TRACK – Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
NOAPS RACE – The LiUNA! (200 laps / 300 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 5:30 p.m. (ET)
- Connor Zilisch will make his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start of the 2026 season Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- Zilisch will be making his third NOAPS start the 1.5-mile Nevada speedway. He has top-10 finishes in two previous starts at Las Vegas and has led a total of 62 laps. His best finish was a second-place effort last October.
- Zilisch’s average running position at the October race at Las Vegas was an impressive 2.62, and he was the only driver to run all 201 laps in the top-15.
- Zilisch made his first start of the season with the No. 1 JR Motorsports team on Feb. 28 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. He won the pole position at the 2.4-mile road course, his 10th in 37 NOAPS races – all with JRM. The pole was the second for Zilisch in two races at COTA. He led twice for 13 laps before a late-race incident dropped him back to a 21st-place finish.
- Justin Allgaier heads to Las Vegas as the most recent winner in the NOAPS after going to Victory Lane last weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
- Allgaier is also the defending race winner of this event in “Sin City,” scoring the win in dominating fashion last March after leading 102 of 200 laps.
- Overall, in 23 career starts in the NOAPS at Las Vegas, Allgaier has earned 13 top-fives and 20 top-10s to accompany his victory there last season.
- Sammy Smith heads to Las Vegas to compete on the 1.5-mile oval for the seventh time in his NOAPS career.
- In 50 starts on tracks between 1-2 miles in length in the NOAPS, the 21-year-old driver has earned a total of two wins, eight top-fives and 24 top-10s.
- According to NASCAR loop detail statistics, Smith is ranked second for most laps run in the top-15 this season, at 87.8 percent.
- Pilot will share the TV panel with MC Carrier, LLC. It is a reliable trucking and freight company established in 2012 with only two trucks. MC Carrier has since grown to more than 230 trucks and was declared as the top workplace in Las Vegas in 2022.
- Carson Kvapil makes his third NOAPS start at LVMS this weekend.
- Kvapil qualified in the second position for this race last year and earned a best finish of 15th this past fall at the 1.5-mile speedway.
- Accompanying Kvapil, crew chief Phillip Bell has made 31 NOAPS starts atop the box on tracks 1-2 miles in length. In those starts, Bell has amassed one win, four top-fives and 11 top-10s.
- Kvapil jumped up to fourth in the points standings after a solid weekend in Phoenix.
- This weekend will mark WILDE’s first primary sponsorship with Kvapil and JR Motorsports for the 2026 NOAPS season.
- Kyle Larson returns to JRM competition this weekend at Las Vegas behind the wheel of the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet.
- Larson holds an undefeated record when driving for JRM, having twice gone to Victory Lane in two previous NASCAR O’Reilly Series starts for the organization.
- The two-time and defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion most recently visited Victory Lane with JRM in 2025, where he filled in for Connor Zilisch at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson’s previous victory for JRM came in 2022 at Watkins Glen International.
Connor Zilisch: “Las Vegas has been a very good track for me and I really enjoyed racing there last year. We had a chance to win the spring race last year, but I got hit with a speeding penalty late in the race. We bounced back last fall and ran up front all day and finished second. I’m excited to see what our Carolina Carports team can do this weekend. JR Motorsports has had a great start to the season and I hope we can keep that up on Saturday in Las Vegas.”
Justin Allgaier: “I’ve always enjoyed racing in Las Vegas. It’s a track that has really suited my driving style and is somewhere that I know we will have a great chance to battle for the win at each time we come here. Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) has given me great cars all year long and I know that will be the case again this weekend with our Jarrett Chevrolet. If we can just go out and execute the way we are capable of, I see no reason why we can’t replicate what happened last week in Phoenix. This group is ready to go.”
Sammy Smith: “We had a good points run last week in Phoenix with winning the first stage and staying up front the whole time, which gained us a position in the standings. We’re looking to start up front in Vegas so we can do the same and be in the top spot at the end. This No. 8 Pilot group is ready to go and see what we can do on Saturday.”
Carson Kvapil: “I’m looking forward to getting to Las Vegas this weekend. We’ve had strong cars all season and hopefully that will be the case on Saturday with our WILDE Chevrolet. We’re so close, we’ve had the speed, and have been up front contending for wins. I know it will all come together soon.”
Kyle Larson: “Las Vegas is a fun track because it has a lot of character with the bumps and the multiple grooves you can run. I’m excited to get back in a JR Motorsports car and work with everyone on the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Winning with this group last year when I filled in at Texas was a really cool experience, and hopefully we can unload fast and put ourselves in position to contend again this weekend.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a combined 92 times in the NOAPS. In those starts at the 1.5-mile oval, the organization has recorded four wins, 37 top-fives and 59 top-10s. The average finish is 11.1.
- Souvenir Rig: JRM drivers Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Rajah Caruth will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / HMS WB + AB souvenir rig on Saturday, March 14 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. PT.
- JRM driver Justin Allgaier will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / HMS WB + AB souvenir rig on Sunday, March 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PT.