{"id":242227,"date":"2025-10-22T00:20:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T00:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/242227\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T00:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T00:20:11","slug":"nascar-news-jr-motorsports-finalizes-2026-oreilly-auto-parts-series-roster-with-mix-of-veterans-and-rising-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/242227\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR news: JR Motorsports finalizes 2026 O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series roster with mix of veterans and rising stars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_0579.jpeg\" alt=\"JR Motorsports finalizes 2026 O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series roster with mix of veterans and rising stars\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"277\" data-end=\"464\">JR Motorsports has locked in its driver lineup for the 2026 O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series season, combining a pair of proven veterans with a deep bench of young talent and part-time superstars.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"277\" data-end=\"464\">The team announced Tuesday that Justin Allgaier will once again pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet full-time, extending his long-running tenure with the organization.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"466\" data-end=\"789\">Sammy Smith will return for his second full season in the No. 8, building on a promising 2025 campaign that featured wins and a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"791\" data-end=\"999\">Beyond its two full-time contenders, JR Motorsports is set to rotate several drivers across its other entries, a strategy that has paid off in recent years for both driver development and sponsor exposure.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1001\" data-end=\"1372\">Rajah Caruth will compete part-time in the No. 88, continuing his relationship with the team after several standout performances this year in the Truck Series.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1001\" data-end=\"1372\">Meanwhile, Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch will split time in the No. 1, a pairing that blends Kvapil\u2019s short-track expertise with Zilisch\u2019s growing reputation as one of the sport\u2019s most versatile young drivers.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1374\" data-end=\"1734\">Rounding out the lineup, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen will share the No. 9 Chevrolet in select events.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1374\" data-end=\"1734\">Chastain, who has made starts for JRM in the past, brings a Cup Series edge and aggressive flair, while Van Gisbergen adds road course star power following his successful transition from Supercars to NASCAR competition.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1736\" data-end=\"1906\">Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has often emphasized a balance between experience and opportunity within his program, and the 2026 roster reflects that philosophy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1910\" data-end=\"2149\">\u201cWe\u2019ve always tried to build a lineup that can win races and develop the next wave of talent,\u201d Earnhardt said in a statement. \u201cThis group gives us both \u2014 veterans who can lead and young drivers who can learn and compete at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2151\" data-end=\"2390\">With Allgaier and Smith anchoring the effort full-time and a rotating cast of capable part-timers behind them, JR Motorsports looks poised to remain one of the top organizations in the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series garage heading into 2026.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\">Get the latest NASCAR news, stats and betting insights at <a href=\"https:\/\/motorracing.com\/nascar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MotorRacing.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images JR Motorsports has locked in its driver lineup for the 2026 O\u2019Reilly Auto&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[23,3520,13680,3334,133163,425,102552,656,3335,99,21,19,25,24],"class_list":["post-242227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-america","tag-carson-kvapil","tag-chevrolet","tag-jr-motorsports","tag-justin-allgiaer","tag-nascar","tag-rajah-caruth","tag-ross-chastain","tag-shane-van-gisbergen","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}