March 7, 2026; Avondale, Arizona, USA; JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier, 7, celebrates his GOVX 200 win at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Image AVONDALE, Ariz. – JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier led only the final 11 laps of the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday night, leading only the final 11 laps of his No. 7 Chevrolet wins for the third time on the one-mile oval and takes the lead in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship.
Allgaier had to pass the most dominant driver of the night, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, to win the trophy. Love entered the race with the best average finish in the last four Phoenix races, and once again proved how good he is in the desert, posting a race-high 114 of 200 laps.
There were no caution periods in the first two stages of the race. The first stage was won by Allgaier’s teammate Sammy Smith and the second stage was won by Love.
But two late-race yellow flags tied up the field at the restart and allowed Allgaier’s team to rally from a slow pit stop earlier in the night. The two former champions went door-to-door with 15 laps left after the final restart, and 2024 series champion Allgaier ultimately made a bold move on the outside to edge 2025 champion Love by 0.449 seconds at the finish, earning the 107th victory for JR Motorsports.
“I’m really proud of this team,” Allgaier said, praising the team for overcoming poor stops early. “It wasn’t for lack of adversity and I think that helped us a lot. I can’t say enough about this team.
“Winning never gets old,” added Allgaier, who has now won at least one race for a record 10 consecutive seasons. “This team came together and never gave up.”
Love’s stage win and fourth straight top 10 finish of the season was encouraging on the night, but the 21-year-old was understandably frustrated at finishing runner-up after such a dominant display.
“The car tightened up early in stage three and we fell behind. It was so frustrating,” said Love, who refused to leave, satisfied with second place after working so hard.
“Obviously that’s not why I’m here (to finish second). It’s more than just being frustrated with myself. I don’t know what else to say. I’m just upset, I’m upset with myself.”
The top 14 cars are Chevrolet. Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate, Carson Kvapil, had what looked to be a strong mid-race, leading 22 laps to finish third, followed by Haas Factory Team co-drivers Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer.
Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Rajah Caruth, Corey Day and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top ten. Both Smith and Day earned their third top-10 finishes of the season.
The championship standings now reflect Saturday’s results, with Allgaier holding a three-point advantage over Love when the series heads to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next week’s The LiUNA (5:30 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Allgaier is the defending winner of that race.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Racing – GOVX 200
phoenix racetrack
Avondale, Arizona
Saturday, March 7, 2026
1. (17) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
2. (2) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 200.
3. (14) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (16) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 200.
5. (12) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200.
6. (7) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 200.
7. (9) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (25) Raza Caruth, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (8) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 200.
10. (4) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
12. (13) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 200.
13. (6) William Byron (i), Chevrolet, 200.
14. (31) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 200.
15. (1) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 200.
16. (3) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.
17. (18) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
18. (5) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 200.
19. (35) Joey Garth, Chevrolet, 200.
20.(29) Daniel Dye (i), Ford, 199.
21. (24) Chandler Smith (i), Ford, 199.
22. (27) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 199.
23. (11) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 199.
24. (10) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 199.
25. (23) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 199.
26. (28) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 199.
27. (20) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 199.
28. (26) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 198.
29. (22) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 198.
30. (33) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 197.
31. (32) Nathan Bird, Chevrolet, 197.
32. (37) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, 196.
33. (30) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 195.
34. (34) Austin J Hill, Chevrolet, 195.
35. (19) Nick Sanchez, Ford, 193.
36. (36) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 192.
37. (15) William Sawalich, Toyota, accident, 173.
38. (38) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, suspension, 13.
Average speed of race winner: 93.909 mph.
Race time: 2 hours, 7 minutes and 47 seconds Margin of victory: 0.449 seconds.
Caution flags: 4 for lap 37.
Lead changes: 20 out of 9 drivers.
Lab Leader: T. Gray 1-10;J. Love 11-40;S. Smith 41-50;C. Kvapil 51;J. Love 52-95;C. Kvapil 96;J. Love 97-132;C. Kvapil 133;J. Love 134;C. Kvapil 135-137;J. Love 138;C. Kvapil 139-153;J. Button 154;R. Carus 155;S. Creed 156-170;C. Kvapil 171;S. Creed 172-173;S. Mayer 174-184;S. Creed 185-187;J. Love 188-189;J. Allgaier 190-200.
Leader Summary (Driver, Time Lead, Lap Lead): Jesse Love 6 times over 114 laps; Carson Kvapil 6 for 22 laps; Sheldon Creed 3 times in 20 laps; Sam Mayer once for 11 laps; Justin Allgaier once in 11 laps; Sammy Smith 1 for 10 laps; Taylor Gray once in 10 laps; Jeb Burton 1 lap; Rajah Caruth Once per lap.
Top 10 in level 1: 8,2,1,7,88,27,17,19,00,20
Tier 2 top 10: 2,1,88,7,19,8,27,54,00,51
–Written by Holly Kane (NASCAR Wire Service). Special information about field level media.
