By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Justin Allgaier ended the day where he started – out front – but it was a dramatic and challenging route to the trophy hoist in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts NFPA 250 at the historic half-mile Martinsville Speedway.
In route to his win, the 2024 series champion started from pole position and led the most laps (114 of 250). The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet claimed his second win in as many weeks – third of the season and 31st of his career.
Allgaier led the opening 65 laps of the race, won Stage 1, and then led the final 26 laps bookending a typically thrilling edition of competition at the famed paperclip track.
“I keep saying it and I keep talking about how great this team is, but we have fired off 2026 better than I could have imagined,’’ said Allgaier, whose win marks the JR Motorsports organization’s fifth consecutive this season – one shy of the record set by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.
“It is pretty incredible, just the emotion,’’ added the 39-year-old, who has increased his advantage atop the standings to 92 points over reigning series champion Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love. “I said it last week, but you get later on in your career, and you never know if you’ll win another one and this year has been pretty special.’’
The victory is hard-earned considering the race was slowed 13 times because of incidents on the notorious challenging short track.
Most impactful, a 19-car pileup on a late race restart brought out a 26-minute red flag massively reducing the field of true contenders. Late model superstar Lee Pulliam, making his first ever start in a NASCAR national series driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, brought out the caution period after missing a shift on the re-start from his front row starting position.
His team co-owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., reassured and encouraged Pulliam on the radio during the race stoppage, telling him “I know you didn’t want that to happen, and you’ll handle it like a pro, we all make mistakes.’’ Adding post-race, “all in all, incredible to come in, run a race, lead laps, and run the car up front and get a great result in a tough place, he survived. He’s a helluva driver.’’
After the race Pulliam, whose 40 laps led were second only to Allgaier, immediately addressed the late race restart situation. “Just first off real quick, I’d like to apologize to everyone we tore up there. I just couldn’t get going with the older tires and it was just a little bit of inexperience.”
“Just so thankful to be here and do this. What a dream come true to drive for Dale Earnhardt Junior,’’ added the well-respected and highly revered 37-year-old North Carolina native, who sold out of t-shirts commemorating his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut this weekend.
“The whole experience has been pretty special for me, something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. Just thankful for everybody that led to this moment, and I hope I made all you fans proud leading all those laps.”
“Man, that was super cool driving away. Just wish I could have gotten going on the restarts a little better and if I ever get another chance to do this I’ll learn from my mistakes and come back stronger.’’
Corey Day’s second place finish in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet was a career-best for the 20-year-old and marked an impressive sixth consecutive top-10 finish for the young driver. Sammy Smith finished third and posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville Speedway. Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed finished fourth in the No. 00 Chevrolet with Pulliam rounding out the top five.
Austin Hill was sixth followed by Dean Thompson, NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain, Ryan Sieg, and 18-year-old rookie Brent Crews rounded out the top 10.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway for next Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire (2:30 p.m. ET, CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sammy Smith is the defending race winner.
Interviews:
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Winner – Justin Allgaier (No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) –
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Winning Owner – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (JR Motorsports) –
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – NFPA 250
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, March 28, 2026
1. (1) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.
2. (7) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 250.
3. (9) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 250.
4. (6) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 250.
5. (12) Lee Pulliam, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (26) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 250.
7. (22) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 250.
8. (38) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 250.
9. (14) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 250.
10. (4) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 250.
11. (10) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 250.
12. (8) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 250.
13. (13) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 250.
14. (17) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 250.
15. (15) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 250.
16. (27) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 250.
17. (28) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 250.
18. (3) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 250.
19. (37) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 250.
20. (16) William Sawalich, Toyota, 250.
21. (34) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 250.
22. (36) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 250.
23. (11) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 250.
24. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 250.
25. (2) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 250.
26. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 248.
27. (25) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 242.
28. (5) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 234.
29. (30) Austin Green, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
30. (23) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
31. (19) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
32. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
33. (18) Nick Sanchez, Ford, Accident, 213.
34. (35) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, Suspension, 207.
35. (21) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 205.
36. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Brakes, 183.
37. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Oil Cooler, 89.
38. (29) Luke Baldwin(i), Ford, Accident, 31.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 55.015 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.258 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 14 for -153 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Allgaier 1-65;C. Day 66-102;S. Mayer 103-111;A. Hill 112-114;S. Mayer 115-119;A. Hill 120-125;R. Caruth 126-129;H. Burton 130;R. Caruth 131-144;H. Burton 145-160;J. Allgaier 161-183;L. Pulliam 184-187;B. Jones 188;L. Pulliam 189-224;J. Allgaier 225-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 3 times for 114 laps; Lee Pulliam 2 times for 40 laps; Corey Day 1 time for 37 laps; Rajah Caruth 2 times for 18 laps; Harrison Burton 2 times for 17 laps; Sam Mayer 2 times for 14 laps; Austin Hill 2 times for 9 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,20,88,19,00,8,96,1,2,18
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,41,54,39,18,96,88,24,17,7
