Carson Kvapil is set to return to the No. 1 Chevrolet this weekend at San Diego after Connor Zilisch misses the race at Naval Base Coronado. It is another switch in a season that has already split the car between drivers, and it pushes Kvapil back into the seat he has already shared with Zilisch.
San Diego entry shift
Kvapil’s move comes with a number attached to it: this weekend is set to be his 13th car change in 18 races. He has not driven the same car for more than three races in a row, and this is set to be his seventh consecutive entry switch.
Since April, he has not run the same car in back-to-back races. That run has left him moving across the No. 1 Chevrolet, the No. 9 Chevrolet, and the No. 91 Chevrolet as team plans shifted from week to week.
JR and Chevrolet rotation
JR has occasionally added the No. 9 Chevrolet for Kvapil when the No. 1 car is occupied. When both the No. 1 car and the No. 9 car are occupied, Kvapil has gone to DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports in the No. 91 Chevrolet.
Zilisch has been part of the same rotation. He has returned to JR Motorsports seven times this season, and each of those returns has put him back in the No. 1 Chevrolet. That pattern continued even after he ran at Pocono Raceway this past weekend and finished ninth.
Zilisch’s next turn
The San Diego switch does not end the shuffle. Zilisch won at Bristol Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International earlier this season, and he had a 10-win campaign as a rookie a year ago. He is expected to return for multiple additional races before the season ends, and he is in line to take over for the following two races at Sonoma Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway.
For now, the change sends Kvapil back into the No. 1 Chevrolet for a weekend that already changes the entry list. San Diego adds one more turn to a car that has not settled into a fixed driver for long, and Kvapil is once again the one climbing in first.
