Jesse Love’s championship defense in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division is officially on after he maxed out on a dominant victory in the Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, October 17, and stormed back atop the Chase standings.
The reigning O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion from Menlo Park, California, led nine times for a race-high 156 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified on pole position and led all but eight of the first 45 laps within the first stage period before he won the period. Despite being outdueled by Justin Allgaier at the start of the second stage period, Love reeled in and reassumed the lead from Allgaier towards the Lap 75 mark before the former proceeded to win the latter stage period.
The start of the third and final stage period had Love briefly being outdueled by Corey Day before a quick caution period that followed suit along with the next restart with 94 laps remaining allowed Love to battle his way back to the lead. Then following a late cycle of green flag pit stops that commenced with less than 50 laps remaining and a late caution period that flew with nearly 40 laps remaining, Love capitalized on the ensuing restart with 35 laps remaining to maintain the top spot. He then fended off a late charge from Sam Mayer and navigated his way through lapped traffic to secure his second consecutive victory at the desert state in the fall and assume the points lead, with back-to-back championship opportunities three races away from being achieved.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Jesse Love secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 131.694 mph in 27.336 seconds. Brandon Jones qualified in second place with a lap at 130.548 mph in 27.576 seconds.
Prior to the event, Garrett Smithley and Brad Perez dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries. Sam Mayer and Joey Gase also dropped to the rear of the field due to engine changes along with Harrison Burton, the latter of whom was due to a backup car.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg before navigating through the first two turns. At the front, pole-sitter Jesse Love maintained a steady command through the backstretch and he fended off Brandon Jones through the final set of turns to lead the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Love led by as high as two-tenths of a second over Jones while Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray and William Sawalich followed suit in single-line formation and in the top-five mark, respectively. Behind, Rajah Caruth maintained sixth place in front of a host of competitors (Chase contenders and non-Chase contenders) battling from the top 10 and top-20 marks. Amid the early battles and shuffling around the circuit, Love extended his early lead by up to a second at the Lap 10 mark.
Through the Lap 15 mark, Love continued to extend his early lead as he was leading by two seconds over Jones while Creed, Gray, Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Caruth, Carson Kvapil, Brent Crews and Corey Day occupied top-10 spots over Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Clements, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg, respectively. By then, all but one of the 12 Chasers were racing in the top-15 mark while Parker Retzlaff, the lowest-running Chaser on the track, was mired in 19th place.
Love proceeded to lead by three seconds on Lap 20 before the caution flew two laps later due to rain falling on the track. During the event’s first caution period, select names that included Jones, Ryan Sieg, Nick Sanchez, Connor Mosack, Ryan Ellis, Andrew Patterson and Garrett Smithley pitted for wet-weathered tires while the rest led by Love remained on the track.
When the weather cleared and the event resumed on Lap 31, Love dueled with Creed in front of a stacked field through the frontstretch until Creed used the outside lane to motor his No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Love and lead the next lap. As Creed led Love, Caruth and Allgaier, the field fanned out as a host of on-track battles ensued, with Kvapil and Sammy Smith trailing in the top-six mark, respectively. While Mayer and Hill battled for ninth place, Day, who made contact with the Turn 2 wall after he got loose amid contact with Crews, had slipped to 16th place in front of Retzlaff and Jones was mired in 35th place while Creed led by three-tenths of a second over Love by Lap 35. Teammates Allgaier and Smith proceeded to overtake teammate Caruth for third and fourth on the track and Mayer motored his way up to seventh place while Love reeled in on Creed for the lead on Lap 40.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Love, who reassumed the lead from Creed on Lap 40, captured his fifth O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Creed followed suit in second place by nine-tenths of a second while Allgaier, Caruth, Sammy Smith, Mayer, Kvapil, Clements, Taylor Gray and Day were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, nine of 12 Chase contenders (Love, Creed, Allgaier, Caruth, Smith, Mayer, Gray and Day) racked up the event’s first round of stage points while the remaining Chasers that include Austin Hill, Retzlaff and Jones, the latter of whom was lapped after he plummeted on wet-weathered tires, were mired in 11th, 17th and 37th, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, the field led by Love pitted, and Love retained the lead by exiting pit road first ahead of Allgaier, Caruth, Gray, Sammy Smith, Mayer, Kvapil, Day, Clements and Hill, respectively. Prior to the pit stops, Creed fell off the pace when he tried to re-fire his engine from shutting it off to save fuel. Once he pitted, Creed’s pit crew went under the hood to diagnose the power issue and he lost three laps in the process.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Love and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, the latter two dueled through the frontstretch’s dogleg and in front of a stacked field until Allgaier, who restarted on the inside lane, motored his No. 7 Registix Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead and cycle back to the frontstretch to lead the next lap. As Allgaier led the event, Gray occupied third place in front of a battle for fourth place between Sammy Smith, Caruth and Day while Mayer was fighting to retain seventh place from Hill. As both Mayer and Hill started to reel in on Smith, Day and Caruth for fourth place, Allgaier led by two-tenths of a second over Love by Lap 60.
