Justin Allgaier claimed his fifth victory of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season at Pocono Raceway, further cementing himself atop the championship standings as the two drivers closest to him crashed on the opening lap.
This is the 33rd win of Allgaier’s career, and he now has a massive 250-point lead in the championship.
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“First of all, huge thank you to William Byron,” said Allgaier after climbing from the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. “Without his shove at the end of the race, it was probably game over … just so proud of this race team.”
Brent Crews finished second, William Byron third, Sam Mayer fourth, and Sheldon Creed fifth.
Anthony Alfredo, Rajah Caruth, Brandon Jones, Connor Zilisch, and Carson Kvapil filled out the remainder of the top ten.
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Stage 1
The race was messy from the start, with Corey Day spinning at the exit of Turn 1 on the opening lap. As he spun down the track, he collected Jesse Love, ending both of their days.
Soon after, Ryan Sieg got turned into the frontstretch wall after a stackup, and Nathan Byrd crashed simultaneously in a separate incident. Both drivers were lifting after pushing high and got hit from behind. Sieg had entered this race just outside the Chase field, with the crash sending him further down the championship order.
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The next caution was for Natalie Decker, who suffered a mechanical failure. That set-up a mad dash to the end of Stage 1, with Gray passing Mayer just as the stage-ending caution flew for an incident involving Connor Zilisch and William Sawalich.
Gray won Stage 1 over Mayer, Byron, Allgaier, B. Jones, Creed, S. Smith, Crews, Kvapil, A. Hill.
Stage 2
Leland Honeyman, No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet
Leland Honeyman, No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet
The flurry of yellows continued into Stage 2, including an incident where both Leland Honeyman and Patrick Staropoli spun into the wall after contact from Brennan Poole.
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Patrick Emerling then went for a spin, and there were several different strategies unfolding because of this. Small groups of cars were pitting under each yellow, but this yellow compelled Allgaier to pit from the lead, and most of the field came with him.
Crews and Retzlaff now controlled the race, with Crews eventually clearing Retzlaff in a five-lap run to the end of Stage 2.
Kyle Sieg went for a spin in the back and Nick Sanchez cut a tire, but NASCAR kept the race green.
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Crews went on to win Stage 2 over Allgaier, Retzlaff, Caruth, Byron, Zilisch, Mayer, Clements, Alfredo, Kvapil.
Stage 3
Allgaier led the first part of the final stage, with varying fuel loads throughout the field. After a spirited battle with Mayer, the two drivers pitted under green with around 30 laps to go.
Several cars were running long, and with 18 laps to go, the caution flew again as Emerling spun off the nose of Crews, slamming the inside wall.
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H. Burton was leading the race, but Mayer was the leader among those who had pitted under green.
Allgaier got ahead on the restart, but Mayer fought back through Turn 1 and cleared him for the top spot…only for another wreck to break out mid-pack.
Both Gray and Smith spun in separate incidents in the same corner. Byron slid up into Gray, while Smith got loose while under another car.
The race went back green with eight laps to go. This time, Mayer had the better start, but Allgaier surged ahead from the outside and cleared him.
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Another crash followed soon after, with Lavar Scott, Dexter Bean, and Jeb Burton all wrecking at the exit of Turn 4. Burton spun sideways and took out the other two cars as his No. 27 slid back down the track.
That was the tenth caution of the race, and resulted in a red flag with five laps to go. The raced turned into a two-lap shootout for the win.
Creed went three-wide for the lead and both Haas cars lost out as he slid up in Turn 1. It was looking good for Allgaier, who had little pressure as he claimed victory. Crews nosed ahead of Byron for second-place, right at the checkered flag.
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