SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – Bobby McCarty became the first three-time CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion in the series’ history and Carson Kvapil earned the final CARS Super Late Model Tour crown with victories in Saturday’s Autos By Nelson 250 presented by Bojangles at South Boston Speedway that closed out the season.
Saturday night marked the fourth time in the seven-year history of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour that the series has held its season-ending championship race at South Boston Speedway. The race was broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Pit Row TV.
McCarty entered the 125-lap Late Model Stock Car race with a slim one-point edge over Kaden Honeycutt in the chase for the division championship. The Greensboro, N.C., resident started on the outside pole and led all 125 laps in winning the race and securing the series title. Honeycutt finished seventh in the race.
The win was McCarty’s third victory of the season on the CARS Tour circuit and his second of the season at South Boston Speedway. McCarty won South Boston Speedway’s showcase 200-lap NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division race in July.
“I never really thought about the championship,” remarked McCarty. “I really wanted to win this race. We came to South Boston Speedway twice this year and won both races. I think in Late Model Stock, in this day and age, it says a lot.”
The race was slowed by 10 caution periods and was stopped twice by red flags due to mishaps. McCarty got good starts and surged into the lead on each restart, the last one coming with 18 laps to go. McCarty finished 3.328 seconds ahead of runner-up Daniel Silvestri.
“I knew the car was good, I just didn’t know how good,” McCarty noted. “It was phenomenal. This was the best racecar I’ve ever sat my butt in, and I can’t thank all of the guys at Nelson Motorsports enough.”
Pole winner Connor Hall, Jonathan Shafer and Mason Diaz rounded out the top five finishers.
Kvapil headed into the 125-lap super late model race trailing series point leader Matt Craig by an eight-point margin. He needed to have a perfect night – win the pole in qualifying, lead the entire race and win the race to win the championship, and he pulled off a sweep.
“Winning the CARS Tour championship is the highlight of championships I’ve won,” Kvapil said after scoring his fourth win of the season and capturing his first CARS Super Late Model Tour championship. “Everything that could have happened for us happened. Everything was spot on. From the green flag the car did not change. It was perfect the whole race. We were able to run away from them, control our pace and win the championship.”
Ryan Moore finished in second place, 2.357 seconds behind Kvapil. Craig finished third with Kodie Conner and Justin Crider rounding out the top five finishers. Only seven cars competed in what was the final race in the history of the CARS Tour super late model class.
The finishes:
Late Model Stocks: Bobby McCarty, Daniel Silvestri, Connor Hall, Jonathan Shafer, Mason Diaz, Carter Langley, Kaden Honeycutt, Jared Fryar, Deac McCaskill, Craig Moore, Ronald Hill, Bryant Barnhill, Joe Valento, Justin Johnson, Mike Looney, Layne Riggs, Conner Mosack, Mini Tyrrell, Taylor Gray, Cory Dunn, Brandon Pierce, Connor Jones, Sam Yarbrough, Austin Thaxton.
Super Late Models: Carson Kvapil, Ryan Moore, Matt Craig, Kodie Conner, Justin Crider, Jeff Batten, J.R. Courage.