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Carson Kvapil Claims Martinsville Grandfather Clock at ValleyStar Credit Union 300

Carson Kvapil won the richest and most prestigious event in Late Model Stock Car racing Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, taking the victory in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Kvapil, driving the No. 8 JR Motorsports entry, controlled most of the second half of the event. There were several battles with former ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Mike Looney throughout 200 laps, but ultimately Kvapil prevailed by six-tenths of a second on a late-race restart that sent the race two laps past its scheduled distance.

Kvapil’s record of success with JR Motorsports is a lengthy one. The duo has won two zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock championships, the first Late Model Stock Car event at North Wilkesboro Speedway following its reopening in 2022, the Old North State Nationals and the IceBreaker 125 at Florence Motor Speedway.

However, the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 and its grandfather clock trophy – identical to the one gifted to NASCAR winners at the historic venue – eluded Kvapil until Saturday night.

“This race has been the one we’ve been chasing the last three years I’ve been racing with these guys,” said Kvapil in victory lane. “We came up super-close last year and the year before finishing second and third. I was pretty worried coming into this one that we just weren’t going to have the speed or something.

“Fortunately, we had a good car all weekend. Bryan [Shaffer] did a really good job with changes and bringing a really fast race car. We did what we needed to do in the heat race, qualified good. We just did everything we needed to do and brought the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet to victory lane.”

While Kvapil’s car was one of the fastest all night, he couldn’t rest on his laurels at any point throughout the event. With tire management such a critical part of the equation in any Late Model Stock race, Kvapil was constantly trying to manage his pace in case drivers behind him were conserving for a late-race charge.

“I wasn’t really sure about the guys behind me, if they were riding or going hard,” said Kvapil. “I didn’t really know what the deal was. I was just out front and trying to keep a little bit better lap time than those guys. We just had a better car at the end or made better changes at the halfway break.”

Kvapil’s Late Model success has opened several doors for him in racing, including eight starts this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with the JR Motorsports program. Kvapil isn’t sure how many more chances he’ll have to compete in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, which made Saturday’s win that much more meaningful.

“Just to be driving and racing with this group, being competitive like this is awesome. To be able to bring home one of the Martinsville clocks is even better. I’m not really sure how many more of these I’m going to be able to do, so this one’s going to be special to me.”

With a ninth-place finish, Peyton Sellers secured the championship in the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. The three-race series consisting of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway and the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 routinely draws the best of the discipline, but Sellers rose above the competition with finishes of third, fourth and ninth in the three events.

“It just tells you how hard it is right now in the state of Virginia,” said Sellers. “There are a lot of good short-track racers competing for this thing every week. It’s just an honor to be able to do it. We didn’t get the finish we wanted tonight, but we had a very strong run at South Boston, a very strong run at Langley.

“To come here at Martinsville, we had a good car until the break. Bolted on tires, made a couple of adjustments, and it just wasn’t right. I hate that we didn’t have a better finish, but to win this Triple Crown is a big deal for our family.”

Treyten Lapcevich finished third, with Casey Kelley fourth and Bobby McCarty fifth. Jake Crum, Brent Crews, Ronnie Bassett, Jr., Sellers and Sam Yarbrough completed the top-10 finishers.

-Photo credit: Martinsville Speedway on X

ValleyStar Credit Union 300 Unofficial Results
Fin No Driver Laps Diff
1 8A Carson Kvapil 202
2 87 Mike Looney 202 0.645
3 77B Treyten Lapcevich 202 1.196
4 16 Casey Kelley 202 1.377
5 6 Bobby McCarty 202 1.505
6 12 Jake Crum 202 1.687
7 29 Brent Crews 202 1.776
8 04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 202 2.109
9 26 Peyton Sellers 202 2.379
10 95A Sam Yarbrough 202 2.740
11 1A Andrew Grady 202 3.195
12 71 Aaron Donnelly 202 3.518
13 03 Lee Pulliam 202 3.534
14 14 Jared Fryar 202 3.635
15 15B Ryan Millington 202 3.721
16 88A Doug Barnes, Jr. 202 3.776
17 1B Clay Jones 202 3.982
18 15A Camden Gullie 202 4.042
19 51 Ryan Matthews 202 4.382
20 33 Dillon Harville 202 6.070
21 17A Daniel Silvestri 202 8.895
22 5 Dexter Canipe, Jr. 201 1 Lap
23 77A Blake Stallings 201 1 Lap
24 7C Tristan McKee 200 2 Laps
25 22 Connor Hall 200 2 Laps
26 55 Landon Pembelton 199 3 Laps
27 23 Kade Brown 194 8 Laps
28 44 Conner Jones 183 19 Laps
29 17B Stacy Puryear 182 20 Laps
30 11 Buddy Isles, Jr. 172 30 Laps
31 77 Trevor Ward 167 35 Laps
32 45 Mason Diaz 162 40 Laps
33 51A Timothy Peters 123 79 Laps
34 95 Jacob Heafner 85 117 Laps
35 4A Parker Eatmon 85 117 Laps
36 5A Carter Langley 85 117 Laps
37 2B Matt Waltz 76 126 Laps
38 4 Kyle Dudley 74 128 Laps
39 29A Stuart Crews 55 147 Laps
40 18A Jason York 47 155 Laps
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