TIMMONSVILLE, N.C. – There was a common theme shared amongst the two winners of Friday’s zMAX CARS Tour event at Florence Motor Speedway; their first names.
Caden Kvapil and Kaden Honeycutt were the ones to take home checkered flags in the Late Model Stock Car and Pro Late Model Tour. Their respective victories stemmed from strong second half performances, as Kvapil took control of the LMSC Tour feature following a lap 58 restart, while Honeycutt’s pass came with 47 to go in the PLM Tour.
Kvapil’s triumph at Florence on Friday served as his third victory on the 2026 LMSC Tour season, but it was also his first since prevailing at Nashville Fairground Speedway back in April. For Honeycutt, he now has six combined victories on the CARS Tour platform this year, two of which were doubleheaders.
Honeycutt still faces an uphill climb towards the PLM Tour championship following his Florence win after missing two events due to his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series commitments. The same cannot be said about Kvapil, who now has the LMSC Tour title firmly in his control with three events remaining.
Caden Kvapil capitalizes on excellent track position
For as fantastic as his 2026 CARS LMSC Tour season has been, qualifying is something Caden Kvapil has consistently struggled with.
Even with a third place starting position at Florence Motor Speedway, Kvapil knew it was never a guarantee that advantage would translate into a win, given the track’s abrasive nature. Kvapil made sure to never get overly aggressive with his tires through all 125 laps, a strategy that guided him to Cook Out Victory Lane once again.
“This place just wears tires really bad,” Kvapil said. “This hot out, it’s hard to keep the tires underneath you. Luckily we had good track position from the start and we were able to ride and save our tires until the end. It really paid off at the end. We were able to set our own pace and drive off at the end.”
Aside from Florence, Kvapil only has one other start inside the top five this season. That came at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, the site of his most recent win.
If there was a track that Kvapil believed he could resolve some of his qualifying issues at, it was Florence. Kvapil entered the Cook Out 225 as the most recent winner of Florence’s prestigious South Carolina 400, which saw him fend off many talented competitors that include his older brother in two-time CARS LMSC Tour champion Carson Kvapil.
The progress the younger Kvapil has made at Florence over the past couple of years is something he takes immense pride in. Florence regularly challenges even the most experienced Late Model Stock drivers, so Kvapil was thrilled to put together a full weekend and build momentum towards joining Carson as a champion across two CARS Tour divisions.
“I didn’t think I was that good here for a while,” Kvapil said. “The last two races here, I’ve won and I’ve qualified really good in both of them. That’s been my weakness this year. To be able to put it up front, that definitely helped out a lot tonight.”
Carson Brown one spot short of first LMSC Tour victory
The season Carson Brown has put together across 2026 so far includes one ARCA Menards Series victory and four wins in the ASA STARS National Tour.
Brown was determined to finally add a CARS LMSC Tour checkered flag to that resume on Friday evening at Florence, but was unable to challenge Caden Kvapil after getting passed shortly before halfway. Despite being disappointed, Brown took solace over his best LMSC Tour performance to date.
“It was a really good night,” Brown said. “I feel like we just needed a little bit more rear grip and needed a little bit more overall [grip]. Just need to move on to the next one and carry all the momentum.”
Having previously contested a part-time LMSC Tour schedule three years ago, Brown entered 2026 determined to add onto the legacy of his team Lee Pulliam Performance. In nine starts so far, Brown has recorded two top five finishes, which were a pair of fourths at Langley Speedway and Dominion Raceway.
Florence was among the tracks in which Brown possessed some prior experience. After earning a lead lap finish of 15th there in 2023, Brown showed consistent improvement over his next two starts. as he placed 12th in the South Carolina 400 last November before following that up with a fourth in the IceBreaker.
In both the South Carolina 400 and the IceBreaker, Brown started those events on pole. Although he narrowly missed out on the top spot in qualifying for the Cook Out 225, Brown did manage to claim the outside pole, which allowed him to pass polesitter Ronnie Bassett Jr on lap one and control the lead for the first half.
With a career-best LMSC Tour finish now behind him, Brown will regroup for a busy conclusion to 2026 that also encompasses the ARCA Menards Series and ASA STARS National Tour. He looks to claim as many wins as possible before joining Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program in 2027.
Stellar year for Kaden Honeycutt continues
On the final weekend before the commencement of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 10-race Chase, Kaden Honeycutt decided to build some early momentum.
After passing Treyten Lapcevich on a mid-race restart, Honeycutt faced no opposition as he cruised to his fourth CARS PLM Tour victory of 2026. The triumph came as a mild surprise to Honeycutt, who did not imagine the outing would go so well following the lack of speed he showed to start the day.
“I really didn’t think we were that good,” Honeycutt said. “We struggled all weekend, not really finding the feel I wanted. [My crew chief] Alex Roberts threw something at it before qualifying and qualifying went really well. I can’t thank him enough. I know I’m probably not the most popular guy after beating Dale [Earnhardt Jr.]”
