Carson Kvapil, T.J. DeCaire Earn Poles for CARS Tour Season Finale at North Wilkesboro

Carson Kvapil qualified on the pole for the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock event, circling North Wilkesboro Speedway in 17.803 seconds. Championship points leader Brenden Queen joins Kvapil on the front row, qualifying second at 17.841 seconds.

Kvapil is looking to end his full-time tenure in the JR Motorsports Late Model program on a high note before moving up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025. Kvapil previously won at North Wilkesboro in 2022, but believes the recently repaved racing surface at North Wilkesboro produces a much different style of racing that makes track position much more important.

“I think it’s huge, honestly,” said Kvapil. “Earlier this year we ran here, and the hardest thing was just to pass. Even if you were way faster than somebody, it was impossible to get around them. I feel like being in a good spot – obviously, being on the pole is a really good spot – but being in a good spot is really important in contending for the win here.”

Queen enters the weekend with a nine-point advantage. While he came up short of winning a fifth pole for the year, his four poles throughout the season led the series. That awards Queen two bonus points, adding to his cushion over Connor Hall going into Saturday’s race.

On the Pro Late Model side, Kaden Honeycutt was on the verge of scoring those two crucial bonus points, looking to close up a six-point deficit to points leader Spencer Davis. However, T.J. DeCaire moved to the top of the board with a time of 17.378 seconds as the penultimate car on track for his first career CARS Tour pole.

“Definitely over the year, I feel like I’ve gained a lot of confidence in myself. I wouldn’t be here without Walker Motorsports, Chris Walker has done a lot for me these past few races. Luke, my driver coach over there, he’s done a great job all day. Scott, as always, he’s phenomenal, Weeder doing tires. There’s a lot of people I’ve got to thank behind me. This is for them.”

Honeycutt will start second, with Davis starting third.

Racing begins at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway with the zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model feature. The finale for the SMART Modified Tour will follow, with the Late Model Stock championship race closing out the evening.

-Photo credit: CARS Tour