Ross Chastain emerged victorious in a bizarre, rain-shortened Charbroil 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 23.
The 2025 Coca-Cola 600 champion from Alva, Florida, led three times for 28 of 91-shortened laps. Chastain started in 14th place. The event was delayed over four hours due to inclement weather. When the event resumed in the evening, with damp and misty conditions, Chastain settled in third place at the first stage’s conclusion after battling towards the front.
During the second stage period, Chastain utilized two restarts, one on Lap 58 and another on Lap 66, to fiercely battle his competitors, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Jesse Love for the lead. On track conditions continued to worsen, becoming damper and mistier.
After swapping the lead with Love on four instances, Chastain overtook Love for what would be a final time on Lap 72. Another lap later, he, along with several competitors, ran over a patch of oil that came off of Dawson Cram’s entry. It forced many drivers to drift up the track and make contact with the outside wall through the first two turns.
Amid the incident, Chastain retained the lead and remained on the track under a cautious pace to capture the second stage victory. A lap after the second stage concluded, he, along with the entire field, was directed to pit road. This forced a second red-flag delay due to the mist on the track. With track conditions not improving, NASCAR declared the event official 109 laps shy of its scheduled distance and awarded Chastain his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory of the 2026 season.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a metric qualifying formulation after inclement weather canceled Saturday’s on-track qualifications. Per the metric formula, Justin Allgaier was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with rookie Corey Day.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Justin Allgaier launched ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Corey Day struggled to launch from the outside lane, which created a mini stack-up. As the field fanned out and jostled for early spots through the first two turns and the backstretch, Allgaier was challenged by Sam Mayer in a side-by-side battle for the lead, starting from the first two turns and carrying forth through Turns 3 and 4. Amid Mayer’s challenge, Allgaier led the first lap by 0.024 seconds.
Prior to the second lap, the event’s first caution flew due to Harrison Burton spinning in Turn 3 after making contact with Jesse Love. After the caution period was extended due to light sprinkles, the event restarted on the 11th lap. At the start, Mayer dueled with Allgaier from the inside lane until he motored ahead through the first two turns. As Allgaier fended off teammate Connor Zilisch for the runner-up spot, Day then challenged Zilisch for third place while Mayer led the next lap.
Through the Lap 15 mark, Allgaier, who reassumed the lead from Mayer two laps earlier, was leading by four-tenths of a second over Mayer while Zilisch, Austin Hill and Day occupied the remaining top-five spots over Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Rajah Caruth, Ross Chastain and Sammy Smith, respectively. Over the next five laps, Brent Crews overtook Sammy Smith for 10th place. In addition, Day and Hill swapped for fourth place while Jones and Ryan Sieg swapped for sixth place. Meanwhile, Allgaier stretched his lead to more than a second over teammate Zilisch while Day trailed by two seconds in third place, along with fourth-place Austin Hill.
On Lap 25, a scheduled competition caution flew as Allgaier had maintained the lead over teammate Zilisch, Day, teammate Ross Chastain and Jones, respectively. During this caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted for service while JJ Yeley, Nathan Byrd, Dawson Cram and Joey Gase elected to remain on the track for a single lap. Following the pit stops, Allgaier exited pit road first ahead of Zilisch, Day, Jones and Chastain, respectively, and he cycled back to the lead when Yeley, Byrd, Cram, and Gase pitted their respective entries.
Then on Lap 33, the field led by Allgaier was directed to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period for four hours, 21 minutes and 59 seconds due to rain falling on the track. When the red flag lifted and the field returned to the track under caution at 10 p.m. ET. During the caution period, some, like Jeb Burton, Blaine Perkins, David Starr, Joey Gase and Josh Bilicki, pitted while the rest, led by Allgaier, remained on the track.
When the event resumed on Lap 37 at 10:08 p.m. ET, Allgaier motored ahead from the inside lane and he maintained the lead for a full cycle while teammate Zilisch kept pace from the runner-up spot. Amid multiple battles that ensued within the field, Allgaier retained the lead for another lap (Lap 39) before Zilisch made a move beneath Allgaier entering the frontstretch and barely led the next lap. Amid the side-by-side battle, Zilisch briefly got loose through the first two turns. This allowed Allgaier to motor back ahead with the lead from the outside lane.
Then on Lap 41, Allgaier slipped up the track and got loose through Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Zilisch to make another move beneath Allgaier through the frontstretch as the former led while Day used the momentum gained entering the frontstretch to assume the runner-up spot. Allgaier then engaged in a fierce battle with teammate Ross Chastain and Day to maintain the runner-up spot while Zilisch maintained a steady advantage.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Zilisch captured his third O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Allgaier, Chastain, Day and Mayer followed suit in the top five, respectively, while Love, Jones, Caruth, Crews and Creed were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier returned to pit road, this time for pit service, while Blaine Perkins remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed pit strategies, Allgaier exited pit road first after only opting for fuel to his entry. Austin Hill, who only went for a two-tire pit service, exited second ahead of Zilisch, Day and Love, respectively.
The second stage period started on Lap 51 as Perkins and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, the field stacked up as Allgaier used the outside lane to outduel Perkins through the first two turns and lead through the backstretch. Shortly after and as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, the caution returned when Creed bumped and got Jones sideways exiting the backstretch. This resulted in Jones colliding with teammate Crews and both went up the track and collided with Harrison Burton against the outside wall while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage. As a result, the Toyota trio of Jones, Crews and Burton were knocked out of contention.
