By matching his career-best result with a runner-up finish in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, JR Motorsports' Carson Kvapil vaulted himself above the Championship 4 cut line with just one race remaining in the round of 8 before the title decider at Phoenix Raceway next weekend.
Kvapil occupies the fourth and final spot above the cutoff by 11 points over teammate Sammy Smith, and nobody else is closer than 20 points behind heading into this Saturday night's round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Kvapil finished in fourth at Martinsville in his series debut for JR Motorsports back in 2024, so he would certainly appear to have as good of a chance as anybody to advance to the Championship 4 in his first full season in the series.
Yet he's already lost his ride for the 2026 season.
What a story it would be if Kvapil managed to win this year's championship, despite having already lost his ride for 2026. Kvapil is still set to return to JR Motorsports next year, but only as a part-time driver; he is set to share the No. 1 Chevrolet he currently drives full-time with Connor Zilisch.
Zilisch, who has racked up 10 wins in his first full season with JR Motorsports, is set to move up to the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing in 2026, but he is set to continue to compete part-time in the Xfinity Series as JR Motorsports aim to compete for the owner championship with the No. 1 car.
There's little doubt that Zilisch has had a much stronger season than Kvapil. Even Justin Allgaier, the reigning series champion who is currently second in points behind Zilisch, has had a stronger season than Kvapil with three wins.
But when you look at the much-maligned modern playoff format, all you really need to do is get to the Championship 4, and you have a 1-in-4 chance to win the championship, same as the other three contenders.
And if Kvapil can advance to give himself that opportunity, he could very well be crowned champion, and he could technically do it on the very same day he effectively gets demoted within his own team.
This Saturday night's IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 is set to be shown live on the CW Network from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you have not yet started a free trial of FuboTV now, do so now and don't miss any of the action!