Kvapil, Walters Charge to Wins in CARS Tour Opener at Southern National

Patience paid off for both Caden Kvapil and Mason Walters on Saturday evening at Southern National Motorsports Park.

In both divisions for the zMAX CARS Tour in its season-opening event at the Lucama, North Carolina facility, late charges led to trips to victory lane. Caden Kvapil raced his way from 29th to the victory in the Folsom Fence Supply 125 for Late Model Stock Cars, while Mason Walters claimed the KevinSaysYes.com 100 Pro Late Model win with a late pass of Keelan Harvick.

Kvapil took the lead from Lee Pulliam on lap 108 of the Late Model Stock race, then held off Pulliam and Doug Barnes, Jr. on a late restart. It was not without drama, however.

Kvapil and Barnes made contact while battling for the lead on the restart, with Barnes hitting the outside wall on the frontstretch. The two drivers shared differing views of the incident.

"I just didn't get a really good restart," said Kvapil. "He kind of had a nose on me getting into three. I got in there deep, hit the water, and kind of slipped into his door. I think our tires hit, because he kind of just blocked me into him. He held me really tight like he should. It was kind of a racing deal. I hit his wheel with my right-front, I think, and it sucked us together. I'm sorry to him."

"He ran me square in the fence," Barnes said. "I got a monster run out of two, gave him a lane, that way he wouldn't ship me. He just stood in the gas in turns three and four and ran me square in the fence, knocked the toe out a half-inch. It's just so frustrating. You think you would take somebody in equipment like that and a team like that, you think they'd race with more respect. I guess I was wrong.

"I didn't have the winning car. It wasn't a situation in which I would have wrecked the car. At one point, I got up to third. Five laps later, I was like 10th. We got back up into the top five, I was happy. I wasn't content, but I wouldn't have wrecked him. What goes around comes around."

Kvapil's charge came after a subpar qualifying effort, landing him 29th on the grid. At a track already known for its abrasive racing surface and high banks, Kvapil balanced working through the field with leaving himself enough rubber to battle for the win late.

"Really, in all of our practice, I thought our race speed was really good," said Kvapil. "We were a little too loose, or so I thought. We tightened it up for qualifying and we went a little too far. I think we hit the track a little bit. Just really, really bad on my part. I kind of missed it on my end and just sent us really far back.

"I knew from the beginning when we were riding that we had a really good piece. Coming from the back like that is tough, especially at a place like this where you've got to save tires. I was trying to save tires, but also go forward. It was really difficult, but towards the end of the run, I think we had way better stuff at the end, way more right-rear tire than the rest of them, and we were able to pull away with it."

After leading the lion's share of Saturday's race, Pulliam finished second to Kvapil. It has been a recurring trend in Pulliam's return to Late Model Stock competition, including a second-place effort in last year's ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

Despite coming up short, Pulliam tipped his cap to Kvapil. With Pulliam set to make his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with JR Motorsports in March, the four-time NASCAR Local Series National Champion was happy to see the JRM No. 88 in victory lane.

"I keep being the bridesmaid," said Pulliam. "Congrats to Caden, you know. He did a heck of a job, man. He messaged me the other night on Instagram and he's like, dude, I hope it comes down to me and you trading bumpers.

"I gave him everything I could. I even busted that left-rear quarter panel. If I couldn't win and an LPP car can't win, I'm glad it was a JR Motorsports car. I'm just excited about the future. I'm going to get to victory lane. I had to use too much tire to stay in front of the 16 [of Chad McCumbee] and it just paid off for them at the end."

Chad McCumbee finished fourth, with Carson Loftin rounding out the top five.

Mason Walters cashed in late in the Pro Late Models, passing Keelan Harvick with five laps to go to take the No. 6 Setzer Racing and Development entry to victory lane.

Walters won four South Atlantic Pro Series races in 2025 and finished fourth in his CARS Tour debut last year at Caraway Speedway. He opened 2026 with a resounding success, snagging the lead in the closing laps for his first CARS Tour victory.

"It means the world," said Walters in victory lane. "Oh my God. Last year, I was so close. To get it finally, it just means so much.

"I didn't want to catch a lapped car. I didn't want to try to pass him and then catch a lapped car and ruin all my momentum. I kind of stayed behind him until the lapped car held him up. It just allowed me to get under him. These guys just gave me a good enough car to drive away.

Harvick claimed the lead on lap 24 and held the top spot for the majority of the KevinSaysYes.com 100 before fading late.

"I just overadjusted on my own car, with the brake bias," said Harvick. "I can't thank Mobil 1 enough. The Toyota Camry was really fast today. Thanks to everybody at Rackley W.A.R., it wouldn't be possible without them."

Another young gun in the field, London McKenzie, wrapped up the Pro Late Model podium. Making his CARS Tour debut, McKenzie was pleased to finish third in a stout field of competitors.

"It's insane, I can't describe it. Since I was a little boy driving Bandoleros, watching Cars, Lightning McQueen, number 95, I've been dreaming of racing the CARS Tour, stock cars, things like this. A race with future champions of our sport, the greats of our sport currently, alongside them, not only in this Pro Late Model, but going to hop in the Late Model Stock Car, it's going to be something special."

Max Reaves finished fourth, with Treyten Lapcevich rounding out the top five.

The next stop for the zMAX CARS Tour is Wake County Speedway in one month's time on March 28.

-Photo credit: CARS Tour

zMAX CARS Tour at Southern National Unofficial Results

Late Model Stock Cars

Pro Late Models