At the Lap 70 mark, Allgaier retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Love while Gray, Day and Mayer occupied the remaining top-five spots ahead of Caruth, Sammy Smith, Hill, Thompson and Kvapil, respectively. Meanwhile, Jones carved his way up to 24th place and Retzlaff was racing in 12th place while Creed was mired three laps down in 37th place.
At the front, Love battled Allgaier for the lead during and past the Lap 70 mark. Amid Love’s attempts to reel in, briefly overtake and slide in front of Allgaier, the latter fought back as the duo battled back and forth over the next three laps. Then by Lap 74, Love used the outside lane to clear Allgaier through the first two turns and have both lanes under his control for the next lap. Love’s advantage then slightly increased up to seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier on Lap 80 as Gray, Day and Mayer continued to pursue in the top five, respectively.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Love, who sustained right-rear quarter panel damage after he hit the wall a few laps earlier, captured his second consecutive O’Reilly stage victory of the event and his sixth of the 2026 season. Allgaier, Gray, Day, Mayer, Caruth, Sammy Smith, Kvapil, Hill and Thompson followed suit in the top 10, respectively. With nine of 12 Chasers (Love, Allgaier, Gray, Day, Mayer, Caruth, Smith, Kvapil and Hill) racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Chasers that include Retzlaff, Jones and Creed were mired in 13th, 22nd and 37th, respectively.
During the event’s second stage break period, the lead lap field led by Love returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Love retained the lead by exiting pit road first while Day and Sawalich, the latter of whom pitted for two tires, followed suit ahead of Smith and Allgaier. Not long after, Gray was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation and Hill was penalized for speeding on pit road. Both Chasers were sent to the tail end of the field as penalties.
With 100 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Love and Day occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns as Day used the outside lane to assume command from Love. Seconds before Day cycled back to the frontstretch to lead the next lap, the caution returned due to teammates Brennan Poole and Lavar Scott along with Gray wrecking through the backstretch.
The event’s next restart with 94 laps remaining featured Love gaining a brief advantage from the inside lane through the frontstretch and the first two turns before Day fought back on the outside lane. With the latter two dueling for the lead, Day briefly prevailed for the next two laps before Love returned back atop the leaderboard with 91 laps remaining. As Love proceeded to lead with 90 laps remaining, Mayer overtook Allgaier for third place while Sammy Smith and Kvapil occupied fifth and sixth in front of Ryan Sieg, Sawalich, Thompson, Jones and Crews.
Down to the final 85 laps, Love extended his late lead up by nearly two seconds over Day and while both third-place Mayer and fourth-place Allgaier trailed by two seconds apiece. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith retained fifth place ahead of teammate Kvapil while Ryan Sieg, Sawalich, Thompson and Crews raced in the top 10 ahead of Jones, Caruth, Clements, Patrick Staropoli and Jeb Burton, respectively. Hill and Gray were mired in 17th and 30th, respectively, amid their late pit road issues and Creed was still mired three laps down in 37th place while Love stretched his late lead up to two seconds over both Day and Mayer with 80 laps remaining.
As the event reached its final 70-lap mark, Love’s advantage increased by three seconds over Mayer, the latter of whom outdueled Day for the runner-up spot eight laps earlier, while third-place Day trailed by nearly five seconds. Teammates Allgaier, Kvapil and Sammy Smith retained fourth through sixth on the track while the next set of Chasers that include Caruth, Jones, Hill and Retzlaff were mired in 11th, 12th, 16th and 17th, respectively. By then, Gray lost a lap to the leaders as Love continued to lead by more than two seconds over Mayer with 60 laps remaining. Behind, Day was pressured by Allgaier and Kvapil for third place while Love stabilized his lead by more than two seconds over Mayer with 50 laps remaining.
