NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Highlights | 2026 Darlington Raceway

We're going green at Darlington raceway. Great launch there by Kuopel, but you see just Allgaier got back to the outside. One thing you mentioned at the top of the show was if you pick that bottom, you have to get clear in a turn one, otherwise the outside will prevail. This reminds me of what we saw late in the race in March, Allgaier outside lane, forget about it. Seven on point with a big jump. He's racing for wins in a setup, 2027. Trying to gain some ground early in the 18. You see Nick Sanchez making a pass there and Dean Thompson almost getting pushed by Ryan Sieg. I always feel like when you have new tires, you can go. On the other side of that, I think everyone likes Harrison Burton, and he's having a pretty good weekend coming off his second consecutive top ten at daytona last weekend, riding that 24 for Sam Hunt. Here's Rajah making a move. Now, obviously, it makes it tough whenever you're behind him, and he's trying to make a move on the one, and it's not an easy thing to do when you try to end up next to the wall because it will come out, bite you. Here's the 17. Corey Day and Sammy Smith again. Rivalry renewed. Absolutely. Wow. If you had the higher entry, you'll be straighter at that point where he was sliding. It just takes care of those rear tires. Reference Jeremy Clements was hanging on to that thing. Here he is racing around Sammy Smith in the 51. Now, that's really hanging on to it. That's a big moment. Is it still cutting out? That was the crew chief, Marty Lindley, who's a South Carolina guy. You come to this race, the 12th seed, 80 points back to start. Fuel pressure. Not how you want to get your chase off to this. Now for the hole to get even deeper is challenging, and here he is, second half of the stage, and Brandon Jones going for the third spot around Jesse Love as they get behind the lap car, Garrett Smithley. Raja could take the wave, get to one lap down, and then be in position to get the free pass at the end of the stage. Here's Preston Pardis spinning off a 4. That's a pretty common occurrence at Darlington. I feel like we see that often, Chris, where if you are loose or fighting the rear of that race car off a 4, tough to get the power down. Turn four is definitely a trouble spot here at Darlington. The 20 stays out. So the 20 staying out. Now to progressive pit road. Here's Kim. And let's start with Carson. He's been a little too low, hitting the ground for the first 10 to 15 laps after a fireoff. Too free in the rubber, sliding the rear as you see them go to the left side to put four fresh Goodyear tires on. We'll go to his teammate, Justin Allgaier, who said on the free side but tight still when I pick up the throttle. Although he did say the car is good, Dylan. Jesse Love is in as well. The 2 car said he was good entry but then trended free on the exit. They'll make a track bar adjustment. Four tires and fuel. Austin Hill started too tight, and then he said by the end of that run, they just had cooked the right rear, and he got too free as a result. Felt like the front and rear of the car was disconnected. Four tires and adjustments for both the RCR cars. And now the race off progressive pit road. Quite a battle here. Allgaier out in front of LaVar Scott. Not sure how Scott got in that mix. Quapel right behind him. Eight drivers stayed out. Brandon Jones, the leader of that group. Brandon Jones, Corey Day, front row. And they're coming through the poet restart zone. Allgaier inside row three on those tires, and here he comes. Already they're three wide to the bottom, and he's going to get beside Brandon Jones pretty quickly. I would think by the time they get to turn two, it's a three wide behind him. They've all checked up. There they are. Four wide. Doesn't typically work. You got Clements there, Sanchez, Staropoli going in the wrong direction. Allgaier has the lead, and Quapel coming with him. I'm impressed by Brandon Jones. I thought he would get freight trained right there. Here's how Justin Allgaier got to the lead. Well, if you want to see the difference in tire grip, there it is. Turn to the bottom. Pretty easy work. And look at this. Jesse was getting pushed by Taylor Gray in the left rear, gets in the rear bumper of Brandon Jones. Brandon Jones now starting to really fall back as Quapel is looking at the inside of Allgaier. Isn't able to complete it. Final time down the back straightaway. Stage one. And there you hear it. Take care of your tires. That's what I was thinking. An indicator that we're staying out at the end of the stage. Came in one, two in points. That's how they're going to finish the opening stage. Allgaier in front of Quapel for Justin. That's his ninth stage win of the year. The fifth time he's won a stage at Darlington, and that fifth stage victory matches Noah Gregson. Really cool. Cool to see Nick Sanchez up there in the 87. His limit starts in that car this year. But I think for Carson Quapel, it's the fact that he only bled one point to his rival. Interesting to see the 98, 99 come down pit road. That really surprises me. Yeah. Wow. Down to progressive pit road. Here's Kim. I knew you guys were going to be surprised. They did come down under caution. This is their second stop. That's because Parker reporting the car still not great on that first run. He was driving through the right front. It was worse on throttle. He had zero front turn. They will put four fresh Goodyear tires on it. Take a little bit of snow. wedge. Basically undoing the pieces they put into it during practice. Remember, it was very free during practice. Also of note, his cool suit came unplugged, so they gave him instructions, Dylan, on how to plug it back in. Corey Day right of the screen thought he was going to cycle tighter that last run. Instead got