NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Highlights | 2026 Charlotte Motor Speedway

Here we go on cw. Huge jump for the 7. That's why he took the bottle, Jamie. Yeah, exactly. He was able to launch out front. He's going to be able to run wherever he wants through turns one and two. You see those guys three wide. Got a little smoke out of the 32. I don't know if there was contact there. Look at Sam Mayer. We talk about that inside lane. Allgaier jumps out front. Mayer trying to come through. Now 7 dancing around on the outside. Right behind them in the one, Connor Zillich. Allgaier leads the opening lap by that much. Sam Mayer has such a great record here, Charlie. He knows how to get around the racetrack. While there might be a pin to that white line for right now, I can guarantee you they will be chasing this racetrack all the way up to the wall by the end of it. As the run goes on, you do not want to let him get checked out right here. What about the one car right behind him of Connor Zillich? Harrison Burton goes around. Wheeling caution lights are on early. Yeah. If he's asking, if he wasn't clear, he clearly felt contact. That's right. So, you know, that's just, you know, we talked about what advice would you give young guys. One of the things you're going to have when you don't have practice qualifying, you don't have an ability to feel your car out, know what the limits are, and it just seems like we all know rain is somewhat close. You got to find a way to just calm the emotions. Going green. Drivers making their way to the Echo Park automotive restart zone. At bottom, getting that good launch. Oh, Justin, though. Yeah. As long as the 7 can stay there, the 7 isn't actually the preferred lane here in 1 and 2. The most gripped up lane. But Mayer takes that short distance and clears him. Yeah. Justin did a nice job giving him a little bit of room, knowing that he might slide up the racetrack. Three wide. Coming off of turn two. Driving the 88 for junior motorsports. Got some advice from the boss under caution. 21 is Austin Hill. All those patriotic paint schemes. Hard to keep track of who's who. Sam Mayer out front. Like he's adjusted right here. You see him all over the back. Sam Mayer. Yeah. Well, the tires are new. You're able to run lower. Cup, O'Reilly's. That's going to be the preferred route for a couple laps. But as these tires are new, you're able to run lower. see them continue to move up. The first to get speed going up top is the one that's going to go forward. In this race with the same paint scheme. So easy to get confused. Battle for the race lead. Allgaier looking inside of Mayer. The aforementioned Cory day right there with him. Allgaier back on point. This is big. Because we're going to get a competition caution here in another five or six laps. You want to be in control when the caution comes out to lead him down the pit lane. Allgaier is there right now. A little bit loose. He's done a great job learning, Denny. We've seen him over the past year. He has evolved as much as anybody in NASCAR getting better every single week. Yeah. And he said that the mile and a half tracks is where he feels the most comfortable running the high line. So we're seeing that certainly is going to be a factor for him later on in this race. And here's another young driver that's got loads of talent. They're both young, right? I mean, if we're really going to sell it that way. But Connor Zilich, amazing a year ago, jumps to the runner-up spot around Sam Mayer. Classic Charlotte line right there. Who can get lower in the middle of three and four and stay lower along the corner? 19 looks good, seeing this place for the first time. And the 9 of Ross Chastain. So many drivers without the benefit of qualifying had to start deeper in the field maybe than they would have had if we had been able to qualify. But they're starting to make moves here as we work our way toward that competition caution. It's so impressive to me for someone like Brent Cruz who's never been to here, Kansas, all these racetracks. You get no practice and you go out and they figure it out immediately. And I know that simulations come a long ways, but there's nothing like actually being in a car, being in dirty air. As you said, Denny, you drive your way up to the top ten, you get the competition caution. Everything tightens up. You get that little reset to go back out and apply your knowledge. Yeah. And it looks like he's doing about running the bottom very, very effectively. That's going to be key. If he can keep his car running the last, I mean, to drive in that deep and hold the line, especially in three and four here at Charlotte, extremely hard to do. So he's got a fast car, but Ross Chastain's up nine as well. And I've watched him run the very top of one and two. I've seen him on the very bottom of three and four. He's been able to go really anywhere that he wants to on the racetrack and making a lot of ground up. We know the J.R.M. Cars are exceptional at every track, but mile and a half, especially in Ross, having a great run here, able to put that car everywhere that he needs to. He's not looking to make optimum lap time. He's just looking to clear the 20. Not get passed back. That's right. Junior Motorsports great early in the year. Chastain desperately wants to win in that nine car, been unable to do that. I know the relationship with J.R.M. Is good, and he wants to be one of those that gets them a checkered flag. They've done it so frequently the last year and a half. Here's the competition caution. Wheatland caution lights are on. The longer I go, the freer end I get. I'm just too tight. Because of that handling condition. They'll go around and change four tires and add fuel. Don't see any chassis adjustments. Maybe just an air pressure on the one, Kim. For Corey Day, second from the top. He said got tight up high in three and four. Bottling is good early. They won't make any big changes. For just now, he said tight landing both ends. Small air pressure adjustment to those four fresh Goodyear tires. And you see Ross Chastain there at the very bottom of three and four. He