Sammy Smith ran second through the closing laps at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, behind his JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil. On the last lap, a push from behind by another teammate, Justin Allgaier, sent Smith's No. 8 Chevrolet to the inside of Kvapil's No. 1 on the backstretch. The two ran side by side to the line, and Smith won the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race by 0.084 seconds.
It was the only lap he led, and his second win at the track in two days, after Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. "It's very rare to finish one of these races," Smith said. Saturday's win was his first in the O'Reilly Series since Rockingham in April 2025, after 53 starts without a win.
Smith said the win fit the team's plan. He said team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. "was very adamant on what he wanted today out of the team": stage points, the points paid at the end of a race's first two segments, for Kvapil, Allgaier and Corey Day, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, to close the gap on the leader in the Chase, the series' championship playoff. For himself, Smith said, the plan was to "put myself in a position there at the end to capitalize on the win, and we were able to do that."
Each piece came off. Kvapil won the first stage, Allgaier won the second, and Day scored in both. Smith's push helped Allgaier take the lead on lap 42, and another put Kvapil in front on the lap 63 restart. "I thought our teammates worked really well together," Smith said.
Kvapil, who led 67 of the 94 laps, was in front when the last one began. Sam Mayer of Haas Factory Team dove under Smith for second in Turn 1 but could not clear him. Smith said he had known 20 laps earlier that a move there "would be way too early." Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing, the points leader, ended up behind Smith at the finish in the No. 2, Smith said. "If he didn't push me hard enough to wreck me, I knew it was going to be a good finish just because I knew he probably wanted me to win more than the one or the seven or 17," Smith said, meaning Kvapil, Allgaier and Day, three of the drivers chasing Love.
Love started first, scored no stage points and finished third. He leads by 19 points over Allgaier, down from 36 before the race, according to NASCAR's unofficial standings. Day is 29 back, Sheldon Creed of Haas Factory Team is 50 back and Kvapil 59. Allgaier finished fourth, Creed fifth and Day sixth.
Any driver who left Talladega 153 or more points behind the leader was mathematically eliminated. Based on the unofficial points, that puts out five of the 12 Chase drivers: Taylor Gray of Joe Gibbs Racing, Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing, Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing, Parker Retzlaff of Viking Motorsports and Rajah Caruth of JR Motorsports. Seven remain: Love, Allgaier, Day, Creed, Kvapil, Mayer and Smith.
On Friday morning, TRICON Garage announced that Smith, who leaves JR Motorsports after this season, will drive its No. 15 Toyota full time in the Truck Series next year. He said Saturday that he was "very motivated to try to win one more race this year" before leaving. It was the fourth O'Reilly Series win of his career, in his 139th start.
He is seventh in points, 108 back, with Martinsville Speedway next on Saturday, Oct. 31, and the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 7.
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