Bobby McCarty of Kernersville, North Carolina became the first three-time Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car division champion in the series’ history and Carson Kvapil of Mooresville, North Carolina earned his first CARS Tour Super Late Model crown, with both drivers scoring wins in Saturday night’s season-ending Autos By Nelson 250 presented by Bojangles at South Boston Speedway.
Saturday night marked the fourth time in the seven-year history of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour that the series has held its season-ending championship race at South Boston Speedway.
McCarty entered the 125-lap Late Model Stock Car Division race with a slim one-point edge over Kaden Honeycutt of Aledo, Texas in the chase for the division championship. The Greensboro, North Carolina resident started on the outside pole and led all 125 laps in winning the race and securing the series title. Honeycutt finished seventh in the race.
The win was McCarty’s third victory of the season on the CARS Tour circuit and his second of the season at South Boston Speedway. McCarty won South Boston Speedway’s showcase 200-lap NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division race in July.
“I never really thought about the championship,” remarked McCarty. “I really wanted to win this race. We came to South Boston Speedway twice this year and won both races. I think in Late Model Stock, in this day and age, it says a lot.”
The race was slowed by 10 caution periods and was stopped twice by red flags due to mishaps. McCarty got good starts and surged into the lead on each restart, the last one coming with 18 laps to go. McCarty finished 3.328 seconds ahead of runner-up Daniel Silvestri of Ashburn, Virginia.
“I knew the car was good, I just didn’t know how good,” McCarty noted. “It was phenomenal. This was the best racecar I’ve ever sat my butt in, and I can’t thank all of the guys at Nelson Motorsports enough.”
Pole winner Connor Hall of Hampton, Virginia, Jonathan Shafer of Ashland, Ohio and Mason Diaz of Manassas, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.
Kvapil headed into the 125-lap Super Late Model race, the final Super Late Model race in CARS Tour history, trailing series point leader Matt Craig by an eight-point margin. He needed to have a perfect night – win the pole in qualifying, lead the entire race and win the race to win the championship, and he pulled off a sweep.
“Winning the CARS Tour championship is the highlight of championships I’ve won,” Kvapil said after scoring his fourth win of the season and capturing his first career CARS Tour Super Late Model Division championship. “Everything that could have happened for us happened. Everything was spot on. From the green flag the car did not change. It was perfect the whole race. We were able to run away from them, control our pace and win the championship.”
Ryan Moore of Troutman, North Carolina finished in second place, 2.357 seconds behind Kvapil. Craig finished third with Kodie Conner of Kannapolis, North Carolina and Justin Crider of Statesville, North Carolina rounding out the top five finishers.
SBS PR
