By David Morgan, Associate Editor
HAMPTON, Ga. – It seems as if the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season is one in which Justin Allgaier and his No. 7 JR Motorsports team can do no wrong and that was wildly evident on Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway.
After a race that saw high marks for both cautions (13) and red flags (4) that pushed the event to double overtime, it was Allgaier’s battered and bruised Chevrolet that snaked its way through the chaos on the final lap to score his sixth win of the season – a career best for the wily veteran of the O’Reilly Series.
As leaders Brennan Poole and Nick Sanchez collided heading into Turn 1 on the last lap, Allgaier powered his way past on the bottom lane to assert himself into the lead with Parker Retzlaff and his JRM teammate Carson Kvapil giving chase.
Even as Allgaier’s car threw sparks out of the rear of it for nearly the entirety of the final run to the checkers, he was able to keep his challengers at bay to bring home the victory and lock up the regular season championship in the process.
Another unforgettable finish at @EchoParkSpdwy! pic.twitter.com/28EbO6ZWN4
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) July 12, 2026
“Honestly, when I started in 2026, I had a pretty clear vision of what the future for myself looked like. And I think I just came into this season with a completely different attitude and personality and thought process,” said Allgaier.
“And nights like tonight, listen, I will be here to tell you I’m glad to steal one away every once in a while, because I feel like we’ve lost plenty this year that we probably should have won. But [my crew] tonight were very adamant, do not give up. We are not out of this.
“And under caution, I can feel stuff. Dale even had to radio into me that I had something stuck under the splitter. I though I maybe had a flat tire. I could feel it dragging after all the damage there at the end. You’re never really sure what can happen.
“So, to be able to go across the line first and just really that last whole lap. When we took the white, it was such a wild chain of events that kind of happened and be able to come out of here with a victory.”
Kvapil would sneak past Retzlaff to give JRM a 1-2 finish on the night, with Retzlaff scoring a podium finish in a car that looked as if it had been through a heavyweight fight with Mike Tyson.
“I’m happy with third. I mean, every corner of it’s hurt,” said Retzlaff. “So, I think that you can’t… I mean, I can’t be mad at the speed we brought. I don’t think you can look at that when it looks like that, you can’t really blame speed of not being able to suck up in the last lap.”
William Sawalich finished the marathon night in fourth place and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top-five finishers to give Viking Motorsports a double top-five night, building momentum for the little team that could.
“It’s huge. I think it just helps morale. It’s good for the guys to know it,” Alfredo said of building on the momentum of finishes like Saturday night. “The effort they’ve been putting in to make the cars go faster is a reward of their efforts. The cars going faster is a reward of their efforts.
“And me getting better, just learning and leaning on them and us building our communication and it’s a team effort. When we go out there and execute together, there’s no one person that makes it happen. So that’s fun having that kind of culture and mindset. And I think runs like these just allow everyone to perform at their peak on a more consistent basis.”
The remainder of the top-10 finishers were Garrett Smithley, Brandon Jones, Kyle Sieg, Rajah Caruth, and Jeremy Clements.
After a week off, the O’Reilly Series will be back in action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25 with just three races remaining in the regular season before the Chase begins.
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