Sammy Smith sweeps O’Reilly, Truck races at Talladega: As Sammy Smith walked away from the interviews and Victory Lane celebrations following an overtime win in Friday night’s NASCAR truck race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, he smiled and promised there would be no post-race party because he had a race to win Saturday. And he did just that.(Read more)(10-24-2026)

Making a last-lap pass, #8-Sammy Smith won The Progress Group 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his fourth career victory and second at Talladega. Smith only led the final lap and completed the weekend sweep after winning Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series event.
#1-Carson Kvapil led a race-high 67 laps and finished runner-up to his JR Motorsports teammate. Championship leader #2-Jesse Love charged to third on the final lap, with #7-Justin Allgaier and #00-Sheldon Creed rounding out the top five.
#17-Corey Day, #31-Blaine Perkins, #26-Dean Thompson, #20-Brandon Jones and #96-Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10.
Chase drivers finishing outside the top 10: #41-Sam Mayer (13th), #88-Rajah Caruth (17th), #54-Taylor Gray (21st), #99-Parker Retzlaff (31st), #21-Austin Hill (35th).
JR Motorsports swept all three stages, with Kvapil and Allgaier winning the first two stages. The powerhouse organization led 79 of the 94 laps completed.
There were 11 lead changes among eight drivers and four cautions for 20 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 139.557 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Talladega Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Talladega Superspeedway:
Sammy Smith (C) won the The Progress Group 250, his fourth victory in 139 O’Reilly Series races.
This is his first victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in seven races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Carson Kvapil (C) (second) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2026.
Jesse Love (C) (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Patrick Staropoli (32nd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Jesse Love (C) leads the point standings by 19 points over Justin Allgaier (C).

