March 28, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Justin Allgaier claims third win of the season at Martinsville Speedway

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Justin Allgaier ended the day where he started – out front – but it was a dramatic and challenging route to the trophy hoist in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts NFPA 250 at the historic half-mile Martinsville Speedway.

In route to his win, the 2024 series champion started from pole position and led the most laps (114 of 250). The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet claimed his second win in as many weeks – third of the season and 31st of his career.

Allgaier led the opening 65 laps of the race, won Stage 1, and then led the final 26 laps bookending a typically thrilling edition of competition at the famed paperclip track.

“I keep saying it and I keep talking about how great this team is, but we have fired off 2026 better than I could have imagined,’’ said Allgaier, whose win marks the JR Motorsports organization’s fifth consecutive this season – one shy of the record set by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.

“It is pretty incredible, just the emotion,’’ added the 39-year-old, who has increased his advantage atop the standings to 92 points over reigning series champion Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love. “I said it last week, but you get later on in your career, and you never know if you’ll win another one and this year has been pretty special.’’

The victory is hard-earned considering the race was slowed 13 times because of incidents on the notorious challenging short track.

Most impactful, a 19-car pileup on a late race restart brought out a 26-minute red flag massively reducing the field of true contenders. Late model superstar Lee Pulliam, making his first ever start in a NASCAR national series driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, brought out the caution period after missing a shift on the re-start from his front row starting position.

His team co-owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., reassured and encouraged Pulliam on the radio during the race stoppage, telling him “I know you didn’t want that to happen, and you’ll handle it like a pro, we all make mistakes.’’ Adding post-race, “all in all, incredible to come in, run a race, lead laps, and run the car up front and get a great result in a tough place, he survived. He’s a helluva driver.’’

After the race Pulliam, whose 40 laps led were second only to Allgaier,  immediately addressed the late race restart situation. “Just first off real quick, I’d like to apologize to everyone we tore up there. I just couldn’t get going with the older tires and it was just a little bit of inexperience.”

“Just so thankful to be here and do this. What a dream come true to drive for Dale Earnhardt Junior,’’ added the well-respected and highly revered 37-year-old North Carolina native, who sold out of t-shirts commemorating his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut this weekend.

“The whole experience has been pretty special for me, something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. Just thankful for everybody that led to this moment, and I hope I made all you fans proud leading all those laps.”

“Man, that was super cool driving away. Just wish I could have gotten going on the restarts a little better and if I ever get another chance to do this I’ll learn from my mistakes and come back stronger.’’

Corey Day’s second place finish in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet was a career-best for the 20-year-old and marked an impressive sixth consecutive top-10 finish for the young driver. Sammy Smith finished third and posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville Speedway. Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed finished fourth in the No. 00 Chevrolet with Pulliam rounding out the top five.

Austin Hill was sixth followed by Dean Thompson, NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain, Ryan Sieg, and 18-year-old rookie Brent Crews rounded out the top 10.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway for next Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire (2:30 p.m. ET, CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sammy Smith is the defending race winner.


NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 7
Race Results for the NFPA 250 - Saturday, March 28, 2026
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - 0.526 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 131.5 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/28/2026 @ 06:37 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Status Tms Laps Pos
1 1 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 250 1 10 67 Running 3 114
2 7 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 250 9 37 Running 1 37
3 9 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 250 6 39 Running
4 6 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Chevrolet 250 5 39 Running
5 12 9 Lee Pulliam Folsom Fence Supply Chevrolet 250 32 Running 2 40
6 26 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 250 1 41 Running 2 9
7 22 26 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 250 30 Running
8 38 91 Ross Chastain(i) Who's Your Driver? Chevrolet 250 0 Running
9 14 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps/SA Recycling Chevrolet 250 4 35 Running
10 4 19 Brent Crews # Mobil 1 Toyota 250 4 34 Running
11 10 99 Parker Retzlaff SciAps Chevrolet 250 26 Running
12 8 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 250 9 27 Running
13 13 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 250 3 32 Running
14 17 44 Brennan Poole Black's Island Chevrolet 250 23 Running
15 15 96 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes MentHOLE Chevrolet 250 7 6 31 Running
16 27 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 250 21 Running
17 28 31 Blaine Perkins Bommarito.com Chevrolet 250 20 Running
18 3 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Pelonis Toyota 250 2 28 Running 1 1
19 37 30 Myatt Snider Proof Hard Ice Cream Chevrolet 250 18 Running
20 16 18 William Sawalich Soundgear Toyota 250 10 5 24 Running
21 34 42 Brad Perez Live To Be Different Fnd Chevrolet 250 16 Running
22 36 45 Lavar Scott # Sunoco Chevrolet 250 15 Running
23 11 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 250 2 23 Running 2 14
24 33 55 Joey Gase NFPA Chevrolet 250 13 Running
25 2 88 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 250 3 7 24 Running 2 18
26 24 24 Harrison Burton Dead On Tools Toyota 248 8 14 Running 2 17
27 25 0 Garrett Smithley West Piedmont YouthBuild Chevrolet 242 10 Running
28 5 1 Carson Kvapil Registix Chevrolet 234 8 12 Accident
29 30 87 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 233 8 Accident
30 23 27 Jeb Burton Redneck Blinds Chevrolet 233 7 Accident
31 19 32 Andrew Patterson WinSupply/SCS Gearbox Chevrolet 233 6 Accident
32 31 92 Josh Williams Optum Chevrolet 233 5 Accident
33 18 25 Nick Sanchez Paynuity/Travel Curious Ford 213 4 Accident
34 35 28 Kyle Sieg Monroe Extinguisher Chevrolet 207 3 Suspension
35 21 07 Josh Bilicki Mando Chevrolet 205 2 Running
36 32 02 Ryan Ellis Tablo TV Chevrolet 183 1 Brakes
37 20 51 Jeremy Clements Kingdom Truck Sales/Alliance Chevrolet 89 1 Oil Cooler
38 29 5 Luke Baldwin(i) Victory Custom Trailers Ford 31 0 Accident