None of Honeycutt’s six starts in the PLM Tour this year have seen him finish outside the top five. Prior to skipping Anderson Motor Speedway, Honeycutt only trailed Mason Walters by one point in the PLM Tour standings despite missing the season-opener at Southern National Motorsports Park.
Whenever there is a chance for Honeycutt to race, he usually makes the most of it. He famously won four races over two days between Watkins Glen International and Caraway Speedway in May, all while he battled dehydration at North Wilkesboro Speedway in July to earn his second CARS Tour weekend sweep of the year.
Long known for his versatility, Honeycutt admitted such feats like the ones he has accomplished this year are likely not going to be replicated in 2027. Honeycutt is preparing to raise a family with his wife Jessica Honeycutt, which is why he is spending the final months of the season cherishing moments like his Florence victory on Friday.
“I’m kind of sad,” Honeycutt said. “I’m not going to be able to do this much next year. I’m going to take my time of, spend time with Jessica and raise my little boy. He’s going to be more important to me than racing. I’m soaking up as much racing as I can while appreciating the opportunities I have across the board.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishes second in PLM Tour debut
With how loud the cheers were for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the end of the CARS PLM Tour portion of the Cook Out 225, one might have assumed he actually won.
Eanrhardt Jr. actually finished second at Florence Motor Speedway on Friday, his best overall showing on the CARS Tour platform to date. It took a rigorous, concerted effort to ensure Earnhardt Jr. could be competitive for his PLM Tour debut in front of an electric crowd, which is something he always enjoys each time he makes a CARS Tour start.
“[It was] a hell of a crowd [on Friday],” Earnhardt Jr. said. “A big thank you to Tony [Eury] Jr. and all the guys at GMS [Race Cars]. They put this car together in two weeks. We worked on the car all the way until we unloaded it. A lot of fun. It was a fast car.”
There were many factors that made Friday’s race sentimental for Earnhardt Jr., one of them being the chance to work with his cousin Tony Eury Jr. again. During the early days of Earnhardt Jr.’s success in the NASCAR Cup Series, Eury Jr. was a vital component to that formula and would later guide his cousin to two victories as a crew chief himself between 2006-08.
All the experience Eury Jr. possessed had him confident about going to Florence, even though he had never turned a lap in a Pro Late Model beforehand. Yet it did not take long for Earnhardt Jr. to find a cadence in the GMS Pro Late Model, as he set the fastest lap in the first practice on Friday before settling for a fifth-place starting position.
Earnhardt Jr. gradually worked his way towards the front during the 100-lap feature but was ultimately not able to catch Honeycutt. Not every fundamental Earnhardt Jr. learned from Late Model Stocks at Florence could be applied to the Pro Late Model, but he still came away from Friday satisfied with how his first PLM Tour start turned out.
“I probably rode a little too hard in the first 30 [laps]. didn’t keep heat in the right rear and keep the stagger up,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don’t race with stagger in a Late Model Stock Car, so I might have needed to work the right rear a little harder. Honeycutt is good. He’s going to win a lot of races when he shows up to these and I was thankful to be competitive.”
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There will not be much time for zMAX CARS Tour competitors to rest up, as both divisions are back in action next Saturday night at Tri-County Motor Speedway. On-track action commences at 7 p.m. ET, with FloRacing set to provide live flag-to-flag coverage.
For more information on the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on X (formerly known as Twitter) and scrolling through photos on Instagram at cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC at 704-662-9212.
LMSC results:
- 88 Caden Kvapil
- 5 Carson Brown
- 13 Cody Kelley
- 7 Tyler Reif
- 03 Brenden Queen
- 8 Connor Zilisch
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr.
- 16K Casey Kelley
- 5B Chase Burrow
- 62 Keelan Harvick
- 28 Ryan Glenski
- 51V Shane van Gisbergen
- 44 Conner Jones
- 77 Treyten Lapcevich
- 37 Chase Robertson
- 16 Chad McCumbee
- 20 Carson Loftin -1
- 14 Owen Zacharias -1
- 51 Matt Cox – OUT
- 4G Matt Gould – OUT
- 77H Landon S. Huffman – OUT
- 71 Jake Bollman – OUT
- 57 Landon Huffman – OUT
- 4 Parker Eatmon – OUT
- 95 London McKenzie – OUT
- 23 Kade Brown – OUT
- 15 Jace Hale – OUT
- 99 Brandon Dean – OUT
PLM results:
- 54 Kaden Honeycutt
- 23 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- 30 Treyten Lapcevich
- 1 T.J. DeCaire
- 44 Conner Jones
- 31 Brody Monahan
- 6 Mason Walters
- 27 Vito Cancilla
- 20 Evan McKnight -1
- 97 Dylan Garner -1
- 51 Donovan Strauss -1
- 25 Rodney Dowless Jr. -1
- 11 Jack Baldwin -1
- 21 Chad Kearney -6
- 49 Jeff Batten -24
- 22R Jimmy Renfrew Jr. – OUT
- 22 Dusty Garus – OUT
- 83 Bayley Currey – OUT
- 15 Case James – OUT