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase Standings after Talladega (Race 31 of 33):
1)#2-Jesse Love 2,401
2)#7-Justin Allgaier 2,382, -19
3)#17-Corey Day 2,372, -29
4)#00-Sheldon Creed 2,351, -50
5)#1-Carson Kvapil 2,342, -59
6)#41-Sam Mayer 2,305, -96
7)#8-Sammy Smith 2,293, -108
8)#54-Taylor Gray 2,246, -155
9)#21-Austin Hill 2,233, -168
10)#20-Brandon Jones 2,212, -189
11)#99-Parker Retzlaff 2,200, -201
12)#88-Rajah Caruth 2,183, -218
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 94: #8-Smith sweeps the weekend between the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series, .084 seconds ahead of #1-Kvapil. #2-Love, #7-Allgaier, #00-Creed, #17-Day, #31-Perkins, #26-Thompson, #20-Jones and #96-Alfredo complete the top 10.
Lap 93: #41-Mayer gets out of line and doesn’t clear #8-Smith. Smith gets a shove from #7-Allgaier down the backstretch and clears for the lead.
Lap 92: The field remains single-file with two laps remaining, as drivers are beginning to time out their runs.
Lap 89: The field is single-file throughout the field, running against the wall.
Lap 84: #9-Finch spins off the exit of Turn 4 and hits the outside wall, flattening both rear tires. The green flag stays out.
Lap 83: #21-Hill is off the pace with a flat right-front tire and hits the outside wall.
Lap 82: The top 14 cars are now single-file around the top. #1-Kvapil leads #8-Smith, #41-Mayer, #7-Allgaier, #17-Day, #2-Love, #00-Creed, #99-Alfredo, #31-Perkins and #20-Jones.
Lap 80: #27-Burton is commanding the inside line in eighth position. The outside lane continues to be dominant as it’s beginning to string out.
Lap 78: The JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports cars control the restart on the top lane with #41-Mayer getting into line in fourth place. #20-Jones leads the middle lane. Mayer drops to the middle and clears #7-Allgaier for third place.
Lap 72: The caution is displayed for debris in Turn 1.
Lap 69: The entire field is now single-file around the top of the track. Occasionally, a car will move to the bottom to try to leapfrog forward.
Lap 68: #4-Bacarella spins on the frontstretch but the race remains green. He has a flat tire and is limping around the track back to pit road.
Lap 67: #21-Hill moves to the bottom down the backstretch from 13th position but will lose positions as no takers dip behind him.
Lap 64: Most of the field are training out against the wall, led by #1-Kvapil, #8-Smith, #7-Allgaier, #17-Day, #41-Mayer, #00-Creed, #2-Love, #51-Clements, #96-Alfredo and #31-Perkins.
Lap 62: #41-Mayer jumps to the outside with a push from #00-Creed and #2-Love. #18-Sawalich gets kicked to the inside with #24-Burton and dropping deep into the field.
Lap 57: #24-Burton and #54-Gray make contact at the front of the field and spin. #21-Hill drives into the rear of Gray and spins to the inside. #20-Jones and #71-Honeyman spin further back. The rest of the field zigs and zags to miss the spinners.
Lap 53: #24-Burton, #54-Gray and #18-Sawalich all take two tires to get track position. #1-Kvapil is the first car off pit road with four fresh tires. #7-Allgaier fell to fifth. #20-Jones took two tires and is sixth. #44-Poole and #71-Honeyman both received pit-r0ad penalties.
Lap 50: #7-Allgaier hangs on for the Stage 2 victory, his 12th of the season. #1-Kvapil, #8-Smith, #21-Hill, #17-Day, #00-Creed, #24-Burton, #96-Alfredo, #19-Crews and #71-Honeyman earn stage points.
Lap 48: The majority of the field has cycled to the top of the line. #7-Allgaier leads #1-Kvapil, #8-Smith, #17-Day, #24-Burton, #71-Joneyman, #00-Creed, #41-Mayer, #96-Alfredo and #18-Sawalich.
Lap 47: The top four cars have cleared the three-wide action. #24-Burton, #21-Hill and #2-Love are three-wide for fifth place, though the bottom is disbanding and Love is dropping backwards.
Lap 44: The majority of the lead draft, 23 cars deep, is three-wide. Three JR Motorsports teammates have cleared the field with #7-Allgaier, #1-Kvapil and #8-Smith. #2-Love squeezes in front of #21-Hill to lead the top lane.
Lap 42: #8-Smith gives #7-Allgaier a big bump to clear for the race lead. #21-Hill leads the top lane, ahead of #1-Kvapil.
Lap 41: #21-Hill has been pushed to the inside of #1-Kvapil as they battle for the lead. #7-Allgaier, #8-Smith, #41-Mayer and #20-Jones are on the inside line.
Lap 39: #7-Allgaier was shuffled to the middle and fell outside the top 10. #8-Smith picked him up and they rejoin the inside line behind #21-Hill and #18-Sawalich.
Lap 37: #21-Hill drops to lead the inside line with help from #18-Sawalich, #00-Creed, #41-Mayer, #8-Smith and #71-Honeyman.
Lap 35: #2-Love has worked up to 15th after restarting at the rear of the field. #21-Hill has raced to sixth place.
Lap 33: #1-Kvapil has been shoved to the lead with a push from #18-Sawalich, #19-Crews and #51-Clements. Kvapil jumps to the top side, in front of #17-Day.
Lap 32: #1-Kvapil jumps to the top lane with help from #8-Smith and #26-Thompson as soon as the green flag waved. #17-Day holds the lead, ahead of #00-Creed, #88-Caruth, #7-Allgaier and #54-Gray.
Lap 28: #17-Day wins the race off pit road. #00-Creed, #18-Sawalich, #54-Gray and #88-Caruth complete the top five. #1-Kvapil stalled exiting his stall and fell to 12th place. #21-Hill had a lengthy stop to change radios. #2-Love will drop to the rear for the start for improper fueling.
Lap 25: #1-Kvapil wins Stage 1, his fifth stage victory of the season. #88-Caruth, #7-Allgaier, #17-Day, #00-Creed, #43-Mosack, #54-Gray, #9-Finch, #51-Clements and #18-Sawalich earn stage points.
Lap 24: #00-Creed gets pushed to the inside line with help from #54-Gray but stalls out and drops two positions.
Lap 21: #99-Retzlaff spins through the grass down the backstretch off the front bumper of #96-Alfredo  and has two flat tires. The caution is not displayed with four laps remaining in the stage.
Lap 19: #41-Mayer gets out of line, with help from #99-Retzlaff and #96-Alfredo.
Lap 16: #99-Retzlaff now leads the inside line after dropping down from eighth position. He stalled out while battling for sixth and is falling backwards.
Lap 15: The first 18 cars continue to train around the top of the track with a few exceptions. #19-Crews and #8-Smith dipped to the inside, trying to inch towards the front.
Lap 12: #2-Love continuously drops to the bottom, trying to make progress forward. He runs in 14th position and was leaped by #21-Hill.
Lap 9: The lead draft has mainly gotten single file around the wall, with the lone drivers working the bottom being #2-Love, #21-Hill and #19-Crews.
Lap 6: The top six cars have cleared the field running around the top lane, led by #1-Kvapil, #88-Caruth, #00-Creed, #7-Allgaier, #17-Day and #41-Mayer.
Lap 3: #17-Day has gained 21 positions since the start of the race and is up to 15th place. The lead draft is three abreast for the opening 18 cars.
Lap 2: #1-Kvapil powers by #9-Finch with a shove from #88-Caruth. #41-Mayer gets shuffled to the middle land, with #21-Hill and #96-Alfredo picking him up to lead the middle line.
Lap 1: #9-Finch is pushed out to the lead by #1-Kvapil and moves down to the bottom to block the inside line led by #2-Love.

