Allgaier Leads JRM, Caruth Notches First Career O'Reilly Series Top-5 at Rockingham

Race 8 of 33: North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway
Track Specs: 1.017-mile oval / 250 laps
Race Winner: William Sawalich
Allgaier’s finish: 3^rd Caruth’s finish: 4^thKvapil’s finish: 5^th
Smith’s finish: 12^th

Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 Jarrett Chevrolet, earned his fifth top-three finish of the 2026 season on Saturday afternoon at Rockingham Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event in the third position. Allgaier, who lined up for the 250-lap feature from the fourth position, ran inside the top five throughout the afternoon, earning valuable stage points at the conclusion of both Stage One and Stage Two before scoring the podium finish. Today’s strong run gives Allgaier six top-fives and seven top-10s on the year and extends the JR Motorsports driver’s lead in the championship standings to 126 points over the field heading to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend.

“Today was a good, solid day for our Jarrett Chevrolet. As Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) keeps saying, today was a day to keep adding to the bucket. We had a lot of speed on the long run all race long, but just ran out of time at the end. I can’t say thank you enough to everyone back and JR Motorsports. The speed we’ve had all season long has been incredible and I’m really happy to come away from here with a top-three finish. We’ve been able to keep this momentum with us so far and hopefully we can keep that going again next week at my favorite race track in Bristol.”

Rajah Caruth:

Rajah Caruth and the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team turned in a strong performance Saturday at Rockingham Speedway, rallying from a 13^th-place starting spot to score a career-best fourth-place finish in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. After battling a snug condition early in the race and slipping back as far as 16^th, Caruth methodically worked his way forward through the opening stage and finished ninth by the end of Stage One. Staying out during the stage break gained valuable track position, allowing Caruth to restart seventh and remain inside the top 10 throughout Stage Two, crossing the finish line in sixth. Following a clean stop to begin the final stage, Caruth continued to make steady gains and cracked the top five by lap 148. A late caution set up a dash to the finish, and despite fighting a lack of rear grip over the closing run, Caruth was able to drive back into the top five and take the checkered flag in fourth.

“I’m proud of the effort from everyone on this No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. I still need to clean up a few things on my end, but I’m thankful for HendrickCars.com, Mr. H and Ms. Linda, Dale, Kelley and LW at JRM, Chevrolet and the Hendrick Engie Shop. It feels really good to get my first career top-five in this series and have something to build on next week.”

Carson Kvapil

Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Arby’s Chevrolet, earned a strong fifth-place finish Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts event at Rockingham Speedway. Kvapil finished the first stage in 11^th despite fighting a tight-handling Chevrolet from the drop of the green flag. During the second stage, the JR Motorsports driver was dealing with a vibration in his Chevrolet. Kvapil was able to hang on and pick up a stage point when the green-and-white checkered flag waved at the end of the second stage. The No. 1 Arby’s team continued to improve the handling as the third stage started. Kvapil quickly surged into the top five and was battling hard with his JRM teammates Rajah Caruth and Justin Allgaier. Ultimately the Mooresville, N.C. native took the checkered flag in the fifth position.

“Today was a solid showing for the No. 1 Arby’s team. We battled hard for track position all day. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and the entire No. 1 team kept on improving the car for the entire afternoon. It was good to come away with a top-five today. I’m looking forward to building off today and getting back to Bristol next weekend.”

Sammy Smith

Sammy Smith and the No. 8 TruckClub Chevrolet team fought hard all day long at Rockingham Speedway, earning valuable stage points before taking the checkered flag in 12^th.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series dealt with rain delays throughout practice and qualifying but were able to make it through the whole field and Smith was set to start 19^th for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250. Smith took the green flag and his car started to come in around lap 30, when he was running the same lap times as the leaders. The first caution waved on lap 49 with Smith in 17^th. Crew chief Cory Shea made the call to stay on the track while the rest of the pack came to pit road in an attempt to gain track position and stage points. On a restart with six laps to go in the stage, the strategy paid off as Smith took the green-and-white-checkered flag in seventh. After flipping Stage One, Smith restarted 23^rd and finished 12^th in Stage Two.

Heading into the final stage, Smith restarted 11^th after pitting for tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment to tighten up the No. 8 Chevrolet. The JR Motorsports driver fell back as far as 24^th as his Chevrolet trended toward the free side again, but after another stop for adjustments, Smith drove his way back to a 12^th-place finish in the TruckClub Chevrolet in his second NOAPS start at The Rock.

“This No. 8 TruckClub Chevrolet team didn’t give up all race long. WE fought hard all day and were able to come away with some valuable points. I really appreciate TruckClub coming onboard for this race and all the support they showed us at the track, along with Pilot, TMC and Allstate Peterbilt Group. We’ll learn from today and turn our focus to Bristol next week.”