The 2026 Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200 was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 147 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the sixth race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and the 44th running of the event.
Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, took advantage of a late restart, leading the final 14 laps and held off Brandon Jones in the closing stages to earn his 30th career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win, and his second of the season. Allgaier's teammate Kyle Larson was the most dominant driver of the race, winning both stages and led a race-high 107 laps, before a late pit stop cycled him back and was unable to retake the lead. Jones finished second, and Christopher Bell finished third. Larson and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top five, while Corey Day, Sheldon Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, and Sam Mayer rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Surface issues Darlington Raceway was last repaved following the May 2007 meeting (from 2005 to 2019, there was only one meeting; the second meeting was reinstated in 2020), and from 2008 to 2019, there was one night race. In 2020, a day race returned to the schedule, and instead of two races (one Xfinity and one Cup) during the entire year, the track hosted six races (three Cup, two Xfinity, and one Truck). The circuit kept repairing the circuit with patches during each summer before the annual Cup race in September. The circuit's narrow Turn 2 rapidly deteriorated with cracks in the tarmac allowing water to seep in the circuit. In July 2021, the circuit repaved a six hundred foot section at the entrance of Turn 2 and ending at the exit of the turn to repair the tarmac and resolve the issue for safety and to reduce the threat of weepers and surface issues in that section of the circuit.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Make 00 Sheldon Creed Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 0 Garrett Smithley SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 1 Carson Kvapil JR Motorsports Chevrolet 02 Ryan Ellis Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Jesse Love Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 5 J. J. Yeley Hettinger Racing Ford 07 Josh Bilicki SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Sammy Smith JR Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Ross Chastain (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Corey Day Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 18 William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Christopher Bell (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Brandon Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Austin Hill Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 24 Harrison Burton Sam Hunt Racing Toyota 25 Nick Sanchez AM Racing Ford 26 Dean Thompson Sam Hunt Racing Toyota 27 Jeb Burton Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 28 Kyle Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 30 Myatt Snider Barrett–Cope Racing Chevrolet 31 Blaine Perkins Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 32 Rajah Caruth Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 35 Matt DiBenedetto Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 41 Sam Mayer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 42 Nathan Byrd Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 44 Brennan Poole Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet 45 Lavar Scott (R) Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet 48 Patrick Staropoli (R) Big Machine Racing Chevrolet 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 54 Taylor Gray Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 55 Joey Gase Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet 87 Austin Green Peterson Racing Chevrolet 88 Kyle Larson (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 91 Alex Labbé DGM Racing Chevrolet 92 Josh Williams DGM Racing Chevrolet 96 Anthony Alfredo Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Parker Retzlaff Viking Motorsports ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, March 21, at 12:00 PM EST, and lasted for 50 minutes.
Christopher Bell, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.149 seconds, and a speed of .
Practice results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime119Christopher Bell (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota30.149163.110220Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota30.280162.404399Parker RetzlaffViking MotorsportsChevrolet30.295162.324Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 21, at 1:05 PM EST. Since Darlington Raceway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, one-lap system with one round. Drivers were on track by themselves and had one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.
Kyle Larson, driving for JR Motorsports, qualified on pole position with a lap of 29.994 seconds, and a speed of .
