Smith Wins Again at Talladega!
LINCOLN, A.L. - Sammy Smith found victory lane back-to-back days at Talladega Superspeedway as he picked up his first NASCAR O'Reilly Autoparts Series win of the season in The Progress Group 250. Unlike the day prior, Smith only needed to lead one lap to win the race, and with the win made it four consecutive seasons with a win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The race started with points leader Jesse Love on the pole as his Richard Childress Racing Chevorlet showed excellent speed yet again at Talladega. The issue for Love though was the numbers game, as it became evidently clear to start the race, the JR Motorsports cars were determined to work together effectively.
On lap two, Carson Kvapil took the lead and the JR Motorsports cars trained the high line, as Kvapil was aided by teammates Rajah Caruth and Justin Allgaier.
As the stage went on, the bottom lane fizzled out and Love fell backwards. Only on the last lap of the stage was there an attempt at a contention of Kvapil, as Sheldon Creed attempted a run. But JR Motorsports was too strong as Kvapil, Caruth, Allgaier, and Hendrick Motorsports alliance Corey Day beat Creed to the line.
Things did not change much in stage two as the race got strung out fairly quickly. A slow stop for Carson Kvapil cost him the lead, but he was able to briefly recover until Austin Hill grabbed the lead on lap 42. This shuffled Kvapil back behind his teammate Justin Allgaier ultimately, and while the bottom lane dissolved, Allgaier held on to win stage two with help from Kvapil and Sammy Smith.
The first and only caution for incident came on lap 57 as Harrison Burton and Taylor Gray tangled in a three wide scenario causing Gray to go for a spin also collecting Austin Hill.
Gray was unable to recover further than 21st from the spin, while Austin Hill ran on the cusp of the top ten late before cutting down a tire and finishing the race 35th, two laps down.
Only one more caution came out on lap 74, as there was debris in turn one. The yellow though didn't change things at all for JR Motorsports.
On lap 79 the race went back green, and the JR Motorsports cars all elected the outside lane for the restart staying organized. Carson Kvapil yet again controlled the lead, but there was a buffer to their third car as Sam Mayer was able to sneak in front of Justin Allgaier placing himself third in line.
To everyone's surprise, the field stayed single file until the final lap of the race. Into turn one, Mayer made a move to the inside finding himself left out with no help.
This allowed Allgaier to close to the bumper of Sammy Smith, who found himself with a huge run. Entering turn three, Smith dove to the inside and found help in Jesse Love. Kvapil raced as hard as he could side-by-side with his JRM teammate, but Sammy Smith's momentum was the difference maker securing him the win.
OTHER NOTES:
Opting to push Sammy Smith was perhaps a championship saving move for Jesse Love, as entering the backstretch on the final lap, Love found himself in 6th. With his dive to the inside, Love ended up finishing 3rd, beating Justin Allgaier, and also prevented Kvapil from gaining an extra 20 points on the lead.
As a result of the move, Justin Allgaier leaves Talladega -19 points out of the championship lead to Love, who saw his deficit get cut due to not earning stage points. As for Kvapil, he finds himself in a practical must-win the last two races as he leaves Talladega -59 points off of Love, 5th in the championship standings.
Lastly, it would not be a race at Talladega without some noteworthy performances!
Blaine Perkins earned his best finish of the season with a 7th place effort and his second top ten of the season. Dean Thompson continued his strong momentum as he finished 8th, earning his sixth top ten of the season, and his third top ten finish in the last six races. For Thompson it's been an incredible run during the Chase as his worst finish since Darlington was 16th at Las Vegas.
Mason Maggio had arguably the strongest performance of his career, as Maggio finished 12th for DGM Racing. Maggio found himself running inside the top 15 for majority of the day. While it was not his season best finish, Mason proved his strength at Superspeedway racing and will try to capitalize off the momentum to close the season.
Nick Leitz also finished 15th for Young's Motorsports which was his best finish in his three appearances in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026.
UP NEXT:
The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate race, as Justin Allgaier will attempt to regain the championship lead and complete the sweep of the Martinsville Clocks. Coverage of the race can be found on the CW, ESPN +, and MRN with the green flag slated for 4:00 P.M. ET!
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