Kvapil finished the season with five wins, 13 top fives and 0 DNFs in 16 starts, winning the championship by five points.
Dating back to 2022, Kvapil had put together an outstanding streak of 22 straight top-10 finishes heading into the season finale this year at Caraway Speedway. But the streak ultimately came to an end with Kvapil’s 11th place at Caraway. It was still an impressive feat none the less, as Kvapil will look to start a new streak and defend his two titles in 2024.
Breakout Star of the Year: Brenden Queen
Nobody in the sport of late model stock car racing had a bigger year of growth both on and off the racetrack more than Butterbean Queen. Afterall, Queen was the other candidate in mind for the previous award, best driver, but just came up five points short of that honor at season’s end.
Back to what he did accomplish, Butterbean closed out 2023 with four wins, six poles and 12 top fives in 16 starts in just his first full-time season with tour. Butterbean also became a fan favorite with the series in his first season with Lee Pulliam Performance, as his season was documented through a series called “The Butterbean Experience” with FloRacing.
In addition to the wins, Butterbean managed to lead every single lap of the final two races to close out the 2023 season, meaning he’ll have all the momentum heading into 2024. Combine that with the fan-favorite Waffle House trips after every…
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