For Carson Kvapil, the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign has not gone to plan.
There’s no doubt that “the plan” was to make the Championship 4 and compete for the Xfinity Series championship. Still, the Mooresville, North Carolina-native was hoping to get there with some more victories under his belt — and not just being consistent enough to squeak through to the final round of the postseason.
“I’m happy with [my season], and I’m happy where I’m at, right now, and I love that I’m racing for a championship, but it’s not been the season that, I guess I thought I’d have, or had hoped for,” Kvapil said. “I feel like, by now, we should have won a few races and should have been consistently running a little bit better, but I mean we’re in a good spot to go win the championship, and that’s what all of us, set out a goal at the beginning of the season to go be in the final four to give ourselves a shot at the championship.”
Granted, nobody could have foreseen that his fellow Xfinity Series rookie contender and JR Motorsports teammate, Connor Zilisch, would go on an incredible run of dominance that would see the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet win 10 races and score the longest top-five streak in the 43-year history of the second-tier series.
“It’s tough, right? Obviously, you take Connor [Zilisch] out of the equation, we’ve had a pretty good season, and you never know, we might win a race without him racing, or we win some poles, lead more laps, but when you have somebody like Connor that… you’re directly compared to him, and he’s on the same team as you, and he’s a rookie, just like you, it’s tough,” Kvapil explained. “It kind of makes you not look, the greatest, I guess you could say, but I just know how much he works for it, and obviously, he has a really great team behind him, and those guys have brought racecar to the racetrack for the last five years that are lights-out fast.”
See, Kvapil, in his rookie Xfinity Series campaign, hasn’t actually had a BAD season by any stretch of the imagination. His seven top-five finishes is only one less than fellow Championship 4 driver Jesse Love, and his 14 top-10 results match that of Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Taylor Gray.
Granted, when two of your three teammates have dominated the NASCAR Xfinity Series all season long, and each recorded double the amount of top-fives this season, then you tend to fly under the radar. But, Kvapil is perfectly fine with that.
“I’m really comfortable with [flying under the radar],” Kvapil shared. “I feel like we’re not on the list of drivers to make the [Championship 4] at the beginning of the season, even now, we’re not on the list to win the championship. So, for us, there’s not a lot of pressure. Connor [Zilisch] winning 10 races, Justin [Allgaier] defending his championship, and even Jesse [Love] having the season he’s had, I think there’s some pressure on those guys, and I’m just sitting here and my legs are crossed and I’m lying back and I’m happy to be here.”
There’s nothing to lose for Kvapil, at this point, who, after advancing to the Championship 4 with an incredible salvaging at Martinsville, was confirmed to be driving full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on a full-time basis in 2026, meaning he’ll have the opportunity to chase a championship once again.
So, come Saturday, Kvapil will look to pull a fast one over his JR Motorsports teammates and follow in his father, Travis’s footsteps, of becoming a NASCAR champion.
Coverage of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway will begin on Saturday, November ,1 at 7:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
