The 2026 season for the zMAX CARS Tour’s Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model divisions will formally conclude this weekend at South Boston Speedway.
Saturday marks the fifth time South Boston has hosted the season finale for the CARS Tour platform and the first occasion since 2021. On that evening, Bobby McCarty earned his third CARS LMSC Tour title, while Carson Kvapil scored maximum points to claim the final Super Late Model Tour championship.
In many ways, South Boston is a fitting location for the CARS Tour to end its 2026 season. The complex is a hub for short track competition in the Commonwealth of Virginia and boasts one of the most competitive weekly Late Model Stock fields in the southeast, with many of those competitors being among the entries this weekend.
The LMSC Tour title has already been decided, as Caden Kvapil secured that honor with his triumph in the most recent race at Newport Speedway. Mason Walters holds a decent advantage in the CARS PLM Tour standings, but he will need a perfect outing on Saturday to join Kvapil and many others as CARS Tour champions.
Track Facts:
Track: South Boston Speedway
Location: South Boston, Virginia
Length: .400 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 100 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 8
CARS PLM Tour races: 4
LMSC South Boston winners: Deac McCaskill (2), Carson Kvapil (2), Craig Moore (1), Josh Berry (1), Bobby McCarty (1), Kaden Honeycutt (1)
PLM South Boston winners: William Sawalich (1), Nick Loden (1), Spencer Davis (1), Keelan Harvick (1)
AutosByNelson.com Championship Night schedule
LMSC Entry List (27 cars): #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #05 Mason Bailey, #4 Parker Eatmon, #4H Connor Hall, #5 Chase Burrow, #5B Carson Brown, #6 Brandon Lopez, #7 Ty Fredrickson, #8 Treyten Lapcevich, #8F Tate Fogleman, #12 Jared Fryar, #15 Jace Hale, #16 Chad McCumbee, #17 Kaden Honeycutt, #20 Carson Loftin, #22 Chase Burgeson, #22W Conner Weddell, #26 Peyton Sellers, #37 Chase Robertson, #44 Conner Jones, #57 Rodney Dowless Jr., #62 Keelan Harvick, #75 Landon Huffman, #77 Landon S. Huffman, #88 Caden Kvapil, #88B Doug Barnes Jr., #95 London McKenzie
PLM Entry List (19 cars): #09 Sylas Ripley, #1 T.J. DeCaire, #6 Mason Walters, #11 Jack Baldwin, #12 Colton Hale, #15 Case James, #18 Mike Scorzelli, #20 Evan McKnight, #23 Landon Pembelton, #25 Rodney Dowless Jr., #27 Vito Cancilla, #30 Treyten Lapcevich, #31 Brody Monahan, #44 Conner Jones, #47 Trevor Ward, #49 Jeff Batten, #54 Kaden Honeycutt, #74 Ryan Moore, #97 Dylan Garner
LMSC standings:
- Caden Kvapil
- Conner Jones -66
- Treyten Lapcevich -66
- Chad McCumbee -103
- Chase Burrow -115
- Carson Loftin -122
- Carson Brown -144
- Parker Eatmon -160
- Landon Huffman -166
- London McKenzie -181
PLM standings:
- Mason Walters
- Conner Jones -13
- Brody Monahan -18
- Treyten Lapcevich -37
- Evan McKnight -56
- Rodney Dowless Jr. -76
- Case James -78
- Kaden Honeycutt -86
- Dylan Garner -93
- T.J. DeCaire -135
LMSC Tour champ Caden Kvapil looks to wrap up stellar season with a win
When Caden Kvapil assumed full-time duties in a JR Motorsports Late Model Stock, he never imagined just how perfect his 2026 would be.
Kvapil made history as the first driver to win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, the Virginia Triple Crown and the CARS LMSC Tour title in the same season. Nothing would elate Kvapil more than to cap off his stellar campaign by earning one more checkered flag on Saturday evening at South Boston Speedway.
“I’m definitely feeling really excited to go to South Boston and not have to worry about points,” Kvapil said. “To have an exceptional year like we’ve had is something I didn’t ever think was going to happen, especially when I started late model racing two years ago. I’m just going to go out and do everything I can to win the race.”
South Boston’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 was the only race Kvapil did not win during his successful Virginia Triple Crown title pursuit. Kvapil believed the outing went well, as he ran inside the top five for most of the day but sustained minor damage during the closing stages that forced him to settle for a sixth-place finish.
With the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 serving as Kvapil’s first Late Model Stock race at South Boston, he said the event provided him valuable knowledge on how to approach Saturday evening. Kvapil considers South Boston to be one of his favorite short tracks, primarily due to the multiple grooves that enable drivers to race three-wide.
JR Motorsports also has an excellent record at South Boston, having won there before with Josh Berry and Kvapil’s older brother in Carson. Relying on that past success and putting together a complete weekend at South Boston would allow Kvapil to end the 2026 LMSC Tour season the same he started at Southern National Motorsports Park; in Cook Out Victory Lane.
“We’ve had an exceptional year with six Late Model Stock wins, four in the CARS Tour and two Triple Crown wins,” Kvapil said. “Every race you go to, you want to win. If I could start and end the CARS Tour season with a win, that’d be really awesome for me. I’m hoping to get [JR Motorsports] into Victory Lane one more time.”
Mason Walters controls own destiny as PLM Tour points leader
A maximum points night at Newport Speedway two weekends ago helped Mason Walters extend his cushion in the CARS PLM Tour standings to 13 points.
