{"id":57360,"date":"2026-04-18T22:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=57360"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T17:13:08","slug":"taylor-gray-wins-eventful-nascar-oreilly-auto-parts-series-race-at-kansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/taylor-gray-wins-eventful-nascar-oreilly-auto-parts-series-race-at-kansas\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Gray wins eventful NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Kansas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: Taylor Gray, driver of the #54 Operation 300 Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service <\/em><\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, Kan.\u2014The early bird got the victory on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: Taylor Gray, driver of the #54 Operation 300 Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The first of the frontrunners to pit during the final 95-lap green-flag run in the Kansas Lottery 300, Taylor Gray grabbed the lead during the cycle and held off charging Sheldon Creed to score the second NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series victory of his career.<\/p>\n

Crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who won at Kansas with driver David Green in 2003, called Gray into the pits on Lap 143 of 200. Creed and Brandon Jones, running first and second on Lap 146, emerged from pit road after stops on Lap 147 roughly three seconds behind Gray.<\/p>\n

Jones, winner of the first two stages, had to serve a pass-through penalty for a tire violation during his stop and lost the chance to win. But Creed, with Justin Allgaier behind him in third, began a methodical pursuit of Gray that ultimately came up 0.718 seconds short.<\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: Taylor Gray, driver of the #54 Operation 300 Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHow about Jason Ratcliff?\u201d Gray exclaimed after climbing from his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. \u201cThat pit call was awesome. We had a car capable of winning. I thought the 20 (Jones) was a little better than us before the green-flag cycle started, but we just had to stay locked in, and we had to be a little bit freer.<\/p>\n

\u201cJason made a really good adjustment on the car and a really good pit call and got us in clean air. It\u2019s been a long start to the year, man\u2014not that we\u2019re not bringing speed to the race track. It\u2019s just that things haven\u2019t really gone our way. So it\u2019s nice to finally be able to close one out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray gained three positions to ninth in the series standings.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, Creed also had plenty of reasons to celebrate. By finishing first among four eligible drivers, he earned a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the first time in his career. It was Creed\u2019s fifth attempt to win the Dash 4 Cash prize money.<\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: Carson Kvapil, driver of the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a great day for us after starting in the back,\u201d said Creed who dropped to the rear of the field at the beginning of the race after his No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection. \u201cI kind of knew right away my car was really fast, and I was able to drive to the front, and I just had a lot of fun today\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just really cool to be able to bring a hundred grand back to the Haas Factory Team. I definitely wanted to win and add to it, but the 54 (Gray) did a really good job short-pitting us. He ran a really good last 40 laps there a got through traffic quick and made it where I never really got close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allgaier came home third, followed by defending series champion Jesse Love and Brent Crews. William Byron, Cole Custer, Jones, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10 in a race that featured 11 lead changes among eight drivers. <\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 BRANDT Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Allgaier finished third in both stages and added one point to his series lead over second-place Creed. The margin is now 131 points.<\/p>\n

Long before Gray took the checkered flag, there was plenty of action in the first stage.<\/p>\n

The race wasn\u2019t two laps old when an accident on the backstretch launched the No.1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Carson Kvapil into the air and sent it flipping down the backstretch.<\/p>\n

Contact from Byron\u2019s Chevy turned Kvapil\u2019s car sideways near the front of the field. Parker Retzlaff\u2019s piled into Kvapil\u2019s car near the outside wall. The impact knocked the rear of Kvapil\u2019s Camaro airborne, and the car proceeded to barrel-roll down the backstretch, coming to rest on its roof.<\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Road Ranger Chevrolet, and Brandon Jones, driver of the #20 Menards\/Loctite Toyota, lead the field during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

With the use of tethers and a tow truck, safety workers righted the car, and Kvapil climbed out before a mandatory trip to the infield care center.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe on dirt, I\u2019ve flipped a few of them, but definitely never asphalt racing or a big stock car race,\u201d Kvapil said after being evaluated and released from the care center. \u201cIt was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be, once I realized I was going over, but it just sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Lap 38, Jesse Love crowded Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill down toward the apron as the two raced side-by-side in Turn 4. Hill spun sideways, and as he fought to control his No. 21 Chevrolet, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of William Sawalich plowed into Hill\u2019s car.<\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 18: William Byron, driver of the #88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on April 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll remember this,\u201d Hill promised on his radio, referring to racing from his teammate he thought was unnecessarily close.<\/p>\n

Hill fell out of the race in 34th place. Corey Day saw his streak of eight straight top 10s end with a 12th-place finish after rallying from an accident on Lap 101 and subsequent flat tire.<\/p>\n

Gray, Creed, Allgaier and Love qualified for the third Dash 4 Cash race of the season, Saturday\u2019s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – Kansas Lottery 300<\/b><\/p>\n

Kansas Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Kansas City, Kansas<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 18, 2026<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    1. (10)  Taylor Gray, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    2. (4)  Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    3. (3)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    4. (9)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    5. (5)  Brent Crews #, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    6. (2)  William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    7. (36)  Cole Custer(i), Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    8. (14)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    9. (19)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    10. (12)  Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    11. (22)  Dean Thompson, Toyota, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    12. (6)  Corey Day, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    13. (16)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    14. (24)  Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    15. (18)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    16. (11)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    17. (30)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    18. (27)  Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    19. (17)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    20. (7)  William Sawalich, Toyota, 198.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    21. (13)  Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    22. (29)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    23. (21)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    24. (32)  Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    25. (25)  Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    26. (23)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 196.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    27. (33)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 194.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    28. (20)  Harrison Burton, Toyota, 190.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    29. (28)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Engine, 120.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    30. (31)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    31. (37)  Blake Lothian, Chevrolet, Brakes, 62.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    32. (35)  Austin Green, Chevrolet, Engine, 61.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    33. (34)  Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Engine, 51.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    34. (15)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, Accident, 37.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    35. (26)  Luke Baldwin(i), Ford, Suspension, 4.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    36. (8)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.<\/p>\n

\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002    37. (1)  Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  116.946 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 33 Mins, 55 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .718 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  7 for 37 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  11 among 8 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Kvapil 0;C. Day 1-23;B. Jones 24-48;A. Alfredo 49-54;W. Byron(i) 55;B. Jones 56-70;J. Love 71;B. Jones 72-98;S. Creed 99-146;C. Day 147-149;R. Sieg 150-152;T. Gray 153-200.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Brandon Jones 3 times for 67 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 48 laps; Taylor Gray 1 time for 48 laps; Corey Day 2 times for 26 laps; Anthony Alfredo 1 time for 6 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 3 laps; Jesse Love 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron(i) 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,17,7,2,96,54,00,19,27,88<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,00,7,2,17,8,54,24,41,26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  KANSAS CITY, Kan.\u2014The early bird got the victory on Saturday night. The first of the frontrunners to pit during the final 95-lap green-flag run in the Kansas Lottery 300, Taylor Gray grabbed the lead during the cycle and held off charging Sheldon Creed to score the second NASCAR […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":57341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[213,16,1147,1136],"class_list":["post-57360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kansas-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-oreilly-auto-parts-series","tag-taylor-gray"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271982160-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1733","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-eVa","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57360"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57364,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57360\/revisions\/57364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}