JRM NASCAR Xfinity Series Team Preview: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Ron Lemasters

2 years ago

TRACK – Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
NXS RACE – The LiUNA! (200 laps / 300 miles)
TUNE IN –CW, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 4:30 p.m. (ET)

Carson Kvapil heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for his first start at “the Diamond in the Desert.”
On tracks 1-2 miles in length, Kvapil has seven starts with the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He has two top-five and two-top 10 finishes; his best of second came at Dover last spring.
Additionally, the 21-year-old Mooresville native has two starts on 1.5 mile tracks in the ARCA Menards Series where he finished in the runner-up position both times.
Accompanying Kvapil, crew chief Andrew Overstreet has made 14 NXS starts atop the box on tracks 1-2 miles in length. In those starts, Overstreet has amassed eight top-fives and eight top-10s.
Justin Allgaier heads to Las Vegas this weekend on a streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval dating back to the fall of 2021.
Overall, in 21 career NXS starts in “Sin City,” Allgaier has scored 11 top fives and 18 top 10s, with a best finish of second occurring on four separate occasions (Spring 2011, Fall 2018, Fall 2021 and Spring 2023).
On tracks between 1-2 miles in length in the NXS, Allgaier has amassed 13 wins, 83 top-fives and 155 top-10s in 247 starts.
This weekend marks the return of Jarrett onboard Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet for the first of four events in 2025.
Sammy Smith has competed in four events at Las Vegas with the NXS throughout his career, with a best finish of eighth coming in their race last season.
The 20-year-old Iowa native has had strong qualifying runs in Las Vegas as he started in the top-10 in three of his four previous starts at the desert track.
According to NASCAR’s Loop Detail Statistics, Smith is seventh in best average running position at the 1.5-mile oval at 11.88.
MC Carrier, a Las Vegas, Nev.-based trucking and freight company, will appear on the TV panel of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet this weekend.
Connor Zilisch will make his first NASCAR national series start at Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.
Zilisch is moving forward in the NXS driver points. Zilisch enters Las Vegas 14th in the standings, 54 points behind the leader. He has gained 17 positions in the driver standings in the past two races.
The driver of the WeatherTech Chevrolet led twice at Phoenix Raceway this past weekend on the way to scoring a 16th-place finish. Zilisch has led at least one lap in three of four NXS races this season.
In three career NXS starts on 1.5-mile tracks in the NXS, Zilisch has scored one top-five; a fourth-place finish last fall at Kansas Speedway.

Carson Kvapil: “Our results the past few weeks have not reflected the speed this team brings to the track, so I want to turn that around this weekend in Vegas. Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) and I have been working hard in the SIM to prepare and learn as much as we can so we can have this Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet at the front when it counts.”

Justin Allgaier: “We are for sure looking forward to seeing what we can do this weekend in Vegas. We have always had a strong car here and hopefully that will be the case on Saturday with our Jarrett Chevrolet. I know that Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this No. 7 team are ready to get after it. Hopefully it’ll be a strong day for us and we will be in contention for the win when it counts.”

Sammy Smith: “I’m excited to get to Las Vegas this weekend and continue the speed this No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet has shown. We’ve had strong qualifying runs here in the past and I know this JR Motorsports crew has been putting in the work to bring another fast car to the track and keep charging for that first win of the season. We’re so close, we’ve had the speed, and we’ve been up front contending so I know it will all come together soon.”

Connor Zilisch: “Las Vegas is a high-speed track, high banking, and high grip. It’s going to be cool to go there for the first time in a stock car. I grew up racing go-karts in Vegas quite a bit and enjoyed it a lot, so I’m excited to go back and run at the NASCAR track for the first time. It will be good to get into a rhythm these next few races and figure out what we need to be doing and how I like the car. We’re looking forward to getting going.”

JRM Team Updates

JR Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a combined 84 times in the NXS since 2006. In those starts at the 1.5-mile oval, the organization has recorded three wins, 24 top-fives and 55 top-10s. The average finish is 11.2.
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 15 from 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. PT.