From a first-time winner that we’d never expect, to a first-time winner we didn’t expect so soon, to a first-time winner we thought would have won sooner, the 2026 NASCAR weekend at Talladega Superspeedway had it all.
In between Andy Jankowiak’s ARCA upset and Carson Hocevar’s star-making performance was the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and its own first-time winner in Corey Day, coming on the type of track where he was arguably weakest through a handful of starts in the series.
Day joins Sheldon Creed and William Sawalich as first-time winners in the O’Reilly Series in 2026. Last year, there were just two first-time winners. In the last 10 years, no season has been able to produce more than seven.
That is, potentially, until now.
Eight of the current top 15 in points entered the season without a win in the series. Now, that number is down to five, but that’s not the limit of potential candidates seeking their first trip to victory lane. Looking ahead, there are plenty of opportunities coming up for these drivers below to snatch up their first career NOAPS win.
Brent Crews
Maybe the hottest driver in the series, Brent Crews is just 43 points behind the Chase cutline. That’s pretty impressive when you remember he’s missed four races because he wasn’t 18 yet.
Crews is part of what could be considered the Three Musketeers of future NASCAR stars along with Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love. Both of those drivers broke onto the scene in the O’Reilly Series and found success quickly. Now, Crews is already well on his way to doing the same with Joe Gibbs Racing. He has three straight top-five finishes among Bristol Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Talladega last Saturday (April 25).
With JGR teammate Sawalich finding his way to victory lane after a rough start to his career, it seems like a matter of time before Crews gets his first win. A savant on the road courses like Zilisch, he’ll have ample opportunities over the summer at Watkins Glen, San Diego and Sonoma.
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil’s 2026 has been a lot of all-or-nothing so far. He’s got five top-10 finishes and four results of 22nd or worse, but his pace and performance overall are undeniable.
The closest he came to that first career win this season was at Phoenix Raceway, finishing third after leading 22 laps. It’s not surprising that the former CARS Late Model and Super Late Models champion can find success on the short tracks like Phoenix, Bristol or Martinsville, but he’s also found success on drafting tracks and road courses with several top fives. His Achilles’ Heel? The intermediates, where Darlington is the only track he’s claimed a top-five result.
If Kvapil’s first win is going to come this season, it’s likely not going to come over the next few weeks. Three of his next eight starts are set to be in DGM Racing cars as JR Motorsports loans out his ride to the likes of Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain.
Rajah Caruth
Speaking of loaning out rides, Rajah Caruth has also had some inconsistency issues with his 2026 time split between JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing. After three top 10s in the first four races, Caruth has just one in his last seven starts.
Based on his runs in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Caruth’s best chances at a win will come at the intermediate tracks, where both of his wins came, and the drafting tracks, where he has three top 10s. So far, no dice in the O’Reilly Series, but there are plenty of opportunities to come.
Caruth also has a secret weapon in his corner with JRM crew chief Mardy Lindley. Behind his leadership, the No. 88 team won 11 races last season and has already found victory lane in 2026 with Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team rarely if ever misses the setup under Lindley, hopefully allowing Caruth to come into a weekend behind the wheel focused on his mission of nabbing the win he needs while sitting on the playoff bubble.
Parker Retzlaff
Would you believe that Parker Retzlaff, driving for Viking Motorsports, has the seventh-best average finish of any full-time O’Reilly Series driver?
Retzlaff has had the talent from the outset of his O’Reilly career, making occasional starts with Ryan Sieg Racing before jumping to full-time competition. But there’s been a rocky road for him since with stops at JAR and Alpha Prime. He’s finally settled down with Viking, and the team’s performance has remained consistent since running in the top 10 all day at Darlington Raceway in March.
If the team keeps building up momentum as quickly as it took them to get to where they’re at, it might not be too long until Retzlaff’s perseverance through tough times will pay off with a win.
Ryan Sieg
I know what you’re thinking. We’ve all been saying Ryan Sieg is on the brink of winning for three seasons now. But it’s not out of wishful thinking.
It’s fitting that the series is heading to Texas Motor Speedway, the site of Sieg’s best performance and closest to winding up in victory lane, losing in a photo finish to Sam Mayer. Fittingly, it’s Mayer’s current team, Haas Factory Team, that’s helping propel Sieg to consistency in recent years through a technological partnership. Before a last-lap crash took him out at Talladega last week, Sieg had a four-race streak of 11th-place finishes or better.
How does Sieg break through and finally get that win? The same way Day did: Find himself at the right place at the right time. It’s fair to say he’s not quite on the level of the series’ best, week in and week out, but on a given weekend with a creative strategy, Sieg could finally end his chase for a win in the O’Reilly Series.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in Fort Wayne, Indiana covering minor league, college and high school sports. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.