Carson Kvapil remains in the hunt of this year’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship battle after he rallied to notch a dominant victory in the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 31.
The 2021 CARS Super Late Model Tour champion from Mooresville, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 121 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified on pole position, led the first 53 laps and settled in fourth place at the conclusion of the first stage period. Despite getting shuffled amid various pit strategies ensuing within the field throughout the event, Kvapil steered clear of the event’s 12 caution periods and ensuing restarts to motor his way back to the front.
During a late-race restart with 68 laps remaining, Kvapil outdueled Corey Day to reassume the top spot. Despite having his late advantage stalled by two late-race incidents, Kvapil capitalized on the two ensuing restarts, including the final one with 22 laps remaining, to fend off teammate Justin Allgaier and notch a victory that keeps him in the championship battle approaching next weekend’s finale.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 30, Carson Kvapil claimed his third O’Reilly career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 95.371 mph in 19.855 seconds. Teammate Rajah Caruth qualified in second place with a lap of 95.141 mph in 19.903 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Carson Kvapil, who started on the inside lane, launched his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of teammate Rajah Caruth and the field through the frontstretch and prior to entering the first turn. Behind, teammate Justin Allgaier, who started behind Kvapil, quickly went underneath, battled and overtook Caruth for the runner-up spot. As Kvapil led the first lap, Allgaier retained the runner-up spot over Caruth while William Sawalich battled Parker Retzlaff for fourth place.
With Sawalich prevailing over Retzlaff in a battle for fourth place, the latter tried to transition from the outside to inside lane to maintain fifth place on the track, but he was bumped and moved up the track by Sheldon Creed entering the first turn on the second lap. Creed then battled Retzlaff for fifth place as Jesse Love, Taylor Gray and Sammy Smith all joined the battle. Amid the battles within the pack, Retzlaff got pinned in the middle lane, stuck through the outside lane and lost a bevy of spots out of the top-10 mark. At the front, Kvapil led by four-tenths of a second on the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Kvapil led by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Caruth and Sawailch trailed by more than a second in third and fourth, respectively. Behind, Gray, Creed, Love, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Brandon Jones were in the top 10 ahead of Corey Day, Brent Crews, Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo and Dean Thompson while Austin Hill was the lowest-running Chase contender in 22nd place.
As the early laps proceeded, Hill locked up his front tires and dropped outside of the top-30 mark while Kvapil led by half a second over Allgaier just past the Lap 15 mark. Hill slid to 36th place on Lap 20 as Kvapil had his advantage shrunk to three-tenths of a second over Allgaier. At the Lap 25 mark, Kvapil retained a two-tenths of a second lead over Allgaier while Hill, who was stalled in his pit stall as his pit crew diagnosed a shredded right-front tire, was mired at the tail end of the field in 38th place and losing laps to the leaders.
Four laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Patrick Emerling lost his front brakes entering the third turn and spun up the track towards the outside wall, with Patrick Staropoli colliding into Emerling. During the event’s first caution period, some including Crews, and Chase contenders Mayer, Day, Sawalich and Sammy Smith pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Kvapil remained on the track.
The next restart on Lap 36 lasted only a single turn when the caution returned due to a multi-car accident in the firs turn. The incident started when Sammy Smith, who restarted in 24th place after he pitted during the first caution period, ran into the rear of Lavar Scott as both were launching past the start/finish line. Smith’s collision into Scott sent the latter sideways and colliding into Corey Day and Ryan Ellis while Brent Crews was also collected in the carnage.
For the next restart on Lap 44, Kvapil, who maintained the lead during the short, previous restart, utilized a strong launch from the inside lane to motor ahead of Allgaier through the first two turns. Kvapil maintained the lead over the next three laps before the caution returned due to debris in the third turn. During this caution period, some led by Caruth and including Gray, Ryan Sieg, Kyle Sieg, Alex Labbe and Joey Gase pitted while the rest led by Kvpail remained on the track.
As the event restarted on Lap 53, Kvapil and Allgaier dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field before Kvapil briefly slipped up the track through the first two turns. This allowed Creed to challenge Kvapil from the inside lane as Allgaier used the outside lane to shoot ahead of the latter two and motor ahead with the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Allgaier led the next lap while Kvapil and Creed battled for the runner-up spot in front of Love and Brandon Jones. Creed and Jones would overtake Kvapil from Laps 55 to 56 while Allgaier checked out by nearly a second.
