O’REILLY: Frightening flip down Kansas backstretch hands Carson Kvapil first career last-place finish
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Colby Evans, @StartAndParkCar
Carson Kvapil picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway when his #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet crashed after he completed just 1 of the 200 laps.
The finish came in Kvapil’s 52nd series start. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings, it was the 22nd for the #1, the 419th from a crash, and the 687th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 80th for the #1, the 1,452nd from a crash, and the 2,036th for Chevrolet.
The 23-year-old son of 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis, Carson Kvapil burst onto the scene in CARS Pro Late Model Tour, where in 2021 he scored four wins on his way to the championship. Another pair of victories at Caraway and Franklin County followed the next year, when he joined JR Motorsports in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour. In 2023, he finished runner-up to Connor Mosack in his ARCA debut at Kansas, then took 12th in his Truck Series debut in Bristol. This led to a part-time O’Reilly effort with JRM in 2024, where he continued his string of strong debuts with a 4th at Martinsville, then nearly won his next time out in Dover, where he finished runner-up to Ryan Truex. Then came 2025, where in his first full-time season, he racked up another seven top-five finishes. And while he still searches for his first career win, he qualified for the Championship Four in Phoenix, earning him 4th in the standings.
Despite his string of impressive performances, Kvapil enters 2026 having to swap rides to accommodate Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch, at times swapping him into JRM’s part-time entry, the #9, and Mario Gosselin’s #91 entry at DGM Racing x JIM. Despite this game of musical chairs, Kvapil started the year with a 7th-place showing in Daytona, led 22 laps on his way to a 3rd-place showing in Phoenix, then finished 5th in three of the last four races, including just last Saturday in Bristol in the #9. That finish qualified Kvapil as one of the “Dash 4 Cash” entrants in Saturday’s race.
This week for Kansas, Kvapil returned to the #1 in place of Bristol winner Zilisch, and the JRM team left the #9 in the shop. He was one of just 37 drivers entered for 38 starting spots, marking the first short field in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since last August at Portland. Heavy storms on Friday forced the cancellation of both practice and qualifying, which awarded Kvapil the pole based on the rule book.
Securing the 37th and final starting spot was Blake Lothian, who continued with the Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen team in the #35 Stripes TV Chevrolet. He’d be joined at the tail end of the field by 4th-place starter Sheldon Creed, whose #00 Road Ranger Chevrolet was docked for a pre-race inspection penalty. During the pace laps, Cole Custer pitted his #0 Sysco Chevrolet to address a power steering issue. His radio had heavy interference as he returned to the track, where intervals showed he’d climbed from a 36th starting spot up to 33rd (2.406 seconds back of the lead). Creed crossed the line just ahead of Custer in 32nd (2.226). Both recovered nicely by race’s end with Creed finishing a fast-closing 2nd to Taylor Gray while Custer took 7th.
When the green flag dropped, Lothian remained in the last spot, 3.147 seconds back of the lead behind the now 36th-place Dawson Cram, whose acquisition of the Barrett-Cope Racing #30 team’s Owner Points placed Mike Harmon Racing’s #74 Chevrolet in 28th. Cram had dropped back for the start, already a half-second ahead of Lothian with a gap of 2.691 seconds. Separating 36th-place Cram from 33rd-place Custer were 34th-place Joey Gase in the #55 Stripes TV Chevrolet (2.427) and 35th-place Austin Green in the #87 Peterson Racing Group Chevrolet (2.528). By the start of Lap 2, Lothian was already dropping off the pace, reporting a power issue. He crossed the stripe 6.808 seconds back of the lead, nearly three seconds back of 36th-place Cram at four seconds even. Heading into Turn 1, Josh Bilicki appeared to move too high in the #07 SBG Records Chevrolet, then crossed the nose of Luke Baldwin’s #5 Victory Custom Trailers Ford, sending Bilicki into a half-spin. Bilicki fought for control and continued along the apron, only for another accident to break out up front.
