2026 Pennzoil 250
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 Pennzoil 250 presented by Take 5 Oil Change was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Contested over 100 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) oval, it was the 22nd race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and the 15th running of the event.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 22 of 33 in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | |||
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| Date | July 25, 2026 | ||
| Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4 km) | ||
| Distance | 100 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km) | ||
| Average speed | 128.940 miles per hour (207.509 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Haas Factory Team | ||
| Time | 53.069 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ross Chastain | JR Motorsports | |
| Laps | 31 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | |
| Time | 53.935 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray, and Bubba Wallace | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 1.25 million[10] | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | IMS Radio | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie, Nick Yeoman, and Christopher Bell | ||
| Turn announcers | Mark Jaynes (Turn 1), Michael Young (Turn 2), Jake Query (Turn 3), and Chris Wilner (Turn 4) | ||
Carson Kvapil, driving for JR Motorsports, took the lead from teammate Ross Chastain on lap 78, and led the remaining laps while holding off a charging Justin Allgaier in the final moments to earn his first career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win.[11] Jeremy Clements won the first stage, leading nine laps, while Rajah Caruth won the second stage, leading six laps. At race's end, Allgaier finished second, and Chastain, who led the race-high 31 laps, finished third. Chase Elliott and William Sawalich rounded out the top five, while Brent Crews, Corey Day, Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones, and Austin Hill rounded out the top ten.
Following the race, Kvapil, Creed, Day, Jones, and Hill clinched a spot in The Chase.
Report
Background
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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana, (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500 of IndyCar Series and the Brickyard 400 of the NASCAR Cup Series. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately six miles (10 km) west of Downtown Indianapolis.
Constructed in 1909, it is the original speedway, the first racing facility so named. It has a permanent seating capacity estimated at 235,000 with infield seating raising capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world.
Considered relatively flat by American standards, the track is a 2.5-mile (4.0 km), nearly rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its inception: four 0.25-mile (0.40 km) turns, two 0.625-mile-long (1.006 km) straightaways between the fourth and first turns and the second and third turns, and two .125-mile (0.201 km) short straightaways – termed "short chutes" – between the first and second, and third and fourth turns.
The track also held races on its infield road course, formerly the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, from 2021 to 2023 in the Cup Series, the Pennzoil 150, in the Xfinity Series, and currently the Sonsio Grand Prix in IndyCar.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, July 24, at 12:00 PM EST, and lasted for 50 minutes.[13]
Ross Chastain, driving for JR Motorsports, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 53.517 seconds, and a speed of 168.171 miles per hour (270.645 km/h).[14]
Practice results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.517 | 168.171 |
| 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.621 | 167.845 |
| 3 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.691 | 167.626 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was on Saturday, July 25, at 12:00 PM EST.[13] Standard intermediate track qualifying was in effect, although at Indianapolis, a hybrid road course qualifying rule was used. The timing line was set in Turn 3, where cars exited pit road, drove two-thirds of a lap, then took the green flag in the north chute exiting Turn 3, and completed their lap there the next time by. Teams then immediately pitted the car, meaning only two laps were run. In addition, up to two cars could be at the track at one time, separated by considerable intervals (about 20 seconds) to ensure drafting was prohibited.[15]
Sheldon Creed, driving for Haas Factory Team, qualified on pole position with a lap of 53.069 seconds, and a speed of 169.591 miles per hour (272.930 km/h).[16]
No drivers failed to qualify.
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 19 | Brent Crews (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Rajah Caruth | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 4 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 88 | Chase Elliott (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 40
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 23 | Running | 69 |
| 2 | 13 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 4 | Running | 49 |
| 3 | 8 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 31 | Running | 0 |
| 4 | 7 | 88 | Chase Elliott (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 5 | 9 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 2 | Running | 42 |
| 6 | 15 | 19 | Brent Crews (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 7 | 11 | 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 1 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 100 | 23 | Running | 40 |
| 9 | 6 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 10 | 19 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 11 | 17 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 5 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 13 | 3 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 14 | 20 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 12 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 26 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 24 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 10 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 20 | 23 | 87 | Nick Sanchez | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Rnning | 17 |
| 21 | 25 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 100 | 2 | Running | 21 |
| 22 | 16 | 32 | Rajah Caruth | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 6 | Running | 25 |
| 23 | 18 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli (R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 22 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 30 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 21 | 91 | Mason Maggio | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 31 | 45 | Lavar Scott (R) | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 27 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 28 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 29 | 92 | Preston Pardus | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 36 | 42 | Nathan Byrd | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 33 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 32 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 37 | 53 | Blake Lothian | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 38 | 47 | David Starr | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 35 | 55 | Joey Gase | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 37 | 4 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 97 | 9 | Running | 11 |
| 38 | 34 | 38 | J. J. Yeley | RSS Racing | Ford | 39 | 0 | Fuel Pump | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 10 among 8 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 3 for 13 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 1 hour, 56 minutes and 20 seconds
- Average speed: 128.940 miles per hour (207.509 km/h)
Standings after the race
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