The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race ended under caution after Stage 2 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
It was a strange and bizarre race, hindered by rain and later fog. It took over six hours to run the first 90 laps, and the final half of the race never happened.
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A total of 54 of the 91 laps completed were run under caution.
“I’ll start with us and this team,” said Chastain after being told he was the winner. “I first watched a JRM drive by me here at Charlotte in 2014, and I decided right then that I wanted to get in one, and it took me until 2025 to get in one … that’s a testament to just continuing to work, and I’ve asked. Couldn’t raise the funds, or they were full.”
On the death of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, Chastain added: “This weekend, it’s just incredible to try and grasp losing Kyle. I just don’t understand how he’s not here racing. I don’t grasp it, mentally or spiritually. Obviously, racing is the best thing we can do to celebrate him and what he did in this sport and in his life.”
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Before his signature watermelon smash, Chastain honored Busch’s signature celebration, bowing in Victory Lane.
Chastain finished just ahead of Jesse Love in second and Austin Hill third for Richard Childress Racing. William Sawalich finished fourth, and Connor Zilisch fifth.
The final caution of the race was for oil on the track, and Chastain actually slammed the wall while maintaining the lead. NASCAR ran out the stage as rain moved in, and ended the marathon night, which angered Love. He called it a ‘joke’ before shifting his focus to the bigger picture of this race weekend as the sport grieves the loss of one of its titans.
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Jesse Love hits out at NASCAR race control: “I think it’s a complete joke”
Stage 1Rain and fog at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Rain and fog at Charlotte Motor Speedway
The race went green an hour earlier than expected, and Mayer immediately took the fight to Allgaier for the top spot.
There was an early caution for Harrison Burton spinning off the nose of Love, and Mayer was scored as the race leader.
They then spent several laps behind the pace car as the rain misted down, but the race resumed by Lap 12.
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Allgaier back into the lead, and remained there until a Lap 25 competition caution. Mayer had fallen to tenth, and the field came down pit road for pit stops.
The rain began to pick up again, so NASCAR brought the field down pit road and halted the race after 33 laps.
After waiting under red-flag conditions for 4hrs, 21mins, and 59s, the race finally resumed. The battle up front was frantic, with Zilisch taking the lead and winning Stage 1 over JR Motorsports teammates Allgaier and Chastain. They were followed by Day, Mayer, Love, B. Jones, Caruth, Crews, and Creed.
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Stage 2Brent Crews, Brandon Jones, and Harrison Burton wreck
Brent Crews, Brandon Jones, and Harrison Burton wreck
Blaine Perkins stayed out, and the restart was chaotic as Allgaier moved back into the lead.
Behind them, Brandon Jones went spinning, collecting JGR teammate Brent Crews and H.Burton, severely damaging all three cars. The wreck began with contact from Creed into Jones.
Chastain pushed Hill out to the lead on the restart, and then passed him for the top spot as RCR cars were now running second and third, with Love making gains as well.
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The next caution flew for Sam Mayer, who tried got sideways and slammed the outside wall in Turns 1/2.
The battle at the front of the field was intense as Love and Chastain went back-and-forth for the top spot.
That’s when Dawson Cram‘s car dumped oil all over the track, with race leader Chastain and most of the field sliding up into the wall on the next lap.
The caution flew as chaos broke out, with various levels of damage throughout the field. While the leaders appeared to escape major damage, the cars of Allgaier, Gray, Clements, Creed were among others who weren’t as fortunate, sustaining more significant damage.
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The rest of the stage was ran under caution, as it started to rain, putting NASCAR in a bad spot, and they appeared to throw in the towel. Unfortunately, the final 110 laps were not able to be completed.
Chastain, who also had right-side damage from hitting the oil slick and then the wall, was victorious. This is his third career win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series, and his first since the 2019 season.
1
9
Ross Chastain
Chevrolet
91
1:52’05.667
28
2
2
Jesse Love
Chevrolet
91
1:52’05.668
0.001
4
3
21
Austin Hill
Chevrolet
91
1:52’06.593
0.926
1
4
18
William Sawalich
Toyota
91
1:52’06.670
1.003
5
17
Corey Day
Chevrolet
91
1:52’07.751
2.084
6
1
Connor Zilisch
Chevrolet
91
1:52’07.752
2.085
7
7
39
Ryan Sieg
Chevrolet
91
1:52’09.001
3.334
8
0
Cole Custer
Chevrolet
91
1:52’09.337
3.670
9
91
Carson Kvapil
Chevrolet
91
1:52’10.287
4.620
10
88
Rajah Caruth
Chevrolet
91
1:52’10.857
5.190
11
8
Sammy Smith
Chevrolet
91
1:52’12.930
7.263
12
99
Parker Retzlaff
Chevrolet
91
1:52’12.931
7.264
13
96
Anthony Alfredo
Chevrolet
91
1:52’12.932
7.265
14
26
Dean Thompson
Toyota
91
1:52’14.323
8.656
15
92
Leland Honeyman Jr.
Chevrolet
91
1:52’15.261
9.594
16
87
Austin Green
Chevrolet
91
1:52’15.262
9.595
17
45
Lavar Scott
Chevrolet
91
1:52’16.167
10.500
18
48
Patrick Staropoli
Chevrolet
91
1:52’16.400
10.733
19
28
Kyle Sieg
Chevrolet
91
1:52’17.540
11.873
20
53
David Starr
Chevrolet
91
1:52’17.541
11.874
21
02
Ryan Ellis
Chevrolet
91
1:52’18.140
12.473
22
27
Jeb Burton
Chevrolet
91
1:52’18.206
12.539
23
55
Joey Gase
Chevrolet
91
1:52’18.207
12.540
24
31
Blaine Perkins
Chevrolet
91
1:52’19.412
13.745
3
25
07
Josh Bilicki
Chevrolet
91
1:52’21.753
16.086
26
42
Nathan Byrd
Chevrolet
91
1:52’22.534
16.867
27
44
Brennan Poole
Chevrolet
91
1:52’24.620
18.953
28
32
Andrew Patterson
Chevrolet
91
1:52’28.216
22.549
29
7
Justin Allgaier
Chevrolet
91
1:52’35.184
29.517
36
30
51
Jeremy Clements
Chevrolet
90
1:52’29.645
1 Lap
31
54
Taylor Gray
Toyota
73
1:22’45.456
18 Laps
32
00
Sheldon Creed
Chevrolet
73
1:24’36.288
18 Laps
33
35
Dawson Cram
Chevrolet
72
1:22’30.722
19 Laps
34
38
JJ Yeley
Ford
64
1:15’33.169
27 Laps
35
20
Brandon Jones
Toyota
62
1:52’26.126
29 Laps
36
41
Sam Mayer
Chevrolet
61
1:11’02.450
30 Laps
12
37
19
Brent Crews
Toyota
51
58’00.177
40 Laps
38
24
Harrison Burton
Toyota
51
58’00.955
40 Laps
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