Carson Kvapil’s Victory Burnout at Indianapolis Prompts Apology from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Carson Kvapil secured his first career win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday, claiming victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his 64th start after five previous runner-up finishes.

The JR Motorsports driver celebrated emotionally, performing a burnout across the iconic Yard of Bricks start-finish line—a gesture discouraged by track guidelines. NASCAR radioed Kvapil during the cool-down lap as a reminder, though he later clarified he was disconnected and unaware of the message.

“I looked at that about 20 minutes after the race and I was like, uh, probably wasn’t good,” Kvapil admitted in the post-race press conference. “I was unplugged (from the radio), so I have no idea if they said anything or not. Yeah, I made a little bit of a mistake there, probably.”

Jr Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed the incident on social media, stating: “Our apologies. The driver was unplugged from his radio when NASCAR sent the reminder. Lots going on when that all went down. Certainly regret any inconvenience.”

Carson Kvapil, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Less than two hours later, Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff manually scrubbed the Yard of Bricks to remove the rubber residue from Kvapil’s celebration, as shown in footage captured by WISH-TV8’s Angela Moryan.

Kvapil joins a list of drivers who have defied the unwritten rule at IMS. In 2015, Kyle Busch sparked backlash by burning out across the bricks after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly race, though he avoided similar antics following his Sunday Brickyard 400 victory. Jimmie Johnson also celebrated on the bricks with a burnout in 2012 after his Brickyard 400 triumph.

Source link