TRACK – Portland International Raceway (1.967-mile road course)
NXS RACE – Pacific Office Automation 147 (75 laps / 147.75 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 7:30 p.m. (ET)
- Making his fifth road-course start of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, Carson Kvapil will head to Portland International Raceway for the first time this weekend.
- Of his four previous road-course starts, Kvapil has earned one top-five and two top-10s, with a best finish of fifth at Watkins Glen International earlier this month.
- Coming off his 11th top-10 of the season, after Daytona International Speedway, the 22-year-old rookie ranks fifth in fastest drivers late in the run according to NASCAR Loop Data statistics.
- With two races remaining in the regular season, Kvapil currently ranks 120 points above the cutline.
- Justin Allgaier heads to the Pacific Northwest for the fourth time in his NXS career this weekend.
- In three previous starts at Portland, Allgaier has scored three top fives and a best finish of second in each of the previous two events at the 1.967-mile road course.
- Allgaier has twice gone to Victory Lane for JR Motorsports on a road course in the NXS, with both victories coming during the 2018 season at Mid-Ohio Sports-Car Course and Road America.
- With two races remaining in the NXS regular season, Allgaier currently holds a three-point lead in the championship standings.
- Sammy Smith will make his third NXS start at Portland this Saturday.
- Smith’s best finish of third at the Oregon road course came in 2024 with JRM after qualifying ninth.
- The Iowa-native driver will make his 100th career NXS start this Saturday afternoon. After 99 starts, he has tallied three wins, 19 top-five and 47 top-10 finishes.
- Of 18 road-course starts with the NXS, Smith has four top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
- Connor Zilisch will make his first NXS start at Portland this weekend. His record in six-career road course starts has been impressive with four wins, four poles and six top-five finishes. His average career road-course finish entering Saturday’s race at Portland is a sizzling 1.83.
- Zilisch and the No. 88 WeatherTech team enter Portland fresh off a victory last week at Daytona. Zilisch, with relief help from Parker Kligerman, won for the seventh time in 2025, tying the mark for most rookie wins. Zilisch started the race and ran to the first caution before Kligerman climbed behind the wheel and led 12 laps to then survive the NASCAR overtime finish to win the race.
- Zilisch is second in the NXS driver standings, three points behind teammate Allgaier with two races remaining in the regular season. The No. 88 team has a 46-point edge in the owner standings.
- Daytona was the 12th consecutive top-five by Zilisch, an impressive streak that began in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His average finish in those races is 2.08, which includes six victories (Pocono, Sonoma, Dover, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, and Daytona).
Carson Kvapil: “This No. 1 team has brought fast cars to the road courses so far this season and we have had a lot of success. I am looking forward to checking another new track off the list and while I haven’t run there before I feel like we have been able to adapt fairly well to the new tracks this season. We have been putting in work on the SIM to hone in on our strategy, so hopefully we can have our Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet out front to get a solid finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies.”
Justin Allgaier: “Portland has been a strong track for us each time we have come here with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet. We came really close to getting the win here each of the last two years, and I know that Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and everyone on this No. 7 team will give me another great car that will have another chance to get that one spot better on Saturday. JRM has been outstanding on road courses all season long and hopefully we can keep that going and come away with the win when it’s all said and done.”
Sammy Smith: “This No. 8 Chevrolet has had strong showings on road courses this year. We’ve had better and better finishes each time so I’m looking forward to heading to Portland and finishing a couple spots better than we did at Watkins Glen to get this Pilot Chevrolet into Victory Lane. We had a solid run at Daytona last weekend so that helps the team’s confidence to keep pushing and get ourselves into a good spot before the playoffs start.”
Connor Zilisch: “Last week at Daytona was really cool with Parker Kligerman relieving me after a few laps and taking the WeatherTech Chevrolet to Victory Lane. It was great to watch Parker keep up the momentum this No. 88 team has built over the last few months and also get his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win. I’ve never raced at Portland so I’m looking forward to the challenge of learning a new road course this weekend.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Portland International Raceway: JR Motorsports has competed at Portland International Raceway a combined 12 times in the NXS since 2022. In those starts at the 1.967-mile road course, the organization has recorded seven top-fives and eight top-10s. The average finish is 12.3.
- NXS Autograph Session: JRM drivers Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch will be signing autographs in the Fan Zone tent on Saturday, Aug. 30 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. PT.