Carson Kvapil may have cut his teeth on asphalt short tracks across the Southeast, but he made himself at home quickly in his first career road course start on Saturday at Texas’ Circuit of The Americas.
Wheeling JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Chevrolet, Kvapil forced leader Austin Hill into a mistake with under 20 laps to go, which allowed him to inherit the lead.
The only problem — the Xfinity Series’ top road course racer, Connor Zilisch, snuck by Hill as well to snag second.
That set up a fierce battle between two of JRM’s young stars on the 2.4-mile road course. Back and forth they went as puffs of smoke came from both drivers as they locked up their front brakes going through corners as they looked to find an edge.
However, Zilisch would pounce in turn one for the final time with nine laps to go. Four laps later, Kvapil’s incredible run came to an end as he flat-spotted his right front tire.
He’d pit on the same lap and ultimately finish 23rd.
“We had such a good Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet,” Kvapil began. “It’s tough to get over that one. We flat-spotted the right front, just trying to see with the 88 (Zilisch) there. I felt like we were a little bit better in some places, but in others, he could really get away from us.
“I knew if I just tried to keep my ground up, I would be able to catch him through the esses. But, ultimately, just used it up a little bit too much there.”
With Kvapil’s lack of road course experience, he joked that his performance was a surprise.
“I feel like we shouldn’t of ran that good, maybe,” Kvapil laughed. “I guess it was a little bit expected, but at the same time, it’s a little bit of a surprise.”
Now with a baseline to go off of for the rest of the season, the 22-year-old may be potent on road courses the rest of the season.