The outing was not enough for Walters to lock up the PLM Tour title prior to South Boston, but he is not experiencing any anxiety about his circumstances. One more consistent, trouble-free race for Walters on Saturday will be enough for him to secure another PLM Tour championship for Setzer Racing & Development.
“I feel confident about everybody on my team,” Walters said. “There’s a lot of ‘been there, done that’. I’m the only new guy there, so that definitely reassures me. I think we have a really good shot at it, so I’m just going to do my job and hopefully that’s enough.”
Setzer & Racing Development prevailed in last year’s PLM Tour title fight with Ben Maier behind the wheel of their No. 6. Although Maier never visited Cook Out Victory Lane in 2025, consistency dominated his championship campaign; a theme that has also been prevalent during Walters’ rookie season.
The only race that saw Walters place outside the top 10 was the Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway, where he was collected in a crash. Walters attributed that outcome to a season-worst qualifying effort of 14th, but that remains a low point on a strong year that includes two victories at Newport and the opener at Southern National Motorsports Park.
All the advice Walters has acquired from his time with Dennis and Brandon Setzer has prepared him for the chance to become a PLM Tour champion. Even with so much working in Walters’ favor, he intends to do everything possible to clinch the title and further cement his reputation as an efficient, successful short track prospect.
“I really didn’t expect [a PLM Tour championship] going into this year,” Walters said. “I expected to be more of a contender and around the top three. It’d mean a lot [to win a title]. I think it’d look good on my resume and hopefully some higher up people can see that I can drive a race car.”
Conner Jones hopes to end busy 2026 with PLM Tour title
Alongside Treyten Lapcevich, Conner Jones is the only other driver to have attempted every race between the CARS Tour’s Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model divisions.
Jones’ efforts currently have him second in both championships ahead of Saturday’s finale at South Boston Speedway, with the CARS PLM Tour title being the one he is still mathematically eligible for. While Jones would have preferred to have a single-digit deficit to Mason Walters this weekend, he is remaining cautiously optimistic about his chances at a title.
“It’s definitely going to be tough to win,” Jones said. “We have a pretty good points deficit right now, so it’s going to be tough, but not impossible. I think our [Conner Jones Racing] team is going to work really hard to make it possible.”
Balancing out Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model Tour duties has been a tough process on its own for Jones. Yet despite the plethora of differences between the two cars, Jones has a combined 12 top fives between the two divisions, which includes two Late Model Stock victories at Wake County Speedway and Tri-County Motor Speedway.
High-grip tracks like Tri-County and South Boston have always suited Jones’ driving style, as four of his five CARS LMSC Tour wins have occurred on them. Despite some similarities with Tri-County, Jones said South Boston is slightly flatter in comparison, which requires a modified approach when it comes to the setup and racing other competitors.
South Boston is a track Jones has never won at during his career, but he is not letting that statistic deter his confidence going into Saturday. Jones feels he has the mental fortitude to overcome the odds against him after a full season of double duty, but he also wants to reward his crew members for the hard work they have exerted with his Pro Late Model program.
“We need to maximize points and hope something doesn’t go [Walters’] way,” Jones said. “I think we’ve probably got the most second-place finishes of anybody in the tour. [A PLM Tour title] would show a lot about my guys. They work their tails off every week.”
Brody Monahan eyes victory to close out strong rookie PLM Tour season
Two victories at Anderson Motor Speedway and Tri-County Motor Speedway have Brody Monahan mathematically in contention for the CARS PLM Tour title on Saturday evening.
An 18-point deficit to Mason Walters puts Monahan in an inauspicious position when it comes to making a run for the championship at South Boston. Even though Monahan faces steep odds in his pursuit for a PLM Tour title, he is still proud of everything his team accomplished to even reach this point in his rookie season.
“I’ve got a lot of mixed emotions,” Monahan said. “Earlier in the year, I wasn’t really thinking about the points. Now that we’re doing well these last couple of races, it’s really been my main focus. Being so close but so far here going into the last race, I’m excited because I know it’s a possibility, but it’s still a tall task.”
Monahan admitted he struggled to find speed early in the season after scoring just one top five through the first five events. The Anderson triumph was the turning point Monahan needed, as he is now in the middle of a stellar streak that has seen him place third or better in three of the last four PLM Tour races.
There are a lot of areas Monahan knows he still needs to refine, primarily when it comes to qualifying consistently inside the top five and firing off on restarts. The raw speed is there with his family-owned equipment, but Monahan said being more consistent in every aspect is going to be beneficial in 2027 regardless of what avenue he pursues.
For now, one more chance remains for Monahan to win a PLM Tour race this year at South Boston; his first visit to the complex of any kind. The championship is close to being out of reach for Monahan, so all he wants on Saturday is to put together a performance that is indicative of the growth he has experienced throughout 2026.
“I learned a lot,” Monahan said. “We’ve progressed really far as a team. It’s our first year with our family-owned team, Monahan Motorsports. We’re really gotten into a rhythm of having good cars. Even if we don’t show up to the track that good, we can be good by the end of the weekend. I’ve just helped myself become a better driver.”
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The first green flag for the final zMAX CARS Tour weekend of 2026 waves at 5:30 p.m. ET for the CARS PLM Tour, where one of Mason Walters, Conner Jones or Brody Monahan will be crowned champion. Immediately following will be the 125-lap Late Model Stock feature at 7 p.m. ET, which will see Caden Kvapil put a bow on his championship campaign.
FloRacing will have live coverage of all the on-track action starting at 2:30 p.m. ET with PLM Tour qualifying.