The next restart on Lap 58 featured Allgaier and Hill dueling for the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out. Amid the jostling of positions, both Hill and Chastain used the outside lane to motor past Allgaier through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4 before Hill led the next lap. During the following lap, Love overtook Allgaier for third place as the latter was fighting the grip from his entry. Soon after, on Lap 60, the caution returned when Mayer, who was racing in between Day and Zilisch towards the top-five mark, got loose, veered to the right and smacked the outside wall through the first two turns. The incident ended Mayer’s event with a wrecked entry and heavy right-side damage.
As the event restarted on Lap 66, Love executed a three-wide move beneath teammate Hill and Chastain through the backstretch to storm to the lead. As the field behind fanned out and jostled for spots, Love led the next two laps before Chastain dueled and overtook Love entering the first two turns. Both Chastain and Love fiercely swapped and dueled for the lead over the next four laps before Chastain managed to clear and slightly drive away from Love.
The caution then returned on Lap 72 due to multiple competitors, most notably the leader Chastain, Allgaier, Gray and Creed, hitting the outside wall through the first two turns after slipping through oil that came out of Dawson Cram’s entry. Following the chaotic incidents, Chastain maintained the lead and Allgaier pitted for fresh tires while Gray and Creed went behind the wall (garage area) for repairs.
As the event entered an extensive caution period to clear the oil off the racing surface. The track conditions also became misty. With the visibility becoming foggier and amid multiple attempts to have a late-race shootout to conclude the second stage period, the second stage period concluded under caution. Chastain was scored as the leader and the stage winner. Love settled in second ahead of Hill, Sawalich, Day, Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, Carson Kvapil and Caruth, respectively.
Another lap later, the field led by Chastain was directed to pit road and placed in a second red flag delay due to the wet, misty conditions. With the conditions not improving, NASCAR declared the event official and Chastain was awarded the victory.
With the victory, Chastain notched his third NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career win in his 220th start, his first at Charlotte and his first driving for JR Motorsports. He also achieved his first O’Reilly victory since he won at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019 and the ninth victory of the 2026 season for JR Motorsports.
“I first watched a [JR Motorsports] car drive by me here at Charlotte in 2014,” Chastain said on pit road on the CW Network. He continued, saying, “I was on the apron in practice and one drove by. I decided right then that I wanted to be in one [JR Motorsports car]. It took me until 2025 to get in one.
“That’s a testament to just continuing to work. I’ve asked and couldn’t raise the funds. I’ve asked if they were full. I had funds like there wasn’t room at the end…I did not think that we would win one like this, driving into the fence in liquid. I have no idea what it was, but I drove off into [Turn] 1 like normal and there was something on the track. No matter how we win, I felt like we could’ve raced with [the field] again at the end.”
Amid his victory celebrations on pit road, Chastain took a moment to pay homage to his fellow competitor and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, the latter of whom died this past Thursday from a severe illness at age 41.
“This weekend, [it is] just incredible to try to grasp losing Kyle,” Chastain added. “I just don’t understand how he’s not here racing. I don’t grasp it mentally or spiritually. Obviously, racing is the best thing we can do to celebrate him and what he did in this sport and in his life. That feels good to win because it was a long time coming.”
Chastain, who has now won across NASCAR’s top three national touring series divisions at Charlotte Motor Speedway, would continue honoring Kyle Busch by performing Busch’s signature bow in Victory Lane before the former executed his own signature move by smashing a watermelon.
Meanwhile, Love was left bitter over NASCAR’s management of the overall event prior to the official call on pit road. Amid his frustrations, Love, who notched his third runner-up result of the 2026 season, took the lifelong lessons garnered in the wake of Kyle Busch’s death into perspective and tried to seek any positives while also paying homage to Busch.
“I’m mad,” Love said. “I think it’s a complete joke [with NASCAR] handling [the event] how they handled it. I was really mad when I got out of the car, for obvious reasons, get on top of the pit box and realize that I got to do interviews. Then I kind of realized if this week’s taught us anything, it’s that this all doesn’t matter as much as we think it does. There are things way more important than a trophy. As much as I’m angry and confused and upset, I also realize there’s a lot of hurt people right now. I think we can find some OK-ness and knowing that.”
Austin Hill, who is going to pilot Kyle Busch’s re-numbered 8 entry to 33 for this weekend’s Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 event, settled in third place while William Sawalich and Corey Day finished in the top five. Connor Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, Carson Kvapil and Rajah Caruth completed the top 10, respectively.
There were 14 lead changes for seven different leaders. The event featured six cautions for 54 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 15th event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier, who ended up in 29th place, continues to lead the standings by 145 points over Jesse Love, 167 over Corey Day, 186 over Sheldon Creed and 216 over Brandon Jones.
Results:
- Ross Chastain, 28 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Jesse Love led four laps
- Austin Hill, one lap led
- William Sawalich
- Corey Day
- Connor Zilisch, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Ryan Sieg
- Cole Custer
- Carson Kvapil
- Rajah Caruth
- Sammy Smith
- Parker Retzlaff
- Anthony Alfredo
- Dean Thompson
- Leland Honeyman Jr.
- Austin Green
- Lavar Scott
- Patrick Staropoli
- Kyle Sieg
- David Starr
- Ryan Ellis
- Jeb Burton
- Joey Gase
- Blaine Perkins led three laps
- Josh Bilicki
- Nathan Byrd
- Brennan Poole
- Andrew Patterson
- Justin Allgaier, 36 laps led
- Jeremy Clements, one lap down
- Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident
- Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident
- Dawson Cram – OUT, Engine
- JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel Pump
- Brandon Jones, 29 laps down
- Sam Mayer – OUT – Accident, 12 laps led
- Brent Crews – OUT, Accident
- Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the Sports Illustrated Resorts 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
