March 7, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Allgaier outduels Love late at Phoenix, takes NASCAR O'Reilly championship lead

AVONDALE, Ariz.—JR Motorsports’ driver Justin Allgaier pushed forward when it mattered most, his No. 7 Chevrolet leading only the last 11 laps of Saturday night’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway to claim his third win at the one-mile oval and take over the championship lead in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Allgaier had to pass the night’s most dominant driver, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love to earn the trophy. Love came into the race with the best average finish in the last four Phoenix races and again proved how good he is in the desert, leading a race best 114 of the 200 laps.

There were no caution periods in the opening two stages of the race – the first stage won by Allgaier’s teammate Sammy Smith and the second stage won by Love.

Two late race yellow flags however, bunched the field on restarts and allowed Allgaier’s team to rally from a slow pit stop earlier in the night. The two former champions went door-to-door following the final restart with 15 laps to go, the 2024 series champ Allgaier ultimately besting the 2025 champ Love with a daring move on the outside and then holding him off by .449-seconds at the finish line to earn JR Motorsports’ 107th victory.

“So proud of this team,” said Allgaier, praising the team for overcoming a poor stop early. “It wasn’t for lack of adversity and it seems like those are the ones that are big for us. I cannot say enough about this team.

“It never gets old winning,” added Allgaier, who has now won at least one race for a record 10 consecutive seasons. “This team rallied and never gave up.”

As encouraging as the night was – a stage win and fourth consecutive top-10 finish on the season for Love, the 21-year-old was understandably frustrated to finish runner-up after such a dominant showing.

“The car tightening up there at the beginning of stage three put us behind, so just frustrated,” said Love, noting that he refused to just walk away happy with a runner-up showing after such a strong effort.

“Obviously not why I’m here [to finish second]. Just beyond frustrated with myself. I don’t know what else to say, just upset, upset with myself.”

The top finishing 14 cars were Chevrolets. Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil, who looked strong midrace and led 22 laps, finished third, followed by Haas Factory Team co-drivers Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer.

Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Rajah Caruth, Corey Day and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top-10. It’s the third top-10 of the season for both Smith and Day.

The championship standings now mirror Saturday’s outcome with Allgaier holding a three-point advantage over Love as the series heads to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next week’s The LiUNA (5:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Allgaier is the defending winner of that race.



NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 4
Race Results for the GOVX 200 - Saturday, March 7, 2026
Phoenix Raceway - Avondale, AZ - 1. - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 200. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/7/2026 @ 10:09 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Status Tms Laps Pos
1 17 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 200 4 4 69 Running 1 11
2 2 2 Jesse Love Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet 200 2 1 55 Running 6 114
3 14 1 Carson Kvapil Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 200 3 2 51 Running 6 22
4 16 00 Sheldon Creed Boulder Crest Foundation Chevrolet 200 9 9 37 Running 3 20
5 12 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 200 32 Running 1 11
6 7 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 200 1 6 46 Running 1 10
7 9 27 Jeb Burton Dish/Zone Protects Chevrolet 200 6 7 39 Running 1 1
8 25 32 Rajah Caruth NASCAR 25 Chevrolet 200 29 Running 1 1
9 8 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200 7 32 Running
10 4 96 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 200 27 Running
11 21 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 200 10 27 Running
12 13 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 200 25 Running
13 6 88 William Byron(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200 5 3 0 Running
14 31 99 Parker Retzlaff Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 200 23 Running
15 1 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 200 8 25 Running 1 10
16 3 20 Brandon Jones Menards/BestAir Toyota 200 10 22 Running
17 18 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps / PNL Chevrolet 200 20 Running
18 5 19 Brent Crews # YoungLife/Grand Canyon Toyota 200 8 5 28 Running
19 35 55 Joey Gase Stripes TV Chevrolet 200 18 Running
20 29 52 Daniel Dye(i) Champion Container Ford 199 0 Running
21 24 5 Chandler Smith(i) Victory Custom Trailers Ford 199 0 Running
22 27 87 Austin Green Peterson Racing Chevrolet 199 15 Running
23 11 24 Harrison Burton DEX/Sharp Toyota 199 14 Running
24 10 28 Kyle Sieg TAP and Sons Electric Inc Chevrolet 199 13 Running
25 23 26 Dean Thompson MCM Transportation Toyota 199 12 Running
26 28 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 199 11 Running
27 20 44 Brennan Poole Toxic Waste Chevrolet 199 10 Running
28 26 31 Blaine Perkins WERNER Chevrolet 198 9 Running
29 22 0 Garrett Smithley Vet The Vote Chevrolet 198 8 Running
30 33 07 Josh Bilicki Waste Rentals Chevrolet 197 7 Running
31 32 42 Nathan Byrd Randco Chevrolet 197 6 Running
32 37 91 Mason Maggio Denssi Energy Pouches Chevrolet 196 5 Running
33 30 45 Lavar Scott # Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet 195 4 Running
34 34 30 Austin J Hill Southern Ohio Equipment Chevrolet 195 3 Running
35 19 25 Nick Sanchez Paynuity Ford 193 2 Running
36 36 74 Dawson Cram Drowned Valley Brewing Company Chevrolet 192 1 Running
37 15 18 William Sawalich Soundgear Toyota 173 1 Accident
38 38 02 Ryan Ellis Demco Built to Move Chevrolet 13 1 Suspension

