The 2026 Nu Way 225 Powered by Bobcat and Sauced by Blues Hog was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Contested over 180 laps on the egg-shaped asphalt oval, it was the 26th race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, the second race in the NASCAR Chase, and the second running of the event.
Jesse Love, driving for Richard Childress Racing, made a late pass on Carson Kvapil with 15 laps to go, and led the remaining laps to earn his fourth career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win, and his first of the season. Kvapil won the first stage, leading a race-high 105 laps, while Love won the second stage, leading a total of 70 laps. At race's end, Sheldon Creed finished second, and Sam Mayer finished third. Taylor Gray and Kvapil rounded out the top five, with Parker Retzlaff, Brent Crews, Sammy Smith, Kyle Sieg, and Jeb Burton rounded out the top ten.
Report Background
World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a 1.25-mile (2 kilometer) oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series, a infield road course used by the SCCA, Porsche Club of America, and various car clubs, and a quarter-mile drag strip that hosts the annual NHRA Midwest Nationals event. It previously held the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (CC) denotes chase contender. (OC) denotes owners chase contender car.
Driver Team Make 00 Sheldon Creed (CC) Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 0 Myatt Snider SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 1 Carson Kvapil (CC) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 02 Ryan Ellis Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Jesse Love (CC) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 07 Josh Bilicki SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 7 Justin Allgaier (CC) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Sammy Smith (CC) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Corey Day (CC) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 18 William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Brent Crews (OC) (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Brandon Jones (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Austin Hill (CC) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 24 Harrison Burton Sam Hunt Racing Toyota 26 Dean Thompson Sam Hunt Racing Toyota 27 Jeb Burton Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 28 Kyle Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 31 Blaine Perkins Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 32 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 41 Sam Mayer (CC) Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 42 Brad Perez Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 44 Brennan Poole Alpha Prime Racing Ford 45 Lavar Scott (R) Alpha Prime Racing Ford 47 Dawson Cram Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 48 Patrick Staropoli (R) Big Machine Racing Chevrolet 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 53 Austin J. Hill Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet 54 Taylor Gray (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 55 Joey Gase Joey Gase Motorsports Ford 87 Nick Sanchez Peterson Racing Chevrolet 88 Rajah Caruth (CC) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 91 Mason Maggio DGM Racing Chevrolet 92 Josh Williams DGM Racing Chevrolet 96 Anthony Alfredo Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Parker Retzlaff (CC) Viking Motorsports ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, September 12, at 1:00 PM EST, and lasted for 50 minutes.
Taylor Gray, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 33.958 seconds, and a speed of .
Practice results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime154Taylor Gray (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota33.958132.517251Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet33.960132.509318William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota33.991132.388Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, September 12, at 2:05 PM. Since World Wide Technology Raceway is an intermediate oval, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, one-lap system with one round. Drivers were be on track by themselves and had one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.
Carson Kvapil, driving for JR Motorsports, qualified on pole position with a lap of 33.626 seconds, and a speed of .
