O’Reilly Series: Kvapil wins Martinsville, Stays within Title Fight

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Carson Kvapil wins the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway to keep his title hopes alive.

This marks his third victory of the season and of his career.

Finally. Carson Kvapil wins on a track type where he cut his chops on and it couldn’t have came at a more critical junction in the Chase.

The polesitter led the opening 53 laps around the paperclip of Martinsville before losing it and the stage win to teammate Justin Allgaier on the restart after the late stage caution.

In the second stage, he would float between the top ten and twenty. Eventually missing out on stage points entirely in the stage.

From there, he would rebound back inside the top ten early in the final stage with an excellent strategy call by crew chief Rodney Childers.

It would be a flurry of final stage restarts that would truly get his No. 1 machine back to the front. With 68 to go after a restart, he would pass Corey Day for the lead in what would become the final lead change of the day.

He would go onto fend off advances from Allgaier, even besting the dominant car of the day to win.

Kvapil led a race-high 121 laps in his second short track victory. He gained 28 total points on the Chase leader this weekend.

His strong end to the season still has him eligible to potentially win a championship from third place only 31 points behind the leader.

Allgaier and the Top Ten

Although Justin Allgaier fell short of a race victory in second place, he delivered an excellent points day that puts him back atop the Chase standings heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Allgaier started third after JR Motorsports swept the top three qualifying positions. He converted that track position into a stage one victory following a late restart and backed it up with a runner-up finish in stage two.

He led the second-most laps of the afternoon ,with 52 circuits out front, but was unable to reclaim the lead following his final pit stop.

Still, a 42-point swing in the Chase standings propelled Allgaier back into the championship lead over Jesse Love. He now heads to South Florida looking to defend his victory from last season while carrying a 22-point advantage in pursuit of his second series championship.

The Top Ten

Corey Day overcame an early incident after contact from Sammy Smith to salvage a solid night at Martinsville.

He rebounded to finish third, keeping himself in championship contention heading into next weekend’s finale with a 23-point deficit to Allgaier.

Brandon Jones added another strong Martinsville performance with a fourth-place finish, while Sam Mayer rounded out the top five. However, the result wasn’t enough to keep Mayer’s championship hopes alive, as he was mathematically eliminated from contention.

On the other hand, Sheldon Creed remains in the title hunt after finishing sixth and staying within the points threshold.

Sammy Smith couldn’t carry the momentum from last week’s victory on the sport’s largest track to Martinsville, settling for an eighth-place finish at one of its smallest.

Rounding out the top 10 were the Joe Gibbs Racing trio of William Sawalich, Brent Crews and Taylor Gray.

Notable Results

One key Chase contender missing from the top ten was former points leader Jesse Love.

The defending champion endured a night full of issues, ultimately finishing nine laps down in 30th.

His Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill also struggled. In the closing laps, Hill slowed to let Love by, allowing his championship-contending teammate to finish one position ahead in 30th. Hill settled for 31st, also nine laps down.

Anthony Alfredo captured the second-stage victory, earning his third stage win of the season and his career.

He continued to show speed with a 17th-place finish as he builds momentum heading into his return to Viking Motorsports in 2027.

Lee Pulliam also made his return to the track where he made his series debut in the spring.

Despite starting near the back of the field, the short-track standout rallied from second-to-last to finish 14th, giving his new team another reason for confidence heading into 2027.

Below are the full results and updated Chase standings for the O’Reilly Series after their eighth Chase race of the season at Martinsville.

Full Results & Chase Standings