Post Race Hickory

For the third straight race, there was a different winner in the ASA Southern Super Series, and for the second time this season, there was a first-time winner: Caden Kvapil scored the win at Hickory in the combination race with the ASA STARS National Tour. Kvapil joins Colby Howard as a first-time series winner at Hickory, and he also joins Carson Brown as the second first-time winner this year.  

With his top 10 finish at Hickory, Tristan McKee unofficially becomes the ASA Southern Super Series points leader.  McKee has had strong runs in all three events and will be the points leader when the series heads back to Five Flags Speedway for the doubleheader in June. 

On the heels of a third-place finish at Montgomery, Matt Craig came to the hometown track and mixed it up in the top 10 all night.   While a ninth-place finish is nothing special in the eyes of Craig, it’s a foundation to build on as the points quest heats up in the next few months.  

A year ago, Cole Butcher led 958 laps on the season on the ASA STARS National Tour and averaged leading 87 laps per event.  After three races in 2026, Carson Brown has led 527 laps with an average of 175 per event.  He is nearly double on pace to break the Butcher record. 

Caden Kvapil came from 22nd to win the race; he wasn’t the only driver who made a big move during the race.  Derek Thorn charged from 19th to fifth to post his first top 10 of the season. 

Spencer Davis had a strong showing and stalked race leader Carson Brown for several laps in the first 200 laps of the event.  In the final segment, Davis rebounded from a pit stop to post an eighth-place finish.  This will help him in the points as we shift back to Five Flags. 

Chase Pinsonneault is quickly backing up his 2025 season with his first top five of the season at Hickory and his second top 10 of 2026.  In 2025, he logged only three top 10 finishes, and he’s well above that now.  

The race finished with 17 cars on the lead lap, which is an all-time record for the venue in the series. Hickory has produced double-digit cars on the lead lap in every ASA race that has been run at the track. 

Kudos to Track Enterprises and  the ASA STARS National Tour staff for getting the Tar Heel 250 in weather-wise.  After the first 10 laps were run green-yellow to heat the track, the race went off without another weather delay.  Earlier in the day, a total of four rain showers slowed the day, but all events took place before the 10pm hour. 

It will be a few weeks before the ASA Southern Super Series gets back on the track at Five Flags Speedway in June.  The doubleheader with the track’s Deep South Crane Blizzard Series will take place on June 12th and 13th.  On Friday, it will be the Tibbetts Lumber 100.  On Saturday, they will buckle up to race the Cook Out 100. Both nights will feature support division racing.