Justin Allgaier doubled down with another victory in the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. His latest one occurred in the NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 28.
The 2024 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion from Riverton, Illinois, led three times for a race-high 114 of 250-scheduled laps at Martinsville. He was awarded the pole position due to qualifying being washed out by Mother Nature. After cruising to the first stage victory, Allgaier spent the majority of the event preserving his entry. He also executed the pit strategies that enabled him to keep him in contention.
After returning atop the leaderboard with 90 laps remaining, Allgaier claimed the lead for the third and final time during a restart with 25 laps remaining from his teammate Lee Pulliam. Through three additional caution periods and on-track incidents, Allgaier managed to fend off his competition and fellow JR Motorsports teammates. He became the first three-time race winner in the series this season, notching another victory at Martinsville.
On-track qualifying was canceled due to rain. The event’s starting lineup was determined through a qualifying metric formula from the NASCAR rule book. As a result, Justin Allgaier, winner of last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway, was awarded the pole position. He shared the front row with teammate Rajah Caruth.
Before the event, Ross Chastain dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet entry.
When the green flag waved, Justin Allgaier muscled ahead of teammate Rajah Caruth and the field through the first two turns. With the clean air working to his advantage in the early stages, Allgaier maintained the lead. He transitioned from the outside to the inside lane, exiting the backstretch before cycling back to lead the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Allgaier maintained a steady lead. Teammate Caruth fended off Crews to maintain the runner-up spot. Behind, Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones followed suit in the top five. Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil fiercely engaged in a side-by-side battle for sixth place in front of Parker Retzlaff.
As Jones started to battle Creed for fourth place, Kvapil prevailed in his battle for sixth place over Love. Retzlaff maintained eighth place in front of Corey Day and newcomer Lee Pulliam. Meanwhile, Allgaier led by six-tenths of a second over Caruth and eight-tenths of a second over third-place Crews by the Lap 10 mark.
Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Allgaier stretched his early advantage to more than a second over both Caruth and Jones. As Jones challenged Caruth for the runner-up spot, Crews and Creed raced in the top five. Kvapil, Retzlaff, Day, Love and Sammy Smith followed in the top-10.
Pulliam, William Sawalich, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Sam Mayer, Taylor Gray, Brennan Poole, Nick Sanchez, Jeremy Clements and Dean Thompson trailed in the top 20. Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Austin Hill, Blaine Perkins and newcomer Andrew Patterson were mired in the top 25, respectively. By then, newcomer Luke Baldwin occupied 29th place in front of Ross Chastain.
Twelve laps later, the event’s first caution flew. Luke Baldwin, who was battling Lavar Scott for 30th place, locked up his brakes and veered sideways entering Turn 3. As a result, he spun backwards and collided on the driver’s left side against the Turn 3 outside wall.
Scott damaged the rear end of his entry as he slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting Baldwin’s wrecked entry. During the first caution period, several drivers pitted. They included Retzlaff, Day, Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Gray, Jeb Burton, Austin Hill and Blaine Perkins pitted. The rest, led by Allgaier, remained on the track.
The event restarted on Lap 43. Allgaier opted to restart on the inside lane. He then motored away from the rest of the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Allgaier led the next lap over Jones, Caruth battled Crews and Creed for third place. Sammy Smith and Kvapil tried to reel in the latter three for top-five spots. Amid the battles around the track, including three-wide action within the mid-pack region, Allgaier continued to lead. He stretched that lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Jones by the Lap 50 mark.
On Lap 56, the event’s second caution flew. Garrett Smithley, racing in the top-25 mark, spun through Turns 3 and 4 after he was bumped by Blaine Perkins. Smithley’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution. As a result, Allgaier cruised to his third O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Jones settled in second ahead of Caruth. Crews, Creed, Sammy Smith, Anthony Alfredo, Kvapil, Love and William Sawalich were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, a majority of the field, led by Allgaier, pitted for the first time. Day, who was among a handful of competitors who pitted on Lap 37, remained on the track, inheriting the lead. Others who remained on the track included Mayer, Jeb Burton Pulliam, Gray, Patterson, Staropoli, Hill, Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and Smithley. During the pit stops, Jones managed to exit pit road first, ahead of teammate Crews and Allgaier.
