It took Carson Kvapil 64 races to earn his first NASCAR O’Reilly Series victory, but he has now won back-to-back after triumphing at Iowa Speedway.
JR Motorsports teammate Ross Chastain led most of the final run, but a caution with five laps to go completely changed the complexion of the race.
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Chastain spun the tires in the first overtime restart, allowing Kvapil to move ahead. Right behind them, Brent Crews slid up into Ryan Sieg and Justin Allgaier, wrecking all three cars and collecting several others. That led to a post-race confrontation between Allgaier and Crews.
In double overtime, Kvapil once again got a better restart than Chastain, and Rajah Caruth actually moved up into second. They led a JR Motorsports 1-2 with William Sawalich third, Chastain sliding back to fourth, and Sheldon Creed fifth.
Nicholas Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Dean Thompson, Harrison Burton, and Brennan Poole filled out the remainder of the top ten.
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Carson Kvapil, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Carson Kvapil, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
“I knew we had a really fast car. I knew the No. 7 car was on fresher tires, so that was really my biggest concern. I think the No. 9 [Chastain] probably had it if that yellow didn’t come out at the end. I thought we were fast, running him down, but we just didn’t have enough there to fill the gap … We got the restart we needed, and we got the win.”
On going back-to-back, Kvapil said: “It feels really cool to win again, but not as big as Indy, I guess you’d say. Just super exciting. It just goes to show what this No. 1 group has and what they bring to the race track. I felt like we were not the greatest in the first two stages, and Rodney [Childers, crew chief] did his touches to it and turned it into a race-winning car.”
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The battle to make the Chase with just one race to go is extremely tight, with just one point separating Sawalich (+1), Crews (+1), and Gray (-1) around the cut-line. Caruth is 15 points behind.
Stage 1
Ryan Sieg started from pole for the first time in his lengthy career, and dominated the opening stage. Allgaier passed teammate Chastain for second just before the first caution of the race, which took place directly in front of them with Nathan Byrd spinning.
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As the stage progressed, Jesse Love’s car kept popping out of fourth gear, and it only got worse from there. He went for a half-spin and the race remained green, and then he sped on pit road. He eventually went behind the wall for repairs, falling completely out of contention.
R. Sieg had to fend off a charging Allgaier as they navigated slower traffic, hanging on to win Stage 1. He was followed by Allgaier, Creed, Chastain, S. Smith, Mayer, Kvapil, B. Jones, Day, and Sawalich.
Stage 2
Creed took the lead off pit road as a lot of the top runners lost positions during the sequence. R. Sieg fell all the way back to eighth.
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The next caution was for Kyle Sieg, who went for a spin. What followed was a frantic restart. Allgaier and Creed made contact in the battle for the lead, and Allgaier eventually sent it under Creed, clearing him. However, he overdrove the corner and Creed quickly snatched it back.
Allgaier kept the pressure on and Creed bobbled, allowing Allgaier to sneak by.
Allgaier went on to win Stage 2 over Creed, S. Smith, R. Sieg, Mayer, Day, Crews, Sawalich, Hill, and Caruth.
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Stage 3
Allgaier continued to lead, with the next caution flying with just over 100 laps to go as Alfredo went spinning.
Most of the field stayed out, with Jones choosing to pit as they were on the edge of the fuel window.
On the ensuing restart, Crews leaned heavily on Kvapil, and they almost triggered a wreck. Sawalich then went spinning soon after after contact from Staropoli.
This was a definitive moment as Allgiaer stayed out with Mayer, Sanchez, J. Burton, Staropoli, Retzlaff, and Jones. The rest of the field pitted, led by Creed and Chastain.
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This was the beginning of a rash of yellows. Carson Ware crashed next after contact with Love, who was 60 laps down. Lavar Scott was the next caution, and then Mason Maggio after that.
Just before Maggio spun after colliding with Staropoli, Chastain passed Creed as the ‘leader’ of those who had already pitted (but fourth on track).
During that yellow, Allgaier and Mayer gave up the top two positions and pitted. Unfortunately, the cautions did not play out the way they had hoped.
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Jeb Burton now led with Chastain joining him on the front row. Chastain powered ahead after Kvapil made it three-wide at the front.
Allgaier restarted outside the top 20, but made huge gains and was 13th by the time the next caution flew. That yellow — the tenth of the day — was for Corey Day crashing heavily into the outside wall.
Chastain faced immense pressure from Sieg but he managed to hold him off as the run progressed. Kvapil eventually worked his way by Sieg and began his hunt of Chastain for the race lead.
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Behind them, Allgaier worked his way up to third in a remarkable charge, putting JRM 1-2-3.
With five laps to go, Jeb Burton went for a spin, pushing the race into overtime. Chaos ensued as Chastain spun the tires and Allgaier tried to make it three-wide for the lead. Kvapil moved into the lead as Crews slid up into Sieg and Allgaier, wrecking all three cars. Mayer, S. Smith, Carson Brown, Staropoli, and K. Sieg were all collected in the melee.
That was the 12th caution of the race, tying the record for the O’Reilly Series at Iowa.
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On what would be the final restart of the race, Kvapil again cleared Chastain, and brought Caruth with him. He held on for the final two laps, capturing the checkered flag. Sawalich undid the JRM 1-2-3 by passing Chastain in the final corner.
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