By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DARLINGTON, S.C. – It’s game on in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase after Sheldon Creed won Saturday night’s Fleetio 200, the opening race of the postseason at Darlington Raceway.
Creed, the driver of the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet who started the night as the third seed in the Chase field, took control of the race on Lap 95 and would lead the final 53 laps of the night to snag the first checkered flag of the championship battle and his second career O’Reilly Series victory. Creed’s first win came at Atlanta earlier this season.
Starting the night 35 points behind points leader Justin Allgaier, Creed has shrunk that lead down to just seven points leaving the Lady in Black with eight races to go in the 2026 season.
“This is everything to me. I’ve been so close here so many times and yeah, if I get to pick a place on the schedule to get a win, this is it. So yeah, I finally get that,” said Creed.
“And to be honest, wasn’t really happy with the car that first run. We worked on it all night and JT and the boys just gave me kind of what I needed there at the end and I was able to get away.
“…Just super happy to open the Chase with a win. I don’t know where everyone stacked us, but yeah, hopefully we kind of put our name in the card and hopefully we can make a run for the championship.”
.@sheldoncreed starts off The Chase with a huge win at Darlington to move into second place in the standings! pic.twitter.com/bdtBSfkLwO
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 6, 2026
Corey Day would finish the race in second-place in his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that looked as if it had taken a few punches from the track “Too Tough to Tame,” followed by Brent Crews, Sammy Smith, and Austin Hill to round out the top-five finishers.
“I think overall you have to stay locked in, right? That stuff happens early in these races and you can’t just let it get in your head and make it to where you can’t have a good rest of your race,” Day said of staying focus in the midst of adversity.
“So, that goes for my team as well. I mean, these guys fixed this thing, strategy worked out. I feel like if we would’ve had another caution there and put tires on, we would’ve been at a deficit, but it didn’t. So great calls by Adam and the guys. Good job with the guys fixing it up and yeah, much needed today for sure.”
Anthony Alfredo came home in sixth place after winning the second stage, with the remainder of the top-10 going to Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Jeremy Clements, and Brandon Jones.
The JR Motorsports duo of Carson Kvapil and Allgaier appeared to be the class of the field in the first half of the race before handling issues came into play as the race progressed. Kvapil finished the race in 12th after leading 20 laps, while Allgaier bounced off the wall with 22 laps to go and faded to 17th place by the time the checkered flag flew.
Allgaier led the most laps of the race with 60 circuits up front before his issues, shrugging off his late race issues and focusing forward to next weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
“I wish I knew, to be honest with you,” Alllgaier said when asked what went wrong with the balance on his car late in the race. “The Arby’s Steak Nuggets Chevrolet was really good early in the night. And I felt like when we were out front there, we were able to kind of save some tires and cruise and felt like our pace was really good.
“And then somewhere in the middle of that second stage, I started to feel like we weren’t as good as we wanted to be. And then the last part of the race there, even with making great adjustments on the pit box and fantastic pit stops on that, we just didn’t have the car that we needed at the end. And obviously I was hanging on.
“I was just trying to do everything I could. And then I had a really weird moment where the left front locked up getting into three and knocked the fence down. And once that happened, you’re just kind of along for the ride hanging on and trying to do as little damage as you can.”
“But still got the points lead. We go to another racetrack we’re really good at next week and go have some fun.”
Outside of those two JRM cars, other Chase contenders that finished outside the top-10 included defending series champion Jesse Love in 13th, Parker Retzlaff in 21st, and Rajah Caruth in 26th.
Caruth struggled with mechanical issues early in the race, but was able to climb back inside the top-10 in the late stages of the race before fuel pickup issues derailed his night for good.
“Just looking at the positives, man. We were respectful in the first stage before we had the, I’m guessing it was a fuel pickup issue,” said Caruth.
“No way to totally know before we go back and dissect it, but I just was proud of all our effort. We could have easily took ourselves out of it by pushing the issue or putting ourselves in bad spots, working through traffic. And like you said, we got up to the sixth place and was in good position to get a good result. But it happens, man.
“…It happens and we’ll be just as fast next week. It’s a bummer in the moment, but just looking at the positives.”
Looking ahead to Gateway, Allgaier and Creed are separated by seven points, with Kvapil 19 points back, Hill behind by 36, and Day with 46 points to make up to the points leader.
The remainder of the standings is as follows: Love (-48), Smith (-55), Jones (-58), Mayer (-66), Retzlaff (-78), Gray (-79), and Caruth (-104).
Next Saturday’s Nu Way 225 presented by Bobcat and Sauced by Blues Hog is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET on The CW.
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