Carson Kvapil will compete full time in the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced on Wednesday.
“I know a lot of people were curious when we made the announcement that [Kvapil] and Connor [Zilisch] were going to share a car, they were worried, ‘hey, why is he not running full time?” Earnhardt said. “We’ve been working really hard over the last couple of weeks to try to put together all the pieces of the puzzle and make this announcement that you’re actually going to be full time.”
Further details of Kvapil’s 2026 lineup will be made following Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway. He is still slated to share the No. 1 car with Zilisch, as Cup Series championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers serves as crew chief.
Earnhardt added: “Once we get beyond Phoenix, we will have more information about what those races remaining races look like.”
Kvapil is among the four Xfinity Series drivers battling for the 2025 championship, along with JR Motorsports teammates Zilisch and Justin Allgaier, as well as Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love.
A special announcement from @DaleJr and @Carson_Kvapil . pic.twitter.com/FiWlcDQgQ3
— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) October 29, 2025