super free. They don't want to overreact with changes here being buried in traffic. Same for Brandon Jones there in the 20. They do want to make sure he's able to drive back through the field on these new tires. He was loose in traffic when he was around him there on the racetrack. All guy are in control here. Takes the outside lane. Those drivers that pitted at the end of the stage restarting outside the top 15 leaders coming through the poet restart zone just so good to get the power down on the outside. Look at that. Now, Carson fights back, but he's not going to have the momentum or the leverage as they go to turn one. And just in faults away, creating the double zero on those tires back to the front racing for the lead. Quapel and all guy are. We saw this before the caution. Carson Quapel just is able to run lower around here. Maybe Justin just choosing to run that outside lane. Take care of those rear tires. Drive the car a little straighter, but Quapel making a lot of effort on the bottom is. Oh, wow. Corey Day trying to go to the bottom there. Brandon Jones. Is that a little damaging left front? Yeah. It looks like he got some contact. Corey Day's damage split open the front fascia basically between the bottom portion and the top of the nose. He's still going to try to drive down the bottom here in the three doesn't quite get there. Around the thirty one of Blaine Perkins in such an incredible year for junior motorsports. Fifteen wins. Six different drivers. These two have combined for eight victories. What Quapel has just been on fire since he got that first career win at Indianapolis, backed it up at Iowa, was in position last week at Daytona, and here he is once again Because it's hot. It's humid. And the way they're throwing it around, they're absolutely going to work behind the wheel. Daniel Dye having problems. Caution is out for the third time tonight. We'll see Dye again at Talladega and Martinsville driving that thirty two. He'll go full time next year for Jordan Anderson. Right front down. Guys, get ready. They're off a four right there. He goes to make a block, essentially, on Dean Thompson right there. That didn't work out. Daniel Dye moves up off a four. Dean Thompson has a big run and he moves down to basically block it. And at that point, the amount of run that Dean Thompson had, the difference in speed right there. You almost have to give up as we hit the poet restart zone, closing on the midway point of stage to watching the double zero. He has the freshest tires. He's going to go out contact Austin Hill going high where they're open inside for Anthony Alfredo. And with all that going on, here comes Carson with the lead. Justin was still able to recover back to second. At one point, it looked like he was going to be falling to fourth or fifth. Really strong. So let's look back to this restart. The seven just continues to use this outside lane. You see the tire spin. The car wiggles. He goes down the track that allows Alfredo to get a run on Carson. And then he gets hit by Austin Hill in the rear as he's still trying to put the power down. Yeah, he was spinning all the way down that front straightaway. You can literally hear the RPMs light up as he continues to spin the tires all the way down to turn one. There's a lot of pushing and shoving going on. 18. There he goes. Lock it down. Caution is out. Physical night here in Darlington, South Carolina. Keep an eye on that free pass, too. Could be Raja Kuruth again. We'll get the official word, but this could put the 88 back on the lead lap. After watching it back, I don't know that Corey had the intentions of wrecking him. Right here, I think he just misjudged his right front corner. And then whenever William went down, I think Corey just tried to fill the hole. Oh, yeah. You're correct. Corey Day just, you know, it would have been really easy for Corey to cut William a break. Especially after he got into him in the middle of one and two. Oh, you see the one car wiggling around. Justin got moved to the bottom. Alfredo looking outside for second. Jesse Love, a part of the mix. And Sheldon Freed's got better tires. Down in that inside lane, trying to make it happen, and there goes Jeff Burton out of line. Sliding back up in front of the beard. Contact and caution again. 53 is Glenreen, 91, Mason Maggio. Wow. Oh, just slides up. Gets Jeb in the left rear. Jeb keeps it out of the inside wall, but it turns back up in oncoming traffic. And right here, all these drivers are trying to go the other way. Glenreen locks it up. Oh, the 88. That's it. Wow. Barely snuck by. I mean, he gets back on the lead lap. He's gotten two laps back. Could have been caught up in that. And instead, he drives through, and he'll take advantage of their attrition when you think about how all this will settle out at the end of the night. And it's hard telling what will happen in the final stage at a place like Darlington. Carson Kwopel leading laps here for the first time in his career, and he's in charge of the field with ten to go. Not a good restart. You can just see everyone's wiggling around, trying to get the power down. So difficult. Alfredo, outside lane, going for second. Power move for the driver from Viking Motorsports around Allgaier. Stage two. We see yellow. Now the stage would be over as Creed goes for the spot around Jesse Love and Taylor Gray's having his best ever night at Darlington. How awesome is this? Alfredo to the inside there, Carson Kwopel down the front stretch, side drafting him, going for the lead. Six to go. Stage two. Here's Anthony Alfredo sliding up in front of Kwopel. He leads at Darlington. This is incredible for Viking Motorsports. Such an impressive drive. Viking Motorsports gets a driver in the chase, and the driver that missed out on an opportunity to run for a championship has got a stage victory. Great job, Anthony