TRACK – Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad-oval)
NXS RACE – BetMGM 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 4:30 p.m. (ET)
- After a two-week break, Carson Kvapil will return for his first race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
- On active 1.5-mile tracks in the NXS, Kvapil has four starts with a best finish of 10that Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier this season.
- The 21-year-old rookie and crew chief Andrew Overstreet have one start together at Charlotte in the ARCA Menards Series last season where he led 61 laps and finished in the runner up position.
- Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies will trade out their colors this weekend for a special patriotic scheme in honor of Memorial Day. This will be the first of two appearances for this scheme, the second being on the streets of Chicago for the Fourth of July.
- Justin Allgaier has previously gone to Victory Lane in the NXS at Charlotte, taking the checkered flag in this event in 2023 after starting from the pole and leading for a race-high 83 laps en route to the win.
- Overall, in 22 career NXS starts at Charlotte, Allgaier has earned six top fives and 12 top 10s to accompany the 2023 victory.
- Allgaier enters this weekend on the strength of two wins in the previous three 1.5-mile races in the NXS, scoring the victories in consecutive weeks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead in March.
- This Memorial Day weekend, Allgaier will be carrying the logos of the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) and the Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon on board his red, white and blue patriotic No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet.
- Sammy Smith has finished in the top-10 in both of his career starts at Charlotte with the NXS, with a best finish of third coming in this event last year.
- Smith has 39 starts on tracks measuring 1-2 miles in length throughout his NXS career. Of those, two are wins, with seven finishes inside the top five and 20 inside the top 10.
- Smith comes into this weekend at Charlotte on the strength of four top 10 finishes in the last six NXS events, including a win at Rockingham Speedway back in April.
- Crew chief Phillip Bell has a best finish of second at Charlotte, coming in 2024 when he was calling the shots for the No. 9 team.
- Connor Zilisch will be making his first Charlotte start in the NXS on Saturday afternoon. Earlier this season at Las Vegas, a track remarkably similar to Charlotte, Zilisch started third and led 28 laps on the way to a ninth-place finish.
- He has four starts on non-drafting tracks larger than one mile this season. The driver of the Jarrett Chevrolet has two top-10 finishes, highlighted by a sixth-place effort at Darlington Raceway. Zilisch has led 32 laps and has qualified fourth or better in three of those four events.
- Zilisch enters Charlotte with three pole positions, the most by any NXS driver.
- Despite sitting out the most recent NXS race at Texas Motor Speedway, Zilisch remains in the thick of the NXS points chase and the battle for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year. He is second in the fight for top rookie honors, trailing teammate and leader Carson Kvapil by 25 points (324-299). Zilisch is 12th in the NXS driver standings, just eight points outside the top-10 entering Saturday’s race at Charlotte.
Carson Kvapil: “I am looking forward to getting back in the car this weekend and running this awesome patriotic scheme. This No. 1 team worked hard over the break to make sure we unload a fast piece on Saturday. We’re going to go out and make sure we’re up front when it counts to get a solid finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies. It would be great to start this next stretch of races on a high note.”
Justin Allgaier: “Charlotte has been a really strong track for us these past few years and I feel extremely confident heading into this weekend with our Hellmann’s / DeCA Chevrolet. We’ve had a lot of speed all season long on these mile-and-a-half tracks and I know that we are going to unload that way again on Saturday. This weekend also carries extra meaning with it being Memorial Day weekend. It’s such a special weekend and I’m honored to have the red, white and blue colors on our car. Hopefully we can have a great day and be in the hunt for the win on Saturday.”
Sammy Smith: “I’m looking forward to getting back to the track this weekend with my No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet team. JRM has had strong cars at Charlotte in the past and with the last couple of weekends off, we’ve been working hard in the shop to bring home a win for Pilot when we get back to the track on Saturday.”
Connor Zilisch: “Charlotte is my first race in my hometown and a lot of my family will be there this weekend so that’s exciting for sure. It’s going to be special for me to go there and race for the first time in the Xfinity car and to also double-up and race the Cup car. I think the Xfinity race at Charlotte is going to be really good for us considering how well we’ve done on the intermediate track this year. We’ve just got to continue to build on what we’ve learned throughout the season and hopefully have a good run in the Jarrett Chevrolet at my home track.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Charlotte Motor Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway a combined 84 times in the NXS since 2006. In those starts at the 1.5-mile quad-oval, the organization has recorded two wins, 22 top-five and 41 top-10 finishes. The average finish is 13.7.
- Souvenir Rig: JRM drivers Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / HMS-Byron/Bowman souvenir rig on Saturday, May 24 at 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET