Jesse Love made an emphatic return to Victory Lane in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series by storming his way to a late victory in the Nu Way 250 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, September 12.
The reigning O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion from Menlo Park, California, led four times for 70 of 180-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified on the front row, settled in fifth place following the first stage period, and steered clear of a bizarre stack-up and incident on pit road prior to the second stage period to restart on the front row for the latter stage’s start. Love then managed to lead for the first time on Lap 78 and cruise to the second stage victory.
After reassuming the lead from teammate Austin Hill to lead a majority of the early stages in the third and final stage period, Love, who withstood three cautions and restarts throughout the final stage, lost the lead to Kvapil at the start of a 41-lap shootout, but the former reassumed it with 16 laps remaining. From there, Love established a reasonable gap between himself and Sheldon Creed to achieve his first O’Reilly victory of the 2026 season and draw himself into the championship picture.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chaser Carson Kvapil qualified on pole position for a second consecutive event with a pole-winning lap at 133.825 mph in 33.626 seconds. Chaser Jesse Love qualified in second place with a lap of 133.412 mph in 33.730 seconds.
Before the event, Lavar Scott and Josh Williams dropped to the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Carson Kvapil gained an early jump from the outside lane, and he moved in front of Jesse Love exiting the frontstretch and entering the first two turns. As the field jostled for early spots for a single circuit, Kvapil cycled his No. 1 Wilde Chevrolet Camaro entry back to the frontstretch and led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Kvapil stretched his early advantage up to seven-tenths of a second over Love while Chasers Corey Day and Austin Hill, along with non-Chaser William Sawalich, followed suit in the top five, respectively. Behind, Chasers Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed were racing in sixth and seventh, respectively, ahead of rookie Brent Crews and Chasers Rajah Caruth, Sammy Smith and Taylor Gray. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones and Parker Retzlaff were the three lowest-running Chasers in the field as they were in 12th, 16th and 17th, respectively, while Kvapil proceeded to lead by more than a second at the Lap 10 mark.
On Lap 12, the event’s first caution flew when Taylor Gray, who was in 10th place, spun beneath Rajah Caruth through the first two turns while both were battling for ninth place. Four laps later, the event restarted, and Kvapil mirrored his launch from the event’s start by motoring away from the field from the outside lane. As Kvapil led, Day motored his way into the runner-up spot while Austin Hill battled teammate Love for third place. While Allgaier and Creed battled for fifth place in front of Crews and Sawalich, Kvapil led the next lap. Kvapil proceeded to lead by six-tenths of a second over Day on Lap 20 while Love, Allgaier, Hill, Creed, Crews, Sawalich, Caruth and Sammy Smith followed suit, respectively.
Through the Lap 25 mark, Kvapil was leading by a second over Day while Allgaier, Love, Hill and Creed, all of whom were in the Chase, were racing in the top-six mark, respectively, with Creed trailing the lead by more than three seconds. Behind, teammates Crews and Sawalich occupied seventh and eighth on the track while Caruth, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Retzlaff rounded out the top-12 mark, respectively. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones was mired in 17th place and Gray, who pitted following his early spin, was up in 25th place.
Five laps later, Kvapil stabilized his advantage by more than a second over Day while Allgaier, who occupied third place in front of Richard Childress Racing’s Love and Hill, trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Another three laps later, Love got loose through Turns 3 and 4, which allowed both Hill and Creed to overtake for top-five spots. As Love battled back Creed for fifth place, Crews and Sawalich reeled in from behind. Meanwhile, Caruth dropped to 11th while Mayer and Retzlaff moved up to ninth and 10th, respectively. While teammates Jones and Gray were mired in 17th and 27th on the leaderboard, Kvapil maintained the lead by more than a second over Day by Lap 40.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Kvapil cruised to his third O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season by half a second. Day followed suit in second ahead of Allgaier, Hill, Love and Creed while Crews, Sawalich, Mayer and Retzlaff were scored in the top 10, respectively. With eight of 12 Chasers securing the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Chasers, including Sammy Smith, Caruth, Jones and Gray, were mired in 11th, 12th, 17th and 28th, respectively.