said he did have a little bit of left front tire smoke, but the crew chief said it was not anything to worry about. Race off progressive pit road. All Geyer holds serve, Zillich, Day, Jones, Chastain. We brought the cars down the pit lane, and for now, NASCAR is telling the drivers to stay in their cars, which is an optimistic portion of this, but we have seen more precipitation, and that's why we couldn't go back green here after that cycle of stops. At Charlotte, the field is set for the Echo Park restart zone, Echo Park automotive, where car buying is easier, better, and happier. Here we go to end stage one. Zillich does an awesome job right there. Not spinning the tires too much. It looks like that bottom row, though, is hooked up. You see Corey Day giving all Geyer just a little bit of a shove. Outside lane. Three wide. Jesse Love getting with it out there. All Geyer, top spot. Right in his hip pocket, Connor Zillich. Side by side for third. Day gets it. Three wide. In the middle is Cruz. Chastain comes through. Cruz was moving around the back of that car, not very stable as he went across the bumps. Now the battle for the lead. Here comes Zillich to the inside in the one, trying to take it away from all Geyer. Seven wound up in the outside lane. Five to go. Yeah, I watched Connor Zillich say, whoa, he's a little bit loose. He just was able to paint the line a little bit better in three and four, keep his car a little lower, but the 7 car here just has got a little bit too much on that outside. You think about what he's done this year as the championship leader. Just absolutely piling up the stage points, and here he is in position for the victory. Oh, the 7 is loose. But boy, that thing is dancing. Hang on, all Geyer. Here comes Zillich. Justin's car is terrible going through the bumps. You saw it bottoming out. Sparks flying out the back. It's now Corey Day. He's going to use the momentum he has off turn four, going to follow Zillich through. Justin just fighting that car on the outside. Look at the run he's going to have on the exit of turn two right here. I tell you what, these cars are a lot looser than what they were to start the race. Those adjustments that all these teams made after that first pit stop, you're starting to see, could it be a slight over adjustment? Just a little bit there. Justin has done an amazing job of hanging on with a car that just does not look like it's handling very well. You see sparks flying out of both those first two cars as they go through the bumps. All of them trying to get to that line on the bottom where we know the grip is. Zillich, ten wins last year, two this year, and he's got a stage victory at Charlotte. Finishes in front of his teammate. In fact, it's a 1, 2, 3 finish in the opening stage for junior motorsports. We'll find out soon. Here they are in the eco park automotive restart zone. Back to green for stage two. See that outside row stacking up just a little bit. Some of those guys having better tires behind. Lane does a nice job, though, not allowing him to get there, but you see the 31 washing up. The one's going to fill that gap down the backstretch. Four wide. Are you kidding me? Down the back straightaway. involved. You see Brandon Jones right there. Sheldon Creed is the car right behind Brandon Jones. The red and white car almost in the middle of your screen. It's like he realized we don't want to be four wide and tried to get back in line maybe. Slight contact with Brandon Jones spun him around, got him into Brent Crews and that collected Harrison Burton. Hate that for Harrison Burton. It's been a tough year for him. Also the word for Corey Day in the 17 said just a little free when I load right rear hard. You also see Justin Allgaier. No surprise. They are super free. This run, he said, lost a bunch of rear grip, a four-number shift, he said, from the beginning of the race. They did drop the track bar. Rashtashain fired off tight, hit the ground quite a bit, he said, adding tape to the left side as well as air pressure adjustment. Now the race off progressive pit road. Justin Allgaier wins the race off. Plus nine for Austin Hill. Allgaier in charge inside lane as he comes through the echo park automotive restart zone. Austin Hill to his right. Chastain spun him a little bit there. Corey Day, the second car on the inside, has done an awesome job of being able to push that leader multiple times. Look at Austin Hill staying right on the corner panel. Allgaier sliding up the racetrack a little bit. Here comes Zilch on the outside. Chastain outside lane. Hill gets to the lead. Where it's going to be a struggle for the 7 because now he doesn't have that clean air we talked about. It's a huge advantage to have that. He's on a little bit older tires and now he's got some cars in front of him. Fortunately, they're far enough out that, oh, the 7 is super loose right there. Through turns one and two, the car, that balance has not tightened up since we started this stage. Chastain trying to get the top spot away. 9 digging inside. He goes back to the point. So strong a week ago at Dover. Winning a stage after starting on the pole. Number 9 has it in the wind again. I think the 9 probably has the best car. He's come from kind of mid-pack. Oh, look how loose. Oh, Sam Mayer. Wow. I mean, that thing wiggled. Got away. Nothing he could do. The wheel and caution lights are out again. Gosh, he tried to save that. Kind of overcorrected. You saw it shoot up in the middle of the corner. It's so loose when you've got somebody right on the right side door. It was a tight spot for those three cars to be. It's going to be a tough restart. Chastain in control from the inside lane. Halfway point, stage two. Restarts he has been so strong, not just on the launches, but really just these first few laps. I looked at the lap times. He ran the fastest lap of the race just on that last restart when he took the lead for these first few laps. Three wide, though. Yeah, we talked about J.R.M. Cars and how fast they've been. What about the two R.C.R. Cars? You see Austin Hill, Jesse Love going for the lead. Austin Hill on the outside. Got