{"id":59205,"date":"2026-06-13T21:05:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T02:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=59205"},"modified":"2026-06-13T21:05:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T02:05:52","slug":"justin-allgaier-captures-first-pocono-victory-after-wild-late-race-restart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/justin-allgaier-captures-first-pocono-victory-after-wild-late-race-restart\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Allgaier captures first Pocono victory after wild late-race restart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 13: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway on June 13, 2026 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series\u2019 MillerTech Battery 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway Saturday featured a record 18 lead changes and a record 10 cautions \u2013 including a seven-minute red flag period \u2013 but in the end, it was a very familiar scenario in Victory Lane: championship leader Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports team celebrating an inspired drive.<\/p>\n

\"\"

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 13: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway on June 13, 2026 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Allgaier led a race best 35 of the 100 laps \u2013 ultimately taking the lead for good on a restart with two laps remaining. Haas Factory teammates Sam Mayer \u2013 who was Allgaier\u2019s greatest challenge on the day – and Sheldon Creed created a three-wide push for the lead on the final restart but ultimately slid backwards as Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate William Byron was able to push Allgaier\u2019s No. 7 Chevrolet forward to create a gap on the field.<\/p>\n

The advantage was all Allgaier needed to race off to a .607-second win over Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Brent Crews \u2013 who passed Byron on the last corner of the last lap for second place.<\/p>\n

\"\"

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 13: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway on June 13, 2026 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The victory was the 2024 series champion Allgaier\u2019s first at the historic Pocono 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track giving him wins now at 21 different venues. And it marked the fifth win of the year for Allgaier, tying his previous high season win total.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I\u2019ve got to say thank you to William Byron because without his shove at the end of the race, it was probably game over,” Allgaier said before thanking the fans for filling the grandstands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis season has been special with [crew chief] Andrew Overstreet and this whole number seven team and this pit crew right here,” he said, adding with a grin, \u201cWe\u2019re going to go celebrate this one for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 13: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway on June 13, 2026 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Slowed by all the caution flags \u2013 four in the opening 25-lap stage alone \u2013 the early part of the race never allowed for one driver to establish a rhythm and truly set a pace among all the starting and stopping.<\/p>\n

Polesitter Taylor Gray led 24 laps and won the opening stage and Crews claimed the stage two win. But the final half of the race was really a duel between Allgaier and Mayer, who led 14 laps and exchanged the lead with Allgaier frequently in the race\u2019s closing laps \u2013 sometimes on the same lap. They started side-by-side out front on the three final restarts and Mayer looked like his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet would at least keep Allgaier honest. In the end, Mayer and Creed finished fourth and fifth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was either the double zero [Creed] was trying to make a block, or just a push gone wrong a little bit,” Mayer said, of the unsuccessful three-wide move on that last restart. \u201cJust really unfortunate circumstance. We actually had a really good launch.<\/p>\n

\"\"

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 13: Brandon Jones, driver of the #20 Menards\/Ortho Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway on June 13, 2026 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAt the end of these races, you\u2019re not going to not take a run so I don\u2019t blame my teammate for pulling out of line like that, but obviously it put me in a bad spot,” Mayer continued. \u201cThe middle [lane] was okay if I had people with me. \u2026 obviously today we executed really, really well, so lots to be proud about, but obviously I\u2019m very devastated right now because I just want a shot at it and don\u2019t feel like I haven\u2019t gotten a really true shot at it when the white flag flew.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were close today executed really good and really proud of everybody. One day it\u2019s going to be my turn, and I can\u2019t wait.”<\/p>\n

Incredibly, Allgaier\u2019s effort \u2013 the 33rd victory of his career – now puts him an unbelievable 250 points up on second place, Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love in the series championship standings with seven regular season races remaining. Love only completed a single lap after being collected in the first of 10 yellow-flag incidents on the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 13: A general view of racing during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA at Pocono Raceway on June 13, 2026 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cJust frustrated obviously, thought our Camaro was going to be good today,” Love said, adding, \u201cOnly got one lap to feel it out but I was happy with that one corner, wish we had gotten a few more.”<\/p>\n

