William Sawalich scores first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Rockingham: Grabbing the lead and control of the race after a restart on Lap 172, William Sawalich pulled away over the final 79 laps to win Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway. (Read more)(4-4-2026)

#18-William Sawalich won the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Rockingham Speedway. It’s his first-career victory in his 42nd series start. It is the first win for Joe Gibbs Racing of the 2026 season.
Joe Gibbs Racing swept the top two positions with #20-Brandon Jones finishing runner-up. #7-Justin Allgaier placed third, with #88-Rajah Caruth and #1-Carson Kvapil rounding out the top five.
#00-Sheldon Creed, #54-Taylor Gray, #99-Parker Retzlaff, #39-Ryan Sieg and polesitter #17-Corey Day complete the top 10. Day swept the opening two stages and led a race-high 118 laps before getting trapped deep in the field.
There were eight lead changes among six drivers and seven cautions for 44 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 98.878 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Rockingham Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Rockingham Speedway:
William Sawalich won the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire, his first victory in 42 O’Reilly Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in two races at Rockingham Speedway.
Brandon Jones (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Rockingham Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2026.
Justin Allgaier (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Rockingham Speedway.
Lavar Scott (15th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 126 points over Jesse Love.

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase Standings after Rockingham (Race 8 of 33):
1)#7-Justin Allgaier 422, +249
2)#2-Jesse Love 296, +123
3)#00-Sheldon Creed 291, +118
4)#21-Austin Hill 277, +104
5)#17-Corey Day 272, +99
6)#1-Carson Kvapil 267, +94
7)#8-Sammy Smith 260, +87
8)#20-Brandon Jones 247, +74
9)#99-Parker Retzlaff 229, +56
10)#88-Rajah Caruth 215, +42
11)#18-William Sawalich 214, +41
12)#54-Taylor Gray 203, +30
Currently below elimination line
13)#41-Sam Mayer 173, -30
14)#39-Ryan Sieg 168, -35
15)#44-Brennan Poole 162, -41
16)#96-Anthony Alfredo 157, -46
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 250: #18-Sawalich wins at Rockingham, his first career victory. #20-Jones, #7-Allgaier, #88-Caruth, #1-Kvapil, #00-Creed, #54-Gray, #99-Retzlaff, #39-Sieg and #17-Day complete the top 10.
Lap 245: #18-Sawalich leads by 1.1 seconds with five laps remaining.
Lap 242: #88-Caruth jumps to the inside of a three-wide battle between #1-Kvapil and #00-Creed down the frontstretch to take fourth position.
Lap 235: #18-Sawalich holds a 1.6-second lead over #20-Jones with 15 laps remaining. #7-Allgaier has cut the deficit to 2.5 seconds.
Lap 227: #00-Creed went wide through Turns 3 and 3, allowing #7-Allgaier to take third position, nearly three seconds behind the race lead.
Lap 221: #19-Crews makes an unscheduled pit stop with a tire issue.
Lap 220: #19-Crews continues fading, dropping to 10th position.
Lap 217: #20-Jones has raced to second position, with #00-Crews taking third spot. #19-Crews has fallen to fourth with a possible tire issue.
Lap 214: #87-Green dives to the inside line of a three-wide move and slides up the track in front of the field while battling outside the top 15. Green drifted up the track, then got out of the groove and smacked the outside wall.
Lap 212: #18-Sawalich retains the lead on the restart while there were was a stackup throughout the field. #19-Crews, #00-Creed, #20-Jones and #7-Allgaier round out the top five.
Lap 205: #33-McFarland spins off Turn 4 to bring out the caution.
Lap 200: #18-Sawalich holds a 1.1-second lead over #19-Crews with 50 laps remaining. #00-Creed is three seconds back of the lead in third position.
Lap 191: #00-Creed charges to third position, passing #20-Jones who needed to get debris off his grille, in a four-car battle with #7-Allgaier and #1-Kvapil in pursuit.
Lap 184: #88-Caruth has fallen outside the top 10 after trying to move forward using the outside lane on the restart.
Lap 179: #18-Sawalich clears the front row for the restart, pulling out to a half-second lead over #19-Crews. #20-Jones, #00-Creed and #7-Allgaier fill out the rest of the top five.
Lap 175: #17-Day pitted to tighten up a luge nut and padded the fuel tank to assure he’s safe to make it the rest of the distance.
Lap 172: #39-Sieg runs into the back of #51-Clements and hits the outside wall while battling just outside the top 10. #41-Mayer has gone to the garage with an engine issue.
Lap 171: #18-Sawalich jumps to the inside of #19-Crews to take the lead on the restart. #7-Allgaier, #20-Jones and #00-Creed fill out the rest of the top five.
Lap 167: The field pits with 83 laps remaining, right at the window of making it the rest of the way on fuel. #19-Crews wins the race off pit road with a two-tire stop. #7-Allgaier jumps to second; #51-Clements gained 14 positions to third.
Lap 165: #96-Alfredo spins off Turn 4 to bring out the caution. The right-front fender shredded after the tire came apart.
