It was announced during the 2025 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series playoffs that Carson Kvapil would not be back full-time behind the wheel of the No. 1 JR Motorsports in 2026. But after a surprise run to the Championship 4 to cap off his rookie season, he managed to land a deal to remain in the series full-time after all.
Kvapil is the primary driver of the No. 1 car, but he has shared the ride with Connor Zilisch, who was promoted from the O'Reilly Series to the Cup Series this season after his 10-win rookie campaign with JR Motorsports.
In races that the Trackhouse Racing Cup rookie has driven the No. 1 car, JR Motorsports have added the No. 9 Chevrolet. In the races that both have been occupied, Kvapil has driven the No. 91 Chevrolet for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports.
Carson Kvapil set to change cars for the 16th time in 2026
Kvapil has been hopping from car to car for pretty much the entire season. Through the season's first 20 races, he has changed cars 15 times, and he has changed teams on eight occasions. He hasn't run the same car in back-to-back races since April, when he drove the No. 1 Chevrolet at both Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
After Zilisch drove the No. 1 car for the ninth time this year at Chicagoland this past weekend, with Kvapil in the No. 9 car for the fifth, Kvapil is set to be back behind the wheel of the No. 1 Chevrolet this weekend at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway).
Meanwhile, Jake Finch is set to make his first start of the 2026 season behind the wheel of the No. 9 car in Atlanta. Finch, who is lined up to run five races in the No. 9 Chevrolet from now until the end of the year, has made just one career O'Reilly Series start. He made his series debut for Hendrick Motorsports at Dover Motor Speedway nearly 12 months ago and finished 17th.
As for Kvapil, it very well might be the final time he changes cars this season, with 12 races remaining on the schedule, including the nine-race postseason, following Saturday night's race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) superspeedway in Hampton, Georgia.
Zilisch does not currently have any more starts planned in the O'Reilly Series for 2026, and while he technically isn't bound by the same lower-series limitations that the Cup Series veterans are, full-time Cup drivers are all ineligible to compete in the O'Reilly Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway and in any of the nine playoff races.
Aside from Saturday's Focused Health 250, only the two remaining regular season races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at Iowa Speedway don't fit into either category, and Kvapil is lined up to run the No. 1 car in both.
For as much time as Kvapil has spent jumping from car to car this year, he has been impressive, even though he's still pursuing his first career victory. He's seventh in the standings with five top five finishes and six other top 10 finishes, and he's comfortably inside the provisional playoff picture, sitting 147 points above the cut line.
Live coverage of the Focused Health 250 is set to be provided by the CW Network beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, July 11. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from EchoPark Speedway!
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