Then on Lap 56, the caution returned as Jeremy Clements and Harrison Burton both spun through the first two turns when Sam Mayer clipped the first turn’s curb while trying to get beneath Clements and ended up spinning both the latter and Burton. The incident concluded the first stage period as Allgaier was awarded his 13th O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Creed, Jones, Kvapil, Love, Jeb Burton, Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Mayer and Sawalich were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, the remaining Chase contenders that include Day, Sammy Smith, Gray, Caruth and Austin Hill were mired in 18th, 19th, 23rd, 24th and 38th, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, a majority of the field led by Allgaier and including Creed, Jones, Kvapil, Love and Retzlaff pitted while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track. At the conclusion of the pit stops, Love exited pit road first over Jones, Allgaier, Creed and Kvapil.
The second stage period started on Lap 69 as Mayer and Sawalich occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer fended off Sawalich through the first two turns and the backstretch to maintain the lead for a full cycle. With the leaderboard shuffled amid pit strategies throughout the first stage period, Crews and Dean Thompson trailed in the top-four mark ahead of Day while Lee Pulliam, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Gray and Caruth trailed in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Love, Allgaier, Kvapil, Jones, Retzlaff and Creed were mired within the top-18 mark as Mayer continued to lead by half a second on Lap 75.
By Lap 80, Mayer’s advantage over Sawalich stood at seven-tenths of a second while Allgaier carved his way up to ninth place. Allgaier, who nearly spun off the front nose of Lee Pulliam through the backstretch when the former tried to slide in front of the latter through the backstretch, gained another spot to eighth place over the next five laps before he trailed Sammy Smith in seventh place at the Lap 90 mark. By then, Mayer continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Sawalich.
On Lap 96, the caution flew when teammates Jeb Burton and Daniel Dye along with Harrison Burton wrecked in the second turn. During this caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Mayer pitted while a handful led by Day remained on the track, during which Mayer also exited pit road first. During the pit stops, Sawalich made contact with Clements while trying to exit his pit stall while Love had to reverse his entry out of his pit box when he got boxed in behind Dye.
During the next restart on Lap 103, Day motored ahead of Alfredo with the lead entering the first turn as Crews, who threw a bold move beneath Carson Ware while launching in the top-10 mark, made contact with Ware that carried forth into Mayer while Allgaier went wide through the first two turns. Amid the tight contact as the field fanned out and bumped and jostled for spots, Day motored away to lead the next lap.
Day maintained the lead until Alfredo dueled with the latter on Lap 106. Alfredo and Day would then spend the next three laps swapping each other for the top spot until Alfredo prevailed on Lap 109. With Alfredo leading, Day settled in second over Crews and Brennan Poole while Allgaier motored his way up to fifth place. With Sammy Smith, Gray, Sawalich, Patrick Emerling and Creed mired in the top 10, Allgaier navigated his way up to third place and Day dropped to fourth place while Alfredo led by six-tenths of a second over Crews on Lap 115.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Alfredo fended off a hard-charging Allgaier to capture his third O’Reilly stage victory of this season. Allgaier settled in second while Crews, Day, Smith, Sawalich, Gray, Creed, Poole and Caruth followed suit, respectively. By then, the remaining Chasers that include Kvapil, Mayer, Jones, Retzlaff, Love and Hill were scored in 12th, 13th, 17th, 18th, 22nd and 37th. During the event’s second stage break period, some led by Alfredo and including Day, Poole, Emerling and Love pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.
With 118 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Allgaier and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier motored ahead of Smith from the inside lane through the first two turns. With Crews navigating his way into the runner-up spot over Smith, Allgaier led the next lap. Not long after, the caution returned when Garrett Smithley spun in the fourth turn after he received a tap from Kyle Sieg.
The next restart with 111 laps remaining featured Allgaier fending off Smith from the inside lane for a second consecutive time through the first two turns while Mayer threw a three-wide move and made contact with Gray to move into the top-five mark. Mayer proceeded to battle Sawalich for fourth place behind Smith as Allgaier led the next lap over Crews. Allgaier’s steady lead at the front under green flag conditions did not last long as the caution returned with nearly 105 laps remaining when Patrick Emerling spun for a second time, this latest time in the second turn after he got punted by Joey Gase. This caution period featured Mayer, Kvapil, Jones and Love pitting their respective entries.
With 99 laps remaining, the event restarted as teammates Allgaier and Smith dueled for the lead for a full circuit, though Allgaier managed to lead the next lap. Allgaier then managed to motor ahead of Smith through the first two turns and the backstretch while Smith, Crews, Sawalich, Pulliam, Gray and Creed followed suit. With a series of late-race battles ensuing and Allgaier maintaining the lead, the caution returned with 88 laps remaining when Mason Maggio, who was locked in a side-by-side battle with Garrett Smithley entering the backstretch, slid up and pinched Smithley against the outside wall. The contact caused Smithley to hit the wall hard and clip Maggio, with Maggio also hitting the wall and spinning down the track after he got hit again by Smithley. With Maggio’s rear cover detaching and flying before hitting the racing surface, his wrecked entry was hit by Patrick Emerling while sliding down towards the inside wall.
