Las Vegas produced an absolute stunner of a race in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Carson Kvapil was right in the thick of the chaos. The JR Motorsports driver reeled in Corey Day for the win during Saturday's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but ultimately missed out on the victory by 0.287 seconds following an unforgettable exchange in the third race of The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
Now, if you love short-track style theatrics on a 1.5-mile circuit, the final 11 laps were pure cinema. Day and Kvapil traded the lead at the start/finish line four separate times, each pass landing like a heavyweight punch. They even banged doors approaching the white flag for the final lap. Day rocketed around the outside while Kvapil defended the bottom lane, sending both machines sideways exiting Turn 2. Day even smacked the outside wall before clawing his way right back even with Kvapil.
Obviously, having a good day is the biggest thing, and whenever the people you're racing for points don't have the best days, that really helps too,
The madness rolled straight into Turns 3 and 4. Day bounced off the wall a second time, leaving Kvapil to watch as the No. 17 car drove away to secure the win, forcing Kvapil to settle for second place. Naturally, the runner-up finish stung.
"First things first, I'm bummed out, right? It's hard to run that good and be that close and lead a few of them towards the end and not win the race, but just part of it," Kvapil said. He praised the Bass Pro Shops Claire's Technology Chevrolet with Hendrick Engines under the hood for giving him a really fast machine, though he noted he was always chasing and never quite had the lead position to comfortably drive away or defend.
Despite the defeat, Kvapil couldn't deny the sheer thrill of the battle. "From my seat, I didn't like it as much as probably some others did. But no, this car that we have in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series really puts on a good show, and it's so much fun to drive these cars," he said, adding that he was just hanging on during that final run with the rear sliding around.
There was also a very bright silver lining in the championship standings. Kvapil entered the weekend third in points and 37 points back from leader Sheldon Creed, but leaves sitting second and just 19 points behind Creed after slicing his deficit in half. That climb was aided by trouble for JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, who fell from second to fourth in the standings after getting collected in a Lap 54 crash.
"Obviously, having a good day is the biggest thing, and whenever the people you're racing for points don't have the best days, that really helps too," Kvapil said, keeping an eye on upcoming wild cards like Talladega and Martinsville. For now, his 1 team is simply hunting consistency to navigate the pressure ahead.