Alfredo. Corey Day gets back to second. Creed ends up third. Sammy Smith on those fresher tires is fourth. And something to note. Remember, Anthony Alfredo, very good in the spring. They just kept losing spots on pit road. He told me that's one of their goals today, have clean stops, and we'll have a really good night. He also said car feels really good, neutral, even after all those heat cycles. Second from that top, you see Sammy Smith did a great job rebounding fourth in that stage. He just said struggling with front turn, needs longevity and fire off speed. They will make an air pressure adjustment, Dylan. First stage points of the night for Corey Day said, I think we're pretty good. I ran it pretty hard there, and it felt like it held on. Doesn't look like they're going to make too many changes. Sheldon Creed said he was finally starting to get on the other side of tight. He asked for a small chassis adjustment to help his turn, an air pressure adjustment to help the rear grip, four tires and fuel for the 00. Pit road, such a big part of the equation. The race off progressive pit road here. Sheldon Creed plus two. Good restart by Sheldon getting a push there for Sammy Smith. back out of that. That did not work for him. Allgaier getting with it in that outside lane right behind his teammate, Sammy Smith. Faster as it gains grip into the nighttime, the temperatures are cooling down. Oh! Caution. Is out again. Joey Gage, 55. Scott. He lost it. Pinned it to the wall. Keep coming here. William Suwalich was there as well. Seventh time we've seen the wheel and caution lights on tonight. I saved it. Looks like Garrett comes down a little bit at the same time Joey is trying to finish the corner. Ends up in the door there of LaVar Scott. This may just be some routine service just to try to do something different. They're outside the top 15, so, and this is the advantage also kind of of their point situation. You can swing for the fences sometimes, so look around here and put new tires on it and see if the cautions fall in their favor. It's been a heck of a night for that 88 group. Problems early. You lose a couple of laps after the unscheduled pit stop. When we get the green front row, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier. Great start there by Justin Allgaier, one of the best ones we've seen on the bottom all night. He's getting pushed there by Corey Day. Oh! Really sideways. Wow! Just muscles around the outside, this Creed. And Quaple who was so strong early, dancing in the wrong direction, hanging on to that one. Young teammates going at it here. Gray and Cruz just outside the top 10. Do you want to be in their team meeting this week? You look at the difference at the top. This is factoring in those 20 extra points you get if you win the race for Sheldon Creed. That's why he's only 21 back, but hey, he's in a great spot to go out and get the win here. And if we had three guys within 28 points exiting Darlington, they're all just keeping their eye on the favorite, Justin Allgaier, and not letting him get away. For the man that got the title last year, Brandon Jones tried to turn back underneath him. Now the side draft down the front stretch. Who wins in one? Well, really well executed there by Jesse Love to be able to overdrive the entry into turn three, get cleared up. He doesn't have the momentum on four, but it puts him in the preferred lane into one. I think of the teams and drivers was going in the night time. We practiced in 95 degree temperatures. He said it was one of the best cars he's ever had here, but he did put that caveat on it by saying, I don't know what it'll do the night time. We might be seeing that right now. He's obviously struggling all over the place off into a really strong night and we talk about 20 laps seeming like a long time. As Alfredo goes around Allgaier, you know, 15 laps now is really a long time for the guy out front. Sheldon Creed. I want this thing to be over because he's in position for his second career victory back in 21. Man. Look at all that. They wiggle it all in place for eight. This couple tries to get by him to imagine those two cars are outside the top five and fading. When you think about how good they were early in this race, Carson got in the back of him. into the mirror. Hang on, buddy. Oh, this is going to get tight now. The good night, though, for junior motorsports and we're flirting with a yellow every lap. Everyone's just sliding around, lacking grip. This may not be for the front, but I could tell you when some of these drivers look back at this, they'll have a bit of a smile, Christopher, because this is so fun, especially if it's going well for you. You're making passes, not falling back. Look at that. Oh, that's huge. Roger Cruz. Slow. Take a listen. His radio. Man. Heartbreaking. Feel pickup issue. And you could just see it once again. How loose he was there. Dean Thompson gets right up next to him. Look at this. As they run. Twelve points. The difference between Creed and Allgaier and Allgaier continues to fade with four to go. He'd love for this to be over. You and I were talking earlier today and I said I felt like that win would open the floodgates more. We haven't seen him get to victory lane, but maybe he was just saving his best when it mattered most here late as we go into the chase and fight for a championship. What a time to rise up and have a performance like this. Creed has been Mr. Consistency. One lap to go. Sponsored by credit. One bank. For what's ahead. He drove back away from Corey Day by another half a second. Make it a conservative lap. Don't get too close to that wall. No reason to push it here. Heading toward turn three for the final time. Off of four. Sheldon Creed going to win the chase opener. He does it at Darlington. This place owed you one, man. I am so happy to do this with you.