After starting on pole, Carson Kvapil was soon passed for the lead by Corey Day in the #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, leaving Kvapil in a tight battle for 2nd between the #88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet of William Byron and the #7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier. Still within a half-second of the leader to start Lap 2, Kvapil was stuck in the middle lane with Byron to his left and Allgaier to his right. As Allgaier squeezed past to take 2nd, Byron got into the left-rear of Kvapil, who spun t the right in front of 5th-place running Parker Retzlaff, who ran into Kvapil’s right-rear with the nose of his #99 GEMORO Chevrolet. This contact was just enough to lift the rear of Kvapil’s car off the ground, shearing off the TV panel. The car then landed on the driver’s side, spun on its roof, and tumbled to a stop upside-down. As Kvapil’s crew tried to figure out what had happened, track officials carefully towed the car right-side-up, allowing Kvapil to climb out without serious injury. “Yeah, we rolled – a lot,” said his crew. Retzlaff made it to pit road trailing smoke, having lost oil pressure. Both were done for the night in the final two spots. Although NASCAR.com’s leaderboard first indicated both completed just one lap, Retzlaff apparently crossed the stripe before he broke down, crediting him with two laps complete.
When the red flag was withdrawn, Lothian reported he still had power issues, saying, “Absolutely no anything – no power.” The team discussed getting a push from a tow truck, and were able to make a stop for repairs that dropped them off the lead lap. By then, Baldwin had also lost three laps after his Lap 2 tangle with Bilicki, and soon pulled into the garage on Lap 11. Baldwin was declared out on Lap 61, leaving him 35th. Taking 34th was Austin Hill, whose #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet lost control after his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jesse Love pinched him down off Turn 4. Hill escaped serious damage until he was struck in the right-rear by William Sawalich’s #18 SoundGear Toyota, who managed to continue with significant right-front damage. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Mason Maggio, whose #91 KAM Powersports Chevrolet was eliminated with engine trouble, the latest in a series for the DGM team.
Cram inherits tires, battles up to 20th before engine issues
After taking the green flag in 36th, Dawson Cram and the Mike Harmon Racing team were a beneficiary of the early attrition. With just one set of sticker tires entering the race, and an agreement with Sam Hunt Racing to run their scuffs later in the event, they soon picked up tires from Retzlaff at Viking Motorsports, Baldwin at Hettinger Racing, and Hill at Richard Childress Racing, who each ended up in the Bottom Five after the first 37 laps. With these tires, Cram stayed on track in a bid for a possible lead-lap finish around the 20th spot before a dropped cylinder cut his night short at 120 laps, putting him 29th.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #1 in an O’Reilly race since October 5, 2024, when Sam Mayer’s #1 First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet was disqualified at Talladega. The number had never before finished last in a series race at Kansas.
*Kvapil’s is the earliest exit from an O’Reilly race at Kansa since October 20, 2018, when Michael Annett’s #5 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet wrecked on the opening lap. The only other time an O’Reilly driver finished last after just one lap around Kansas was on September 28, 2002, when Christian Fittipaldi wrecked his #30 Mike’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet.
*Kvapil is the first O’Reilly driver to finish last after starting on pole since April 29, 2023, when Parker Kligerman’s #48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet crashed after 62 laps around Dover. It last happened at Kansas on October 17, 2020, when Noah Gragson’s #9 Bass Pro Shops / True Timber Camo Chevrolet was eliminated under the DVP after 16 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #1-Carson Kvapil / 1 lap / crash
36) #99-Parker Retzlaff / 2 laps / crash
35) #5-Luke Baldwin / 4 laps / suspension
34) #21-Austin Hill / 37 laps / crash
33) #91-Mason Maggio / 51 laps / engine
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing x JIM (2)
2nd) AM Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hettinger Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, JR Motorsports, RSS Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (7)
2nd) Ford (3)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
