Carson Kvapil has been waiting for this moment. On Saturday, Kvapil notched his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win after five career runner-up finishes. And he did it at the Brickyard in the Pennzoil 250. His car owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., couldn’t contain his emotion.
Earnhardt Jr. tried to fight back the tears as he described what this means to him, and more importantly, Kvapil and his family. It was an incredible and authentic moment from Dale Jr.
Emotion overflowed for Dale Jr.
“Oh, man, this has been a long time coming,” said Earnhardt Jr. before choking up and fighting back tears. “He’s like a son, almost. You work with these guys for so long, and you work so hard.
“We worked so hard with Josh Berry and all our drivers. You just want them to have success.
“He’s got a win to keep going. You gotta win if you want to stay in this deal. He has got so close, and I’m just so, so happy for him, for Travis, his dad.”
Dale Jr. has shown Kvapil tough love
After finishing second to Justin Allgaier earlier this month at Atlanta, Earnhardt Jr. had a very real conversation with a dejected Kvapil, who felt like he gave the race away.
“I’m absolutely honest with Carson on his career. He knows all the ins and outs of what his situation is. He’s a grown-up when it comes to it. He’s mature, and he can handle the seriousness of the situation and the realities of the situation. And there’s a ton of kids up and down this road today that are in tough spots trying to win races to prove themselves, to find a way to make a career out of this, and he’s one of them.
“I told him this: ‘This second half of the year, this is your opportunity to stake your claim and show you belong and look at it as an opportunity. Don’t look at it as, man, the pressure’s on. What a tough spot to be in. Bullshit. You got a great race car, great crew chief. You got fast cars. It’s a great spot to be in. Go the rest of the season and just maximize it and kick ass and have fun and see what happens at the end of the day.
“‘Give yourself every opportunity to get the right attention and get the right parts and pieces to put it together to keep racing.’ And so, that’s kind of the message for me to him, is to look at the rest of the season as this golden ticket. And he can handle the pressure that comes with that.”
A banner night for JRM
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his JRM teams had a banner night. Kvapil scored the win, but JR Motorsports swept the Top 4 positions at the Brickyard.
Justin Allgaier finished second. Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott finished third and fourth respectively. Sammy Smith finished 19th.
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