June 13, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Justin Allgaier captures first Pocono victory after wild late-race restart

LONG POND, Pa.—NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ MillerTech Battery 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway Saturday featured a record 18 lead changes and a record 10 cautions – including a seven-minute red flag period – but in the end, it was a very familiar scenario in Victory Lane: championship leader Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports team celebrating an inspired drive.

Allgaier led a race best 35 of the 100 laps – ultimately taking the lead for good on a restart with two laps remaining. Haas Factory teammates Sam Mayer – who was Allgaier’s greatest challenge on the day – and Sheldon Creed created a three-wide push for the lead on the final restart but ultimately slid backwards as Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate William Byron was able to push Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet forward to create a gap on the field.

The advantage was all Allgaier needed to race off to a .607-second win over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews – who passed Byron on the last corner of the last lap for second place.

The victory was the 2024 series champion Allgaier’s first at the historic Pocono 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track giving him wins now at 21 different venues. And it marked the fifth win of the year for Allgaier, tying his previous high season win total.

“First of all, I’ve got to say thank you to William Byron because without his shove at the end of the race, it was probably game over,” Allgaier said before thanking the fans for filling the grandstands.

“This season has been special with [crew chief] Andrew Overstreet and this whole number seven team and this pit crew right here,” he said, adding with a grin, “We’re going to go celebrate this one for sure.”

Slowed by all the caution flags – four in the opening 25-lap stage alone – the early part of the race never allowed for one driver to establish a rhythm and truly set a pace among all the starting and stopping.

Polesitter Taylor Gray led 24 laps and won the opening stage and Crews claimed the stage two win. But the final half of the race was really a duel between Allgaier and Mayer, who led 14 laps and exchanged the lead with Allgaier frequently in the race’s closing laps – sometimes on the same lap. They started side-by-side out front on the three final restarts and Mayer looked like his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet would at least keep Allgaier honest. In the end, Mayer and Creed finished fourth and fifth.

“It was either the double zero [Creed] was trying to make a block, or just a push gone wrong a little bit,” Mayer said, of the unsuccessful three-wide move on that last restart. “Just really unfortunate circumstance. We actually had a really good launch.

“At the end of these races, you’re not going to not take a run so I don’t blame my teammate for pulling out of line like that, but obviously it put me in a bad spot,” Mayer continued. “The middle [lane] was okay if I had people with me. … obviously today we executed really, really well, so lots to be proud about, but obviously I’m very devastated right now because I just want a shot at it and don’t feel like I haven’t gotten a really true shot at it when the white flag flew.

“We were close today executed really good and really proud of everybody. One day it’s going to be my turn, and I can’t wait.”

Incredibly, Allgaier’s effort – the 33rd victory of his career – now puts him an unbelievable 250 points up on second place, Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love in the series championship standings with seven regular season races remaining. Love only completed a single lap after being collected in the first of 10 yellow-flag incidents on the day.

“Just frustrated obviously, thought our Camaro was going to be good today,” Love said, adding, “Only got one lap to feel it out but I was happy with that one corner, wish we had gotten a few more.”

Anthony Alfredo, Rajah Caruth, Brandon Jones, the defending Pocono race winner Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top-10.

Jeremy Clements led a lap and finished 16th in a historical day for his career and the series. The 41-year-old South Carolinian tied Kenny Wallace for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series most all-time starts – 547 races. Wallace set the record in 2011 and last raced in 2015. Clements will claim the mark for himself when he takes next week’s green flag at San Diego.

The series heads to Southern California for next Saturday’s inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 (5:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the Coronado Naval Base.


NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 17
Race Results for the MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA - Saturday, June 13, 2026
Pocono Raceway - Long Pond, PA - 2.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 100 Laps - 250. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 6/13/2026 @ 07:59 PM Eastern

                                                   Stage 1   Stage 2 
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts  Pos         Pos Status Tms Laps

