In a vacuum, 64 starts doesn’t feel like that long of a wait for a driver’s first win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series when you consider how many never get that maiden victory.
However, when you enter the series and run well in top equipment right away like Carson Kvapil, it’s easy for patience to wear thin.
The wait came to an end on July 25 with an emotional win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — not just for the driver, but for the owner who trusted him in that equipment, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said the 23-year-old was like a son to him as Kvapil burned some rubber on the yard of bricks.
By the way, now that it’s been a week since Kvapil’s burnout on the bricks at Indy, can we admit it was an overreaction to label Kvapil a “scumbag” for celebrating his first win? Should he have done it? No. Is it understandable that he wasn’t considering it at the time? Yes.
Plus, a burnout on the bricks doesn’t crack the top five list of dumbest things a driver has done this year. If Carson Hocevar doesn’t crack the wheel to the right in time on the frontstretch on Sunday, he’s probably off the hook for the weekend too.
Kvapil was caught up in the emotion, finally breaking through after failing to get a win his rookie season despite six top fives, navigating a year split between three different teams and crew chiefs, and finishing runner-up for the fifth time of his career the race prior in Atlanta. Finally, the monkey is off his back.
Now what?
While it’s impossible for him to make up the 265-point gap between him and series leader Justin Allgaier, Kvapil is the clubhouse leader in the battle for second with a four-point lead over Jesse Love. While it won’t have the 25-point advantage at reseeding like the regular season points leader gets to start The Chase, second place gets a 10-point head start on third before the rest of the field is separated by just five points.
Mission one for Kvapil: Finish second in the regular season by performing well at Iowa Speedway and Daytona International Speedway.
His secondary mission? Don’t fall victim to the hangover that other first-time winners this season have.
Sheldon Creed and Corey Day have had far from bad seasons since picking up their first wins, but the well for victories has gone fairly dry in the months since.
Creed captured his first win at EchoPark Speedway in February, seeming to signify the end of his run as “always the bridesmaids, never the bride” in the series. The No. 00 Chevy finished seventh or better in nine straight races through spring, but has been hit or miss ever since. His average finish over the last 10 races is 16.1, and he’s fallen from second in the standings to fourth.
Day got his first of two wins this season at Talladega Superspeedway, but it’s been feast or famine since. He won at Dover Motor Speedway and has five top fives. He also has three finishes outside the top 30, including crashes in the opening laps at Texas and Pocono. Of the seven drivers already locked into The Chase, he has the most DNFs at four.
Every driver goes through rough spells in a season, but Creed and Day had the momentum at points of this season to challenge Allgaier for the series top spot, or at the very least be the best in class behind him. Now, that spot and momentum belong to Kvapil.
The timing to take advantage of that momentum couldn’t be better. Not only is The Chase just around the corner for the O’Reilly Series, but so is the end of his rideswapping between the No. 1, the No. 9 and a third ride with DGM Racing. From here on out, Kvapil should be in the No. 1 Chevy with crew chief Rodney Childers.
Another advantage in Kvapil’s favor? His versatility. Of the 11 remaining tracks on the schedule, he’s got top-10 finishes on nine of them already in his young career. From his bread and butter on the short tracks to the intermediates and drafting tracks, Kvapil can contend anywhere.
The ultimate goal for Kvapil, of course, is the series title he was so close to last season. He’s far from taking his teammate Allgaier’s spot as the favorite, but he can change the mood of things quickly if he does what Creed and Day before him failed to do: keep winning.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in Fort Wayne, Indiana covering minor league, college and high school sports. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.