The latest incident placed the event in a red flag period for 11 minutes and 50 seconds. Once the red flag lifted, Love pitted to have a pinched water line addressed. Most of the field led by Allgaier and including Crews, Creed, Caruth, Mayer, Sammy Smith, Gray and Retzlaff pitted while the rest led by Day and including Kvapil and Jones remained on the track.
Day quickly launched ahead of Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg and the field during the next restart with 79 laps remaining. Day’s steady advantage under green lasted only four laps before the caution returned, this time due to Crews bumping Creed into Retzlaff as the contact resulted with Dye receiving the worst outcome when he got hit on the left side by Retzlaff and went dead straight towards the outside wall in the third turn.
With 68 laps remaining, the event restarted as Kvapil challenged Day for the lead from the outside lane. Amid brief contact with Day through the backstretch, Kvapil dueled with the latter for a full lap before he cleared Day through the frontstretch during the next lap. Kvapil proceeded to lead by four-tenths of a second over Day with 65 laps remaining while Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Harrison Burton, Jones, Kyle Sieg, Creed, Sawalich, Smith and Allgaier pursued, respectively.
Following another caution that flew with 62 laps remaining due to Clements getting punted by Patrick Staropoli and wrecking against the outside wall when Staropoli bounced off the first curb through the first two turns, the next restart with 53 laps remaining featured Kvapil motoring away from Day and the field. Kvapil built his lead up by six-tenths of a second over Day with 50 laps remaining while Allgaier was up into fifth place behind Mayer and Ryan Sieg.
Down to the final 45 laps, Kvapil increased his late lead by a second over Day while Mayer also trailed by a second in third place. Meanwhile, Allgaier trailed by two seconds in fourth place while Ryan Sieg, Jones, Harrison Burton, Creed, Kyle Sieg and Smith were in the top 10, respectively. Further behind, Love was mired in 17th place in between Caruth and Gray as Kvapil continued to extend his lead by nearly two seconds with 40 laps remaining. Three laps later, Allgaier motored his way into the runner-up spot, but he trailed teammate Kvapil by three seconds with 35 laps remaining.
Then with 32 laps remaining, the caution flew when Love, who was in 16th place, lost his brakes entering the first turn, spun backwards and hit the outside wall through the first two turns hard. Amid his incident, Love managed to continue, but he dropped out of the lead lap category to have his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro entry repaired.
Down to the final 22 laps, the event restarted as Kvapil managed to fend off Allgaier from the inside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Dean Thompson spun through the first two turns, the event remained under green flag conditions as Thompson quickly looped his entry to proceed without generating additional carnage. Kvapil led by three-tenths of a second over Allgaier with 20 laps remaining as the latter tried to reel back the former.
As the event reached its final 15-lap mark, Kvapil led by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Day, Jones, Mayer and Creed followed suit in the top-six mark, respectively. By then, Smith was in eighth place while Caruth, Retzlaff and Gray were mired within the top-16 mark. Meanwhile, Love was mired six laps down within the top-30 mark as Kvapil continued to lead Allgaier by seven-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining and for the final five-lap mark.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Kvapil remained in the lead by half a second over Allgaier. Amid Allgaier’s late-race charge, he ran out of time as Kvapil smoothly navigated around Martinsville for a final time and cycled back to the frontstretch to score the victory by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier.
With the victory, Kvapil notched the third NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win of his career and of the 2026 season, with the driver also achieving his first series’ victory at Martinsville Speedway. Kvapil’s Martinsville victory was the 16th of the 2026 season for JR Motorsports and the 29th for Chevrolet, with the OEM being eight-for-eight on Chase events this season.
Entering Martinsville, Kvapil was ranked in fifth place in the Chase standings and he trailed points leader Jesse Love by 59 points. With his victory at Martinsville, Kvapil, who gained a spot to fourth place, reduced his deficit to be only 31 points behind the points lead, thus giving Kvapil a fighting chance for his first series’ championship for next weekend’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“It’s awesome,” Kvapil said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I knew when we unloaded for practice, we had a really fast Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. [Crew chief] Rodney [Childers] and everyone on this No. 1 team really worked hard from our spring [Martinsville] race to come back with a better race car and something that had some forward drive off the corner. [I] Was able to qualify on pole and that was cool, but [I] just had a rough race in between the beginning of Stage 1 to the end there. [I] Just kept getting shuffled back and couldn’t really do nothing right. We made the call to come in [and pit] early, which in turn made us stay out on older tires later. It just really worked out…Winning is always great, but finally getting one at a track where I feel like I’m really good at is really cool.”
