As the Xfinity Series season begins to wind down, a lingering question remains. Two of the Series’ premier teams, Joe Gibbs Racing and JR Motorsports, have open seats for next year in their multi-car stables. So, who are some of the candidates for those cars?
When considering the open ride at JRM, three main factors come into play: sponsorship, skill, and history. Three drivers come to mind when given those parameters.
Ryan Truex, the brother of Martin Truex Jr, is currently a part-time driver at JGR in the Xfinity Series No. 19. His winning ways and relationship with Dale Jr. make him a real candidate for a full-time ride at JRM. In contrast, his age and lack of sponsorship detract from his candidacy.
Rajah Caruth has the right combination of age, sponsorship, and skill, which is what JRM is looking for. The young driver burst through the door in the Truck Series this year, gaining full sponsorship from Rick Hendrick’s Hendrickcars.com and winning in Las Vegas. Those accolades aside, along with the endorsement of Mr.H himself, Caruth may need one more year in Trucks before taking the full-time Xfinity Series leap.
Carson Kvapil’s stock for this ride seemingly keeps growing. The young late-model racer had a solid time in the No. 88 this season. Furthermore, in his Bristol press conference, Dale Jr said that he wants to get Kvapil full-time at JRM soon. Once again, Kvapil’s lack of sponsorship is a major detraction.
Why so many choices for the number? Well, JGR currently has three options; both No. 19 and No. 20 are part-time rides this year, while No. 18 is definitely without a driver with Creed’s departure.
First things first, Ryan Truex is definitely a candidate for a full-time ride at JGR next season. Aside from his sponsor troubles, Truex is a three-race winner as a part-time entry for JGR since the last season. However, his age and lack of sponsorship will still factor into the decision.
Riley Herbst is an interesting case. Early rumors pointed to the current Stewart-Haas Racing driver heading to an expanded 23XI Racing next season. Unfortunately for Herbst, 23XI held out on NASCAR Charter Negotiations, leaving the team with an uncertain future.
If Herbst needs a ride and TRD has to step up, Herbst’s sponsorship from Monster Energy would ease the difficulty of suddenly bringing Herbst on. Of course, this would be disastrous for Herbst based on the rumor he was heading to 23XI.
William Sawalich won the ARCA Menard Series East this past weekend at Bristol. Sawalich traded wins with Connor Zilisch in ARCA for most of this season. The young driver will finish the Xfinity Series season with JGR in the final three races. However, in his part-time Truck Series starts at Tricon Garage, Sawalich has not impressed much. Perhaps JGR should let him get a season in Trucks under his belt before this elevation.
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It was a busy Saturday at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). First, we had the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Then, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series took center stage and they were two vastly different events. Ultimately, it was Sheldon Creed standing tall in victory lane when all was said and done. Here’s what you need to take away from tonight’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway.
Corey Day had a very sloppy, bad race in general, and it started early. First, he caused a wreck that took out Harrison Burton and a couple of others. Then, he took out the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. You can recap that first incident by reading the article below.
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Kvapil and Allgaier weren’t the only JRM cars to have issues tonight. Firstly, Rajah Caruth was out of control throughout the race, fighting a mean-handling car. He was able to brilliantly save it several times, to his credit. But perhaps the biggest incident involving the four JRM Chevys came at Lap 142 when Sammy Smith had a tire go down and spun in front of the pack. This took out several drivers, including Taylor Gray, among others. Read about that here:
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Results Pending.
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As Ross Chastain took the lead and the pack was closing in on 20 laps to go, things a little deeper in the pack started to get a little hairy. We had yet another huge crash late in the running here tonight, this one sparked by Sammy Smith’s flat rear tire. Here’s what happened:
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It has been a tail of two races when it comes to today’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at EchoPark Speedway (formerly the Atlanta Motor Speedway). We got off to a rough start with Corey Day triggering a massive wreck that took out the likes of Harrison Burton, and the Sieg brothers. Then, the field settled in and started to churn laps. Here’s what’s gone down so far.
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