Then with 49 laps remaining, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Kvapil and Hill pitted their respective Chevrolet entries. Teammates Allgaier and Smith along with Thompson and Jones pitted a lap later before the leader Love along with Mayer, Day, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo and Blaine Perkins pitted during the next lap (47 laps remaining). As more names that included Crews, Sawalich, Caruth, Nick Sanchez, Clements, Staropoli and Brad Perez pitted over the next trio of laps, Love had blended back on the track ahead of Mayer, Day, Allgaier, Kvapil and Smith while a handful of names led by Retzlaff had yet to pit.
Then with 41 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Poole being involved in his second incident of the event, this time for spinning by himself through the bottom of the first two turns and the early portions of the backstretch’s inside wall. At the time of caution, Retzlaff and Harrison Burton, both of whom have yet to pit, occupied the top-two spots while Love had carved his way up to third place. During this caution period, select names led by Retzlaff and Burton pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track, which enabled Love to cycle back as the leader.
During the next restart with 35 laps remaining, Love fended off Mayer through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns to retain the lead. Love led the following lap over Mayer, Allgaier and Day while Kvapil was fending off Sawalich, teammate Sammy Smith and Jones for fifth place. Behind, Caruth battled Thompson for ninth place as both Retzlaff and Harrison Burton battled for 11th place. With teammates Smith and Kvapil dueling for fifth place, Love led by half a second in his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro entry over Mayer’s No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet Camaro entry with 30 laps remaining.
Down to the final 25 laps, Love’s advantage decreased to four-tenths of a second over Mayer while third-place Allgaier and fourth-place Day trailed by one and three seconds, respectively. Amid Mayer’s late charge by reducing Love’s advantage by as low as a tenth of a second, Love slightly grew his advantage up to six-tenths of a second with 20 laps remaining before the advantage slightly shrunk down to four-tenths of a second five laps later. By then, Allgaier, Day and Smith trailed in the top five by as far back as six seconds while Jones, Thompson, Sawalich, Caruth and Kvapil rounded out the top 10, respectively.
With 10 laps remaining, Love stabilized his lead by four-tenths of a second over Mayer as Allgaier, Day, Sammy Smith and Jones all trailed the lead by single digits, with the rest trailing by double digits. Amid lapped traffic, Love continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Mayer through the final five-lap mark before the former had more lapped traffic and Mayer charging from behind to manage as the laps dwindled.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Love remained in the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Mayer. Through the first two turns, Mayer started to reel in on Love for a final lap charge, but the latter maintained his steady advantage through the backstretch. Mayer then reeled in to Love’s rear bumper and bumped into the latter’s rear through Turns 3 and 4 amid his charge. With the contact sending both up the track, Love managed to remain in front of Mayer and edge Mayer by a tenth of a second amid Mayer’s crossover attempt to score the victory.
With the victory, Love notched his fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career win in his 95th series’ start, his second at Phoenix Raceway and his second of the 2026 season. Love’s Phoenix victory was also the 27th of this year’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season for Chevrolet and the fourth for Richard Childress Racing, with the organization also achieving its fifth O’Reilly victory at Phoenix.
Above all, Love, who entered Phoenix with a two-point deficit to Sheldon Creed, vaulted himself atop the Chase standings as he cashed in by winning all three stages, including the overall race victory at Phoenix. The Californian leads the standings by 36 points with three-scheduled races remaining on the schedule and a second consecutive championship within sight.
“Honestly, I felt like [Mayer’s team] were a little better than we were at the end,” Love said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I was having to just drive a lot over the tire to make any sort of lap time. I’ll yell at [crew chief] Danny [Stockman] for not freeing me up more later, but it’s OK. I’m grateful to the good Lord above for putting great people behind me and grateful to get another [win] for [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines]. It’s been a tough year for us, so grateful just to be in this situation to win races. Just proud of this whole group. I’ve learned from a lot of mistakes that allow me to execute at a high level and a track like this I’ve been here feels like a million times. [I] Try to learn something new every lap and try to learn something new every weekend. I know last year, I got a lot of boos, but I appreciate the cheers this time.”
Sam Mayer, who qualified in 35th place, made a strong rally to settle in the runner-up spot for his highest-finishing result of this season and for his seventh top-five result of the 2026 O’Reilly season. Mayer’s runner-up result kept the Wisconsin native in sixth place in the Chase standings despite having his points deficit grow to 86. Amid the disappointment of falling short in claiming his first victory of this season, Mayer termed his late battle with Love “fun” as he looks ahead to the remaining three events on this year’s schedule, including next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, to reel in on his deficit and contend for his first series’ title.