Lap 161: #17-Day performs a slide job on #1-Kvapil to take seventh position.
Lap 152: #2-Love pits after reporting a vibration in the brakes.
Lap 150: #2-Love continues sliding back through the field on older tires, outside the top 10, more than seven seconds back.
Lap 144: #18-Sawalich takes third position from #2-Love, 2.3 seconds behind race leader #19-Crews.
Lap 141: #19-Crews takes the race lead from #2-Love with 109 laps remaining. #7-Allgaier takes the runner-up spot with #18-Sawalich looking to drive through for third position.
Lap 139: #2-Love is fending off #19-Crews and #7-Allgaier has the front trio have stretched their lead over the field.
Lap 133: #7-Allgaier and #18-Sawalich pass #39-Sieg, who drops back to fifth position. #17-Day has lost one spot since the restart and currently holds the eighth spot.
Lap 130: #2-Love gets by #18-Sawalich to take back the lead. #19-Crews nudges Sawalich through Turns 3 and 4 to take second position, with Sawalich falling to fifth.
Lap 129: #18-Sawalich takes the lead from #2-Love on the restart while #19-Crews is hunting down the front two.
Lap 125: #2-Love stays out to get track position. #39-Sieg takes fuel only. #18-Sawalich is the first car off pit road in third. #20-Jones and #19-Crews round out the top five. #17-Day lost five spots on pit road and will restart seventh. #51-Clements sped on pit road and will restart at the back of the pack.
Lap 120: #17-Day wins Stage 2, sweeping the stages. #18-Sawalich, #7-Allgaier, #19-Crews, #20-Jones, #88-Caruth, #99-Retzlaff, #00-Creed, #51-Clements and #1-Kvapil score stage points.
Lap 118: #7-Allgaier passes #19-Crews for third position, 1.5 seconds behind #17-Day.
Lap 111: #7-Allgaier dives to the inside of #20-Jones to take fourth position. #51-Clements has raced back to 10th position after pitting during the previous caution.
Lap 107: #18-Sawalich takes second position from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate #20-Jones.
Lap 106: #99-Retzlaff and #00-Creed pass #1-Kvapil, who falls to ninth position.
Lap 100: #17-Day keeps the lead on the restart, as #20-Jones spun the tires on the top lane. #18-Sawalich, #19-Crews and #7-Allgaier complete the top five.
Lap 96: #2-Love, #39-Sieg and #51-Clements pit for fresh tires and will likely flip the stage for track position. #41-Mayer, who is two laps off the pace with a mechanical issue, also hit pit road.
Lap 94: #51-Clements spins through Turns 1 and 2 to bring out the caution.
Lap 84: #51-Clements continues gaining positions, passing #1-Kvapil for eighth and chasing down #88-Caruth for seventh.
Lap 77: #26-Thompson hits pit road for an unscheduled pit stop with a flat right-front tire.
Lap 71: #2-Love bounced off the backstretch wall off the front bumper of #88-Caruth.
Lap 70: #17-Day clears #20-Jones on the restart to command the race. #18-Sawalich files into third position ahead of #7-Allgaier. #19-Crews is up to fifth position.
Lap 64: #54-Gray leads the cars that didn’t pit on the prior caution down pit road, including #8-Smith, #96-Alfredo and #28-Sieg. A handful of others also hit pit road for adjustments.
Lap 60: #17-Day wins the opening stage, his first career stage victory. #54-Gray, #20-Jones, #7-Allgaier, #18-Sawalich, #2-Love, #8-Smith, #88-Caruth, #19-Crews and #99-Retzlaff earn stage points.
Lap 58: #17-Day re-takes the lead from #54-Gray through Turns 1 and 2. #2-Love is making progress on fresher tires.
Lap 55: #96-Alfredo backpedaled on the restart on older tires, allowing #17-Day to get up to second position. #20-Jones has cracked the top five, second best on fresh tires.
Lap 51: The majority of the field pits. #54-Gray stays out to take the lead. #96-Alfredo, #8-Smith and #28-Sieg are the others that didn’t pit. #2-Love wins the race off pit road. #17-Day dropped one position.
Lap 49: #55-Lothian spins to bring out the race’s first caution. #27-Burton is the free pass in 27th position.
Lap 44: #18-Sawalich has moved up to eighth position, driving under #00-Creed. All four Joe Gibbs Racing cars are running inside the top 10.
Lap 41: #7-Allgaier jumps to the outside of #2-Love in a three-wide battle lapped traffic to take the runner-up position.
Lap 37: #17-Day is in heavy lapped traffic, allowing #2-Love to close the deficit to one-second. #7-Allgaier and #1-Kvapil are battling for third position.
Lap 29: #41-Mayer has fallen outside the top 10 to 12th position.
Lap 25: #33-McFarland goes a lap down in 36th position.
Lap 20: #1-Kvapil moves to fourth position, getting ahead of #54-Gray. #99-Retzlaff is closing in on the two drivers from sixth position.
Lap 14: #20-Jones passes #41-Mayer for seventh position. #19-Crews is battling #00-Creed for ninth place.
Lap 10: #17-Day has extended the lead to nearly a full second over #2-Love. #7-Allgaier, #54-Gray and #1-Kvapil round out the top five.
Lap 4: #33-McFarland got loose on the bottom of three wide with #42-Byrd and #07-Bilicki and dropped to the rear of the field.
Lap 1: #17-Day cleared #2-Love on the initial start to control the opening lap. #99-Retzlaff got loose in the opening set of corners and slipped three spots to sixth position.

