TRACK – Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile oval)
NXS RACE – National Debt Relief 250 (250 laps / 131.5 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Sam Mayer: “The past few weeks have not worked out for us points-wise, but I know this No. 1 JR Motorsports team is ready for Martinsville and we are going to give it our all. We have put in the work all year long and this group deserves a chance at that championship. Martinsville has always been one of my favorite tracks and I have a lot of confidence here as we came up just one spot short in the spring. Mardy (Lindley, crew chief), myself and the guys are ready to take that top spot and head to Phoenix.”
Justin Allgaier: “We were in a similar position entering Martinsville last year and were fortunate enough to come away with the win and move on to the Championship 4. That just further gives me all the confidence in the world in Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and everyone on this Jarrett Chevrolet as we look ahead to this weekend. Martinsville has been a strong track for us and I know we will be just as solid once we hit the track for practice on Friday. We just need to be smart all day long and keep the fenders as clean as we can on our JR Motorsports Camaro. If we can do that, then I feel extremely confident that we will accomplish what we have set out to do and have ourselves in a great position come the end of the day.”
Sammy Smith: “The Round of 8 tracks have not been too kind to us these past couple weeks and it’s been tough on this whole No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet team. Everyone puts in the work needed to have a winning car, but we don’t have the results to show for it so we know that has to change heading into Martinsville. Growing up on short tracks, I feel really confident and I know the guys are just as hungry as I am to win our way into the Championship 4.”
Brandon Jones: “Martinsville is a track I always enjoy going to and we have had some great luck there in the past. We had the speed to win the pole back in the spring, so I know this Menards/Dawn team will make sure we unload another fast car on Saturday. Hopefully we can make all the right decisions and put ourselves in contention for the win at the end. These guys have worked so hard this season and it would be great to give them the finish they deserve.”
- Sam Mayer will make the short trip to Martinsville Speedway this weekend for the final race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 looking to race his way into the Championship 4.
- The young driver has six previous starts at the .526-mile short track where he has tallied three top-five and four top-10 finishes with a best of second coming this past spring.
- In 24 starts on tracks measuring one mile or less in length, Mayer has recorded one win (Iowa, 2024), nine top fives and 13 top 10s.
- With one race left to make it into the Championship 4, the 21-year-old currently sits seventh in the playoff standings, 47 points below the cutline.
- Justin Allgaier enters the third and final race in the Round of 8 at Martinsville as the points leader, 32 markers above the NXS Playoff cutline.
- Allgaier is the defending winner of this race, having gone to Victory Lane in dramatic fashion after taking the checkered flag in a photo finish to clinch his spot in the Championship 4.
- Overall, in eight career NXS starts at Martinsville, Allgaier has earned five top fives and seven top 10s to accompany last season’s win.
- In his NXS career on short tracks, Allgaier has amassed six wins, 28 top fives and 46 top 10s in 77 career starts.
- Sammy Smith has been highly competitive at Martinsville in the past with two top fives and three top 10’s in only four starts with the NXS, setting him fifth best in average running position according to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics.
- Smith led a race-high 147 laps in this event last season before taking the checkered flag in the third position.
- Smith has 10 career NXS starts on short tracks with three top fives, six top 10’s and an average finish of 10.0.
- The Iowa native currently sits below the playoff cutline heading into the final race of the Round of 8 looking to score a victory, to move on to the Championship 4.
- Pilot Flying J will share the TV panel this week with Tribe Transportation. Tribe is a Native American woman-owned business that is a high service national carrier specializing in temperature-controlled transportation based in the Georgia foothills.
- Brandon Jones will return to Martinsville this weekend after earning his first pole of the season at the .526-mile oval earlier this year.
- Of his eight previous starts at Martinsville, the 27-year-old Georgia native has recorded one win, three top-fives and five top-10s.
- Of all active tracks in the NXS, Jones has led a career best 142 laps at Martinsville.
- Dawn, your favorite grease-fighting partner, will adorn the hood of Jones’ Camaro this weekend for both the first time this season and the first time at Martinsville.
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Martinsville Speedway a combined 35 times in the NXS since its first trip there in 2006. In those starts at the .526-mile short track, the organization has recorded three wins, 18 top fives and 24 top 10s, with an average finish of 10.3.
- Souvenir Rig: JRM drivers Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / Legacy MC souvenir rig on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET.