For Carson Kvapil, a fifth-place finish at Rockingham wasn’t good enough. While he might not have the most sponsors for this season, he is making the best of what Dale Earnhardt Jr’s team has given him in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this year. His runs in the #91 and the #9 cars have been a bit scattered, but he is taking the #1 for an absolute ride. And as he recovered from his last run at Rockingham, he has no plans to stop anytime soon.
Carson Kvapil on the Rockingham race with Dale Jr’s team
“Coming into this weekend, I thought we’d be a little bit faster or just cleaner air, start better. I mean, I know, it just didn’t really pan out,” he said, reflecting on JR Motorsports’ run at the Rockingham Speedway. While Corey Day seemed to be snatching all the attention with his run at the top of the field, Kvapil was calmly maintaining his pace within the top 10. He kept moving around but eventually managed to clinch the fifth-place finish.
While he wasn’t the happiest with the finish, he seems to be only aiming higher now.
“So it was a good day,” he added. “And I was hoping we could get stage points out of it, which we might have got a couple here and there, but it wasn’t 15 like you really want, right? But came home with a good finish and it’s in one piece.”
Carson Kvapil hasn’t been having the best time on the field so far. While he has proven to be quite a competitive driver, the simple lack of sponsors has kept him from landing a full-time spot in the series. He is splitting his races across different teams and cars in the series, and it’s quite understandable why he is not satisfied after what seemed to be quite a competitive run.
Additionally, the Rockingham Raceway didn’t seem to be easier for most drivers out on the track, especially the ones who were chasing for a possible lead or a better position. As Kvapil revealed, however, it was rather apparent what the issue was.
Kvapil reveals the problem with Rockingham
“The dirty air here is really big and honestly, it seemed like it was worse this year than it was last year,” he said.
Dirty air becomes a huge issue. While drivers need to draft to perform proper overtakes, it becomes difficult on tracks like Rockingham. As Kvapil mentioned, the dirty air was worse compared to the 2025 season, so it was apparent why it was hard for him to gain enough places. But on the other hand, it helped keep him locked in fifth place, marking a strong finish for him and Dale Jr.’s crew. But he still felt there was more he could have unlocked under better conditions.
Listen to @Carson_Kvapil and @rajahcaruth_ recap their top five finishes at Rockingham Speedway. pic.twitter.com/eKsRhDsyTV
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) April 4, 2026
“So Rodney and the whole RB Chevrolet group brought me a really fast race car today,” he added. “It’s just.. man, when you’re sitting there six, seven, eight, nine, ten. It’s hard to go anywhere and just need to be way, way better than anybody else to pass. So, brought home a good finish and now it’s had us all day.”
At the end, it was a decent race for Kvapil. His future looks to be a bit in question right now. However, if he were to improve as he mentions, he could perhaps gain better sponsorships and eventually land a full-time seat next season. This could also help him improve his consistency.
