JR Motorsports Cup Team Preview
TRACK – Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile superspeedway)
NCS RACE – Daytona 500 (200 laps / 500 miles)
TUNE IN – FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Justin Allgaier
No. 40 – Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet
| Justin NCS Career Stats Starts: 82 Wins: 0 Top 5s: 0 Top 10s: 1 Laps Led: 17 Avg. Finish: 27.4 Points: N/A | JR Motorsports, along with 10-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Chris Stapleton, have come together to field the inaugural entry for JRM in the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2025 running of the DAYTONA 500. In partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery, the World’s Most Award-Winning Distillery, JRM will field the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet, inspired by the Blend No. 40 utilized in every bottle of Traveller Whiskey, for their maiden voyage in “The Great American Race” with the reigning and defending NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Justin Allgaier behind the wheel. Allgaier has experience in the DAYTONA 500 having made two starts in the hallowed event during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, respectively. Allgaier most recently competed at the Cup level during the 2024 season in substitution for 2021 Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson at Charlotte Motor Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the 13th position. JRM’s quest for the DAYTONA 500 marks the first time that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller have entered a race in the Cup Series as team owners. Under their leadership in the NXS, JRM has been a pillar of success, earning 88 wins and four championships with drivers Chase Elliott, William Byron, Tyler Reddick and most recently with Allgaier. | ||||||||||
Justin Allgaier
“This weekend at Daytona is going to be extremely special. To be able to have the opportunity to be driving JR Motorsports’ first entry into the Cup Series is something that I will forever cherish. I know that we are going to have extremely fast Chevrolets in both series this weekend, and I can’t wait to get our Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet locked in. Once we accomplish that, I see no reason why we won’t be up front fighting for the win on both Saturday with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, and on Sunday. I can’t say thank you enough to Traveller Whiskey, Dale (Earnhardt Jr.), Kelley (Earnhardt-Miller), Chris Stapleton, Rick Brandt, and everyone at JR Motorsports for all of their hard work throughout this offseason in order to make this weekend happen. JRM has always built unbelievably strong speedway cars, and I can’t wait to see what we can do when we get down there this weekend.”
JR Motorsports Xfinity Team Preview
TRACK – Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile superspeedway)
NXS RACE – United Rentals 300 (120 laps / 300 miles)
TUNE IN – CW, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90 at 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Carson Kvapil
No. 1 – Bass Pro Shops / Clarience Technologies Chevrolet
| Kvapil 2024 NXS Stats Starts: 9 Wins: 0 Top 5s: 3 Top 10s: 4 Laps Led: 63 Avg. Finish: 13.2 Points: N/A | Carson Kvapil will make his full time NXS debut this weekend at Daytona after making nine starts for JRM during the 2024 season. Across his nine previous NXS starts, Kvapil has recorded three top fives and four top 10s, with a best finish of second coming at Dover Motor Speedway last spring. Kvapil is a two-time zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car champion for JRM, winning the crown in both 2022 and 2023. In his career, the 21-year-old driver made 47 starts, earned 12 victories and eight poles, notching 36 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes in one of the premier short-track series in the country. Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies will continue their support of Kvapil for the first of 23 primary paint schemes at the season opener this weekend. | ||||||||||
Carson Kvapil
“I am really looking forward to getting to Daytona this weekend and getting the season started. We have been putting in a lot of work during the offseason at the sim and I know Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) and the rest of this No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies team is going to set me up for success. I can’t thank Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies enough for their support and I hope we can get some great finishes for them. I know we have a lot to learn, but we’re going to take it one race at a time and try not to have too many bad days along the way.”
Justin Allgaier
No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
| Allgaier 2024 NXS Stats Starts: 33 Wins: 2 Top 5s: 10 Top 10s: 20 Laps Led: 709 Avg. Finish: 13.5 Points: 1st | Allgaier kicks off his NXS title defense at “The World Center of Racing” with cornerstone partner BRANDT Professional Agriculture onboard his No. 7 Chevrolet. In 28 career NXS starts at Daytona, the reigning, defending, undisputed NXS Champion has scored one win, eight top fives and 14 top 10s. Allgaier’s lone victory at the famed superspeedway came in dramatic fashion, as the JRM driver captured the checkered flag in a photo finish during the summer event in 2023. The Illinois native comes into the new year fresh off a 2024 championship campaign that saw Allgaier earn two wins, 10 top fives and 20 top 10s. | ||||||||||
Sammy Smith
No. 8 TMC Chevrolet
| Smith 2024 NXS Stats Starts: 33 Wins: 1 Top 5s: 7 Top 10s: 16 Laps Led: 65 Avg. Finish: 15.2 Points: 11th | Sammy Smith returns for his second year with JRM and his first full season with crew chief, Phillip Bell after the pair came together for the final 10 races of 2024. Smith will run a familiar looking No. 8 in 2025 as the new season marks the return of the iconic stylized No. 8 previously driven by team owner Earnhardt Jr, Smith is the most recent winner in the NXS on a drafting track, having gone to Victory Lane last fall at Talladega Speedway. TMC Transportation, based out of Des Moines, IA, will be kicking off the season with Smith with the first of six primary races for their hometown driver. | ||||||||||
Sammy Smith
“I’m really proud of the work Phillip (Bell, crew chief) and this entire No. 8 team has done the past few months to start the season off strong. We came together for the final 10 races of last year and I think we learned a lot in a short amount of time that we can apply to this 2025 season. We know that these superspeedways aren’t always a good reflection of all the hard work we put in because anything can happen and it happens fast. Our win at Talladega last year proves that we have what it takes though and we expect to go out and do the same this weekend in Daytona with TMC.”
Connor Zilisch
No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet
| Zilisch 2024 NXS Stats Starts: 4 Wins: 1 Top 5s: 3 Top 10s: 3 Laps Led: 45 Avg. Finish: 5.3 Points: N/A | Connor Zilisch is set to begin his first full-time NXS season in the United Rentals 300 at Daytona on Saturday afternoon. Zilisch enters the 2025 season on the heels of a successful debut with JRM in 2024 when he won in his first-ever NXS start at Watkins Glen International. Zilisch started on the pole and led the most laps (45 of 90) on the way to scoring the victory. He also led all drivers with an average running position of 4.39 during the 200-mile event. This will be Zilisch’s first NASCAR race on the 2.5-mile oval at Daytona. He has previously competed in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Talladega this past October, giving him familiarity to the drafting style of racing. Zilisch is no stranger to success at the World Center of Racing. He won the 2024 Rolex 24 IMSA race in the LMP2 class with ERA Motorsports. | ||||||||||
Connor Zilisch
“It’s going to be really important to have a good run in Daytona. Starting off the season on a positive note is obviously good for my confidence and for the WeatherTech team’s confidence as well. There are definitely some challenges going to a superspeedway race with not a lot of experience. Those tracks are a lot different than what I’m used to. One of the biggest things at Daytona is making it to the end of the race. A lot can happen at Daytona. We’re going to do everything we can with my spotter and team to keep us out of trouble and keep us in the race.”
JRM Team Updates
- JR Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway: JR Motorsports has competed at Daytona International Speedway, the organization’s winningest track, a combined 116 times in the NXS. In those starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, the organization has recorded eight wins, 29 top-fives and 46 top-10s. The average finish is 16.1.
- Souvenir Rig: JRM drivers Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / Legacy MC souvenir rig on Saturday, Feb. 15 from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET.
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