Despite having run just 17 of the first 27 races on the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule, the No. 9 JR Motorsports team is 15th in the owner standings, third highest among those that did not qualify for the postseason.
That is in large part due to the fact that the No. 9 Chevrolet is tied for third in the series with three victories this season, even in its very limited schedule.
Full-time Trackhouse Racing Cup drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain combined for those three victories, with SVG winning on the road courses at Circuit of the Americas and Sonoma Raceway and Chastain earning his first series victory since 2019 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
SVG and Chastain combined for eight starts in the entry during the regular season, while Carson Kvapil made five of his own. Kvapil is now the full-time driver of the team's No. 1 Chevrolet, but while sharing the No. 1 car with Trackhouse Cup driver Connor Zilisch during regular season, he would drive the No. 9 car as needed, to retain his status as a full-time driver and title contender.
Aside from Lee Pulliam, who made one start at Martinsville Speedway back in March, the only other driver to have driven the No. 9 Chevrolet at any point this year is Jake Finch.
JR Motorsports not running the No. 9 car at Las Vegas
After making just one regular season appearance at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), Finch has run two of the first three races of the postseason at Darlington Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
But after recording a career-high 11th place finish at Bristol, Finch will not compete this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the No. 9 car will not even be entered.
Finch, who entered the year having made just one career O'Reilly Series start (Dover Motor Speedway in 2025 for Hendrick Motorsports), is set to make two more starts between now and the end of the year. He is set to compete in next weekend's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he is set to compete at Talladega Superspeedway two weekends later.
The team do not have plans to run the No. 9 car for anybody else in any of the other races on the 2026 calendar. Those races include this weekend's race at Las Vegas, plus the upcoming races at Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, or Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Saturday's Focused Health 302 is set to be broadcast live on the CW Network from Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 3. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the fourth of nine races on the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series postseason schedule!
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