Sports

Rodney Childers JR Motorsports news raises eyebrows surrounding Carson Kvapil NASCAR future

AnyFans 2025-09-25

By 5 GOATs,Thomas Goldkamp

The news that Rodney Childers will be back in a crew chief role for the 2026 season broke on Wednesday afternoon and with it an unexpected bit of information. Talented young driver Carson Kvapil will not drive full-time in the Xfinity Series, which will be renamed the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026.

Instead, Kvapil will share the JR Motorsports No. 1 car with Connor Zilisch, per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. Zilisch has been promoted to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2026.

Zilisch will undoubtedly come back to race a handful of events in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, where he has dominated this season (under the Xfinity branding). But he will be limited to five races, per NASCAR rules, and he cannot race in the regular-season finale or playoff races.

But the news for Carson Kvapil, barring some sort of surprise announcement from here, is a bit of a stunner. Kvapil currently sits fourth in the Xfinity Series playoff standings, trailing Ziilisch, Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer. He’s had a remarkably successful season to date.

Kvapil has finished in the top five six times this season, while he has secured 13 top-10 finishes. He’s consistently been competitive, though a win has been elusive.

Dale Earnhardt hinted at pressure on Carson Kvapil

To some extent, the news on Wednesday came after a previous warning. While most knew Zilisch was a shoe-in for the top level of the sport if he simply kept up his strong racing track record, Kvapil had to do a little more to earn it.

In fact, Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked about his two young prodigies earlier this season in a very different manner. Kvapil doesn’t have quite the same level of institutional support as Zilisch.

And that has meant he faces more pressure to win. That win has yet to come.

“Carson has to win,” Earnhardt said on his Dale Jr. Download podcast in early May. “Carson’s future is not guaranteed. I think we all agree that he’s got potential and there’s something there, and if the right things happen the right way, that he could have a 20-year career. But it easily could go the opposite way, and these races are the opportunities, these are the opportunities we’re just not … grrrr.”

Now it appears that Carson Kvapil will be a part-time driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series next season. The pressure on him to produce grows even larger.