Justin Allgaier endured a track record 12 cautions, four red flags and a double overtime restart to win the Focused Health 250 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday night (July 11).
This is Allgaier’s sixth victory of the 2026 season, a new career-high for most wins in a NOAPS season. It is also the 34th career NOAPS win for the veteran driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
“I’m super proud of everybody at JR Motorsports,” Allgaier told CW Sports postrace. “I knew at the end, there was going to be some guys close on fuel, and you just never give up. Andrew Overstreet, this whole No. 7 team, Eddie D’Hondt the spotter, they talk over and over again about not giving up, and that’s what this team is all about.”
Carson Kvapil came home second, followed by Parker Retzlaff in third, William Sawalich in fourth and Anthony Alfredo completing the top five.
Garrett Smithley, Brandon Jones, Kyle Sieg, Rajah Caruth and Jeremy Clements finished in positions sixth through 10th, respectively.
The opening stage featured a pair of cautions, one on lap 3 for Joey Gase‘s engine blowing up and another on lap 21 for a spin by Leland Honeyman Jr. Polesitter Sam Mayer led the opening 33 laps before hitting the wall and being forced to pit for a flat tire. That opened the door for Kvapil to win stage one as last week’s winner Jones spun out in turn 4 following contact with Austin Hill.
Stage two ran clean and green as JR Motorsports asserted its will by sweeping the top four spots, led by stage winner Allgaier. Patrick Staropoli did go for a spin by the entrance to pit road, but he was able to get back going and not bring out the yellow flag.
The race pace slowed during the final stage, which featured eight cautions and four red flag periods. Contenders knocked out of the race early in stage three include Taylor Gray and Corey Day, who got into each in turn 4 after Jones got loose in front of them, causing an accordion effect. Mayer also lost his engine after making front- end contact on a restart, knocking out the radiator.
The Big One of the evening occurred with 11 laps remaining as 11 cars got caught up in a stack-up in the middle of the park in turns 1 and 2. Jesse Love, Brent Crews, Sheldon Creed and Retzlaff were among the notable drivers involved.
Another crash in turn 4 with four laps remaining swept up seven more drivers, including Caruth, Sammy Smith, Allgaier and five-time EchoPark O’Reilly winner Hill.
Following the fourth red flag of the night for cleanup, the stage was set for overtime. On the first attempt, the field did not even make it completely past the start/finish line before Clements went around and moved up the track, collecting Lavar Scott.
The second overtime attempt proved to be the final one as Allgaier made the right moves to hold off his teammate Kvapil and Retzlaff to take the checkered flag.
O’Reilly Series EchoPark Results
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will take next week off before returning to action on Saturday, July 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 100-lap race at The Brickyard will begin at 4 p.m. ET, and the broadcast will air on your local CW station.
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
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