TRACK – Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
NXS RACE – Focused Health 302 (201 laps / 301.5 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 7:30 p.m. (ET)
- Carson Kvapil enters the first race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs,11 points below the cutline.
- Kvapil will return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his second NXS start at the 1.5-mile track this Saturday.
- In his one previous start in “Sin City,” Kvapil qualified second and ran the majority of the race within the top-10 until an incident on pit road caused him to finish just outside the top-15.
- In 19 starts in the NXS on tracks 1-2 miles in length, the 22-year-old rookie has four top-fives and seven top-10s, with a best finish of second at Dover Motor Speedway last year and EchoPark Speedway earlier this season.
- Justin Allgaier heads into the opening race of the Round of 8 in the NXS Playoffs as the second seed, 24 points above the cutline with three races remaining in the round.
- Allgaier enters Las Vegas this weekend as the most-recent winner at the 1.5-mile oval, having scored the victory on the strength of leading a race-high 102 laps.
- Overall, in 22 career NXS starts in “Sin City,” Allgaier has earned 12 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes to accompany the victory earlier this year.
- Additionally, Allgaier’s average finish of 6.9 in Las Vegas ranks the fourth-best among all tracks that the Illinois native has competed on in the NXS, the third-best among active tracks (Portland 6.0, Sonoma 6.3), and the best among all ovals.
- Sammy Smith advanced to the Round of 8 in the NXS Playoffs in nail-biting fashion this past weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, and currently holds the sixth seed, seven points below the cutline.
- Smith heads to Las Vegas this Saturday for his sixth start on the 1.5-mile oval with the NXS since 2023.
- In five trips to Las Vegas, Smith has qualified in the top-10 four times, including taking the pole earlier this year.
- The No. 8 driver has 54 starts on tracks up to 1.5 miles in length with two wins, 12 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes.
- Connor Zilisch will begin the Round of 8 in the NXS Playoffs as the points leader in the driver standings, 33 points ahead of second-place Allgaier and 55 above the cutline. The No. 88 team leads the owner standings by 88 points entering Las Vegas.
- Zilisch will make his second NXS start at Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon. Zilisch scored a ninth-place finish in the 300-mile event back in March, one of 20 top-10 finishes he has racked up this season.
- Zilisch enters Las Vegas fresh off a dominating performance one week ago at the Roval. He won for the 10th time this season, leading 61 of 68 laps.
- The Mooresville, N.C., resident won his eighth pole position of the 2025 season at the Roval last weekend and the ninth of his career.
- The Roval was the sixth race this season Zilisch has won from the pole.
Carson Kvapil: “It feels great transferring into the Round of 8 but this No. 1 team still has a lot to do to keep us in contention. We ran well at Vegas in the spring, so I know we will unload another fast car this weekend. Hopefully we can stay out of the mess and rack up some points to make up some ground on the cutline. I am looking forward to running out the rest of the season with Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies on board and we’re going to keep working to get some great finishes for Johnny Morris and everyone else who has supported me this season.”
Justin Allgaier: “We’ve had this race circled since we left here in the spring. We all know how important it is to start this round off on a strong note and I can’t think of a better place than Las Vegas to get that done. We had an incredible car here in the spring and I know that Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture/Rev1 Energy Chevrolet will give me another great one again on Saturday. We know what we need to do and if we can just execute like we have been, we should be in a great position to fight for the win and advance into the Championship 4.”
Sammy Smith: “It was such a relief knowing that we advanced to the Round of 8 after the Roval. I felt like I could take a breath of fresh air. This No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet team is a championship-caliber team, we just need to keep putting together complete races like that. Our goal is to have strong races in Las Vegas and Talladega so that we aren’t depending on a good run at Martinsville to advance. This group is ready to go.”
Connor Zilisch: “Las Vegas is one of the more important races that we will have this season and it’s a really good track for me. I loved racing there earlier this year. I’m excited that we get to go back there and I have an opportunity for redemption. We ran well back in March, but I sped on pit road in the final stage, and we finished ninth. I know if we do our job this weekend, we’ll have a good shot to win the race. Winning there would be a big stress reliever because we would clinch a spot in the Championship 4.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a combined 88 times in the NXS since 2006. In those starts at the 1.5-mile oval, the organization has recorded four wins, 35 top-fives and 57 top-10s. The average finish is 11.1. JRM’s first win in the series came at LVMS on March 1, 2008 (Mark Martin).
- 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, Oct. 11 from 1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. PT.