Race Info:
Broadcast: CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 250 laps / 235 miles
Stages: 60 / 120 / 250
Average time of race: 2:59:38
Pit road speed: 35 mph
Caution car speed: 45 mph
Fuel Window: 90 laps

Cars to the rear: #0-Garrett Smithley, #35-Joey Gase, #87-Austin Green (unapproved adjustments).

Pit-Stall Selections

#17-Corey Day won the pole for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season race at Rockingham Speedway at a speed of 148.963 mph. It’s the first pole award of his career (19th start).
Reining series champion #2-Jesse Love will start alongside on the front row (148.545 mph). #99-Parker Retzlaff earned a third-place starting position (148.278 mph), with #7-Justin Allgaier (148.271 mph) and #1-Carson Kvapil )148.168 mph) rounding out the top five.
#54-Taylor Gray, #41-Sam Mayer, #20-Brandon Jones, #00-Sheldon Creed and #19-Brent Crews complete the top 10. Defending race winner #8-Sammy Smith will take the green flag from 19th position. #33-Cleetus McFarland will start 35th in his series debut for Richard Childress Racing.
All 38 cars made the race. #0-Garrett Smithley didn’t attempt a qualifying lap.
See the complete Rockingham Starting Lineup and Qualifying Results.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Rockingham Speedway:
Corey Day won the Kennametal Pole Award for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire with a lap of 22.717 seconds, 148.963 mph.
This is his first pole in 19 NASCAR O’Reilly Series races.
This is his first pole and fifth top-10 start in 2026.
This is his first pole in one races at Rockingham Speedway.
Jesse Love (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2026 and his second in two races at Rockingham Speedway.
Parker Retzlaff (third) posted his second top-10 start at Rockingham Speedway. It is his third in eight races this season.
Brent Crews (10th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season race at Rockingham Speedway is complete. The top five, slowest, news and notes:
#28-Kyle Sieg 145.811 mph
#39-Ryan Sieg 145.786 mph
#21-Austin Hill 145.761 mph
#00-Sheldon Creed 145.692 mph
#2-Jesse Love 145.611 mph
Slowest: #35-Joey Gase 137.053 mph
Most laps run: #2-Love, #48-Patrick Staropoli, 60
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 27 drivers): #21-Hill 143.735 mph
Notes: Weather hit the track twice during the session, which extended practice by 20 minutes. There was a caution for possible fluid on the track in Turns 1 and 2 with smoke coming from #5-JJ Yeley in the opening minutes of practice. #74-Dawson Cram also tapped the wall early in the session.
See full Rockingham Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tires Notes: The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series take center stage with the NASCAR Cup Series on its first off weekend of the season. Teams in both series will run the same Goodyear Racing Eagle tire setups at Rockingham Speedway this weekend used last year at the North Carolina track.

There are 38 drivers/teams on the entry list for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season race at Rockingham Speedway. No cars will miss the race.
Notables: #0-Garrett Smithley, #5-JJ Yeley, #32-Andrew Patterson, #33-Cleetus McFarland, #35-Joey Gase, #42-Nathan Byrd, #55-Blake Lothian, #74-Dawson Cram, #91-Alex Labbe.
The original entry list had 39 cars, but AM Racing withdrew #25-Nick Sanchez from the event.
See the full Rockingham Entry List.

Rockingham At-Track Schedule

Race rules and information: (Will be updated for 2026 as needed).

• Inspection Penalty Protocol
• Pit Road Penalties
• Pit Road Speeds
• Points Explanation
• Qualifying Procedures