The second stage period started on Lap 71 as Day and Mayer occupied the front row. They briefly dueled for the lead through the first two turns. Day then used the inside lane to motor ahead through the backstretch. As the field fanned out to three lanes, Day cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap.
He was followed by Mayer. Then, Pulliam and Taylor Gray briefly went three-wide with Jeb Burton, who got loose entering the frontstretch. Amid the jumbled-up action within the field, Day proceeded to lead by two-tenths of a second. He was followed by Mayer at the Lap 75 mark. Pulliam, Gray, Jeb Burton, Austin Hill, Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Staropoli and Smithley scored in the top 10, respectively.
Just past the Lap 85 mark, Day extended his lead to more than a second over both Mayer and Pulliam. Gray, Austin Hill, Jeb Burton, Retzlaff and Ryan Sieg trailed in the top eight, respectively. Meanwhile, Allgaier was up into ninth place on his four fresh tires. He was ahead of Smithley, Crews, Jones, Sammy Smith, Creed and Sawalich. Alfredo, Staropoli, Love, Caruth and Kvapil trailed in the top 20, respectively.
Two laps later, the caution returned due to possible fluid coming off of Jeremy Clements’ entry. The damage was due to Clements running into the rear of Sanchez a few laps earlier. It resulted in smoke billowing out of the rear of Clements’ car. He also reported a potential power steering issue amid the front-nose damage. During this latest caution period, some of the drivers pitted. They included Harrison Burton, Nick Sanchez, Lavar Scott, Myatt Snider and Clements. The rest led by Day remained on the track.
As the event restarted on Lap 100, Day motored ahead of Mayer exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns. After maintaining the lead through the backstretch, Day nearly lost his momentum in front of Mayer through Turns 3 and 4. But Day maintained the top spot to lead the next lap over both Mayer and Pulliam. Mayer then gently bumped and moved Day up the track, entering the first turn. This allowed Mayer to zoom ahead with the lead.
On Lap 104, the caution flew due to debris on the track. During the caution, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted. Meanwhile, the rest of the field led by Mayer and including Hill, Gray, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo, Sawalich, Caruth, Ryan Ellis, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider and Joey Gase remained on track.
During the next restart on Lap 112, Austin Hill challenged Mayer in a side-by-side battle for the lead from the outside lane. Using the outside lane and the straightaways, Hill launched ahead. He led the next two laps over Mayer before Mayer muscled ahead by Lap 115. Hill then went beneath Mayer through the backstretch and they went dead even to start the final lap of the second stage period.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Hill managed to motor ahead of Mayer to capture his fourth O’Reilly stage victory of 2026. Mayer settled in second ahead of Gray, Ryan Sieg and Sawalich. Alfredo, Caruth, Harrison Burton, Day and Allgaier were scored in the top 10, respectively. Crews, Love, Kvapil and Creed were 14th to 17th, respectively. Thirty-five of 38 starters were on the lead lap. During the event’s second stage break period, some led by the leader Hill, Mayer, Gray, Ryan Sieg, Sawalich, Alfredo and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Caruth remained on the track.
With 120 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Caruth and Harrison Burton occupied the front row. At the start, the latter two dueled in front of Day and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Amid the side-by-side battle, Caruth managed to muscle ahead and lead the next lap over Burton. Another two laps later, the caution returned. Retzlaff, racing three-wide with Creed and Staropoli, was bumped by Staropoli and was sent spinning towards the outside lane.
