What a weekend for Sammy Smith. The 22-year-old JR Motorsports driver smashed a brutal 53-race winless streak in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday afternoon, grabbing victory by a razor-thin 0.084-second margin at Talladega Superspeedway.
Driving his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Smith executed a brilliant last-lap pass to snatch the win from teammate and race dominator Carson Kvapil in The Progress Group 250, the seventh race of The Chase presented by Mobil 1. Incredibly, that final tour around the 2.66-mile high banks was the only lap Smith led all day. With the triumph, he joins elite company as the first driver to secure multiple series wins at the venue since team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. achieved the feat back in April 2003. He also mirrors a feat last managed by the late Greg Biffle in 2001 by sweeping both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and O'Reilly Series races at the same track.
"Man, that was mentally draining, just thank you to everybody," Smith said. The victory comes amid a tough campaign for the No. 8 team, and just after Smith announced plans to shift to the Truck Series full time in 2027 with Tricon Garage.
For Carson Kvapil, the finish was a bitter pill. His No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet controlled the race, leading 67 of the 94 laps, including 31 of the final 32. Though visibly disappointed to lose the win at the end, Kvapil salvaged a strong points day, cutting 20 points from his championship deficit to sit fifth overall, 59 points behind leader Jesse Love. "First things first, [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] and all the guys on this entire No. 1 team brought a fast race car," Kvapil noted.
Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love started from pole position for a record fifth consecutive Talladega O’Reilly Series race and fought back to a third-place finish. Love's championship lead shrank dramatically, with Justin Allgaier closing the gap to just 19 points with two races remaining. Allgaier brought his car home in fourth after capturing a Stage 2 win, keeping his title hopes burning bright heading to Martinsville Speedway.
Haas Factory Team driver Sheldon Creed took fifth, while Hendrick Motorsports rookie Corey Day finished sixth to round out the top six drivers from the 12-driver championship field. Behind them, Blaine Perkins, Dean Thompson, Chase-eligible Brandon Jones, and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10.
The afternoon brought plenty of chaos on track. The first caution for an incident waved on Lap 57 when Harrison Burton's No. 24 Toyota drifted high on exit, prompting Carson Kvapil to dive left and Taylor Gray to side draft. Contact between Burton and Gray sent Gray spinning into Chase drivers Austin Hill and Jones, though all three managed to continue. Parker Retzlaff suffered an eventful afternoon too, spinning his No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet through the Turn 3 grass late in Stage 1 to fall two laps down before recovering to finish 31st.
With only two races left in the battle, the championship elimination line claimed five contenders: Taylor Gray, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff, and Rajah Caruth, all trailing Love by 155 points or more. The series heads next to Martinsville Speedway for the National Debt Relief 250 on Oct. 31.
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