Carson Kvapil narrowly missed a dominant victory in Saturday's The Progress Group 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, finishing second after leading a race-high 67 laps. The JR Motorsports driver qualified fourth and controlled much of the afternoon before teammate Sammy Smith made a last-lap pass to secure the victory.
Kvapil established himself as the strongest competitor almost immediately, taking the lead from Jake Finch on Lap 2 and winning the opening stage. He remained competitive during Stage 2, finishing second behind teammate Justin Allgaier and collecting another nine stage points.
Although Kvapil briefly lost track position following a pit-road issue during the first stage break, he quickly recovered. His No. 1 Chevrolet led 31 of the final
32 laps as JR Motorsports teammates worked together to control the outside drafting lane.
However, Kvapil could not defend against Smith's late charge, finishing just 0.084 seconds behind his teammate. The runner-up performance marked Kvapil's 19th top-10 finish of the season and gave him 54 points. He remains fifth in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase standings with 2,342 points.
Kvapil reduced his deficit to championship leader Jesse Love from 79 to 59 points, keeping his championship hopes alive entering Martinsville and Homestead-Miami.
This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Carson Kvapil in need of major points day at Martinsville
