Allgaier Leads The Way Again for JRM in Wild Martinsville Event

March 31, 2025

Race 7 of 33: U.S. Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway
Track Specs: .526-mile oval / 250 laps
Race Winner: Austin Hill
Allgaier’s finish: 3rd
Smith’s finish: 10th
Kvapil’s finish: 20th
Zilisch’s finish: 28th

Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, overcame a wild late-race restart in Saturday evening’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Martinsville Speedway to earn a hard-fought third-place finish. Lining up third for the final restart of the night, Allgaier raced wheel-to-wheel in the middle of a three-wide battle for the race lead before taking the checkered flag in third. With tonight’s result, Allgaier has now recorded three consecutive top-three finishes and has qualified for the next Dash 4 Cash event at Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks. Additionally, the JR Motorsports driver maintained his lead in the championship standings, as the Illinois native remains 29 points ahead of the field.

“We had a shot at it there at the end with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and everyone on this JR Motorsports team gave me a great car and we were in the right position there at the end. I wish we could have come away with the win, but we will take a top-three tonight and be ready to go next week in Darlington.”

Sammy Smith

Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet, came home with a top-10 finish on Saturday evening in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Martinsville Speedway. The JR Motorsports driver raced inside the top 10 for the majority of the 250-lap event, earning valuable stage points prior to finding himself in contention for the win in the closing laps. However, Smith’s quest for victory was cut short after a multi-car incident broke out as the field exited Turn 4. Despite being involved in the incident, Smith was able to cross the finish line on the final lap in 10th.

The Iowa native started the event 10th and worked his way to eighth in Stage One as he battled a loose-handling Pilot Chevrolet. Crew chief Phillip Bell brought him down pit road after the stage for a fresh set of tires and an adjustment. Smith lined up on the bottom to start Stage Two and worked his way into the top five before a caution flag waved on lap 95. While under caution, Bell made the call to bring Smith back to pit road for adjustments. Lining up in the back of the pack, Smith charged forward to a 12th-place finish to close out the second stage.

Heading into the final 130 laps, Smith started fourth in what would be a caution-filled run to the checkered flag. He worked his way into second and then saw six restarts from the runner-up position over the final 60 laps. Smith took the lead on the restart with three laps to go and the final caution waved just before he was to take the white flag. Smith restarted from the pole on the overtime restart and was ultimately shuffled to 10th thanks to a final-lap incident. Smith earned an additional point as he ran the fastest lap of the event (20.487 seconds).

“Our Pilot Chevrolet was really solid today. I can’t thank all these guys enough. I know the end result wasn’t what we were hoping for, but it feels good to be in contention when it counts at the end. Hopefully, we will be right there again next weekend in Darlington. We’re ready to go.”

Carson Kvapil

Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet, had a strong start to the weekend for his return to Martinsville Speedway, qualifying in the second position for the 250-lap NASCAR Xfinity Series feature. The 21-year-old Mooresville, N.C. native battled throughout the first two stages to maintain his spot in the top two, earning valuable stage points in the process. After start the third and final stage just outside the top 15, Kvapil charged through the field until he was collected in an on-track incident. Fortunately, after coming down pit road for repairs, Kvapil was able to rejoin the tail of the field. Throughout the remaining laps, Kvapil avoided several more incidents and after NASCAR’s version of overtime, took the checkered flag in 20th position.

“This No. 1 team gave me a really strong Roto-Rooter Chevrolet and I hate that our finish didn’t reflect that. We fought hard all day, but ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. We plan on using this as a learning experience for when we come back in the fall and will turn our focus to Darlington next week.”

Connor Zilisch

Connor Zilisch won the pole and dominated the first two stages of Saturday night’s U.S. Marine Corps 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Martinsville Speedway. The driver of the Carolina Carports Chevrolet won both stage and led 93 of the first 120 laps. The complexion of his race, however, changed just past the halfway mark. Zilisch made a scheduled stop for four tires on lap 127 following Stage Two, but a mix of different pit strategies shuffled him back to 14th when the race went green on lap 132. Moments later, Zilisch received damage when cars running ahead of him abruptly stopped. From there the team scrambled to salvage the best finish possible, but those hopes were dashed thanks to a late-race incident, leaving Zilisch with a 28th-place finish.

“We got some valuable points there early in the race. It stinks to finish outside the top 20 with the fastest car, but that’s Martinsville. We know we have really fast cars at JR Motorsports so there’s nothing to worry about there. We just have to keep plugging away and I know the results will come. I thought we were going to have a chance to win when we drove away in Stage Two. Unfortunately, everybody checked up right after that on a restart and it really damaged our car. We couldn’t overcome that. Thanks to Mardy (Lindley, crew chief) and everyone at JR Motorsports for bringing such a great Carolina Carports Chevrolet this weekend.”