1 4 7 Justin Allgaier Carolina Carports Chevrolet 100 4 2 72 Running 4 35
2 8 19 Brent Crews # Mobil 1 Toyota 100 8 1 48 Running 3 9
3 3 88 William Byron(i) HenrdickCars.com Chevrolet 100 3 5 0 Running
4 7 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 100 2 7 46 Running 3 14
5 16 00 Sheldon Creed VieLight Chevrolet 100 6 37 Running
6 12 96 Anthony Alfredo Big Rack Spirits Chevrolet 100 9 33 Running
7 26 32 Rajah Caruth HenrdickCars.com Chevrolet 100 4 37 Running
8 1 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Ortho Toyota 100 5 35 Running
9 14 1 Connor Zilisch(i) Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 100 6 0 Running
10 6 9 Carson Kvapil Registix/TruckClub Chevrolet 100 9 10 30 Running 1 4
11 23 24 Harrison Burton DEX/SHARP Toyota 100 26 Running 1 5
12 36 0 Cole Custer(i) Sysco Chevrolet 100 0 Running
13 35 26 Dean Thompson Uglies Kettle Chips Toyota 100 24 Running 1 2
14 17 21 Austin Hill Colorado Craft Beef Chevrolet 100 10 24 Running
15 13 99 Parker Retzlaff FDNY Foundation Chevrolet 100 3 30 Running 1 2
16 15 51 Jeremy Clements AllSouthElectric.com Chevrolet 100 8 24 Running 1 1
17 2 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 100 1 30 Running 2 24
18 19 44 Brennan Poole Members 1st Chevrolet 100 19 Running
19 5 8 Sammy Smith O'Reilly Auto Parts Chevrolet 100 7 22 Running
20 33 31 Blaine Perkins easycare/Bommarito.com Chevrolet 100 17 Running
21 10 18 William Sawalich Starkey Toyota 100 16 Running
22 37 07 Josh Bilicki Rita's Ice Chevrolet 100 15 Running
23 22 87 Nick Sanchez Peterson Racing Group Chevrolet 100 14 Running
24 24 02 Ryan Ellis U.S. Naval Acadamy Navy Racing Chevrolet 100 13 Running
25 27 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 100 12 Running
26 9 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps Chevrolet 100 11 Running 1 4
27 30 35 Carson Ware Costa Oil Chevrolet 100 10 Running
28 18 27 Jeb Burton SpotOn Chevrolet 93 9 Accident
29 25 45 Lavar Scott # Sunoco Chevrolet 93 8 Accident
30 34 91 Dexter Bean Rich Mar Florist/Badger Environmental Chevrolet 93 7 Accident
31 28 38 Patrick Emerling(i) 0
Pennsylvania ARMY National Guard/Teslong 81 Accident
32 20 28 Kyle Sieg Camelbeach Outdoor Waterpark Chevrolet 50 5 DVP
33 29 92 Leland Honeyman Jr.(i) VOLTZ by Raptor Power Chevrolet 36 0 Accident
34 31 53 Natalie Decker(i) T.N. Dickinson's Witch Hazel Toyota 17 0 Engine
35 32 42 Nathan Byrd Chevrolet 7 2 Accident
36 38 55 Joey Gase Alarm Tech Ford 3 1 Engine
37 21 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 1 1 Accident
38 11 17 Corey Day HenrdickCars.com Chevrolet 0 1 Accident

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 31 Mins, 28 Secs. Average Speed: 99.032 MPH Margin of Victory: .607 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 54, 41, 88, 7, 20, 00, 8, 19, 9, 21
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 7, 99, 32, 88, 1, 41, 51, 96, 9

Race Comments: Justin Allgaier has won the MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway, his 33rd 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. 0, 07, 26, 31, 38, 42 (Unapproved Adjustments), No. 55
(Engine), No. 91 (Backup Car).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 10 for 39 laps; Laps: 2-6 (#2, 17 Incident Turn 1 [None]); 9-11 (#0, 18, 21, 39, 42 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 19-22 (Possible Fluid On Track [39]); 26-30 (#1, 18 Incident Turn 1 / Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 39-41 (#92, 44, 48 Incident Turn 3 [None]); 43-45 (#38, 44 Incident Turn 2 [48]); 52-56 (Stage 2 Conclusion [87]); 84-87 (#38, 19 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 89-92 (#8, 54, 88, 96 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 96-98 (#27, 45, 91 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag: 00:07:31] [None]).

Lead Changes: 18 among 10 drivers; B. Jones 0; T. Gray 1-21; S. Mayer 22-23; T. Gray 24-26; J. Allgaier 27-30; C. Kvapil 31-34; J. Allgaier 35-42; B. Crews # 43-45; P. Retzlaff 46-47; B. Crews # 48-52; J. Allgaier 53-67; S. Mayer 68-71; J. Clements 72; B. Crews # 73; D. Thompson 74-75; R. Sieg 76-79; H. Burton 80-84; S. Mayer 85-92; J. Allgaier 93-100.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: June 20, 2026 - San Diego Street Course

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CURRENT NASCAR O'REILY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

Through June 13, 2026

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 17 0 842 0 0 5 6
2. Jesse Love 2 17 0 592 -250 250 0 3
3. Corey Day 17 17 0 575 -267 17 2 2
4. Sheldon Creed 00 17 0 569 -273 6 1 0
5. Brandon Jones 20 17 0 547 -295 22 0 3
6. Austin Hill 21 17 0 523 -319 24 1 4
7. Carson Kvapil 9 17 0 523 -319 0 0 1
8. Sammy Smith 8 17 0 504 -338 19 0 1
9. Sam Mayer 41 17 2 459 -383 45 0 1
10. Parker Retzlaff 99 17 0 446 -396 13 0 0
11. William Sawalich 18 17 -2 445 -397 1 1 0
12. Brent Crews # 19 13 2 432 -410 13 0 2

13. Taylor Gray 54 17 -1 429 -413 3 1 1
14. Rajah Caruth 32 17 -1 424 -418 5 0 1
15. Ryan Sieg 39 17 0 395 -447 29 0 0
16. Brennan Poole 44 17 0 328 -514 67 0 0
17. Anthony Alfredo 96 17 0 319 -523 9 0 0
18. Dean Thompson 26 17 0 306 -536 13 0 0
19. Jeremy Clements 51 17 0 284 -558 22 0 0
20. Jeb Burton 27 17 0 262 -580 22 0 0