Is there anyway to stop automatic CMake execution in Qt Creator 4.0?

Yes, you can. It is called Autorun CMake.

In QtCreator just open Options -> Build & Run and go to tab CMake. Click one of the configured entries. The setting is on the bottom.

I verified this with version 4.1 on Linux.

In version 4.8.1, it looks like this configuration has moved into Options->Kits then go to tab CMake and (on my machine) under Auto-Detected->System CMake the option appears on the bottom.

(This is under Ubuntu 18.04)