TRACK – Talladega Superspeedway (2.66-mile superspeedway)
NXS RACE – United Rentals 250 (94 laps / 250.04 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 4:00 p.m. (ET)
- With two races remaining in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, Carson Kvapil sits in seventh, 22 points below the cutline.
- The 22-year-old rookie will be making his third NXS start at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
- After making eight starts on speedways greater than two miles in length, Kvapil has one top-five and four top-10 finishes with a best of fourth in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway this year.
- With 30 races completed, Kvapil ranks fifth in quality passes according to NASCAR Loop Data Statistics.
- Justin Allgaier enters the second race in the Round of 8 as the second seed in the NXS Playoff Grid, 44 points above the cutline.
- Last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw Allgaier become the first driver in NXS history to record 300 top-10 finishes, and just the fourth driver in series history to lead more than 7,000 laps.
- In 19 career NXS starts at Talladega, Allgaier has scored five top-fives and eight top-10s, including a best finish of second coming in the spring of 2016.
- Allgaier is a previous winner on the superspeedways, having taken the checkered flag in the summer of 2023 at Daytona.
- Sammy Smith will head to Talladega on Saturday for the second race of the Round of 8 as the defending winner of this event.
- Smith took the checkered flag in thrilling fashion after charging into the lead on the final lap to secure the win and advance to the Round of 8 in 2024.
- Smith has 21 starts at tracks 2 miles or greater on his NXS resume with one win, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
- Pilot will share the TV panel this weekend with Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). DTS is a Greenville, SC-based company which specializes in developing solutions for transportation companies to maximize their assets in the most cost-effective manner.
- Connor Zilisch enters the second race in the Round of 8 in the NXS Playoffs as the points leader in the driver standings and 82 above the cutline.
- Zilisch will make his second NXS start at Talladega on Saturday afternoon. Zilisch led nine laps in the 300-mile event this spring and was out front on the final lap when an accident ended his day and chances for a victory.
- In five starts on drafting tracks (Daytona-Atlanta-Talladega) this season, Zilisch has shown steady improvement. He teamed with Parker Kligerman to win at Daytona in August and scored a fourth-place finish in July at Atlanta, where he led 32 laps.
- Zilisch extended his historic streak of top-five finishes at Las Vegas this past weekend by claiming his 18th consecutive top-five, the most by a driver in series history. The streak began in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway and includes nine victories with an average finish of 2.05 during that stretch.
- First Bank of Alabama is on board the No. 88 for this weekend and has been operating in Talladega, AL and the surroundings areas for over 170 years and has remained dedicated to the principles the company was founded on in 1848.
Carson Kvapil: “We didn’t have the result we hoped for last weekend, so we have some work to do these next couple weeks to keep this No. 1 team in the fight. Talladega can be an unpredictable place, so we are going to do our best to stay out of the mess and be up front when it counts. I know this team will keep bringing fast race cars to the track and we plan to finish out the season strong. We have two more chances to get into the Championship 4 for Johnny Morris and everyone else at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies.”
Justin Allgaier: “Talladega is such a unique race. Anything can happen there and you have to be on your toes from start to finish. JRM has always been extremely strong on these superspeedways and I know we are going to have a great BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet once again on Saturday. We just need to go out and be smart, work well with our teammates and be there at the end. If we can do that I know we will be in a great position to race for the win and make our way into the Championship 4.”
Sammy Smith: “Talladega is already a wild card and having it in the Playoffs adds another level of unknown with eight of us trying to make the most of this race to advance. This No. 8 team won there last year so I have all the confidence that we can do it again, we just have to be smart and strategic with our moves on the track and pit road. It’s a full JRM effort at these superspeedways so we’ll lean on our teammates and try to keep our nose clean to be in contention at the end.
Connor Zilisch: “I’m thankful that we are 82 points above the cutline, giving us a bit of a cushion heading into Talladega. We all know there are times on superspeedways when a situation is out of your control no matter how good a spot you think you’re in at the time so our position in the standings helps. This No. 88 team is looking for redemption from our race here in the spring and it would be great to get to Victory Lane with our hometown partner, First Bank of Alabama.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Talladega Superspeedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Talladega Superspeedway a combined 78 times in the NXS since 2006. In those starts at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, the organization has recorded four wins, 20 top-fives and 34 top-10s. The average finish is 16.6.
- 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. 18 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CT.