JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW:
TRACK: Darlington Raceway
RACE: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 (147 laps / 200.1 miles)
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021
Broadcast Information – TV: 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN / Radio: 3 p.m. ET on MRN and Sirius XM Ch. 90
Michael Annett
No. 1 Pilot Flying J Driver Appreciation Chevrolet
• Michael Annett is on a roll at Darlington Raceway, having earned consecutive top-10 finishes on the 1.366-mile oval. Annett was seventh this past spring and eighth in the fall race in 2020.
• In his return to the cockpit last week at Daytona International Speedway after recovering from leg surgery, Annett was running in the top 10 when he was collected in a multi-car crash. He finished 30th after his team repaired significant damage to the car
• With three races remaining until the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, Michael Annett sits 68 points below the cut line.
Sam Mayer
No. 8 QPS Employment Group Chevrolet
• Sam Mayer will make his first NXS start at Darlington this weekend in the No. 8 QPS Employment Group Chevrolet.
• The 18-year-old Mayer comes off a weekend that saw him lead his first career NXS lap before finishing 12th. The following day Mayer competed at the Milwaukee Mile in the ARCA Menards Series where he finished second.
• In five oval races to date in the NXS, Mayer has one top 10, earned at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he raced to a ninth-place finish.
• To date this season, the No. 8 team has accumulated one win (Martinsville Speedway), four top fives and nine top 10s while pacing the field for 152 laps.
Noah Gragson
No. 9 Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber / Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet
• Noah Gragson has never finished lower than eighth on the 1.366-mile oval at Darlington. In four starts, the 23-year-old from Las Vegas has an average finish of 6.0 and has led 86 laps along the way.
• A seventh-place run last week at Daytona pushed Gragson’s streak of top-seven finishes to four races, including a pair of top fives. He was fourth earlier this season at Darlington.
• Gragson has shown speed over that span, leading 16 laps at Daytona last week. In the first Darlington race this year, Gragson paced 40 circuits on the way to a fourth-place finish.
Justin Allgaier
No. 7 Breyers Chevrolet
• Justin Allgaier looks to make it two in a row this weekend at “The Lady in Black” after his victory in May at the famed speedway.
• In that event, Allgaier led for 10 laps and dueled with JRM teammate Josh Berry before securing his first win at “The Track too Tough to Tame.”
• Overall, in 12 starts in the NXS at Darlington, Allgaier has amassed one win, four top fives and eight top 10s.
• With just three races remaining in the regular season, Allgaier currently sits third in the championship standings and third in the projected playoff grid.
Driver Quotes
“We have three weeks, three races to get into the playoffs with our No. 1 Pilot Flying J Thank A Trucker Chevrolet. We had a good run going at Daytona until we got caught up in someone else’s accident. Bummy (crew chief Mike Bumgarner) and the No. 1 team give me great cars every week, and this is go-time for us. We’ve been good the last three times out at Darlington, and we need to be good on Saturday.” – Michael Annett
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Darlington this weekend with our Breyers Chevrolet. It was really special to end up in Victory Lane here back in May and I feel extremely confident that we can do it again on Saturday. Darlington is such a special and unique place and to have my name added to this track’s historic list of winners means a lot. Hopefully we can have that same kind of fortune this weekend. Jason (Burdett, crew chief) and all of the guys on this No. 7 team have prepared some really fast cars throughout the summer and I can’t wait to see what we can do.” – Justin Allgaier
“Darlington is going to be tough this weekend. It’s one of the hardest tracks on the schedule because of the surface and how quickly tires wear out. It’s my first time here this weekend so the first few laps will be all about learning how the car and track drive. Once I figure that out, hopefully we can get this QPS Employment Group Chevrolet to the front. This No. 8 team ran second here earlier this season so I know we will be fast when we unload.” – Sam Mayer
“Darlington has been a great track for this No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee team in the past. Our worst finish is eighth and we have continually gotten better since that finish in 2019. We led laps here in the spring and finished fourth so now we are looking to be a few spots better to hopefully get some more playoff points as we close in on that part of the season.” – Noah Gragson
JRM Team Updates:
• JR Motorsports at Darlington: JR Motorsports has competed at “The Lady in Black” a combined 47 times in the NXS. Over the course of these 47 starts at the 1.366-mile facility, JRM has tallied three wins, 13 top fives and 29 top 10s. JRM’s most recent win came this season when Justin Allgaier drove the No. 7 to Victory Lane to secure his second NXS victory of 2021.
• Pilot Flying J Driver Appreciation Month: Michael Annett’s No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet will have a signature paint scheme for the next four races as part of Pilot Flying J’s Driver Appreciation Month. The red and yellow scheme features the words “If you’ve got it, a trucker brought it” on the hood and #ThankATrucker on the TV panel at the rear of the car. The Driver Appreciation theme inspires fans to thank professional drivers for all their hard work in delivering the goods we all depend on. To see how Pilot Flying J is thanking professional drivers, visit pilotflyingj.com.
• Breyers Pledge: Breyers’ ongoing pledge is to source only the highest quality ingredients and support the livelihood of American and Madagascar farmers. As part of its sustainable sourcing efforts, Breyers is contributing to a fund that will partner with the Dairy Farmers of America on initiatives to support cost savings and environmental sustainability on dairy farms. This partnership supports innovation that can positively benefit dairy farmer members and support their efforts on animal care and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, do you see those specks in Breyers vanilla ice cream? Those are real vanilla beans. It’s 100 percent sustainably sourced, so you can enjoy it even more, knowing that you’re supporting farmers and their families in Madagascar through the partnership with the Rainforest Alliance. Breyers today sells over 80 flavors and varieties and can be found in grocery stores nationwide for between $3.99 and $5.99. To learn more, visit Breyers.com
