TRACK – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (2.42-mile road course)
NXS RACE – The Chilango 150 (65 laps / 157.3 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 4:30 p.m. (ET))
- Coming off his fifth top-10 finish of the season at Nashville Superspeedway, Carson Kvapil will make his first start at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico on Saturday.
- Kvapil currently has one start on a road course in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. That came earlier this year at Circuit of The Americas where he qualified fifth and led seven laps in the final stage.
- Following his ninth-place finish in Nashville, the 22-year-old rookie moved up one position in the point standings where he now sits in seventh, one point out of sixth.
- Justin Allgaier heads south of the border for the first time in his NXS career this weekend in Mexico.
- Allgaier enters this weekend as the most recent winner in the NXS, having taken the checkered flag two weeks ago at Nashville after sweeping both stages and leading for a race-high 101 laps.
- Overall, in his career on road courses in the NXS, Allgaier has scored three victories, including one outside of the United States in 2012 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
- Allgaier’s additional two victories on road courses came behind the wheel of a JRM Chevrolet in 2018 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and at Road America.
- Sammy Smith heads to Mexico City to compete for the first time on the 2.42-mile road course in his racing career.
- Smith has 15 starts on road courses with the NXS. In those he has tallied three top-five and five top-10 finishes.
- Smith’s best finish on a road course is third place, coming in 2022 at Watkins Glen International and 2024 at Portland International Raceway.
- Smith finished 11th in the first road course event of the season earlier this year at COTA.
- Daniel Suarez makes his JR Motorsports debut this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 9 Quaker State Chevrolet.
- The Monterrey, Mexico native is a three-time winner at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the NASCAR Mexico Series, including in his most-recent start at the Mexico City road course in 2014.
- The 2016 NXS Champion’s last start in the series came last year at the Chicago Street Course.
- In 88 career starts in the NXS, Suarez has earned a combined total of three wins, 33 top-five and 56 top-10 finishes.
- Connor Zilisch will make his first Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez start in the NXS Saturday afternoon in Mexico City. Zilisch claimed a second-place finish at Nashville in the most recent race, his third top-five and fifth top-10 finish of the season. He led the Nashville event once for 18 laps and has led a lap in nine races this season (189 laps total).
- The driver of the WeatherTech Chevrolet gained one position in the NXS driver standings at Nashville. He enters Mexico fifth in the standings,14 points ahead of sixth-place Sheldon Creed.
- Mexico will be Zilisch’s third NXS start on a road course. He enters the event with wins in both previous road races at Watkins Glen in 2024 and earlier this year at COTA. His stat line after those two races is impressive: two wins, two poles, and most laps led in each race. Zilisch led 71 of 155 laps in those races (45.80 percent) with an average running position of 5.65.
- Zilisch enters Mexico with three pole positions this season, the most by any NXS driver. He leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 16 points over Carson Kvapil (394-378).
Carson Kvapil: ““I am looking forward to going down to Mexico City with this No. 1 team to see what our Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet can do. It is always interesting to go to a track we haven’t raced at in a long time because I feel like it levels the playing field a little bit. Knowing the conditions will be different than we are used to we have been putting in extra work to make sure we are prepared. I am hoping we can have a solid points day and be there at the end when it counts.”.”
Justin Allgaier: “This weekend is going to be a unique challenge for sure with it being a new track for virtually everyone. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture team have gone to work through this past off-weekend and I know that we are going to hit the track on Friday for practice with a lot of speed. We’ve always had a strong road-course program and I know that that is going to be the case again come Saturday.”
Sammy Smith: “I’m looking forward to running in Mexico City this weekend. It’s a new track for me as a driver and this No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet team and we’re ready for the challenge. Having (Daniel) Suarez as a teammate to lean on will be really helpful since he’s had so much success at this track. My team and I have been doing a lot of prep work so I know we’ll have a strong Pilot Chevrolet to unload.”
Daniel Suarez: “I’ve been very impressed with how fast JR Motorsports has been this season, and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the Quaker State Chevrolet. I appreciate everyone at Quaker State and JR Motorsports for coming on board to make this a reality. I think it’s going to be a good weekend.”
Connor Zilisch: “It’s so cool to be racing outside the USA and getting in front of a different fan base. Really looking forward to going to Mexico City and learning that racetrack. It’s going to be a really big event for NASCAR and a really good opportunity for me and my WeatherTech team. We just need a good, clean day. Altitude is another big factor. We’re at over 7,000 feet so that could change things. I’m doing all I can to prepare myself in the simulator and with my training work. Hopefully we can have a good weekend.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez: JR Motorsports has made four previous starts at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico in the NXS, with a best finish of eighth coming in 2008.
- JR Motorsports on Road Courses: JR Motorsports has tallied 11 victories on road courses in the NXS, with the most recent coming earlier this year with Connor Zilisch and the No. 88 Chevrolet at Circuit of the Americas in March.