JRM NASCAR Xfinity Series Team Preview: Phoenix Raceway

Ron Lemasters

1 year ago

TRACK – Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
NXS RACE – GOVX 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 5:00 p.m. (ET)

Carson Kvapil will head to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for his first time racing in “The Valley of the Sun.”
Kvapil has made six previous NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on tracks between 1 and 2 miles in length, scoring a best finish of second at Dover Motor Speedway last season.
Crew chief Andrew Overstreet will return to Phoenix after leading his team to a top-five finish last fall.
Justin Allgaier is a two-time winner at Phoenix having gone to Victory Lane in this event in 2017 and in the fall of 2019.
Allgaier’s most recent start at Phoenix saw the veteran driver earn a runner-up result that secured the first NXS championship for the Illinois native.
Overall, in 29 starts at the 1-mile oval in the NXS, Allgaier has earned 11 top-fives and 19 top-10s to accompany his two victories. Allgaier’s 19 top-10 finishes rank as the most at any track that he has competed on in the NXS.
According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Allgaier ranks first among all drivers in quality passes (726), green-flag passes (1,024), laps led (600), laps run inside the top 15 (5,319), fastest laps run (429) and speed on restarts.
Sammy Smith earned his first NXS career win at Phoenix in the spring of 2023.
In five starts at the 1-mile Arizona track, Smith has one win, one top-five and four top-10s with an average finish of 8.8.
On tracks measuring 1-2 miles in length, Smith has 33 starts, one win, six top-fives, and 18 top-10s.
Redbone Trucking, a transportation company will ride on the TV panel of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet this weekend. Redbone Trucking was started in 2005 by a then-25-year-old Al Jones in North Salt Lake, UT with one truck. Twenty years later the company has grown to more than 100 trucks and 200 employees.
Connor Zilisch will make his second NXS start Saturday afternoon at Phoenix. Zilisch scored a solid fourth-place finish at the 1-mile desert oval last November.
Zilisch enters Phoenix after scoring his second NXS win last week at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The driver of the WeatherTech Chevrolet turned in an impressive performance at the 2.4-mile road course, winning the pole and leading the most laps (26 of 65) on the way to scoring the victory.
Zilisch is now the second-youngest multi-time winner in NXS history, just behind former JRM driver Chase Elliott (Elliott 18 years, 4 months, 14 days; Zilisch 18 years, 7 months, 7 days).
Zilisch jumped 16 positions in the series championship standings, moving up to 16th, 61 points behind the leader.

Carson Kvapil: “Phoenix is not like any other track we race on, so I am looking forward to getting out there and getting a feel for it. This No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies team has given me a really fast car every weekend, so I know we will unload another one on Saturday. Hopefully we can learn a lot and get another solid finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies.”

Justin Allgaier: “It’s definitely going to be special going back to Phoenix this weekend after how last year ended there. Phoenix has always been a very strong track for us and I feel extremely confident that we will be just as strong again on Saturday with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this JR Motorsports team have worked really hard getting this car prepared and I can’t wait to get out there and see what we can do.”

Sammy Smith: “This No. 8 JR Motorsports team has brought strong competitive cars to the track all season so far, so that coupled with how we’ve been at Phoenix, I know we’ll bring a fast Chevrolet to the track. I couldn’t do this without Pilot, TMC and Allstate Peterbilt and I am itching to get them a well-deserved first win of the season.”

Connor Zilisch: “Last fall was my first time racing at Phoenix where we were able to finish fourth. I’m excited to go back there this weekend and build on the strong finish and apply what I’ve learned thus far. With how wide the track is, there is a lot you can do on restarts, so I’ve been watching races and looking over my notes to see what works best in different scenarios. It’s great to have Roto-Rooter join the No. 88 this weekend and hope to see them in Victory Lane when it’s all said and done.”

JRM Team Updates

JR Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway: JR Motorsports has competed at Phoenix Raceway a combined 109 times in the NXS since 2006. In those starts at the 1-mile oval, the organization has recorded four wins, 28 top-fives and 57 top-10s. The average finish is 13.1.
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, March 8 from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. MT.