Anthony Alfredo, Rajah Caruth, Brandon Jones, the defending Pocono race winner Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top-10.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Clements led a lap and finished 16th in a historical day for his career and the series. The 41-year-old South Carolinian tied Kenny Wallace for the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series most all-time starts – 547 races. Wallace set the record in 2011 and last raced in 2015. Clements will claim the mark for himself when he takes next week\u2019s green flag at San Diego.<\/p>\n

The series heads to Southern California for next Saturday\u2019s inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 (5:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the Coronado Naval Base.<\/p>\n

Interview: NOAPS Race Winning Owner – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (JR Motorsports) –<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA<\/b><\/p>\n

Pocono Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Long Pond, Pennsylvania<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, June 13, 2026<\/b><\/p>\n

                1. (4)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                2. (8)  Brent Crews #, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

                3. (3)  William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                4. (7)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                5. (16)  Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                6. (12)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                7. (26)  Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                8. (1)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

                9. (14)  Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                10. (6)  Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                11. (23)  Harrison Burton, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

                12. (36)  Cole Custer(i), Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                13. (35)  Dean Thompson, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

                14. (17)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                15. (13)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                16. (15)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                17. (2)  Taylor Gray, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

                18. (19)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                19. (5)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                20. (33)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                21. (10)  William Sawalich, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

                22. (37)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                23. (22)  Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                24. (24)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                25. (27)  Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                26. (9)  Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                27. (30)  Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

                28. (18)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 93.<\/p>\n

                29. (25)  Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, Accident, 93.<\/p>\n

                30. (34)  Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, Accident, 93.<\/p>\n

                31. (28)  Patrick Emerling(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 81.<\/p>\n

                32. (20)  Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, DVP, 50.<\/p>\n

                33. (29)  Leland Honeyman Jr.(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 36.<\/p>\n

                34. (31)  Natalie Decker(i), Toyota, Engine, 17.<\/p>\n

                35. (32)  Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, Accident, 7.<\/p>\n

                36. (38)  Joey Gase, Ford, Engine, 3.<\/p>\n

                37. (21)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.<\/p>\n

                38. (11)  Corey Day, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  99.032 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 31 Mins, 28 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .607 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  10 for 39 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  18 among 10 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   B. Jones 0;T. Gray 1-21;S. Mayer 22-23;T. Gray 24-26;J. Allgaier 27-30;C. Kvapil 31-34;J. Allgaier 35-42;B. Crews # 43-45;P. Retzlaff 46-47;B. Crews # 48-52;J. Allgaier 53-67;S. Mayer 68-71;J. Clements 72;B. Crews # 73;D. Thompson 74-75;R. Sieg 76-79;H. Burton 80-84;S. Mayer 85-92;J. Allgaier 93-100.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Justin Allgaier 4 times for 35 laps; Taylor Gray 2 times for 24 laps; Sam Mayer 3 times for 14 laps; Brent Crews # 3 times for 9 laps; Harrison Burton 1 time for 5 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 4 laps; Carson Kvapil 1 time for 4 laps; Parker Retzlaff 1 time for 2 laps; Dean Thompson 1 time for 2 laps; Jeremy Clements 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 54,41,88,7,20,00,8,19,9,21<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,7,99,32,88,1,41,51,96,9<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series\u2019 MillerTech Battery 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway Saturday featured a record 18 lead changes and a record 10 cautions \u2013 including a seven-minute red flag period \u2013 but in the end, it was a very familiar scenario in Victory Lane: championship leader Justin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":59177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[394,16,1147,252],"class_list":["post-59205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-justin-allgaier","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-oreilly-auto-parts-series","tag-pocono-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281451258-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-foV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59205","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=59205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59209,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59205\/revisions\/59209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}