Carson Kvapil is fifth in the championship standings, yet he hasn't been in the same car from one race to the next since the first two races of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway).
This coming weekend at Darlington Raceway is set to mark the fourth consecutive weekend he has switched cars.
Late in the 2025 season, after it had been confirmed that JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch would be moving to the Cup Series full-time with Trackhouse Racing, it was also confirmed that Kvapil and Zilisch would be sharing the No. 1 Chevrolet in the O'Reilly Series throughout the 2026 season.
It seemed as though Kvapil would be out of a full-time ride. But after a surprise run to the Championship 4, even without a victory in a playoff system that heavily rewarded wins, it was confirmed that the 22-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina native was indeed in line to run all 33 races on the 2026 schedule.
It was confirmed that he would run JR Motorsports part-time fifth entry, the No. 9 Chevrolet, in select races, and he also landed a part-time deal with DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports to drive the No. 91 Chevrolet.
Carson Kvapil switching cars for the fourth straight race
After opening up the year with back-to-back races in the No. 1 car, he drove the No. 91 car at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) before returning to the No. 1 car at Phoenix Raceway and finishing in a season-best third place.
He then made his first start in the No. 9 car this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he is set to move back to the No. 1 car for this weekend's race at Darlington Raceway.
JR Motorsports still plan to run the No. 9 Chevrolet this weekend, marking its third appearance of the season. Ross Chastain, the full-time Trackhouse Racing Cup driver who competed at Atlanta and COTA behind the wheel of the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing, is set to drive it at Darlington.
Shane van Gisbergen, who also competes full-time for Trackhouse Racing's Cup Series team, is the other driver to have run the No. 9 car this year, and he won the race at COTA. Beyond this weekend, the only driver other than Kvapil confirmed to drive the car this season is Lee Pulliam, who is set to make his series debut at Martinsville Speedway next weekend.
Saturday's Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 is set to be shown live on the CW Network from Darlington Raceway starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action!