Matt DiBenedetto was the only driver who failed to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime188Kyle Larson (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet29.994163.953219Christopher Bell (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota30.041163.69631Carson KvapilJR MotorsportsChevrolet30.180162.94247Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet30.220162.727599Parker RetzlaffViking MotorsportsChevrolet30.299162.302641Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamChevrolet30.307162.260718William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota30.338162.094820Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota30.355162.00399Ross Chastain (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet30.400161.763102Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.411161.7051121Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.436161.5721217Corey DayHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30.447161.5131300Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamChevrolet30.467161.4071424Harrison BurtonSam Hunt RacingToyota30.481161.3331554Taylor GrayJoe Gibbs RacingToyota30.507161.1961628Kyle SiegRSS RacingChevrolet30.513161.1641792Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet30.621160.596188Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet30.644160.4751932Rajah CaruthJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet30.683160.271205J. J. YeleyHettinger RacingFord30.707160.1462196Anthony AlfredoViking MotorsportsChevrolet30.736159.9952239Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet30.761159.8652344Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet30.769159.823240Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet30.809159.6162527Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet30.841159.4502631Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet30.873159.2852725Nick SanchezAM RacingFord30.874159.2802848Patrick Staropoli (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet30.910159.0942945Lavar Scott (R)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet30.924159.0223051Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet30.955158.8633187Austin GreenPeterson RacingChevrolet30.966158.8063207Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet31.008158.591Qualified by owner's points3326Dean ThompsonSam Hunt RacingToyota31.140157.9193491Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet31.225157.4893530Myatt SniderBarrett–Cope RacingChevrolet31.254157.3433602Ryan EllisYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet31.297157.1273755Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet31.507156.0803842Nathan ByrdYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet——Failed to qualify3935Matt DiBenedettoJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet31.063158.311Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage results Stage One Laps: 45 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts188Kyle Larson (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet0219Christopher Bell (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota031Carson KvapilJR MotorsportsChevrolet8420Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota757Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet6699Parker RetzlaffViking MotorsportsChevrolet572Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4818William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota3996Anthony AlfredoViking MotorsportsChevrolet2109Ross Chastain (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet0 Stage Two Laps: 45 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts188Kyle Larson (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet021Carson KvapilJR MotorsportsChevrolet9320Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota847Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet7599Parker RetzlaffViking MotorsportsChevrolet669Ross Chastain (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet0796Anthony AlfredoViking MotorsportsChevrolet4817Corey DayHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3919Christopher Bell (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota01018William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1
Final Stage results Stage Three Laps: 57 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts147Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet14731Running692820Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1478Running503219Christopher Bell (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1470Running04188Kyle Larson (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet147107Running0531Carson KvapilJR MotorsportsChevrolet1470Running4961217Corey DayHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1470Running3471300Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamChevrolet1470Running308599Parker RetzlaffViking MotorsportsChevrolet1470Running409188Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet1470Running2810641Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamChevrolet1470Running2711102Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1470Running30122196Anthony AlfredoViking MotorsportsChevrolet1470Running31132239Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet1470Running241499Ross Chastain (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1470Running0151554Taylor GrayJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1470Running22162725Nick SanchezAM RacingFord1470Running2117718William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1470Running24182344Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1470Running19193051Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1470Running18203207Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1470Running17213326Dean ThompsonSam Hunt RacingToyota1470Running16221424Harrison BurtonSam Hunt RacingToyota1470Running15231932Rajah CaruthJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1470Running14241792Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet1471Running1325205J. J. YeleyHettinger RacingFord1470Running12262527Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1470Running1127240Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1470Running10283187Austin GreenPeterson RacingChevrolet1460Running9292848Patrick Staropoli (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet1460Running8302631Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1460Running7313755Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1450Running6323602Ryan EllisYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet1450Running5333530Myatt SniderBarrett–Cope RacingChevrolet1450Running4343842Nathan ByrdYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet1450Running3351121Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1420Running2362945Lavar Scott (R)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet1230Accident1371628Kyle SiegRSS RacingChevrolet1210DVP1383491Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet1200Accident1Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 6 among 4 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 3 for 25 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 1 hour, 47 minutes and 9 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Justin Allgaier 306 2 Jesse Love 254 (–52) 2 3 Carson Kvapil 222 (–84) 4 Sheldon Creed 218 (–88) 2 5 Austin Hill 210 (–96) 6 Sammy Smith 192 (–114) 7 Corey Day 188 (–118) 3 8 Brandon Jones 170 (–136) 9 Parker Retzlaff 169 (–137) 2 10 Rajah Caruth 151 (–155) 1 11 Sam Mayer 149 (–157) 12 Taylor Gray 132 (–174)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 330 2 Toyota 162 (–168) 3 Ford 122 (–208) Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.
References