The next restart, with 112 laps remaining, only lasted for four laps due to a two-car incident that involved Staropoli and Kyle Sieg spinning through the first two turns. During the restart, Caruth mirrored his move from the previous restart by maintaining a narrow lead over Harrison Burton, but he surrendered the lead during this recent caution period to pit. Jones, Pulliam, the Sieg brothers and Staropoli also pitted while the rest, led by Harrison Burton, remained on the track.
As Harrison Burton led the field to the next restart with 101 laps remaining, he was shoved by Allgaier entering the first turn. Burton managed to fend off both Allgaier and Day entering the backstretch and he proceeded to lead the next lap. As Burton slowly began to motor ahead with the lead, Allgaier overtook Day for second place with 99 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Love battled and overtook Sammy Smith for fourth place.
With 90 laps remaining, Allgaier used the inside lane exiting the backstretch to get beneath Harrison Burton and assume the lead entering the frontstretch. Allgaier then spent the next six laps extending his lead to more than a second over both Burton and Day while Love, Crews, Kvapil, Austin Green, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith and Creed followed suit, respectively. Meanwhile, Caruth was mired in 26th behind Ryan Sieg. Pulliam was in 22nd and Jones was in 24th, while Mayer was racing in 13th behind Hill.
With 70 laps remaining, the caution flew as Ryan Ellis spun in Turn 2. During the caution period, the top-18 competitors led by Allgaier along with Andrew Patterson, Brad Perez and Lavar Scott, pitted while the rest led by Pulliam and including Jones, Caruth, Staropoli and Ryan Sieg remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Allgaier exited pit road ahead of Crews, Kvapil, Day, Love and Harrison Burton.
The next restart, with 62 laps remaining, only lasted for eight laps. This was due to Brad Perez and Smithley spinning in Turns 3 and 4 after both made contact against one another and igniting a stack-up that damaged the entries of Retzlaff, Sanchez and Taylor Gray. Before Perez’s incident and amid a flurry of on-track bumps and late jostling for positions, Pulliam, who had led since the restart, retained the lead.
During the next restart with 48 laps remaining, Pulliam received a big bump from teammate Allgaier to launch ahead through the frontstretch with the lead. As Pulliam motored away with the lead, Caruth was briefly challenged by Allgaier and Day through the backstretch. However, he maintained the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Day overtook Allgaier for third place while Jones tried to reel in from fifth place. Day spent the next five laps reeling in on Caruth when he made a move beneath Caruth, dueled with him through the backstretch and claimed the runner-up spot. Allgaier followed suit and moved to third while Caruth dropped to fourth in front of Sammy Smith and Kvapil. Amid the battles that involved his teammates, Pulliam was leading by more than a second with 40 laps remaining.
Following another caution with 34 laps remaining due to Nick Sanchez wrecking through Turns 3 and 4, the following restart with 25 laps remaining featured Pulliam fumbling to launch from the inside lane. This allowed Allgaier to duel with the latter for a full lap as Allgaier managed to lead the next lap. Allgaier muscled ahead of Pullliam through the backstretch. Pulliam was pressured by Day, Sammy Smith and Kvapil. Amid the bumps, the caution flew with 23 laps remaining when Ross Chastain spun through the backstretch.
The next restart with 17 laps remaining did not last long as Pulliam struggled to launch for a second time, this time from the outside lane. This resulted in him being T-boned in the rear by teammate, Kvapil, and a 19-car pileup erupting through the frontstretch. The carnage blocked the entire frontstretch, causing a red flag period of 26 minutes. Several drivers, including Kvapil, Austin Green, Jeb Burton, Andrew Patterson and Josh Williams, were knocked out of contention. Amid the chaos, Allgaier maintained the lead over Day and Sammy Smith while Pulliam managed to continue in fourth place.
When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, the event restarted under green with 12 laps remaining. At the start, Allgaier motored ahead from the inside lane while Day slightly struggled to launch from the outside lane. This allowed Sammy Smith to draw alongside Day and both battled for second while Allgaier led the next lap. Shortly after, the caution flew due to Sawalich spinning in Turn 2. By then, Pulliam’s entry was smoking due to a left-front tire rub, but the driver opted to remain on the track.