During the event’s first stage break period, the field led by Kvapil pitted for a first round of pit service. During the pit stops, a major and bizarre incident struck on pit road when Caruth, who entered pit road with the field under a cautious pace, got rear-ended by Nick Sanchez, and the latter two spun and collided into Brent Crews’ entry that was being serviced. The collision collected a handful of Crews’ pit crew members and occurred in front of Day as Day’s entry was being serviced with no contact. The collision also triggered a stack-up and accordion effect that involved a majority of the field racing within the top mid-pack region while damaging some that included Anthony Alfredo, Jeremy Clements, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, Ryan Sieg and Jeb Burton.
The multi-car incident on pit road was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for seven minutes and 54 seconds to have the carnage cleared. Once the red flag was lifted and the event proceeded at a cautious pace, all of the crew members were reported to be okay amid the collision, including Allgaier, who had a loose wheel, and the damaged entries pitted as Kvapil, who was among a handful of drivers who were ahead of the carnage, had beaten the field off pit road first to retain the event’s overall lead.
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Kvapil and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Kvapil maintained the lead for a full cycle. As Kvapil led by half a second at the Lap 55 mark, Love outdueled Hill, Mayer and Sawalich for the runner-up spot. Behind, Day battled Creed for sixth place in front of Retzlaff and Sammy Smith while Gray navigated his way up to 10th place. As Allgaier navigated his way up to 14th place, Caruth and Jones were mired in 25th and 28th, respectively, with damaged entries while Kvapil stretched his lead out by eight-tenths of a second on Lap 60.
Through the Lap 70 mark, Kvapil extended his lead by three seconds over Mayer as Mayer overtook Love for the runner-up spot a lap prior. Meanwhile, Hill, Love’s teammate who pitted two laps earlier due to a loose wheel, plummeted to 30th while Sawalich, Creed, Day, Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Allgaier and Gray were racing in the top 10, respectively. Further behind the top-10 mark, Caruth and Jones were racing in 21st and 24th, respectively.
Two laps later, the caution returned due to debris reported on the frontstretch. Prior to the caution, Alfredo had fallen off the pace due to a flat left-front tire on his entry. During this caution period, some, including Caruth and Jones, pitted while the rest, led by Kvapil, remained on the track. In addition, Hill cycled back to the lead lap by being the first competitor to score a lap down.
The event’s next restart on Lap 78 featured Kvapil battling Love as the field nearly fanned out from the frontstretch and through the first two turns. With Mayer occupying third place in front of the field, Love managed to overtake Kvapil entering the frontstretch and lead the next lap. Love led by three-tenths of a second over Kvapil by Lap 80 while Mayer and Creed followed suit. Meanwhile, Sawalich held fifth place over Day, Allgaier and Retzlaff while Love was being pressured by both Kvapil and Mayer for the lead at the Lap 85 mark.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Love outdueled Mayer and Kvapil to capture his fourth O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Mayer and Kvapil settled in second and third, respectively, while Creed, Sawalich, Allgaier, Day, Retzlaff, Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, eight of 12 Chasers secured the event’s second round of stage points while the remaining Chasers, including Gray, Caruth, Jones and Hill, were mired in 14th, 16th, 23rd and 30th, respectively.
During the event’s second stage break period, the field led by Love returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first over Sawalich, Mayer, Kvapil and Creed while Allgaier lost two spots and exited pit road in eighth place behind Day and Retzlaff. Meanwhile, Hill, who remained on the track, inherited the lead.
With 82 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Hill and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Hill received a push from Sawalich to gain a brief advantage from the outside lane through the frontstretch, but Love stormed back atop the leaderboard from the inside lane through the first two turns. Amid a brief scramble towards the front, Love led the next lap over Hill, Mayer and Day while Sawalich was trying to retain fifth place over Kvapil and Creed. Behind, Allgaier and Retzlaff battled for eighth place in front of Gray, Sammy Smith and Crews while Love maintained the lead by four-tenths of a second with 80 laps remaining.
