It’s not what the record book will show but Travis Kvapil won the South Carolina 400 on Saturday night at Florence Motor Speedway.
What?
So, technically, the race was won by the 18-year-old son of the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion in the JR Motorsports No. 8. Travis was the listed crew chief for the race, a position he will assume with his son next season on the CARS Tour, with this win coming against 22-year-old son Carson in the GoFAS Racing No. 35.
That car, by the way, is co-owned by longtime NASCAR mainstay Archie St. Hilaire and housed out of the Kvapil family garage. Travis was going to win a crown jewel no matter what as long as his boys played nice, which they did.
Caden executed a flawless race in a brilliantly prepared car and actually beat his older brother to the punch of winning one of the more prestigious races of the discipline. It was a meaningful victory for Caden too outside of the family dynamic.
It’s two wins in a row dating back to the CARS Tour finale in October at North Wilkesboro Speedway at a time where Caden has an opportunity to prove that he is every bit the driver as his dad and son, too.
“Like, Carson has done this for three years, you know, winning countless races and the championships and validated that ride,” Travis said. “So now, it’s Caden’s turn. He has to prove himself. He has a tremendous opportunity with Dale, Kelley and LW with Tean Chevy.
“He’s got big shoes to fill with what Josh (Berry) did for so long and Carson taking the ball and running with it for three years. I can’t imagine the pressure of being an 18-year-old and being a successor to that.”
So far, so good and even big brother was largely okay finishing second.
“I kind of feel like he’s in the spot where he needs to win more than I do right now, right,” Carson said. “And he’s starting to prove himself like I did a couple years ago. So I’m not upset that they beat us.
“Even when we got out front, he was just riding and we pushed too hard. They all did a really good job, Travis on the pit box, and Bryan (Shaffer) gave them a really good car. We came up one spot short, and I really want to win this race someday, but I am excited for Caden. This is pretty cool.”
For Caden’s part, it was a testament to his own discipline, as he stuck to his planned pace even at points when his brother or other drivers got by him and took turns leading.
“I don’t know if the car wasn’t perfect but I felt like I drove it really hard in the first half and I still had enough pace in it before the break,” he said. “We made really good adjustments in the second half and I just felt like we could take the lead whenever we wanted to so we just kind of matched the pace of everyone else.
“I could put two tenths on them whenever we needed to. Really, I feel like we could have gone another 50-100 on these and still driven away. I’m just really thankful to my dad, Bryan, Dale, Kelley, LW and Team Chevy, Carolina Carports.”
But again, the most memorable part of the post-race scene was their dad, taking picture after picture and living in the moment because he had so much to celebrate after the race.
“This is kind of a preview for next year, right,” Travis said. “I’m going to crew chief the deal and Caden is going to run for a championship. I just take a lot of pride in this because that 32 car, it’s me and the boys, and even this 8 car, it’s the JR Motorsports car, but we’ve all worked on it together over the years and to finish 1-2, that’s pretty special.”
While the Kvapil Brothers controlled much of the race, there were the occasional challengers, with Conner Jones and Connor Hall also leading a good number of laps. Hall was undone with 51 laps to go when he and Riley Gentry tangled for second.
As per the contact rule, Gentry was also sent to the back, but as a matter of protest, he parked his car on the frontstretch and celebrated as if he had won the race.
Riley Gentry, not pleased with officiating and Connor Hall
Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.
