Sheldon Creed pulled off a remarkable charge on fresh tires, driving from 10th to first in the final 20 laps of the race. It is Creed’s third career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win, and his second in the first three Chase races.
After Jesse Love squeezed Justin Allgaier into the wall as they battled for the lead, Taylor Gray then shoved Love into the wall, opening the door for William Sawalich to take the lead.
Sawalich led the way over Creed in an overtime restart that followed due to a mid-pack incident, but Creed on fresh tires was simply too fast. He cleared the JGR Toyota, and drove the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet to Victory Lane.
Sawalich finished second, Brent Crews third, Allgaier fourth, and Corey Day fifth.
Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Parker Retzlaff, Dean Thompson, and Sammy Smith filled out the remainder of the top ten.
“Just great call by my crew chief and engineer there to put tires on and great pit stop by my guys to get me out first, to be the first one on tires,” said Creed. “And to be honest, I wasn’t really good all night. Struggled with the balance of our all-east Chevrolet and just hats off to these guys. We just never give up. I just think the restart there, I tried to time the 18 [Sawalich] well and just me being on a lot newer tires, it was easier for me to get going and I got clear and I was trying to watch him up top and it seemed like he had good momentum, but just extremely proud of everyone on Haas Factory Team.”
With Friday’s big win, Creed leaves Dover with an 11-point lead over Allgaier, and 37 points ahead of Kvapil. There are six races left in the 2026 NOAPS Chase for the championship.
Stage 1
Love led the race from pole position after qualifying was rained out, and it didn’t take long for some drama to unfold on the track.
J. Burton, Caruth, and A. Hill all had to make unscheduled pit stops due to flat tires, with Alfredo doing the same soon after.
Up at the front of the pack, Love had lapped into the top 20, but faced heavy traffic. With Allgaier closing, the slower cars of Sanchez and Williams collided ahead of the leaders. Allgaier suffered nose damage as he slammed into the back of Sanchez, while Love lost multiple spots as he lifted for the chaos.
Love was further hindered by Clements, who slowed in front of him as he cut a tire as well.
Allgaier won Stage 1, followed by Kvapil, Crews, Love, Mayer, S. Smith, Tay. Gray, Creed, Retzlaff, and Day.
Stage 2
Kvapil won the race off pit road, while B. Jones had to make an extra stop to tighten lug nuts. The restart was wild with a three-wide battle for the lead, ending with Allgaier squeezing Crews into the wall and Kvapil maintaining his advantage.
Back in the pack, Natalie Decker went for a spin off the nose of Alfredo, and took her car to the garage.
In the following run, Lavar Scott had to make an unscheduled pit stop after suffering damage due to contact with Clements. There were several run-ins like that around the hectic half-mile, including a moment where Carson Ware hit the wall after contact from Josh Bilicki.
Day also slid up into the side of Crews, who paid it right back and knocked Day into the wall.
Things were calmer at the very front, with Kvapil winning Stage 2 over Allgaier, Love, Mayer, Tay. Gray, Crews, Day, Sawalich, Creed, and Retzlaff.
Stage 3
Kvapil continued to hold the lead, and no one could keep pace with him.
Deeper in the field, Blaine Perkins had to pit with a broken rear suspension, and a couple of other cars having tough nights had to make unscheduled stops as well.
Hill’s title hopes took another hit as he had to make another unscheduled pit stop under green.
As they got deeper into the run, Allgaier began to slowly close in on Kvapil, who was worried about a loose wheel on the radio.
With 51 laps to go, Allgaier took the lead away and Kvapil started to rapidly lose pace. Smoke began to billow from the rear of his JRM Chevrolet, and Kvapil was forced to pit after being black-flagged.
Garrett Smithley was the next to fall off the pace, smoking as he took his car back to the garage.
With 27 laps to go, Staropoli went for a spin and triggered a yellow flag. Most of the frontrunners stayed out, while Crews, Day, and Creed were the first to pit for fresh tires.
Pure chaos followed, as Love squeezed Allgaier into the wall on the restart, taking the lead by force.
A few laps later, Gray squeezed Love into the wall for the lead as well, only for Sawalich to pass both.
Creed was suddenly up to second with fresh tires, and closing. Behind them, R. Sieg got turned and slammed the wall, causing another caution and pushing the race into overtime.
Love pitted for fresh tires, with Sawalich and Creed restarting on the front row. With fresh tires, he made the bottom work and cleared Sawalich, driving off with the race win for the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet.
After the race, Allgaier leaned into the window of Love’s car and shared some of his frustrations, face-to-face.
