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Carson Kvapil has strong foundation for NASCAR Xfinity debut

Now it’s Carson Kvapil time.

A week after Super Late Model ace Bubba Pollard took the JR Motorsports No. 88 to a sixth-place finish in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Richmond Raceway, a much younger but equally decorated Late Model Stock champion takes his turn.

Kvapil, the 20-year-old son of 2003 Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, is a two-time CARS Late Model Stock Tour champion and one of the most respected prospects in the discipline. In addition to his pedigree and talents, Kvapil also spends his non-driving days at the shop working on both the Xfinity and Late Model cars.

He does everything asked of him just to get such opportunities behind the wheel and he has made the most of each of them so far. At the same time, Saturday at Martinsville is both an opportunity and a point of nervousness.

“Yeah, I’m definitely nervous,” Kvapil told Sportsnaut on Friday before practice. “It didn’t really kick in until I got here but honestly, I think it’s not going to be much different than running Late Models here, right?

“So, I just want to make the most of the 15 minutes that I get in practice and see what we come out of here with. Hopefully tomorrow everything goes well today and tomorrow we can just focus on our strategy and getting the best finish.”

There is a lot of enthusiasm for Kvapil, and a lot of people are invested in his success, but that also means the potential for a lot of conflicting pointers towards what he should be doing behind the wheel this weekend.

So, he’s just respectfully trying to keep the feedback to a minimum. One of those voices is Cup Series driver Josh Berry, who has been with Kvapil every step of the way the past three years. When Berry left Late Model Stocks to run NASCAR full-time, Kvapil took over his JR Motorsports No. 8.

Berry has been a mentor and that isn’t changing even with the move to Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford. His friend is going to be there for him this weekend.

“I have been a lot more intentional about helping him than other people because of how he is away from the race track, his work ethic and the appreciation he has for his opportunities,” Berry said on Tuesday during a media availability. “I’ll be right there when he’s practicing in case he needs anything.”

Berry said Kvapil has a lot of talent and just does everything the right way and all of it means a lot to the younger prospect.

“That’s awesome,” Kvapil said. “Everyone knows Josh’s track record and what an incredible short track racer he is and the Cup racer he’s turning into now so for him to say stuff like that, it feels good for sure. It makes you feel proud and just makes me not want to quit and motivates me.”

Kvapil also shadowed the No. 88 team as they worked with Pollard last week at Richmond and that gives him a lot of comfort and optimism too.

“I mean, for one, that race just showed you what an incredible racer Bubba is but it also shows what incredible team we have,” he said. “It was a preview of what we are capable of this weekend and if everything goes well, we can be right there with him.”

What did he learn last week?

“Just the procedure stuff, the vibes at the race track, since I was on the pit box and listening to him and TJ (Majors) on the spotter stand,” Kvapil said. “It just got me ready for this weekend, answered a lot of questions I might have had, and got me really prepared.”

Kvapil says he isn’t placing a result-based expectation on himself but rather just wanting to impress in all the things he can control behind the wheel. He might even be giving up a chance at a third consecutive CARS Tour championship to do this over the weekend.

CARS Tour is racing at Hickory on Saturday night and Kvapil is going to miss this race. It won’t end his championship run, especially after winning the opener at Southern National, but it shows what a priority his NASCAR career is.

“Of course, I want a third championship but this is the kind of opportunity you don’t turn down,” he said. “I’m super fortunate to be in this spot, to race CARS Tour full-time for JR Motorsports and to be able to race this Xfinity car for a few races too.

“Hopefully this weekend goes well and we can get back in the Late Model and still have a chance at that too. The championship can definitely still be won.”

Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.

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