Fastest Lap Bonus: #2 , lap 58 / 28.265

Race Comments: Justin Allgaier has won the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway, his 29th victory in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 02, 41, 42 (Unapproved Adjustment).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 92 Josh Williams, 35 Blake Lothian.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 7 Mins, 47 Secs. Average Speed: Margin of Victory:

Caution Flags: 4 for 37 laps; Laps: 47-56 (Stage 1 Conclusion [55]); 92-101 (Stage 2 Conclusion [55]); 166-171 (#45, 96 Incident Backstretch [32]); 175-185 (#8, 18, 20, 26 31, 54, 88 Incident Turn 2 [None]).

Lead Changes: 20 among 9 drivers; T. Gray 1-10; J. Love 11-40; S. Smith 41-50; C. Kvapil 51; J. Love 52-95; C. Kvapil 96; J. Love 97-132; C. Kvapil 133; J. Love 134; C. Kvapil 135-137; J. Love 138; C. Kvapil 139-153; J. Burton 154; R. Caruth 155; S. Creed 156-170; C. Kvapil 171; S. Creed 172-173; S. Mayer 174-184; S.
Creed 185-187; J. Love 188-189; J. Allgaier 190-200.  93.909 MPH 0.449 Seconds

Stage 2 Top 10: 2, 1, 88, 7, 19, 8, 27, 54, 00, 51
Stage 1 Top 10: 8, 2, 1, 7, 88, 27, 17, 19, 00, 20

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875

Next Race: March 14, 2026 - Las Vegas Motor Speedwa


CURRENT NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

As of Sat, March 7, 2026

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 4 2 184 0 0 1 0
2. Jesse Love 2 4 0 181 -3 3 0 2
3. Austin Hill 21 4 -2 179 -5 2 1 3
4. Carson Kvapil 1 4 1 146 -38 33 0 0
5. Sheldon Creed 00 4 -1 143 -41 3 1 0
6. Sammy Smith 8 4 1 132 -52 11 0 1
7. Rajah Caruth 32 4 -1 119 -65 13 0 1
8. Corey Day 17 4 0 118 -66 1 0 0
9. Sam Mayer 41 4 1 110 -74 8 0 1
10. Parker Retzlaff 99 4 -1 104 -80 6 0 0
11. Brandon Jones 20 4 0 95 -89 9 0 0
12. Jeb Burton 27 4 6 94 -90 1 0 0
13. Taylor Gray 54 4 0 94 -90 0 0 0
14. Brennan Poole 44 4 -2 80 -104 14 0 0
15. Anthony Alfredo 96 4 5 79 -105 1 0 0
16. Ryan Sieg 39 4 1 77 -107 2 0 0
17. Patrick Staropoli # 48 4 -2 71 -113 6 0 0
18. William Sawalich 18 4 -4 67 -117 4 0 0
19. Blaine Perkins 31 4 -3 66 -118 1 0 0
20. Brent Crews # 19 2 8 59 -125 7 0 0