With the NASCAR season wrapped up neatly, many drivers are either relaxing or preparing for the new season. Most drivers are choosing not to stay idle in the off-season and are competing in a variety of dirt races. Among them is the newest recruit of Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Carson Kvapil.

In the coming month, one of the biggest dirt racing events is expected to kick off. Kvapil is going to be one of many drivers gunning for victory at the 2024 Snowball Derby. Recently, he spoke about his chances of winning the iconic race, and he was feeling confident. To be fair, who could blame him after he won last month’s Late Model race at Martinsville?

The Dale Earnhardt Jr protege would love to win the Snowball Derby

The 21-year-old made his Xfinity Series debut in 2024 with JR Motorsports but on a part-time basis. Now, he will compete full-time in 2025 for the organization. For the moment, Kvapil is just happy to keep his reflexes active by competing in different racing disciplines.

Speaking about his Snowball Derby ambitions, Kvapil told FloRacing, “I think it would be the icing on the cake for this year, honestly. Going into this year, I just wanted to win the Martinsville race. That was just like, if I won the Martinsville race and nothing else, I would be happy. We had a really good race, really fast car. Thanks to Bryan and the whole crew, and we made that happen. Anything’s possible, right? Just all depends on how qualifying goes for the Derby and how our week goes. It isn’t as difficult to get the trophy, but if we have a really difficult week like we had in the past, it makes it really tough.”

The Late Model race he won was the Valleystar Credit Union 300 at the Martinsville Speedway. This was his third year in a row, competing for victory, and he got third-time lucky. Along the way, he fended off Mike Looney, who finished in a fine second place. The remainder of the Top 5 consisted of the Canadian youngster Treyten Lapcevich, Casey Kelley, and Bobby McCarty. With that win out of the way, Kvapil is raring to go at the Snowball Derby in Pensacola.

Of course, he did admit that a win is not guaranteed because anything can happen during the weekend. First and foremost, the biggest hurdle to navigate would be qualifying. Snatching pole position or even a decent qualifying position is half the battle won. From there, it is just a matter of staying clean for the rest of the race and avoiding any mishaps.

Kvapil certainly had a big confidence boost during the South Carolina 400, driving one of the rarest cars on the grid. This was when he hopped behind the wheel of Dale Jr.‘s #8 Bud car during the second session of Friday practice. While Dale Jr. went to the NASCAR awards ceremony in Downtown Charlotte, Kvapil prepped his car for the 250-lap race. It seemed his work paid off when Dale Jr. rapidly climbed through the grid, going from 40th place to 2nd.

Carson Kvapil gave Junior advice, saying, “I’ll tell him, it’s not going to drive the greatest but if you can make it drive good on these tires, we’ll have speed from the moment we sticker up.” In the end, it wasn’t about the tires, but a fuel pump issue that forced Junior out of the race.

Regardless, it was just a glimpse of the things to come when Kvapil takes on his full-time Xfinity Series debut with JR Motorsports in 2025.

This should be good practice for his Xfinity Series debut

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As mentioned before, Carson Kvapil is expected to make his full-time Xfinity Series debut in 2025. Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw something in him because he handed the young driver a few trial runs. In 2024, Kvapil competed in nine races, recording a best finish of 2nd at Dover. That fantastic result was just one of three Top 5 finishes that year, with the other two coming at Martinsville and New Hampshire.

Needless to say, Dale Earnhardt Jr saw enough to be convinced and promoted him to full-time driver in 2025. Of course, this means that the pressure will be on, as it will be his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR arena. The 21-year-old has notched up some incredible accolades, including two back-to-back CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour titles. In addition to that, he is the 2021 CARS Super Late Model Tour champion.

For the 2025 campaign, Carson Kvapil replaces Sam Mayer, who jumps ship to the Haas Factory Team. The latter is fielding a brand new line-up after Cole Custer and Riley Herbst earned a promotion to the Cup Series. Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series division is fielding Mayer and Sheldon Creed, who moves over from Joe Gibbs Racing. Meanwhile, Kvapil will partner defending champion Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and fellow rookie, Connor Zilisch, at JR Motorsports.