The Progress Group 250
Broadcast: CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 94 laps / 250.04 miles
Stages: 25 / 50 / 94
Average time of race: 2:03:22
Pit road speed: 55 mph
Caution vehicle speed: 70 mph
Fuel Window: 45 laps

Cars to the rear: #17-Corey Day (engine change), #87-Lee Pulliam (unapproved adjustment).

Pit-Stall Selections

#2-Jesse Love won the pole for The Progress Group 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Talladega Superspeedway by .002 seconds over #9-Jake Finch. Love’s speed of 182.626 mph was good enough for his fifth straight pole award at Talladega. Love is the first driver in series history to win five straight poles at a single track.
#9-Finch will start a career-best second (182.619 mph). #41-Sam Mayer will take the green flag in third place (182.508 mph), with #1-Carson Kvapil (182.452 mph) and #21-Austin Hill rounding out the top five (182.431 mph).
#88-Rajah Caruth, #96-Anthony Alfredo, #19-Brent Crews, #18-William Sawalich and #17-Corey Day complete the top 10. Day was pushed to the garage before his second-round effort and will need to start at the rear of the field with an engine change after the Hendrick Motorsports group discovered a water leak.
Chase drivers starting outside the top 10: #8-Sammy Smith (11th), #00-Sheldon Creed (12th), #7-Justin Allgaier (14th), #20-Brandon Jones (16th), #54-Taylor Gray (17th) and #99-Parker Retzlaff (26th).
Did Not Qualify: #45-Lavar Scott, #47-Carson Ware, #38-Patrick Emerling.
See the complete Talladega Starting Lineup and Qualifying Results.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Talladega Superspeedway:
Jesse Love (C) won the Pole Award for the The Progress Group 250 with a lap of 52.435 seconds, 182.626 mph.
This is his 12th pole in 97 NASCAR O’Reilly Series races.
This is his third pole and 23rd top-10 start in 2026.
This is his fifth pole in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Jake Finch (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2026 and his first in one race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Sam Mayer (C) (third) posted his second top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 23rd in 31 races this season.
Brent Crews (C) (eighth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

There is no practice for the United Rentals 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will pair the previously-used left-side tire with a right-side tire featuring an updated construction.

There are 41 drivers/teams on the entry list for The Progress Group 250 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Three cars will miss the race.
Notables: #0-Garrett Smithley, #4-Caesar Bacarella, #9-Jake Finch, #32-Daniel Dye, #38-Patrick Emerling, #42-Nick Leitz, #43-Connor Mosack, #47-Carson Ware, #53-Will Rodgers, #55-Joey Gase, #71 Leland Honeyman Jr., #87-Lee Pulliam, #91-Mason Maggio, #92-Josh Williams.
See the full Talladega Entry List.

Talladega At-Track Schedule

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

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