The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series leaves the tight corners of Sonoma Raceway and heads back to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019, returning to a 1.5‑mile oval that has aged into one of the most abrasive, unforgiving surfaces on the schedule. The track hasn’t seen a repave in twenty‑three years, and the falloff it produces is among the highest of any intermediate.
Drivers who excel at throttle control and long‑run discipline usually rise here, while those who chase early speed often pay for it later. Justin Allgaier arrives in Joliet with a commanding 207‑point lead over Jesse Love, the largest margin held by any driver this season. Allgaier’s numbers tell the story of a veteran in complete control: four wins, twelve top tens, and an average finish of 7.8 through nineteen races.
He’s also one of the few drivers in the field with meaningful Chicagoland experience, owning a win and six top‑ten finishes at the track. Love enters with three wins and eight top fives, but he has never raced here in O’Reilly competition and will be learning the surface in real time. His average finish of 10.9 and 341 laps led this season show he’s capable of keeping pace, but the gap he’s trying to close is steep.
The thirty‑eight‑car entry list includes three Cup Series regulars who immediately shift the competitive balance. Connor Zilisch returns to JR Motorsports equipment with two O’Reilly wins and an average finish of 9.4 this season. Chase Elliott makes his fourth O’Reilly start of 2026, carrying an average finish of 5.3 and a runner‑up at Charlotte.
Cole Custer, the most recent Chicagoland winner, enters with one win, six top tens, and an 11.7 average finish. His 151 laps led in the 2019 Joliet race remain the most recent benchmark for attacking this surface. The field itself is a blend of youth and experience. Fourteen drivers are thirty or older, while seventeen are twenty‑five or younger, including nine rookies.
Brent Crews, at eighteen, is the youngest competitor and brings an average finish of 14.2 into his first Chicagoland start. JJ Yeley, at forty‑nine, is the oldest and carries more than 350 national‑series starts into the weekend. JR Motorsports leads all organizations with six entries, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing with four and Jordan Anderson Racing and RSS Racing with three each. The average age of the grid is 27.4, and five drivers in the field are twenty or younger.
Chicagoland’s worn surface will dictate strategy from the opening lap. The preferred groove typically moves toward the wall as rubber builds up, and the average green‑flag run during the last O’Reilly race here was 28.4 laps. Under full green conditions, teams expect a four‑stop race, with tire conservation determining who can maintain pace over the final thirty‑lap stretches.
The track’s average speed during the 2019 event was 142.7 mph, and the winning margin was just 1.3 seconds, a reminder that even on a surface this abrasive, the closing laps tend to tighten. For Allgaier, the weekend offers a chance to extend a season already defined by control. For Love, it’s an opportunity to chip away at a deficit that has grown steadily since early spring.
Custer returns as the defending winner, while Zilisch and Elliott have the potential to disrupt the championship picture entirely. Rising prospects such as Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, and William Sawalich enter with average finishes of 12.1, 10.4, and 9.8, respectively, making all three legitimate threats on a track that rewards patience and punishes overreach.
Fans can watch the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series return to Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on The CW, with radio coverage from MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The broadcast team will have plenty to dissect as drivers tackle one of the most abrasive 1.5‑mile surfaces on the schedule. With the championship picture tightening and several Cup Series stars in the field, this race has the potential to reshape the momentum of the entire summer stretch.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Chicagoland Speedway
Full Entry List
(i) indicates any driver ineligible for earning season and/or playoff points
- 1. Sheldon Creed — No. 00 — Haas Factory Team
- 2. Cole Custer (i) — No. 0 — SS GreenLight Racing
- 3. Connor Zilisch (i) — No. 1 — JR Motorsports
- 4. Jesse Love — No. 2 — Richard Childress Racing
- 5. Ryan Ellis — No. 02 — Young’s Motorsports
- 6. Justin Allgaier — No. 7 — JR Motorsports
- 7. Josh Bilicki — No. 07 — SS GreenLight Racing
- 8. Sammy Smith — No. 8 — JR Motorsports
- 9. Carson Kvapil — No. 9 — JR Motorsports
- 10. Corey Day — No. 17— Hendrick Motorsports
- 11. William Sawalich — No. 18 — Joe Gibbs Racing
- 12. Brent Crews — No. 19 — Joe Gibbs Racing
- 13. Brandon Jones — No. 20 — Joe Gibbs Racing
- 14. Austin Hill — No. 21 — Richard Childress Racing
- 15. Harrison Burton — No. 24 — Sam Hunt Racing
- 16. Dean Thompson — No. 26 — Sam Hunt Racing
- 17. Jeb Burton — No. 27 — Jordan Anderson Racing
- 18. Kyle Sieg — No. 28 — RSS Racing
- 19. Blaine Perkins — No. 31 — Jordan Anderson Racing
- 20. Rajah Caruth — No. 32 — Jordan Anderson Racing
- 21. J.J. Yeley — No. 38 — RSS Racing
- 22. Ryan Sieg — No. 39 — RSS Racing
- 23. Sam Mayer — No. 41 — Haas Factory Team
- 24. Garrett Smithley — No. 42 — Young’s Motorsports
- 25. Brennan Poole — No. 44 — Alpha Prime Racing
- 26. Lavar Scott — No. 45 — Alpha Prime Racing
- 27. Dawson Cram — No. 47 — Mike Harmon Racing
- 28. Patrick Staropoli — No. 48 — Big Machine Racing
- 29. Jeremy Clements — No. 51 — Jeremy Clements Racing
- 30. Tyler Tomassi — No. 53 — Joey Gase Motorsports
- 31. Taylor Gray — No. 54 — Joe Gibbs Racing
- 32. Joey Gase — No. 55 — Joey Gase Motorsports
- 33. Nicholas Sanchez — No.87 — Peterson Racing Group
- 34. Chase Elliott (i) — No. 88 — JR Motorsports
- 35. Myatt Snider — No. 91 — DGM Racing X JIM.
- 36. Leland Honeyman (i) — No. 92 — DGM Racing X JIM
- 37. Anthony Alfredo — No. 96 — Viking Motorsports
- 38. Parker Retzlaff — No. 99 — Viking Motorsports
Comments