Late Model Stock Cars

Qualifying Times, Heat Race Lineups for 2026 ValleyStar Credit Union 300

by
Scotte Sprinkle
September 25, 2026

Chase Folsom

Tristan McKee set the fastest time out of 83 cars in qualifying on Friday night for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville as the last car to take time.

The 16-year-old also set the new track record with his time, and the top five were all faster than the previously held track record. This year’s Brickyard 400 winner and former runner-up in this race Corey Heim was second fastest. Kernersville, North Carolina’s Dillon Harville, local competitor at several tracks in North Carolina and Virginia, was third fastest, and Virginia Triple Crown and CARS Late Model Stock points leader Caden Kvapil was fourth fastest. They will all be on the pole for their respective heat races on Saturday.

“It feels really good,” McKee said after setting the fastest lap. “There’s a lot of cars here signed up this week and racing, so it definitely feels really good. All the Matt Piercy guys brought me a really fast car. I’ve been fast all day. P1 in last practice and happy to close it out in qualifying there and get a good starting spot for the heat races tomorrow. There’s just 80-something cars going before me, so I was definitely pretty nervous. And then once you kind of get going, it kind of goes away and you’re locked in, but I was definitely pretty nervous just waiting around.

“We worked on it a little bit in practice, just fine-tuning. So I feel like we’ve got good qualifying pace and race pace, and the car’s driving good, so not too much more I could ask for. We’ll just have to use the heat race as kind of a little test session for the race and see what we need to work on in the work session after and really get it dialed in.”

Heim took provisional pole on his run, but climbed out of the car just in time to see McKee take the top spot from him.

“It doesn’t sting because second’s still really good and sets us up well for our heat races,” Heim said. “Just got to execute and obviously win that heat race to be top four in the race. But I was more surprised than anything. We had second by half a tenth there, and normally with 82 cars, half a tenth gets you a lot, and we’re pretty confident we had it. But it goes to show you can never really get too comfortable out here.

“There’s a lot of really good cars, and with qualifying order being set by the first practice order, all the good cars are at the back. So I can’t get comfortable here, and certainly that’s our MO for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day. I really hope we can go out and win this heat race and set ourselves up for the main, but 200 laps to find a way to mess it up. So got to stay locked in, and so far so good.”

Harville is very happy with his qualifying effort for what is his biggest race, and goal, of the season.

“Man, it’s awesome,” Harville said. “You see the guys who come out here, you see the two in front. I mean, that says a lot. So a lot of hard work went into this to kind of get here, man. The last three years we were in my own car and, you know, we qualified decent, but I knew when we unloaded off the trailer that we have a ton of speed. So this means a lot. I mean, this right here is what I race for. Everybody asks, ‘what do you race for?’ I don’t care about championships or none of that local stuff. Martinsville. That’s all I want. Grandfather clock. So it means a lot.

“Clean air here is a lot. So hopefully we can just keep our nose clean and stay out front and hopefully, hopefully end up right there. The best I’ve started here is my 30th. So it’ll be nice if I can start up front in the race so everything goes good.”

Virginia Triple Crown leader and CARS Late Model Stock Tour points leader Kvapil is feeling really confident heading into tomorrow.

“[Track position is going] to be really important,” Kvapil said. “I feel like last year we were not that good and I started like fifth in my heat race and it’s just really hard to pass. The heat races are so short, you don’t have a lot of time to get going. So that ultimately has hurt our whole race starting, I think, mid-pack like we did in 200. So starting on the pole of the heat race is going to make it a lot easier. I feel like we’ve had a really good car the last day here in Martinsville. So being up front and being able to control the race, I guess you could say, from this pole is going to be really, really important.

“I feel like once we get out front, hopefully on the start, we should be able to set a pace and hopefully drive away with it. I feel like our race run stuff has been really good today and obviously a good qualifying speed. So that helps a lot. And even if I don’t win the heat race, finishing second, third, probably not third, but more so second, that put us in a really good spot for the race still. So just don’t want to make any bad moves and make it worse for the main event.”

Heat races start at 4 p.m. ET. Four 25-lap heats will see the top ten finishers make the 200-lap main event. FloRacing and The NASCAR Channel will have coverage all night long starting at 4 p.m. with the heat races.

Full qualifying results can be viewed below.