JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil started on pole for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night (April 18) and on only the second lap of the race, he found himself upside down.
The caution originally came out for Josh Bilicki spinning out but as the CW broadcast cut back to the leaders, Kvapil was already skidding on his roof down the backstretch.
Kvapil was battling for the lead with teammates Justin Allgaier and William Byron, driving the No. 88 car, when Kvapil and Byron made contact. This sent Kvapil into the outside wall and as he made contact with the wall, Parker Retzlaff hit the rear of Kvapil’s No. 1 Chevrolet, which got enough air underneath the car to send it into a blowover.
Kvapil’s car took a couple tumbles before resting on its roof and he later climbed out of the car under his own power after the first flip of his young NASCAR career.
“Not sure if he (Byron) didn’t think we were going to be three-wide or what but I thought I got either touched or got aero-bubbled in the left rear by the 88,” Kvapil said after the crash. “Just hate it for this whole No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team, everyone here works their tails off to bring really fast cars to the race track and I hate tearing them up like that.”
“I haven’t seen it yet but I was running the bottom and I thought we were two-wide and then I was coming up the race track off of (turn) 2 and I got tight late and was leaving enough room for two-wide and then the third car came in there later than I expected and I didn’t leave enough room so, hate that for the No. 1 guys and everyone at JR Motorsports.” Byron explained on pit road after his sixth place run.
Kvapil started on the pole after qualifying was rained out on Friday (April 17). Kvapil entered the race fifth in the driver standings.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.