The NASCAR O’Reilly Series made its way to the Tricky Triangle this weekend as they raced at the Pocono Raceway. JGR teammates Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray locked out the front row and led the field to green.
The field made it exactly one corner before Corey Day got loose and spun across the track collecting Jesse Love and ending both of their days. The race restarted on lap seven and the field made it three corners before Ryan Sieg and Nathan Byrd were both spun in separate incidents involving William Sallawich and Cole Custer. The race restarted again on lap 12 as Gray was able to get by his teammate and hold serve until caution flew again on lap 18 for the expiring engine on Natalie Decker’s car. This created a split strategy with Justin Allgaier, Parker Retzlaff and others pitting for fresh tires while Gray, Jones and the other leaders stayed out. They then had a two lap shootout to decide the first stage. Sam Mayer made a move for the lead but lost it, and as Gray got by him there was a caution for contact between Sallawich and Connor Zilisch that brought out a yellow and ended the stage.
Stage One Results:
- Taylor Gray
- Sam Mayer
- William Byron
- Justin Allgaier
- Brandon Jones
- Sheldon Creed
- Sammy Smith
- Brent Crews
- Carson Kvapil
- Austin Hill
During stage break pit stops Gray had a slow stop after overshooting his pit stall, and Jones received a penalty for equipment interference. Allgaier led the field to green to start the second stage with Carson Kvapil to his outside. Kvapil was able to scrape by Allgaier and take the lead. Allgaier reclaimed the lead on lap 35 and looked to continue his season of pure dominance. Caution flew again on lap 38 after contact between Leland Honeyman and Brennan Poole resulted in Honeyman and Patrick Starpoli wrecking.
The race restarted on lap 42, and almost as quickly as it got going there was another caution for Patrick Emerling spinning off of turn two. This brought nearly all of the leaders down pit road with the exception of Crews, Retzlaff, Zilisch, Jeremy Clements and Rajah Caruth along with a few others vying for stage points. Retzlaff was able to hold the lead on the ensuing restart, but Brent Crews was not going to be denied as he retook the lead and won the second stage.
Stage Two Results:
- Brent Crews
- Justin Allgaier
- Parker Retzlaff
- Rajah Caruth
- William Byron
- Connor Zilisch
- Sam Mayer
- Jeremy Clements
- Anthony Alfredo
- Carson Kvapil
During the stage break those who stayed out for stage points came down to pit. As a result Allgaier and Byron led the field to green to start the final stage. Mayer made a divebomb move to try to take the lead from Allgaier on the restart, however Allgaier was able to maintain the lead. The two would continue to engage in a tightly contested battle for the lead which would allow Anthony Alfredo to make a brief challenge for the lead before being cycled back to third. Mayer and Allgaier would continue to battle into the start of the green flag pit stops on lap 70. Sheldon Creed was one of the first to pit and cycled to the virtual lead with Mayer and Allgaier closely in tow.
Both made quick work getting by Custer and looked poised to battle things out between them before Emerling spun for a second time bringing out the caution on lap 83. Drivers that had not pitted included Harrison Burton, Clements, Retzlaff and others. The race restarted on lap 88. Mayer was able to clear for the lead just before Taylor Gray spun after contact with Alfredo.
The race restarted for the penultimate time on lap 93, this time Allgaier was able to power past Mayer to retake the lead for just a corner before the last caution and only red flag of the day flew for Jeb Burton spinning out and collecting Lavar Scott and Dexter Bean. After the red flag was lifted there was a natural green-white-checkered as Allgaier led from the outside with Mayer inside. Mayer’s teammate Creed got an insane run from a push from Caruth and took the leaders three-wide into turn one. Unfortunately, this move did not stick and Creed held up both himself and Mayer as Allgaier set sail, holding on to win his fifth race on the season and extend his points lead to 250 points over Jesse Love.
Top-10 Results:
- Justin Allgaier
- Brent Crews
- William Byron
- Sam Mayer
- Sheldon Creed
- Anthony Alfredo
- Rajah Caruth
- Brandon Jones
- Connor Zilisch
- Carson Kvapil
Photo Credit: @XfinityRacing on Twitter
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