No drivers failed to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime11Carson Kvapil (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet33.626133.82522Jesse Love (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet33.730133.412300Sheldon Creed (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet33.738133.381417Corey Day (CC)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet33.738133.38157Justin Allgaier (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet33.788133.183621Austin Hill (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet33.802133.128724Harrison BurtonSam Hunt RacingToyota33.805133.116818William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota33.812133.089988Rajah Caruth (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet33.847132.9511019Brent Crews (OC) (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota33.854132.9241154Taylor Gray (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota33.889132.786128Sammy Smith (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet33.896132.7591396Anthony AlfredoViking MotorsportsChevrolet33.930132.6261487Nick SanchezPeterson RacingChevrolet33.967132.4821520Brandon Jones (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota34.034132.2211628Kyle SiegRSS RacingChevrolet34.047132.1701726Dean ThompsonSam Hunt RacingToyota34.111131.9221841Sam Mayer (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet34.113131.9151999Parker Retzlaff (CC)Viking MotorsportsChevrolet34.122131.8802027Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet34.200131.5792148Patrick Staropoli (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet34.248131.3952244Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingFord34.297131.2072351Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet34.384130.8752431Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet34.399130.818250Myatt SniderSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet34.482130.5032607Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet34.524130.3442745Lavar Scott (R)Alpha Prime RacingFord34.571130.1672839Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet34.626129.9602942Brad PerezYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet34.702129.6763092Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet34.733129.5603132Jordan AndersonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet34.743129.5223291Mason MaggioDGM RacingChevrolet34.759129.463Qualified by owner's points3302Ryan EllisYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet34.768129.4293455Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsFord34.977128.6563553Austin J. HillJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet35.279127.5553647Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet——Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage Results Stage One Laps: 45 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts11Carson Kvapil (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet10217Corey Day (CC)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet937Justin Allgaier (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet8421 Austin Hill (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet752Jesse Love (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet6600Sheldon Creed (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet5719Brent Crews (OC) (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota4818William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota3941Sam Mayer (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet21099Parker Retzlaff (CC)Viking MotorsportsChevrolet1
Stage Two Laps: 45 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts12Jesse Love (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet10241Sam Mayer (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet931Carson Kvapil (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet8400Sheldon Creed (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet7518William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota667Justin Allgaier (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet5717Corey Day (CC)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4899Parker Retzlaff (CC)Viking MotorsportsChevrolet398Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet21039Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet1
Final Stage results Stage Three Laps: 90 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts122Jesse Love (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet18070Running722300Sheldon Creed (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet1800Running4731841Sam Mayer (CC)Haas Factory TeamChevrolet1800Running4541154Taylor Gray (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1800Running33511Carson Kvapil (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet180105Running5061999Parker Retzlaff (CC)Viking MotorsportsChevrolet1800Running3571019Brent Crews (OC) (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1800Running348128Sammy Smith (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1800Running3191628Kyle SiegRSS RacingChevrolet1800Running28102027Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1800Running2711988Rajah Caruth (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1800Running26121726Dean ThompsonSam Hunt RacingToyota1800Running251357Justin Allgaier (CC)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1800Running37142839Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet1800Running24151520Brandon Jones (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1800Running2216818William SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1800Running30172148Patrick Staropoli (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet1800Running20183092Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet1800Running19192244Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingFord1800Running18202431Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1800Running17213291Mason MaggioDGM RacingChevrolet1800Running16221396Anthony AlfredoViking MotorsportsChevrolet1800Running15233132Jordan AndersonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1800Running14243302Ryan EllisYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet1800Running1325250Myatt SniderSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1800Running12262607Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1800Running11273455Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsFord1800Running10282942Brad PerezYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet1790Running929621Austin Hill (CC)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1794Running15302745Lavar Scott (R)Alpha Prime RacingFord1790Running7312351Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1680Running6323553Austin J. HillJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1531Electrical533417Corey Day (CC)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1330Accident17341487Nick SanchezPeterson RacingChevrolet480Accident335724Harrison BurtonSam Hunt RacingToyota480Accident2363647Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet00Engine1Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 8 among 4 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 7 for 37 laps Red flags: 1 Time of race: 2 hours, 25 minutes and 13 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Sheldon Creed 2,175 1 2 Justin Allgaier 2,172 (–3) 3 Carson Kvapil 2,166 (–9) 2 4 Jesse Love 2,159 (–16) 3 5 Sam Mayer 2,114 (–61) 2 6 Austin Hill 2,114 (–61) 7 Sammy Smith 2,111 (–64) 3 8 Corey Day 2,106 (–69) 1 9 Brandon Jones 2,099 (–76) 10 Parker Retzlaff 2,092 (–83) 11 Taylor Gray 2,089 (–86) 12 Rajah Caruth 2,057 (–118)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,369 2 Toyota 896 (–473) 3 Ford 234 (–1,135) Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.
References