O’Reilly: HMS vs. ECR Power Out Front at ‘Dega: Mid Race Report

What’s Happening?

Two stages are in the books at Talladega for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Though we expected dominance from the RCR duo of Austin Hill and Jesse Love, that’s not what we’ve seen early on in this race as the field largely refuses to draft with them. This has led to a battle amongst the Chevys between ECR-powered Chevys and JRM-powered Chevys. Through the first two stages, JR Motorsports appeared to have the upper hand as they swept the first two stages with Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier, respectively.

With two stages down, we now reset for the final 65-lap run to the finish. Here’s where everything stands heading into that final stretch.

Mid-Race Report

• The opening stage of the race seemed to chiefly be the battle of the Chevrolet camps. We all know about how ECR Engines have been struggling in the Cup Series, but on the OAPS side (particularly on superspeedways), they’ve had a leg up on the competition. However, early on in stage one, despite the two working together after an on-track disagreement last week, the 21 of Austin Hill and the 2 of Jesse Love didn’t seem to be the favorites, at least not to start. Rather, it was the JRM Chevys of Sammy Smith, Rajah Caruth, and Carson Kvapil who battled it out up front for the lead with Kvapil going on to win the opening stage in a photo finish over teammate Sammy Smith.
• This marked Kvapil’s third stage win of his career.
• So far in the 2026 season, Justin Allgaier has earned stage points in every stage. That streak ended today in the first stage at Talladega, with Allgaier finishing 17th, failing to earn stage points for the first time this season.
• Earning points in the opening stage were: Carson Kvapil (10), Sammy Smith (9), Sheldon Creed (8), Rajah Caruth (7), Dean Thompson (6), Blaine Perkins (5), Sam Mayer (4), Harrison Burton (3), Jesse Love (2), and Jeremy Clements (1).
• To start Stage 2, the excitement calmed down a lot up front early. Austin Hill and Jesse Love took advantage of their pit stops to restart out front and made moves for the lead early, but, with the rest of the field showing an unwillingness to work with them, they were shuffled out of the lead draft. This resulted in Carson Kvapil leading a single-file train in the high line. He led a handful more laps before, on the last lap of the stage, his teammate, Justin Allgaier, made the move by him to score the victory in Stage 2. This made for a JR Motorsports stage sweep at Talladega.
• The following drivers earned points in Stage 2: Justin Allgaier (10), Ryan Sieg (9), Sheldon Creed (8), Dean Thompson (7), Parker Retzlaff (6), Carson Kvapil (5), Harrison Burton (4), Jeremy Clements (3), Austin Green (2), and Austin Hill (1).
• There was only one caution for cause in the first half of the race. That came when, on Lap 1, Patrick Staropoli got turned off the front nose of William Sawalich. The No. 48 hit the wall hard, causing significant damage to the front end of his Big Machine Racing Chevy.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.