In November 2023, Carson Kvapil finished off a dominant season in the zMAX CARS Tour, ending the year with five wins and his second consecutive series championship.
Before the 2024 CARS season began, JR Motorsports announced that Kvapil would get his shot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, attempting his first career start at Martinsville Speedway on April 6. This came after a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in 2023.
Kvapil then picked up right where he left off in 2023, winning the CARS season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park in March to kick off his campaign for a record third consecutive CARS championship, despite the fact that he’d have to miss a race at Hickory Motor Speedway due to his Xfinity commitment at Martinsville.
Kvapil made the most of his opportunity, running up front for the entire 250-lap event and picking up a fourth-place finish at night’s end.
The accomplishment for Kvapil is one that no other driver has ever done while making their first series start in JR Motorsports equipment, despite names such as Chase Elliott, William Byron and Josh Berry all trying their hand at the feat.
Frontstretch caught up with Kvapil April 6 before his breakout performance at Martinsville later in the evening to talk about his journey as a racecar driver up to this point, having Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a mentor, and the correlation between a Late Model stock car and the Xfinity Series. You can also watch the interview below.
Chase Folsom, Frontstretch: At what age was it that you knew you wanted to drive a racecar for a living, and what was the first racecar you ever had?
Carson Kvapil: I started when I was 10 in Bandoleros at the Charlotte [Motor Speedway] quarter mile on the frontstretch. I guess then it was just for fun, it was just something for me and my dad [Travis Kvapil] to do and take up some room in his shop. At that point it was just fun, just go have fun and mess around.
I guess when I was probably about 14 or 15, we got a Late Model stock, and that was kind of where it turned serious, and kind of a big step up financially from the Bandoleros and legends cars to late model stuff.
Jumping into that, it was kind of one of those deals, “Do we really want to do this?” I guess that’s where I decided, and it’s brought me here so far, so it’s been a good ride and it’s been fun so far.
Folsom: Your dad posted on X (formerly Twitter) that…
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