Kvapil Suspended, Garcia Fined Following CARS at Tri-County

The Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour has announced penalties for Carson Kvapil and Jake Garcia pertaining to their actions in the HarrisonsWorkwear.com 225 at Tri-County Motor Speedway on Friday evening.

Following an accident on the cooldown lap of the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour feature that saw him turn Zack Miracle into the wall, points leader Carson Kvapil has been suspended for the next event at Ace Speedway for violating Section 1-A of the penalty code stated in the series rulebook.

Under this guideline, any member who performs an act or participates in actions deemed by CARS Tour officials as detrimental to racing or the series can be assessed a fine of $500, face a suspension or lose championship points.

Along with his suspension, Kvapil has also been placed on probation by the CARS Tour for the final three races of the 2022 season. Any additional violations Kvapil commits while on probation could result in further disciplinary action by the series.

For Garcia, who turned William Sawalich around on the final lap while battling for the lead, he will be allowed to keep his victory in the 100-lap CARS Pro Late Model Tour feature but must forego his total race winnings of $4,000.

After carefully reviewing every single angle of the last-lap accident at Tri-County and seeking the opinions of other race directors from respected series, CARS Tour officials determined that Garcia was too aggressive in his attempt to overtake Sawalich. The excessive aggression caused Sawalich to lose control and impact the wall,

CARS Tour competition director Danny Willard gave Garcia the win after reviewing the available footage on Friday in the tower. Willard supported the series’ decision to take away Garcia’s winnings once he observed more replays with CARS Tour owner Jack McNelly and director of operations Keeley Dubensky.

“As a race director, it sucks sometimes trying to figure out what exactly happened,” Willard said. “You have to determine what is hard racing and what is not hard racing. What happened Friday night was a bad deal and I hate it for the Setzers. Both William Sawalich and Jake Garcia are very talented young men, but once we saw some better views, we all had a better idea of what happened, and penalties must be handed out accordingly.”

Willard hopes that the penalties assessed to Garcia and Kvapil deter similar actions in future CARS Tour events, adding that he plans to observe rough driving more carefully.

Garcia’s forfeited $4,000 have been reallocated to the year-end championship points fund for the PLM Tour. The current total now stands at $29,000.

Following a lengthy break, both divisions of the CARS Tour will return to action at Ace Speedway on Sept. 30.

-CARS Tour Press Release
-Photo credit: Will Bellamy/Racing America