TRACK – Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile-oval)
NOAPS RACE – Fleetio 200 (147 laps / 200 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90, ESPN Mobile App at 7:30 p.m. (ET)
- Carson Kvapil heads into the opening race of The Chase as the second seed, 25 points behind JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier.
- In four career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts at Darlington Raceway, Kvapil has recorded two top-five and two top-10 finishes.
- In his start earlier this season at “The Track too Tough to Tame,” Kvapil maintained position inside the top-five throughout the majority of the race and took the checkered flag in fifth.
- Accompanying Kvapil, crew chief Rodney Childers had made 25 NASCAR Cup Series starts atop the box at Darlington. In those starts, Childers has three wins, 12 top-fives and 14 top-10s.
- Justin Allgaier enters the opening race in The Chase at Darlington as the top seed in the NOAPS standings, 25 points above second.
- Additionally, Allgaier is the most recent winner at “The Track too Tough to Tame,” capturing the checkered flag there earlier this season.
- Overall, in 21 starts in the NOAPS at Darlington, Allgaier has scored a combined four wins, 10 top-fives and 17 top-10s.
- Allgaier’s four wins are the most for the JRM driver across all tracks he has competed on in the NOAPS, and his average finish of 7.3 ranks second behind only Las Vegas Motor Speedway among all active tracks.
- This weekend, Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet will be featuring the return of Arby’s Steak Nuggets.
- Darlington marks the first race of The Chase with Smith as the eighth seed, 60 points behind the leader.
- Sammy Smith will head to Darlington this Saturday for his seventh NOAPS start at “The Lady in Black”.
- In six starts at the famed oval, Smith has accumulated one top-five and three top-10s with a best finish of fifth in the fall of 2024.
- On tracks measuring 1-2 miles in length, Smith has 60 NOAPS starts, with two wins, nine top-five and 28 top-10 finishes.
- Jake Finch will make his second start with JRM this weekend at Darlington.
- This will be Finch’s first NOAPS start at “The Lady in Black”.
- Both of the JRM drivers’ NOAPS starts have come on tracks 1-2 miles in length, with a best finish of 17th coming at Dover Motor Speedway last season.
- Jarrett, an industry leading 3-PL company will be riding along with Finch this weekend for his Darlington debut.
- Rajah Caruth and the No. 88 HendrickCars.com team head to Darlington this weekend for the opening race of the 2026 Chase as the 12th seed.
- Caruth finished third in Stage One and won Stage Two last weekend at Daytona International Speedway before a late-race incident relegated him to a 32nd-place finish. Despite the result, Caruth earned enough stage points to secure his spot in The Chase.
- The No. 88 team showed speed at Darlington earlier this season with Kyle Larson behind the wheel. Larson started from the pole, led a race-high 107 laps and swept both stages before finishing fourth.
Carson Kvapil: “Darlington is one of the most challenging and unique tracks we race on. I am confident Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and this entire No. 1 Bass Pro Shops team will bring another strong car this weekend. We’ve put ourselves in a great position with the momentum we’ve built, and now we’re ready to take that into The Chase and go after a championship.”
Justin Allgaier: “I can’t think of a better place to get this Chase started at than Darlington. This place is such a fun track to race on. Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) and everyone on this Arby’s team has been working their tails off to get us to this point and I know that we are going to unload just as strong this weekend. We just need to go out and execute like we know we can and if we do, we will get The Chase started on a good note.”
Sammy Smith: “We’re looking forward to getting to Darlington and getting The Chase started on a strong note. This No. 8 team is determined and I know we’ll unload another fast Chevrolet Saturday. Anything can happen in The Chase, and I can’t wait to see what this Allstate Peterbilt Group can do.”
Jake Finch: “This No. 9 Jarrett team and I have been putting in the work since Atlanta and I know they are going to unload another fast Chevrolet for me on Saturday. I am really looking forward to getting on the track at Darlington and turning some laps. Hopefully we can keep the nose clean and get a great finish for everyone at Jarrett.”
Rajah Caruth: “Making the Chase was one of our goals coming into the season, so I’m proud of everyone on this No. 88 HendrickCars.com team for putting us in a position to race for a championship. Now it’s about taking advantage of the opportunity. This team had a really strong car at Darlington in the spring, so hopefully we can build off that and start the Chase with a solid weekend. There are nine races ahead of us, and we just need to execute, maximize each week and see where we are when we get to Homestead.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Darlington Raceway: JR Motorsports has competed at Darlington Raceway a combined 87 times in NOAPS since 2006. In those starts at the 1.366-mile oval, the organization has recorded eight wins, 30 top-fives, and 56 top-10s. The average finish is 11.4.
- Souvenir Rig: JRM drivers Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Jake Finch and Rajah Caruth will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / HMS WB + AB souvenir rig on Saturday, September 5th, from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET.