JRM’s Kvapil, Smith Have Plans to Advance in NXS Playoffs

October 3, 2025

Tomorrow’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway is pivotal for JR Motorsports’ hopes to put all four of its Chevrolets into the Round of 8 in the NXS Playoffs.

And, it’s a chance for the team to sweep all seven road-course races on the 2025 schedule.

Connor Zilisch has won four of those races (COTA, Sonoma, Watkins Glen and Portland), while Shane van Gisbergen (Chicago Street Course) and Daniel Suarez (Mexico City) took the others.

Add to that the fact that JRM enters this year’s Roval run having won the past two races on the 2.28-mile layout, both by former driver Sam Mayer. Zilisch drives the No. 88 this year with the same team that steered Mayer to the win in the past two Roval rounds thanks to Mardy Lindley and his crew.

For the No. 88 team and the No. 7 team of crew chief Jim Pohlman and driver Justin Allgaier, the pressure to advance is already over: both are already in the Round of 8.

For the No. 1 team of crew chief Andrew Overstreet and driver Carson Kvapil, it’s a bit more urgent to have a solid performance. Kvapil is nine points to the good heading to the Roval but sits in seventh position in the standings with a narrow margin to navigate over 67 laps on a tight circuit.

“We’re going to have to go for all the points we can get and hope that we don’t get spun or have something crazy happen,” Overstreet said heading into the hometown event at CMS. “We showed at COTA earlier this year that even when that happens, we can find a way to be there at the end. We aren’t panicking, because so many things can happen, people can wreck each other or you can make a mistake. We just have to execute.”

With the margin at nine points, Overstreet says that Kvapil has options on Saturday.

“I need to let him know what the big picture is,” he said. “It’s easy to say ‘just fill the bucket with points,’ but at the same time, you can bury yourself, so be smart and don’t push the issue. We learned last year that you can change your strategy and make up ground at the Roval.”

The key, Overstreet said, is to be on offense rather than defense.

“There’re a lot of ways to play this race, and you want to find a way to cycle to the front, be on offense,” he said. “Carson is better on offense than defense, and we have to have that mindset all day. Go get your points and don’t beat yourself.”

For crew chief Phillip Bell and driver Sammy Smith, sitting 12th in the points and 14 markers out of a transfer spot, the path to the next round is simple, yet complicated.

“The plan is to take it one stage at a time,” Bell said of Saturday’s segment-ending event on the Roval. “I still think it is not a must-win situation right now. We’re ready for it if it comes down to that, but we still control our own destiny. What we end up having to do will open up at the end of Stage Two. It’s our plan to be aggressive, go out and maximize our points in the first two stages and see where we sit then.”

Racing on The Roval can be wild, and the layout has a reputation for chaos. Bell said he, Smith and his team are ready for whatever happens.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We have a couple of different options if it does turn into a must-win situation. I am happy with our speed on road courses this year and in our execution.”