Caden Kvapil Clinches Title, Mason Walters Wins with CARS Tour at Newport

Caden Kvapil clinched the zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock championship with a win at Newport Speedway on Friday.

Kvapil capitalized on a heated battle between Ronnie Bassett, Jr. and Carson Brown , ducking underneath both drivers to take the lead with 40 laps to go.

“This place, it’s so hard to pass,” Kvapil said. “We were all so even at the time. They were getting into each other and opened the door for me. It was the first chance I had and every time I get a chance, I’m going to take it.

"We were able to take the lead. Once I got the lead, I knew we had a really good car, we just needed it to stay green and have a long run. We were really strong in the long run, so I'm glad we didn't have a yellow at the end there like Martinsville."

Kvapil makes history with the feat, becoming the first driver to claim the Virginia Triple Crown, the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 and the CARS Tour championship in the same season. Kvapil's fourth CARS Tour win of 2026 clinched the series title with one race remaining on the schedule.

"It's really special. Being full-time with JRM this year, I felt like I had a lot of expectations to do good. To be able to make history here and have such a good season like we've had, it just means a lot."

Kvapil joins his older brother, Carson, on the list of CARS Tour champions. Carson Kvapil, who now competes for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, claimed the Late Model Stock championship in 2022 and 2023.

"I feel like my brother has been extremely helpful for me," said Caden Kvapil. "Especially in Martinsville, too. He got out of the car and made the right adjustments for me to get the win there. HE's been driving these cars way longer than I have, so he has a lot more knowledge on these things, and he gives me as many tips as he can, even the tracks he has never been to.

"It's been fun working with him, my dad. It's just a big family affair, and I'm so glad to be able to drive this car."

While the night didn't end in a win for Bassett, he did win the pole and lead laps on the night. The veteran competitor was happy with the strong showing at the Tennessee bullring.

"It was a great building day, you know. We qualified on the pole, we led a lot fo laps. Had a really good race car, just had some misfortune there on the restart and wasn't able to get back in the lead and keep the track position."

Earlier this year, Brown won at Newport with the ASA STARS National Tour. The New London, North Carolina native translated that Super Late Model experience into a podium finish in the Late Model Stock Car on Friday.

"I felt like we were really good here in the Super. I tried to translate it to this, and I feel like we did. We qualified seventh, and I felt like we were working our way through the field pretty good. We got to the lead there, second, and just got into it way too hard."

Mason Walters led from flag to flag in the 100-lap Pro Late Model feature, giving him a boost towards the zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model championship.

Walters entered Friday's race with a six-point advantage over Conner Jones and a 10-point lead over Brody Monahan. However, Walters had not won with the series since the season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park.

The Catawba, North Carolina driver ended that drought in convincing fashion at Newport, adding to his points lead ahead of the season finale at South Boston Speedway.

"Ever since Southern National, I feel like we've been in a funk," said Walters. "This is just huge momentum going into SoBo. I just can't thank all of the Setzer Racing guys enough. They do such an incredible job. Austin, Jordan, Ryan, we had Ryan on the button tonight. This is just insane momentum going into SoBo."

While Walters held off none other than his fellow championship contenders, Jones and Monahan, in the closing laps, his greatest obstacle were the fading brakes on his No. 6 car.

"My [brake] pedal kept getting soft, and I was pumping it up going down both straightaways. That was what was really going through my head. I was like, I know I'm not going to lose this race to some brakes. Thankfully, I could hold on.

"Just try to win. That's all you can do. You've just got to go to the track every weekend and just try to win."

While Jones finished second to Walters, he was pleased to make the most of a night where he qualified ninth and had to race his way forward.

"Ultimately, I'm happy," said Jones. "We maximized not losing a ton of points to Mason right there. I know we still lost some, but just maximized our finish and tried to get our way through the field pretty quick. I figured it was probably going to go, with the car count, pretty green-to-checkered. Hats off to these CJR guys. They worked their tails off all weekend."

Monahan finished third, rounding out the podium.

"I was trying to make it as easy as possible for myself at the end," said Monahan. "The first two-thirds, I recognized that the 6 was really good. I don't know if we were going to be able to beat him straight-up, so I was just trying to backpedal and save everything I could. We were able to make a run at him, just not enough to do it right. A good run regardless."

Treyten Lapcevich finished fourth, with T.J. DeCaire rounding out the top five.

The zMAX CARS Tour season comes to a close on October 17 at South Boston Speedway.

-Photo credit: Joshua White/CARS Tour

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