the lead on the last restart. So R.C.R. Having a great night as well here. See, Jesse Love was all the way on the bottom. Chastain ran the middle. Carries all that momentum now down the front stretch. See how hard Jesse can race him on the outside. I think the preferred lane is. Oh, you see Chastain slides up in front of him. It's going to lose a little bit of his momentum on exit. Pulls down, is able to block Jesse. It just seems like now that we've run a few laps, that traction compound, well, now they're going right back. Oh, Chastain missed the bottom. The 2 is going to be able to get right back inside of him here. Corey Day doing the same thing we saw last week at Dover that allowed him to get to the lead of that race. Running really high. Getting some clean air. This end of the track is a little bit rougher. Oh, you see him get a little loose. Look how high the 17 is again. I think Chastain is even defending right there. I think his car just slid up in the middle of the corner. What a great race. Corey Day, no practice, no qualifying, go to school, get it done. How exciting it is to watch these guys go at it. It's fun here. We've got a guy that won the Coke 600 last year and Ross Chastain leading the defending champ and then a guy that's a rookie in the series, all of them battling it out, running different lines on the racetrack. Couple of kids from California second and third going at it, Denny. Well, with this platformer race car, this is what makes the O'Reilly series so good is that... Oh! Look out! Chastain into the wall! Everyone went up the track. Yeah, I mean, and the reaction behind him, obviously something was going on there. Still green, though. You've got to wonder... There's cars in the back of the pack in the wall. I wonder if there's something on the track that might be wet, guys. Wheel and caution lights are on. Look at Corey Day, how loose he is up on top already. Just incredible. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Look at all those guys. Wow. Everyone that drove in just... Oh, and Justin turning down off the wall to get away from Gray that had hit the fence. That was all about, you know, two-foot difference was the difference in being in that oil and maybe being just a little bit above it. Look at all those guys! Couple of other drivers that got through there. Cole Custer driving the zero. 91 this week being piloted by Carson Quapel. He was able to get through. Riding now with Sheldon Creed. It's huge contact for those two guys. So unfortunate that you didn't see that before everyone drove through there. Dawson was a little bit behind the field, kind of running by himself on the racetrack. I'm thinking, what about if you're Justin and you've saved that set of tires? Maybe now is when you take a chance. You know, you've got a massive point lead. What do you have to lose? Maybe it puts you in the right position. This is going to take a little while to clean up. It's just a matter of... Something gets bent. You know what I mean? All it takes is to knock one of these right-side wheels out or in, you know, 20 thousandths and your car is just going to drive dramatically different than what it's supposed to. Let's get back now to Carla. I think it might have been Texas or something where it's just... When you have a rain delay and you open pit road, then it's, you know, the weather shouldn't be a factor in the outcome in case you don't go back. So... Well, this is weird. Side by side to end the stage under caution. I'm not sure I've ever... My money's on chastain. Put it down on number nine. For chastain, it's going to be his 12th career stage win, and he also won stage two last week at Dover. So he's been making the most of his time in that nine car the last couple of weeks. Saw the results populate, and that was a little bit askew there because Jesse Love actually came across before Ross chastain, but chastain is the guy that gets the stage victory. Love was second. We thought we were going to get a short little run to end the stage, and then there was just enough moisture in the air. The track got damp. NASCAR didn't feel comfortable turning him loose, so we rode around side by side after the choose, and eventually the stage comes to an end. We pulled all the cars down, and now we sit and wait to see how NASCAR handles this, and the race leader is Ross chastain. It's a great track for Ross. Always runs well here. And the race is official. We just received word from NASCAR. The race is over. Two stages are complete. Ross chastain leading. He is victorious. Hey, Ross, you have been trying for a long time to win a race for junior motorsports. What's the significance of doing it on this weekend? I mean, yeah. I mean, just look. I'll start with us and this team and Carolina carports. I first watched a jrm car drive by me here at Charlotte in 2014. I was on the apron in practice, and one drove by. And I decided right then that I wanted to be in one. It took me until 2025 to get in one. So that's a testament to just continuing to work. And I've asked and couldn't raise the funds. I've asked. They were full. I had funds. There wasn't room at the end. So for David Erickson to go to work and get me in this car through all of the relationships at jrm and through Chevrolet, you know, I did not think we would win one like this. I was driving into the fence in liquid. I have no idea what it was, but I drove off into one like normal, and there was something on the track. And my memaw is in town, and she'd be really upset with me if I said anything else bad. But I just don't think that's acceptable at all. But no matter how we win, I feel like we could have went and raced with them again at the end. And obviously, like you said, this weekend, just incredible to try to grasp losing Kyle. I just don't understand how he's not here racing. I don't grasp it mentally or spiritually. So obviously, racing is the best thing we can do to celebrate him and what he did in this sport and in his life, and, man, that feels good to win because it was a long time coming. Well done, and well said. Congratulations. Ross Jastein, the winner at Charlotte, Kim.