“It just came down to who made a mistake and who didn’t,” Mayer said. “Honestly, neither of us really made one. Good job to [Love]. He drove a great race. We definitely pressured him the whole time. It came down to make a mistake or not, and he executed really well. Really close. Quite the drive. I haven’t had fun this year like that and that was just a lot of fun. It was great racing and hopefully, we put on a show for everybody at home. That’s some pretty big championship implications if we could’ve won that one. [The Chase standings] look pretty ugly for the old No. 41 and honestly, [Creed] too. [I] Kind of had to win that one, but we came up a little bit short. That’s alright.”
Justin Allgaier, who led 18 laps, settled in third place ahead of Corey Day, the latter of whom led seven laps and fell short of winning three consecutive O’Reilly events in the Chase. Despite trailing the points lead by 36 points, Allgaier remained optimistic in maintaining his hopes of achieving a second O’Reilly championship and reeling in the points lead with three-scheduled events remaining.
“There’s a lot of positives from today,” Allgaier said. “It’s a great points day with 52 points earned for the day. We did all the right things, made good adjustments all day. We need to be a little better, but winning races, obviously, does a lot for the points. There’s still a lot of racing left and there’s still three wins out there to go get. We’ll keep digging and it’s not over yet.”
Sammy Smith finished in fifth place while Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth and Carson Kvapil completed the top 10 in the final running order. With eight of 12 Chase contenders (Love, Mayer, Allgaier, Day, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Caruth and Kvapil) finishing in the top 10 at Phoenix, the remaining Chasers that include Parker Retzlaff, Austin Hill, Taylor Gray and Sheldon Creed finished 11th, 15th, 28th and 32nd, respectively.
Like Allgaier, Creed, who had a two-point advantage swing down to a 59-point deficit amid his power issues, looks ahead to the final three events on this year’s schedule to race back atop the Chase standings and contend for his first series’ championship.
“Anything can happen,” Creed said. “Obviously, Talladega [is] next week. I think the mindset changes a little bit and we can be more aggressive and try to go win stages and win the race. I know we’ll be fast at Homestead, so just need to get ourselves back within 25, 30 points before Homestead. Just try to go lead all laps there.”
The sixth O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Chase event of the 2026 season at Phoenix saw 18 lead changes among seven leaders, and five cautions over 35 laps. In addition, 19 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
- Jesse Love, 156 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
- Sam Mayer
- Justin Allgaier, 18 laps led
- Corey Day, seven laps led
- Sammy Smith
- Brandon Jones
- Dean Thompson
- William Sawalich
- Rajah Caruth
- Carson Kvapil
- Parker Retzlaff, nine laps led
- Jeremy Clements, one lap led
- Harrison Burton
- Andrew Patterson
- Austin Hill
- Jeb Burton
- Anthony Alfredo
- Ryan Ellis
- Lavar Scott
- Brent Crews, one lap down, one lap led
- Patrick Staropoli, one lap down
- Nick Sanchez, one lap down
- Ryan Sieg, one lap down
- Blaine Perkins, one lap down
- Kyle Sieg, one lap down
- Josh Williams, one lap down
- Brad Perez, one lap down
- Taylor Gray, one lap down
- Will Rodgers, two laps down
- Connor Mosack, two laps down
- Garrett Smithley, two laps down
- Sheldon Creed, two laps down, eight laps led
- Joey Gase, two laps down
- Leland Honeyman Jr., three laps down
- Brennan Poole, three laps down
- Josh Bilicki – OUT, Brakes
- Dawson Cram – OUT, Fuel Pump
- Jake Finch – OUT, Engine
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
After the sixth Chase event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Jesse Love leads the standings by 36 points over Justin Allgaier, 39 over Corey Day and 59 over Sheldon Creed. The rest of the 12-car Chase field is displayed below.
Chase Standings:
- Jesse Love
- Justin Allgaier -36
- Corey Day -39
- Sheldon Creed -59
- Carson Kvapil -79
- Sam Mayer -86
- Sammy Smith -137
- Taylor Gray -141
- Austin Hill -143
- Parker Retzlaff -173
- Brandon Jones -183
- Rajah Caruth -213
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Chase schedule is Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, for The Progress Group 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM.