During the next restart with five laps remaining, Allgaier fended off Day and Sammy Smith through the first two turns and the backstretch, with Allgaier leading the next lap. Allgaier maintained a steady lead over the next two laps while Day and Sammy Smith dueled for second place in front of Creed and Pulliam.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained in the lead ahead of Day, Sammy Smith, Creed and Pulliam. After maintaining the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch, Allgaier’s road to victory was solidified after teammate Caruth spun, which drew a race-ending caution. As a result, Allgaier cycled back to the frontstretch and cautiously took the checkered flag under reduced pace.
With the victory, Allgaier notched his 31st NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career victory, which moves him into a tie with Jack Ingram for sixth place on the all-time wins list. He also achieved his third victory of the 2026 season, his second at Martinsville and his first win at the historic racetrack in the spring.
“I keep saying it and I keep talking about how great this team is,” Allgaier said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “We have fired off 2026 better than I could have ever imagined. So proud of the race cars we brought to the race track and all of our partners. I said it last week, you get later on into your career, you never know if you’ll ever win another one and to do it the way we’ve done this year has been pretty special.”
Corey Day, who led 37 laps, managed to edge Sammy Smith at the moment of caution to achieve a career-best runner-up result. Sheldon Creed claimed fourth place while Lee Pulliam, who led 40 laps, notched a strong fifth-place result in his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut. Following his stellar top-five result, Pulliam, who apologized for igniting the multi-car accident on the frontstretch, fought back tears of joy as he soaked in his first opportunity in racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driving for JR Motorsports.
“Just so thankful to be here and do this,” Pulliam said. “It was just a dream come true day. [The crew] gave me such an awesome race car. What a dream come true to drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr. [The] Whole experience has been pretty special for me. Something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. Just thankful for everybody that led to this moment. I hope I made you fans proud leading all those laps. It was super cool, driving away. Just wished I could’ve gotten going on restarts a little better. If we ever get another chance to do this, I’ll learn from my mistakes and just come back stronger.”
Austin Hill, Dean Thompson, Ross Chastain, Ryan Sieg and Brent Crews completed the top 10 in the fina running order. Notably, Jesse Love, Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones and Sam Mayer finished 12th, 13th, 18th and 23rd while Rajah Caruth dropped to 25th following his last-lap incident.
There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The event featured 14 cautions for 153 laps. In addition, 25 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the seventh event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the standings by 92 points over Jesse Love, 116 over Sheldon Creed, 122 over Austin Hill, and 139 over Carson Kvapil.
Results:
- Justin Allgaier, Stage 1 winner, 114 laps led
- Corey Day, 37 laps led
- Sammy Smith
- Sheldon Creed
- Lee Pulliam, 40 laps led
- Austin Hill, Stage 2 winner, nine laps led
- Dean Thompson
- Ross Chastain
- Ryan Sieg
- Brent Crews
- Parker Retzlaff
- Jesse Love
- Taylor Gray
- Brennan Poole
- Anthony Alfredo
- Patrick Staropoli
- Blaine Perkins
- Brandon Jones, one lap led
- Myatt Snider
- William Sawalich
- Brad Perez
- Lavar Scott
- Sam Mayer, 14 laps led
- Joey Gase
- Rajah Caruth, 18 laps led
- Harrison Burton, two laps down, 17 laps led
- Garrett Smithley, eight laps down
- Carson Kvapil – OUT, Accident
- Austin Green – OUT, Accident
- Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident
- Andrew Patterson – OUT, Accident
- Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
- Nick Sanchez – OUT, Accident
- Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident
- Josh Bilicki, 45 laps down
- Ryan Ellis – OUT, Brakes
- Jeremy Clements – OUT, Oil Cooler
- Luke Baldwin – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina, for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 4, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM.
