Of the three national NASCAR series crowning a champion this weekend, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series features the largest group of contenders – a five-driver test of trophy.
The 2024 series champion Justin Allgaier brings a 22-point advantage over defending series champ Jesse Love into Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Championship Race (5 p.m. ET on the CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The JR Motorsports veteran leads Corey Day by 23 points, his teammate – and last week’s Martinsville (Va.) Speedway race winner – Travis Kvapil by 31 points and Sheldon Creed by 42 points.
The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Allgaier is the defending Homestead winner – taking the trophy in last year’s March race – and actually the only previous winner at the track. His 17 starts here is more than double the number of starts of the other four championship contenders. On the other end of the spectrum, this will be Day’s debut at the 1.5-miler.
Love, driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, boasts the best average finish at Homestead among the group – 5.0 in only two starts. Kvapil, who drives the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet, finished 10th last year in his only race at the track and Creed, the driver of the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet, is averaging a 13.3 finish in three previous starts.
Of note, Love boasts the best average finish (4.1) by far on the 1.5-mile tracks this season such as Homestead this year. The next best mark is Creed is at 10.7.
The rookie Day- a four-race winner this year – is the only driver among the championship eligible five that has won on a 1.5-miler in 2026. The 19-year-old Hendrick Motorsports rookie won at both Las Vegas and Charlotte during the Chase.
Interestingly, Allgaier is the only other among the title contenders who has won on a 1.5-mile oval – claiming six career victories, including the one here in South Florida last year. Love is the only driver among this group of five to finish top-10 at every 1.5-mile track this season. Creed has two top-five finishes in four Homestead races. And in the last 12 races, Kvapil has amassed the most points among the title five.
“We’ve been putting a ton of effort into our Homestead program and I feel like [crew chief] Andrew [Overstreet] has a great gameplan ahead of this weekend,” Allgaier said. “It’s definitely a confidence boost knowing that we won there last year. If we can just go out and execute just like we have throughout the last month, I feel like we will be in a great position to do what [team sponsor] Rick Brandt always says and, ‘cause a party.’”
Qualifying for the championship race is set for 1 p.m. on Friday.
— NASCAR Wire Service —