Down to the final 70 laps, Love stretched his late lead by up to one-and-a-half seconds over Mayer while Day, Kvapil and Sawalich occupied top-five spots ahead of Creed, Allgaier, Hill, Gray, Retzlaff and Sammy Smith, respectively, on the track. Meanwhile, Caruth and Jones were mired in 16th and 22nd, respectively, as Love continued to extend his lead, where he led by more than two seconds over Mayer with 60 laps remaining.
Then with 54 laps remaining, the caution flew when Lavar Scott spun and backed his entry into the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4, where he sustained significant rear-end damage as he was reeling in Brandon Jones. At the time of caution, Love was leading by more than three seconds over Kvapil while Mayer, Day, Sawalich, Creed, Allgaier, Gray, Retzlaff and Hill were in the top 10. During this caution period, the field led by Love pitted, and Love retained the lead by exiting pit road first ahead of Kvapil, Mayer, Creed, Sawalich, Day, Gray, Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Retzlaff, respectively.
For the event’s next restart with 48 laps remaining, Love and Kvapil dueled for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes until Love, who restarted on the inside lane, motored ahead through the first two turns. Love proceeded to lead the next lap, and Kvapil retained the runner-up spot over Creed and Mayer while Sawalich and Day traded paint, bumped and fiercely battled for fifth place in front of Allgaier. Amid the late-race rubs, Day’s steady run at Gateway came to an end when he got bumped on the side by Sawalich, hit in the rear by Allgaier, sent for a spin down to the backstretch’s infield, and collided into the inside wall hard. This marked the second consecutive event where Day and Sawalich, who sustained a heavy tire and fender rub on his left side, had a run-in on the track after both tangled and rubbed fenders last weekend at Darlington Raceway.
As the event restarted with 41 laps remaining, the field fanned out as Love and Kvapil dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Kvapil motored ahead through the backstretch. As Creed overtook Love for the runner-up spot, Kvapil cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap. With Sammy Smith and Crews navigating their way into the top five, Crews was pressured by Mayer and Gray for fifth place while Allgaier was mired in 10th place behind Hill and Retzlaff. Allgaier would be overtaken by Kyle Sieg for 10th place, and both Mayer and Gray overtook Crews on the track for fifth and sixth, respectively, while Kvapil led by four-tenths of a second over Creed with 35 laps remaining.
Down to the final 30 laps, Kvapil was leading by two-tenths of a second over Creed while third-place Love trailed by a second. Seconds later, the caution flew due to a multi-car wreck that involved Brad Perez, Josh Bilicki and Joey Gase through the first two turns. During this caution period, select names, including Allgaier, pitted while the rest, led by Kvapil, remained on the track.
With 24 laps remaining, the event’s next restart featured Kvapil receiving a push from Creed to motor ahead of Love from the outside lane through the frontstretch before Kvapil transitioned to the inside lane entering the first two turns. As Kvapil completed a full cycle around Gateway before he led the next lap, Creed maintained the runner-up spot in front of a side-by-side battle for third place between Love and Mayer while Gray also tried to join the battle. Love would outduel Mayer for third place and overtake Creed for the runner-up spot over the next two laps as Kvapil maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second with 20 laps remaining.
Then with 17 laps remaining, Love, who had been reeling in Kvapil, seized an opportunity by driving to the rear of Kvapil’s entry through Turns 3 and 4 before the latter dueled with the former through the frontstretch. As both Creed and Mayer joined the battle, Love made the inside lane work to his advantage through the first two turns and resumed the lead. As Love led by four-tenths of a second with 15 laps remaining, Creed and Mayer overtook Kvapil for second and third, respectively, while Gray trailed in fifth place by under a second.