Amid Jesse Love’s late-race incident, Justin Allgaier’s runner-up result combined with the stage points he achieved throughout the first two stage periods enabled the latter to go from a 19-point deficit to lead the Chase standings by 22 points, with Allgaier in control of his destiny to achieve his second championship. Love, who finished in 30th place, now trails the points lead by 22 points as he will have next weekend’s finale at Homestead to rally from his deficit and contend for his second consecutive title.
“It’s a great points day,” Allgaier said. “[I’m] Just disappointed to come up short, but hats off to the No. 1 team. Carson did a great job…[Next weekend]’s gonna make for a great battle. I feel like our team does a really good job. We won [at Homestead] last year. We know how to get around the race track. We know we’ll have speed. We just need to go execute. If we do all the things we’ve been doing over and over again and execute the way we know we can, we can keep that points lead and come out of there a champion.”
“I’m not really going to study too much about today,” Love said. “At the end, it really doesn’t matter. We have one goal and there’s probably only for the most part one avenue and one way to achieve that goal. That brings me a lot of clarity and obviously that means that unless [Allgaier] has a DNF at Homestead that we have to go win the race. Obviously, that’s where we do our best work in moments like that…Just a shame how [tonight] ended up going down, but again, at the end of the day, there’s one thing sitting between me and another trophy, another championship, and that’s winning next week. I’m prepared and I’m looking forward to that moment in time.”
Corey Day, who rallied from his early incident, finished in third place and he also remains in the championship battle by trailing the points lead by 23 points while situated in third place in the standings.
“That’s a gritty third place there, for sure, and that just shows those [No. 17] guys [the] never give up attitude and I’m just super grateful for them,” Day said. “I’m definitely a lot more confident going [to Homestead] than I am here [at Martinsville], that’s for sure. I think it should be right up my alley. We’re in the fight, so we’ll do our best to be competitive next week.”
Brandon Jones and Sam Mayer finished in the top five behind Kvapil, Allgaier and Day while Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, William Sawalich, Brent Crews and Taylor Gray completed the top-10 finishing order, respectively. The remaining Chasers that include Parker Retzlaff, Rajah Caruth and Austin Hill ended up in 15th, 16th and 31st, respectively.
The penultimate O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Chase event of the 2026 season at Martinsville generated nine lead changes for five different leaders, and 12 cautions for 90 laps. In addition, 28 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
- Carson Kvapil, 121 laps led
- Justin Allgaier, 52 laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Corey Day, 24 laps led
- Brandon Jones
- Sam Mayer, 36 laps led
- Sheldon Creed
- Sammy Smith
- William Sawalich
- Brent Crews
- Taylor Gray
- Ryan Sieg
- Harrison Burton
- Jeb Burton
- Lee Pulliam
- Parker Retzlaff
- Rajah Caruth
- Anthony Alfredo, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Lavar Scott
- Patrick Staropoli
- Brennan Poole
- Kyle Sieg
- Alex Labbe
- Carson Ware
- Josh Bilicki
- Joey Gase
- Justin Carroll
- Baltazar Leguizamon
- Dawson Cram
- Jeremy Clements, six laps down
- Jesse Love, nine laps down
- Austin Hill, nine laps down
- Dean Thompson, 15 laps down
- Blaine Perkins – OUT, Oil Leak
- Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
- Garrett Smithley – OUT, Accident
- Mason Maggio – OUT, Accident
- Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident
- Ryan Ellis – OUT, Water Pump
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
After the eighth Chase event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the standings by 22 points over Jesse Love, 23 over Corey Day, 31 over Carson Kvapil and 42 over Sheldon Creed, the latter four of whom all remain in contention for this year’s championship battle. The rest of the 12-car Chase field is displayed below.
Chase Standings:
- Justin Allgaier
- Jesse Love -22
- Corey Day -23
- Carson Kvapil -31
- Sheldon Creed -42
- Sam Mayer -97
- Sammy Smith -107
- Taylor Gray -159
- Brandon Jones -183
- Austin Hill -197
- Parker Retzlaff -210
- Rajah Caruth -231
The 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season is set conclude next Saturday, November 7, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, where a champion will be crowned. The finale’s coverage time is slated to commence at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM.
