Justin Allgaier awarded O’Reilly pole at Martinsville

Justin Allgaier has been awarded the pole position for the NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, March 27.

The event’s starting lineup was initially going to be determined through a single-car, two-lap qualifying format. In the format, all 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots would cycle around Martinsville Speedway twice while attempting to post the fastest lap. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap would be awarded the pole position.

Friday’s qualifying session was canceled, however, due to rain. As a result, the lineup was determined through a qualifying metric formula from the NASCAR rulebook. The formula evaluated competitors’ results from the most recent O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event and the current owner’s standings. This resulted in Allgaier being awarded the pole position as he is coming off last weekend’s victory at Darlington Raceway. He is also leading the standings in both the driver’s and owner’s categories.

With the pole, Allgaier will bid for his third O’Reilly victory of the 2026 season and his second Martinsville victory after he achieved his first in October 2023. After becoming the eighth competitor to achieve at least 30 victories in the O’Reilly division, Allgaier will also attempt to tie Jack Ingram for sixth place on the all-time O’Reilly wins list.

Allgaier will share the front row with teammate and rookie Rajah Caruth, the latter of whom returns to pilot the No. 88 HendrickCars.com/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry after he spent the previous two weekends driving for Jordan Anderson Racing.

Brandon Jones, rookie Brent Crews and Carson Kvapil will start in the top five, respectively. Sheldon Creed, rookie Corey Day, Jesse Love, Sammy Smith and Parker Retzlaff complete the top-10 starting grid.

Notably, Lee Pulliam, Andrew Patterson and Luke Baldwin will start 12th, 19th and 29th, respectively, while Myatt Snider and Ross Chastain complete the 38-car starting grid in 37th and 38th, respectively. In addition, Taylor Gray and Austin Hill, both of whom won last year’s O’Reilly events at Martinsville, will start 13th and 26th, respectively.

With 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Dawson Cram and Justin Carroll were the two who did not qualify for the main event.

Martinsville – Starting lineup:

1. Justin Allgaier
2. Rajah Caruth
3. Brandon Jones
4. Brent Crews
5. Carson Kvapil
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Corey Day
8. Jesse Love
9. Sammy Smith
10. Parker Retzlaff
11. Sam Mayer
12. Lee Pulliam
13. Taylor Gray
14. Ryan Sieg
15. Anthony Alfredo
16. William Sawalich
17. Brennan Poole
18. Nick Sanchez
19. Andrew Patterson
20. Jeremy Clements
21. Josh Bilicki
22. Dean Thompson
23. Jeb Burton
24. Harrison Burton
25. Garrett Smithley
26. Austin Hill
27. Patrick Staropoli
28. Blaine Perkins
29. Luke Baldwin
30. Austin Green
31. Josh Williams
32. Ryan Ellis
33. Joey Gase
34. Brad Perez
35. Kyle Sieg
36. Lavar Scott
37. Myatt Snider
38. Ross Chastain

The 2026 NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 28, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM.