JR Motorsports Cup Team Preview
TRACK – Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile superspeedway)
NCS RACE – Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 (163 laps / 251.02 miles)
TUNE IN – FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 2:30 p.m. (ET)
- Coming off a top-five finish in last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season opening event in Daytona, Carson Kvapil will make his Atlanta Motor Speedway debut on Saturday.
- Kvapil has made two starts at 1.5-mile tracks in the ARCA Menards series finishing in the runner-up position both times.
- Crew chief Andrew Overstreet sat atop the box for two races at intermediate tracks during the 2024 season with a best finish of fourth coming at Kansas.
- Allgaier kicks off his NXS title defense at “The World Center of Racing” with cornerstone partner BRANDT Professional Agriculture onboard his No. 7 Chevrolet.
- In 28 career NXS starts at Daytona, the reigning, defending, undisputed NXS Champion has scored one win, eight top-fives and 14 top-10s.
- Justin Allgaier has earned one win, three top-fives and nine top-10s in 18 career starts at Atlanta in the NXS.
- Allgaier’s lone victory came in this event in 2021 after starting sixth and leading 47 laps en route to the win.
- Since the shift of Atlanta to a more drafting-dominant track like Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway, Allgaier has scored a best finish of seventh, coming in the spring of 2022.
- This weekend, Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet will carry the marks of the Protect Your Melon campaign which works in conjunction with JR Motorsports teammate Ross Chastain and the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. Every year, millions of Americans are injured or killed in car crashes and the Protect Your Melon campaign helps serve as a simple reminder for people to buckle up when getting behind the wheel of a car.
- Sammy Smith has four NXS starts on the 1.54-mile Georgia track. He won the pole his first trip there in 2023 and followed it up with three top 10 finishes.
- On speedways 1-2 miles in length, Smith has 32 starts under his belt with one win, five top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.
- This weekend in Atlanta, Smith will debut the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet’s new branding and colorways.
- Connor Zilisch will compete at Atlanta for the first time in his NXS career in Saturday’s Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250, his sixth career start in the series.
- Atlanta is the only 1.5-mile drafting track on the NASCAR circuit. Zilisch ran solid last weekend at Daytona, bouncing back from an incident early at Daytona to lead the race and was running among the top five in the closing laps before an accident ended his day.
- Zilisch made two NXS starts on 1.5-mile tracks in 2024: Kansas Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. His best finish came at Kansas, where he scored a fourth-place finish.
Carson Kvapil: “This No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies team gave me a fast race car last week for Daytona and I hope we can continue that momentum into this weekend at Atlanta. Since this is a track I haven’t been to before, Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) and I have been working hard on our strategy to make sure I am fully prepared. I am looking forward to getting out there and putting everything we have worked on into motion. Ideally, we can be battling for the lead at the end to get another great finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies.”
Justin Allgaier: “Atlanta has certainly been very interesting for this No. 7 team since the track has gone to a more drafting-style of racing. It’s become a place where anything can, and usually does happen. Thankfully, JR Motorsports has always shown up to drafting tracks incredibly strong, and I know that we are going to have a fast Protect Your Melon Chevrolet when we hit the track on Friday. We’re ready to get out there and see what we can do.”
Sammy Smith: “My crew brought a fast Chevrolet to Daytona last weekend and as a whole we executed just as we should have but there are parts that we can’t control and that’s unfortunately what got us. We’re going to reset, attack the week and turn our focus towards Atlanta. I’ve had great runs there in my career and with the preparation this JR Motorsports team is doing, I expect that we’ll be in contention to bring this Pilot Chevrolet to Victory Lane where it deserves to be.”
Connor Zilisch: “I’ve never been to Atlanta before so it’s going to be a learning experience but I’ve watched races there in the past and have been preparing with Mardy (Lindley, crew chief). It looks like a fun racetrack and I’m excited to get there and really feel it out for the first time. I learned a lot at Daytona and I’m looking forward to this weekend. There’s no practice so I’m going straight into qualifying and straight into the race which is different from what I’m used to but I know this No. 88 WeatherTech team will bring a strong car to the track which will help me feel more comfortable.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Atlanta Motor Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Atlanta Motor Speedway a combined 71 times in the NXS. In those starts at the 1.54-mile quad-oval, the organization has recorded four wins, 18 top-fives and 41 top-10s. The average finish is 12.4.
- Souvenir Rig: JRM drivers Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / HMS-Byron/Bowman souvenir rig on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET.