Justin Allgaier out-duels Brent Crews in Nashville for NASCAR O'Reilly win
Allgaier further cements his lead atop the championship standings, 179 points clear of Jesse Love
Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Rookie Brent Crews will have to wait another day for his first win in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series.
He tried his best to defend against former series champion Justin Allgaier, but there was no stopping the JR Motorsports veteran. He took the lead with 15 laps to go and never looked back, earning his 32nd career win and his fourth of the 2026 season.
After climbing out of the roof hatch, Allgaier bowed in honor of Kyle Busch. He and the entire team then bowed together in a nod to the fallen NASCAR champion's signature celebration.
"First of all, it's been a rough couple of weeks," said Allgaier. "Thoughts and prayers to Samantha, Kyle, Brexton and Lennix. It’s been an emotional couple of weeks. I wish my wife and kids and my mom and dad were here to celebrate. But this team right here is incredible … This place is electric. I love coming to Nashville. I knew we had a car capable of getting there, and we struggled on that one run, but Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) made some calls and we got ourselves back in the game. I was able to track him down and get the win."
Crews finished second, William Sawalich third, Sam Mayer fourth, and Brandon Jones fifth. Corey Day, Carson Kvapil, Kyle Larson, Taylor Gray, and Sammy Smith filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Stage 1 -- Love in control
Love dominated the first run of the race from pole position. As the stage rolled on, he had a 6+ second lead as he caught RCR teammate Cleetus McFarland. Instead of lapping him, he rode behind the No. 33 in an effort to keep him on the lead lap.
However, after Cleetus slid up the traack, Love drove by and carried on with his race. Cleetus was then battling for the free pass when he spun sideways and ended up in the grass at the exit of Turn 4.
Love won Stage 1 over Day, Allgaier, Hill, Larson, Kvapil, Sawalich, R. Sieg, S. Smith, and Crews.
Stage 2 -- Allgaier takes the fight to Love
During the stage break, Tay. Gray suffered a flat left-front tire and ended up at the back of the field.
On the restart, Allgaier snatched the lead from Love, but the battle was far from over.
Behind them, Larson and Hill got together, and Hill delivered a little payback as he knocked Larson up the track.
With just under 15 laps to go in the stage, Love took the lead back, but Allgaier responded, and they proceeded to go back-and-forth for the top spot.
On the final lap of the stage, Love drove to the inside of Allgaier, but shot up the track and nearly collided. That moment allowed Allgaier to win the stage over Love, Kvapil, Sawalich, Crews, Day, Mayer, Retzlaff. Larson, and R. Sieg .
Stage 3 -- A new challenger goes to the front
Allgaier fell from first to fifth with a slow pit stop, but he made most of it back on the restart, surging to second before the field even exited Turn 2.
Crews then rose to prominence, passing Allgaier for second and running down Love for the race lead. Love was on the radio complaining about a possible loose wheel, and the No. 2 team believed they may stripped the studs.
Crews took the lead, and Love was the first of the leaders to pit, as the team spent a long time in the stall to try and rectify the issue.
With about 45 laps to go, several cars began to pit as part a round of green-flag stops got underway.
Cleetus McFarland's first green-flag pit stop did not go well, with a penalty for removing equipment from the box. He then spun trying to serve the penalty, which got him another pass-through penalty.
But up front, Allgaier ran down Crews and the two drivers battled back-and-forth for almost five laps. Crews even put the bumper to him, but Allgaier finally got away with about 15 laps to go.
Allgaier went on to collect the checkered flag, his third in Music City. The O'Reilly Series will now have an off-weekend before they go back racing at Pocono Raceway on June 13.
Justin Allgaier and winning team bow in honor of Kyle Busch, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images
RACE
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Pits | Points | Retirement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
J. Allgaier
JR Motorsports
|
7 | Chevrolet | 188 |
1:53'16.849 |
5 | 74 | ||||||
| 2 |
B. Crews
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
19 | Toyota | 188 |
+1.403 1:53'18.252 |
1.403 | 6 | 42 | |||||
| 3 |
W. Sawalich
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
18 | Toyota | 188 |
+2.934 1:53'19.783 |
1.531 | 6 | 45 | |||||
| 4 |
S. Mayer
Haas Factory Team
|
41 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+4.864 1:53'21.713 |
1.930 | 6 | 37 | |||||
| 5 |
B. Jones
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
20 | Toyota | 188 |
+6.961 1:53'23.810 |
2.097 | 6 | 32 | |||||
| 6 |
C. Day
Hendrick Motorsports
|
17 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+8.596 1:53'25.445 |
1.635 | 6 | 45 | |||||
| 7 |
C. Kvapil
JR Motorsports
|
1 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+13.943 1:53'30.792 |
5.347 | 6 | 43 | |||||
| 8 |
K. Larson
JR Motorsports
|
88 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+14.572 1:53'31.421 |
0.629 | 6 | ||||||
| 9 |
T. Gray
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
54 | Toyota | 188 |
+15.956 1:53'32.805 |
1.384 | 7 | 28 | |||||
| 10 |
S. Smith
JR Motorsports
|
8 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+19.115 1:53'35.964 |
3.159 | 6 | 29 | |||||
| 11 |
A. Hill
Richard Childress Racing
|
21 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+19.626 1:53'36.475 |
0.511 | 6 | 33 | |||||
| 12 |
P. Retzlaff
Viking Motorsports
|
99 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+22.054 1:53'38.903 |
2.428 | 6 | 28 | |||||
| 13 |
R. Sieg
RSS Racing
|
39 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+22.158 1:53'39.007 |
0.104 | 6 | 28 | |||||
| 14 |
D. Thompson
Sam Hunt Racing
|
26 | Toyota | 188 |
+25.772 1:53'42.621 |
3.614 | 6 | 23 | |||||
| 15 |
S. Creed
Haas Factory Team
|
00 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+27.285 1:53'44.134 |
1.513 | 6 | 22 | |||||
| 16 |
J. Love
Richard Childress Racing
|
2 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+29.222 1:53'46.071 |
1.937 | 6 | 40 | |||||
| 17 |
A. Alfredo
Viking Motorsports
|
96 | Chevrolet | 188 |
+30.900 1:53'47.749 |
1.678 | 6 | 20 | |||||
| 18 |
J. Clements
Jeremy Clements Racing
|
51 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'19.233 |
1 Lap | 6 | 19 | |||||
| 19 |
R. Caruth
Jordan Anderson Racing
|
32 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'30.565 |
11.332 | 6 | 18 | |||||
| 20 |
B. Perkins
Jordan Anderson Racing
|
31 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'32.079 |
1.514 | 6 | 17 | |||||
| 21 |
B. Poole
Alpha Prime Racing
|
44 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'35.574 |
3.495 | 6 | 16 | |||||
| 22 |
L. Honeyman Jr.
DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports
|
92 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'38.403 |
2.829 | 6 | ||||||
| 23 |
J. Burton
Jordan Anderson Racing
|
27 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'39.980 |
1.577 | 6 | 14 | |||||
| 24 |
K. Sieg
RSS Racing
|
28 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'42.030 |
2.050 | 6 | 13 | |||||
| 25 |
P. Staropoli
Big Machine Racing Team
|
48 | Chevrolet | 187 |
+1 Lap 1:53'42.912 |
0.882 | 6 | 12 | |||||
| 26 |
L. Bearden
Young's Motorsports
|
42 | Chevrolet | 186 |
+2 Laps 1:53'20.803 |
1 Lap | 7 | 11 | |||||
| 27 |
H. Burton
Sam Hunt Racing
|
24 | Toyota | 186 |
+2 Laps 1:53'21.190 |
0.387 | 7 | 10 | |||||
| 28 |
M. Maggio
DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports
|
91 | Chevrolet | 186 |
+2 Laps 1:53'30.363 |
9.173 | 6 | 9 | |||||
| 29 |
R. Ellis
Young's Motorsports
|
02 | Chevrolet | 185 |
+3 Laps 1:53'36.206 |
1 Lap | 5 | 8 | |||||
| 30 |
A. Green
Peterson Racing Group
|
87 | Chevrolet | 185 |
+3 Laps 1:53'46.497 |
10.291 | 7 | 7 | |||||
| 31 |
L. Scott
Alpha Prime Racing
|
45 | Chevrolet | 184 |
+4 Laps 1:53'30.152 |
1 Lap | 6 | 6 | |||||
| 32 |
J. Bilicki
SS-Green Light Racing
|
07 | Chevrolet | 184 |
+4 Laps 1:53'40.973 |
10.821 | 6 | 5 | |||||
| 33 |
G. Smithley
SS-Green Light Racing
|
0 | Chevrolet | 184 |
+4 Laps 1:53'50.723 |
9.750 | 6 | 4 | |||||
| 34 |
D. Cram
Joey Gase Motorsports
|
35 | Chevrolet | 183 |
+5 Laps 1:53'36.172 |
1 Lap | 8 | 3 | |||||
| 35 |
C. McFarland
Richard Childress Racing
|
33 | Chevrolet | 182 |
+6 Laps 1:53'32.418 |
1 Lap | 8 | 2 | |||||
| 36 |
J. Gase
Joey Gase Motorsports
|
55 | Chevrolet | 179 |
+9 Laps 1:53'50.177 |
3 Laps | 9 | 1 | |||||
| 37 |
D. Starr
Joey Gase Motorsports
|
53 | Chevrolet | 151 |
+37 Laps 1:37'49.956 |
28 Laps | 8 | 1 | Suspension | ||||
| 38 |
J. Yeley
RSS Racing
|
38 | Ford | 59 |
+129 Laps 38'20.034 |
92 Laps | 4 | 1 | Rear end | ||||
| View full results | |||||||||||||
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