The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returned to action after a week off for some classic short-track racing at Iowa Speedway.
Prior to the break, Carson Kvapil was riding high after winning the NOAPS race at the Brickyard. With that emotional victory now in the rearview mirror, Kvapil and roughly 15 other drivers turned their attention toward the impending Chase for the Championship.
Iowa marked the 23rd race of the 24-race regular season, and with the regular-season finale coming at the wildcard that is Daytona, plenty of attention was focused on the bubble between 11th and 14th in the standings. Brent Crews entered Iowa with a small cushion, while the biggest battle was between teammates Taylor Gray and William Sawalich, who were virtually tied.
Ryan Sieg impressed in qualifying, putting his family-owned No. 39 on the pole. He led every lap of the opening stage en route to the Stage 1 victory.
After a poor pit stop for Sieg, Sheldon Creed inherited the race lead and held it until Justin Allgaier passed him on Lap 102. Allgaier went on to win the second stage.
That set the stage for the final portion of the race. Sieg clearly had a fast car, but his biggest obstacle continued to be the time lost on pit road.
Allgaier retained the lead over teammate Sammy Smith and Creed to begin the final stage. The caution flew with 101 laps remaining when Anthony Alfredo spun. Brandon Jones opted to pit under the yellow, making a clear attempt to position himself to reach the finish on fuel.
When William Sawalich spun on Lap 159, it appeared Jones may have landed on the race-winning strategy.
After a series of cautions, several of the leaders came to pit road while Allgaier and Sam Mayer stayed out, believing it was still too far to stretch their fuel to the finish.
Following a crash involving Mason Maggio and Patrick Staropoli, Allgaier finally came down pit road under caution on Lap 186. Mayer followed him in.
Meanwhile, Jeb Burton, who had not pitted in roughly 60 laps, stayed out and inherited the lead over Ross Chastain.
Burton struggled on the restart, allowing Chastain to take over the top spot ahead of Sieg, Kvapil and Creed.
Sieg made a move on Chastain but couldn’t complete the pass. After his best attempt at taking the lead, Sieg began to fade through the field. With 21 laps remaining, he was passed by Kvapil.
One lap later, Allgaier finally worked his way back into the top 10 and began battling Creed while Chastain approached heavy lapped traffic.
In traffic, Kvapil began cutting into Chastain’s advantage.
With nine laps remaining, Allgaier cleared Sieg for third and set his sights on the leaders.
Then, with five laps to go, the 11th caution of the race flew when Jeb Burton suffered a tire problem and spun.
That set up a green-white-checkered finish with Chastain leading, Kvapil second and Allgaier sitting third on fresher tires. It appeared the race would come down to a thrilling shootout between the JR Motorsports trio.
Chastain selected the outside lane with Allgaier lined up behind him, while Kvapil took the inside.
On the restart, Chastain spun his tires. The outside lane stacked up behind him, triggering a multi-car crash that collected Allgaier, Sieg, Brent Crews, Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith.
The incident brought out the 12th caution of the race, tying the Iowa Speedway record dating back to the inaugural event in 2009.
Kvapil inherited the race lead ahead of Chastain, Austin Hill and Rajah Caruth and brought the field back to green for a second overtime attempt.
This time, Kvapil chose the outside lane with Chastain alongside him on the bottom. Hill and Caruth lined up behind the front row.
Kvapil got a tremendous jump on the restart, while Caruth moved into second as Chastain slipped back to third.
From there, Kvapil had no trouble taking the white flag and then the checkered flag.
Just two weeks after scoring his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at the Brickyard, Carson Kvapil captured career win No. 2 at Iowa Speedway.
Two races. Two victories.
Perhaps the floodgates have officially opened for Carson Kvapil.
Stay close to the on-track action this weekend and every weekend by following our Race Weekend Dashboard for everything you need to know before, during, and after the race. Share your thoughts by joining the discussion on Discord or X, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for further updates.
