The next generation triumphed at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday in the fall finale for the zMAX CARS Tour and SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic. In the Late Model Stock Car season finale, the Crossroads Harley-Davidson 125, second-generation driver Caden Kvapil passed Landon S. Huffman on the final lap in a thrilling finish to cap off the season. Two third-generation drivers, Keelan Harvick and Luke Baldwin, claimed victories in the Pro Late Model Northwest Automotive 100 and Frontier 99 modified race, respectively.
Caden Kvapil Wins Crossroads Harley-Davidson 125, Landen Lewis Wins zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Championship
Eighteen-year-old Caden Kvapil, who is the son of 2003 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, picked up the win in the Crossroads Harley-Davidson 125. Kvapil passed Huffman in the final corner to earn his first zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car victory. Nineteen-year-old Landen Lewis secured the championship with a seventh-place finish.
“I feel like we definitely had the best car,” Kvapil said. “I knew if I got up front in clean air I could drive away. We had a really good car all race and it was just track position that we needed. This has been a long time coming for me to get my first CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car win, especially to get it here at North Wilkesboro, this place is awesome. I can’t thank everybody on this crew that gave me a great car, my dad (Travis Kvapil), (team manager) Bryan (Shaffer) and everybody on the team. It was also awesome to have Kelley (Earnhardt-Miller, team owner) here for my first win.”
Kvapil followed in his brother Carson’s footsteps, the elder brother secured the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car victory at the historic venue in 2022 during the Race Track Revival.
Luke Baldwin Locks Up Championship with SMART Modified Tour Victory
In a marathon contest, including 11 cautions and several red flag periods, 18-year-old Baldwin emerged victorious over his fellow championship contenders Ryan Newman and Paulie Hartwig III, with a decisive victory in the Frontier 99. Baldwin claimed the lead of the SMART Modified Tour season finale with 24 laps remaining in the event, and held off a hard-charging Brandon Ward to earn the win. Newman finished third, Joey Coulter IV finished fourth and William Lambros finished fifth.
“It’s good to be a two-time champ, it has a nice ring to it,” Baldwin said. “Can’t say enough about everyone who has helped me over the years and kept my racing career alive. The modifieds are bad-ass, it’s been in our family, my grandfather raced them and then my dad did and I’m glad to be able to race them too. They’ve always been in our family and they are fun to watch.”
“It was frustrating at times out there,” Baldwin said about all the cautions. “My car was better on the long runs and that actually played into our hands. At the end we put new tires on the car and that really helped us set sail. It’s really cool to win here at North Wilkesboro. As a kid I would drive past here wondering why there was no racing going on and it’s great that Dale Jr. and so many others got behind bringing it back to life. It’s a great track and I love racing here.”
This is Baldwin’s second SMART Modified Tour championship and the first time he’s ridden the elevator to visit North Wilkesboro Speedway’s historic victory lane.
Next Generation of Stars Dominates zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model Race
Keelan Harvick triumphed over Luke Baldwin in the Northwest Automotive 100 as the two young guns battled side by side in the final laps. Baldwin led the first 90 laps before the 13-year-old Harvick took the lead, and they gave the crowd a show, fender to fender, with Baldwin ultimately claiming the second finishing position and the 2025 Pro Late Model Owner’s points championship. Connor Jones finished third, and 16-year-old Ben Maier clinched the 2025 zMAX CARS Pro Late Model driver championship, and finished in the fourth position.
“It’s really cool to win here and add my name to the awesome list of people who have won at this track,” Keelan Harvick said. “I found a line on the bottom around three and four and really hooked around the corner and I think that’s what the edge was in passing him. We were even in one and two, but in three and four I could ride the line a little bit better than him.”
“He hit all his marks at a track that’s really hard to finish a pass,” Keelan’s father, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, said. “I’m proud of him for everything that he did out there today.”
This was Keelan Harvick’s fourth win this season in the zMAX Cars Tour Pro Late Models and his first at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series points racing returns to the .625-mile facility in 2026 for the first time since 1996, July 17-19, with the Window World 400 and a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race. Tickets are on sale now.
Fans can connect with North Wilkesboro Speedway and get the latest news by following on X and Instagram or becoming a Facebook fan.
zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car
Crossroads Harley-Davidson 125
Results
- Caden Kvapil
- Landon S. Huffman
- Parker Eatmon
- Connor Hall
- Brandon Lopez
- Trevor Ward
- Landen Lewis
- Kade Brown
- Lanie Buice
- Carson Loftin
- Conner Jones
- Doug Barnes Jr.
- Jamie Caudill
- Tyler Reif
- Mini Tyrrell
- Alex Meggs
- Andrew Grady
- Chase Burrow
- Brandon Pierce
- Landon Huffman
- Darrick Coomer
- Donovan Strauss
- Thomas Beane
- Blayne Harrison
- Chad McCumbee
- Dylon Wilson
- Tate Fogleman
- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model
Northwest Automotive 100
Results
- Keelan Harvick
- Luke Baldwin
- Conner Jones
- Ben Maier
- Brandon Lopez
- Evan McKnight
- Aidan Potter
- T.J. DeCaire
- Jake Johnson
- Treyten Lapcevich
- Jade Avedisian
- Ksaac Kitzmiller
- Dylan Garner
- Dusty Garus
- Terri Crider
- Tyler Reif
- Rodney Dowless
- Trey Burke
- Ashton Higgins
- Taylor Hull
- Jason Kitzmiller
- Taylor Mayhew
- Kevin Harvick
SMART Modified Tour
Frontier Natural Gas 99
Results
- Luke Baldwin
- Brandon Ward
- Ryan Newman
- Joey Coulter IV
- William Lambros
- Bobby Labonte
- Eddie McCarthy
- Paulie Hartwig III
- Jack Baldwin
- Daniel Yates
- Carsten DiGiantomasso
- Jeremy Gerstner
- Brody Jones
- Cayden Lapcevich
- Jimmy Wallace
- Carson Loftin
- Melissa Fifield
- Burt Myers
- Tom Buzze
- Anthony Bello
- Jake Crum
- Norman Newman
- Slate Myers
- Bryce Bailey
- Jonathan Cash
- Joey Braun
- Carter McMurray
- Danny Bohn
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