Fastest Lap Bonus: #7 , lap 247 / 20.491

Race Comments: Justin Allgaier won the NFPA 250, his 31st NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series victory. Prior to the green flag to start the race, the following car dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: No. 91 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 74 Dawson Cram, 35 Justin Carroll(i).

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 25 Secs. Average Speed: Margin of Victory:

CautionFlags: 14 for -153 laps; Laps: 34-43 (#5 incdent turn 3 [30]); 58-71 (#0 spin turn 4 / Stage 1 Conclusion [42]); 89-100 (Fluid on track [55]); 107-112 (Debris turn 3 [42]); 122-130 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]); 134-138 (#48, 99 incident turn 2 [30]); 144-149 (#28, 48 incident turn 2 [30]); 182-188 (#02 spin turn 2 [30]);
198-202 (#0, 42 incident turn 4 [31]); 218-225 (#25 incident turn 4 [31]); 229-233 (#91 incident backstretch [31]); 235-238 (#1, 9, 19, 20, 21, 24, 27, 32, 39,
41, 45, 48, 54, 55, 87, 88, 92, 96, 99 incident fronstretch [Red Flag: Lap 235, 26:04] [0]); 241-245 (#18, 44 incident turn 2 [24]); 250-0 (#19, 88 incident turn
2 [None]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers; J. Allgaier 1-65; C. Day 66-102; S. Mayer 103-111; A. Hill 112-114; S. Mayer 115-119; A. Hill 120-125; R. Caruth 126-129; H. Burton 130; R. Caruth 131-144; H. Burton 145-160; J. Allgaier 161-183; L. Pulliam 184-187; B. Jones 188; L. Pulliam 189-224; J. Allgaier 225-250.
55.015 MPH 0.258 Seconds

Stage 2 Top 10: 21, 41, 54, 39, 18, 96, 88, 24, 17, 7
Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 20, 88, 19, 00, 8, 96, 1, 2, 18

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


CURRENT NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 7 0 373 0 0 3 3
2. Jesse Love 2 7 0 281 -92 92 0 2
3. Sheldon Creed 00 7 1 257 -116 24 1 0
4. Austin Hill 21 7 1 251 -122 6 1 4
5. Carson Kvapil 1 7 -2 234 -139 17 0 0
6. Sammy Smith 8 7 0 231 -142 3 0 1
7. Corey Day 17 7 0 225 -148 6 0 0
8. Brandon Jones 20 7 0 198 -175 27 0 0
9. Parker Retzlaff 99 7 0 195 -178 3 0 0
10. Rajah Caruth 88 7 0 175 -198 20 0 1
11. Sam Mayer 41 7 0 172 -201 3 0 1
12. Taylor Gray 54 7 0 164 -209 8 0 0
13. Anthony Alfredo 96 7 3 144 -229 20 0 0
14. William Sawalich 18 7 -1 143 -230 1 0 0
15. Ryan Sieg 39 7 2 140 -233 3 0 0
16. Brennan Poole 44 7 -2 139 -234 1 0 0
17. Jeb Burton 27 7 -2 122 -251 17 0 0
18. Patrick Staropoli # 48 7 0 116 -257 6 0 0
19. Blaine Perkins 31 7 0 108 -265 8 0 0
20. Dean Thompson 26 7 4 103 -270 5 0