TRACK – World Wide Technology Raceway (1.25-mile oval)
NXS RACE – Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog (160 laps / 200 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 7:30 p.m. (ET)
- Coming off a sixth-place finish at Portland International Raceway, Carson Kvapil will head to World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend for his first career start at the 1.25-mile oval as the NASCAR Xfinity Series makes their return for the first time since 2010.
- Of 17 career starts on tracks 1-2 miles in length, Kvapil has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes and has led 90 laps.
- With one race left in the regular season, the 22-year-old Mooresville native is currently ranked sixth in quality passes according to NASCAR Loop Data statistics.
- After earning 41 points at PIR last weekend, Kvapil has officially locked himself into the NXS playoffs going into the last race of the regular season.
- Justin Allgaier has made three previous NXS starts at the 1.25-mile oval, scoring one pole and earning a best finish of third in 2010.
- This weekend marks a homecoming for Allgaier, who hails from Riverton, IL, just 98 miles north of WWTR.
- Additionally, this weekend is also a homecoming for primary partner BRANDT Professional Agriculture. BRANDT is headquartered in Springfield, Ill., just 95 miles north on I-55.
- Allgaier heads into the regular-season finale as the second seed in the NXS Playoff Grid, just 20 points behind teammate Connor Zilisch.
- Along with a majority of the NXS drivers, Sammy Smith will make his first start at WWTR this Saturday evening.
- Smith has 44 career NXS starts on tracks measuring 1-2 miles in length. In those, he has tallied two wins, seven top-fives and 21 top-10s.
- After Portland, Smith jumped one spot in the regular-season points standings to eighth with 664 points.
- The Iowa native locked into the Playoffs with his win at Rockingham Speedway in April and is currently the seventh seed.
- Connor Zilisch will make his first NXS start at WWTR this Saturday.
- With his victory at Portland this past Saturday, Zilisch broke the record for wins by an Xfinity Series rookie. He won for the eighth time this season, eclipsing the previous mark held by Christopher Bell (seven victories in 2018).
- Zilisch has won six of the last seven NXS races dating back to his victory at Sonoma Raceway in July. With his victory at Portland, Zilisch also became the youngest winner in four races at the 1.97-mile road course.
- Zilisch returned to the lead in the NXS driver standings following his win at Portland. He leads teammate Justin Allgaier by 20 points in the chase for the regular-season title. The No. 88 team has a 69-point edge in the owner standings.
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: “Racing close to home is always special. To be able to have friends and family here means the world. But it’s not just home for me, this is also home for everyone at BRANDT Professional Agriculture. That brings an extra meaning to this weekend. Hopefully we can go out and have a great day, run up front and gain points on our teammate to get this regular-season championship. Either way, our goal remains the same, and that is to win the race.”
Sammy Smith: “I’m looking forward to racing at World Wide this weekend. The challenge and excitement a new track brings is good for the competition and puts a lot of us on a level playing field at first. Since Portland didn’t go as planned, we’re looking for a redemption race to get our Pilot Chevrolet in Victory Lane and build on our playoff points as we finish up the regular season.”
Connor Zilisch: “I’m looking forward to going to World Wide for the first time this weekend. Since our win at Portland, that left World Wide as the only track on the current schedule that JRM has not won at so I’m hoping we can keep the momentum going and cross that off too. It’s been fun to win a lot of races lately, but we still have to go out and execute and do our job every week. I have no doubt that our No. 88 WeatherTech team will do that this weekend at World Wide. It’s been cool to go to a bunch of new tracks for the first time this season. This track looks similar to Phoenix since it’s flat and tight but I’m looking forward to figuring it out with my team and hopefully we can have a good, clean race.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at World Wide Technology Raceway: JR Motorsports has competed at World Wide Technology Raceway a combined 10 times in the NXS since 2006. In those starts at the 1.25-mile oval, the organization has recorded one top-five and five top-10s. The average finish is 14.7.
- Record-Tying Season for JRM: With the win last weekend at Portland International Raceway, JR Motorsports has now matched its single-season record for wins at 15, which was set by the organization during the 2022 season.
- 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, Sept. 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.