Down to the final 10 laps, Love stretched his late lead in his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro entry by nine-tenths of a second over Creed while Mayer and Gray trailed by a second. Meanwhile, Kvapil lost fifth place to Austin Hill as Retzlaff, Crews, Sammy Smith and Kyle Sieg were racing in the top 10, respectively. Another five laps later, Hill made a second unscheduled pit stop under green to have a right-side tire addressed. With Hill dropping out of contention, Love continued to lead by more than a second over Creed.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Love remained in the lead by more than a second over Creed. With no competition lurking or reeling in from behind, Love smoothly navigated his way around Gateway for a final time before he cycled back to the front stretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2026 season.
With the victory, Love recorded his fourth career win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division, his first at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway and his first since he won both the finale and the 2025 championship at Phoenix Raceway this past November. Love, who also became the 12th competitor overall to win an O’Reilly event at Gateway, recorded the 23rd victory of the 2026 O’Reilly season for Chevrolet and the third for Richard Childress Racing.
Love, who entered Gateway situated in sixth place in the Chase standings, jumped two spots to fourth place and he trails the points lead by 16 points. He has seven events remaining to reel in and defend his O’Reilly championship with Richard Childress Racing before he graduates to full-time Cup Series racing with Wood Brothers Racing in 2027.
“[I] Guess we had to put’em on the dash,” Love said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “Just proud of our crew. Proud of my pit crew. Proud of my whole Whelen Engineering team…everybody that’s been so involved in repeating a championship this year. It’s been really hard, but I knew that if I keep my grit, if I keep my tenacity, if I keep my work ethic, not just keep it, but improve it, then eventually, one of these opportunities is gonna be there and I’m gonna freakin’ take it, which we freakin’ did tonight…Man, I’m just so grateful.”
Sheldon Creed, winner of last weekend’s Chase opener at Darlington Raceway, settled in the runner-up spot ahead of teammate Sam Mayer, the latter of whom continues his search of his first victory this season. Taylor Gray and Carson Kvapil, the latter of whom led a race-high 105 laps compared to Love’s 70, finished in the top five.
Parker Retzlaff, Brent Crews, Sammy Smith, Kyle Sieg and Jeb Burton completed the top 10 in the final running order. Notably, Crews, Sieg and Burton were the three highest-finishing non-Chasers in the top-10 mark. Meanwhile, the remaining Chasers, including Rajah Caruth, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Austin Hill and Corey Day, ended up 11th, 13th, 15th, 29th and 33rd, respectively.
The second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Chase event of the 2026 season featured eight lead changes for four different leaders, and seven cautions for 37 laps. In addition, 27 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Race Results:
- Jesse Love, 70 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Sheldon Creed
- Sam Mayer
- Taylor Gray
- Carson Kvapil, 105 laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Parker Retzlaff
- Brent Crews
- Sammy Smith
- Kyle Sieg
- Jeb Burton
- Rajah Caruth
- Dean Thompson
- Justin Allgaier
- Ryan Sieg
- Brandon Jones
- William Sawalich
- Patrick Staropoli
- Josh Williams
- Brennan Poole
- Blaine Perkins
- Mason Maggio
- Anthony Alfredo
- Jordan Anderson
- Ryan Ellis
- Myatt Snider
- Josh Bilicki
- Joey Gase
- Brad Perez, one lap down
- Austin Hill, one lap down, four laps led
- Lavar Scott, one lap down
- Jeremy Clements, 12 laps down
- Austin J. Hill – OUT, Electrical, one lap led
- Corey Day – OUT, Accident
- Nick Sanchez – OUT, Accident
- Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident
- Dawson Cram – OUT
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
Following the second Chase event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Sheldon Creed leads the standings by three points over Justin Allgaier, nine points over Carson Kvapil, and 16 over Jesse Love. The rest of the 12-car Chase field is displayed below.
Chase Standings:
- Sheldon Creed
- Justin Allgaier -3
- Carson Kvapil -9
- Jesse Love -16
- Sam Mayer -61
- Austin Hill -61
- Sammy Smith -64
- Corey Day -69
- Brandon Jones -76
- Parker Retzlaff -83
- Taylor Gray -86
- Rajah Caruth -118
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, September 18, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio, and SiriusXM.
