Carson Kvapil Earns First Career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Win at Indianapolis!

Carson Kvapil gets introduced to the fans at Kansas Speedway in the spring of 2026. (Riley Ogle | Motorsports Today)

SPEEDWAY, I.N. - After a week off, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series resumed action, Saturday, July 25 for the Penzoil 250 presented by Take 5 Oil Change at Indianpolis Motorspeedway. After sitting on what could have been at EchoPark Speedway just two weeks ago, Carson Kvapil capitalized in the closing stage to pick up his first career victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

It was Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed who scored the pole and dominated most of the opening stage. Creed led the first 23 laps, opening up nearly a three second lead to the challengers behind, but as the tale of the day went, cars who dominated struggled to stay out in front past the midway point in runs, allowing the leader to get ran down.

For Creed, how he got caught was bad timing with a lap car, causing him to lose time and then be passed by Jeremey Clements, who started the race in 4th and found himself tight in the lead pack in the early stages.

After losing the lead to Clements, Creed over the final 7 laps faded backwards finishing the stage in 7th. As for Clements, once he took control, he gapped the field winning the opening stage by 2.5 seconds.

Unfortunately for Clements the success was brief as he finished Stage Two in 20th, and mechanical problems in the closing laps resulted the #51 with a 37th place effort, the last car left running on the track.

As for Stage Two, it was a similar story in terms of the outcome as it found itself another surprise winner. On lap 54, Garrett Smithley went for spin bringing out a late caution. This allowed teams to play strategy. Opting to take the chance was Dean Thompson of Sam Hunt Racing, and Rajah Caruth, who this week found himself back in the seat of the #32 with Jordan Anderson Racing.

On the lap 58 restart with help from his regular JR Motorsports teammate and 2026 regular season champion Justin Allgaier, Caruth took the lead and led the closing two laps in route to the stage win, earning critical points as he makes a charge for the making The Chase.

Unfortunately for Caruth, similar to Clements, he was unable to purely capitalize on the momentum. Caruth pit under the caution behind on strategy from those around him, causing him to cycle to the back of the lead runners. Caruth never cracked the top 20 after and finished the race in 22nd. Caruth leaves Indianapolis 20 points behind Taylor Gray with just two races left to decide who advances.

THE CLOSING STAGE:

Pit strategy was not as critical as most races at Indianapolis as under the caution the leaders who pit during the lap 54 yellow opted to stay on the track. Justin Allgaier restarted as the leader, but was not the car that took control.

Rather, it was his teammate, cup regular Ross Chastain, who was making his second to last scheduled start with JR Motorsports at the Brickyard.

Chastain led the first 13 laps of the stage, but JR Motorsports domination began to become apparent as the long run speed for the organization started to show. On lap 79, it was Carson Kvapil who passed Chastain after forcing him to make a mistake out of turn two.

Over the final 22 laps, Chastain stayed right in toe, but never posed a threat as Kvapil maintained control. But the race would not end quietly without a challenge.

Further back, Justin Allgaier began his late charge, similar to Jeremy Clements in the opening stage. Allgaier fell to 4th on the restart and found himself at one point nearly four seconds off the lead. On lap 94, Justin passed Ross for 2nd, and with two laps to go, found himself on the bumper of Kvapil battling for the win.

This time for Kvapil, he was unshaken, unrattled, and simply determined. Allgaier tried with all his might to find a run, and force a mistake, but Carson Kvapil was poised enough to not budge. Allgaier made one last charge in turn three of the final lap, but it simply was not enough. Carson Kvapil earned his first O’Reilly win with a statement, also kissing the bricks!

OTHER NOTES:

It was a huge day for William Sawalich in his efforts of getting back in the mix of the postseason, as he tallied 10 stage points during the race as well as a 5th place effort. Sawalich leaves the Brickyard just 7 points behind teammate Taylor Gray, making the trio battle between himself, Gray, and Caruth a must-watch during the final two races.

With the win for Kvapil, it was also huge for standings purposes as he moved up to 2nd in the standings, passing defending series champion Jesse Love. With Daytona still looming, its a four horse race between Kvapil, Love, Creed, and Day for who can get the better seeding.

Lastly, with their 9th and 10th place efforts today, both Brandon Jones and Austin Hill clinched themselves into The Chase along with Allgaier, Kvapil, Love, Creed, and Day, meaning there are just five spots left to be determined.

UP NEXT:

The NASCAR Cup Series main events tomorrow with its pentultimate Crown Jewel race as the series hits the bricks for the Brickyard 400! Green flag is slated for 2:00 P.M. ET and coverage can be found on TNT and Sirius XM. Spire Motorsports impressed yet again Saturday afternoon as Carson Hocevar took earned the pole. Joining alongside him is teammate Daniel Suarez when the green flag displays.