Ross Chastain wins rain-shortened O’Reilly race at Charlotte amid emotional weekend

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RPW – CONCORD, NC  – Ross Chastain survived late race chaos and worsening weather conditions to win the rain-shortened NASCAR O’Reilly Series Charbroil 300 Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Chastain hit the outside wall moments before the final caution flag flew on Lap 72, but maintained the lead as fog and mist intensified around the speedway. NASCAR ultimately called the race shortly after the conclusion of Stage 2, giving Chastain his third career O’Reilly Series victory and first with JR Motorsports. 

“I did not think we would win one like this,” Chastain said on pit road after climbing out of his No. 9 Chevrolet. “Driving into the fence in liquid.”

The victory came during an emotional weekend for the NASCAR community following the death of Kyle Busch on Thursday night. Chastain dedicated the win to Busch after the race.

“I just don’t understand how he’s not here racing,” Chastain said about Kyle Busch, who passed away Thursday night. “Racing is the best thing we can do to celebrate him and what he did in the sport and in his life.”

Chastain led 28 laps, second only to Justin Allgaier, who led a race high 36 laps before fading to 29th place after sustaining damage during the final caution. 

Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love would finish second after a fierce battle with Chastain. 

“I think it’s a complete joke,” Love said of NASCAR’s handling of the race finish. “I was really mad when I got out of the car for obvious reasons.”

Love also reflected on the difficult week surrounding Busch’s passing.

“I guess it’s just taught us that there’s things so much bigger than racing,” he said.

Austin Hill finished third, followed by William Sawalich in fourth and Corey Day in fifth. Connor Zilisch was sixth, Ryan Sieg seventh, Cole Custer eighth, Carson Kvapil ninth and Rajah Caruth rounded out the top 10.

The final caution came on Lap 72 when Dawson Cram blew an engine and coated Turns 1 and 2 with oil, causing several cars to slide up into the wall. Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray, Allgaier, Chastain, Brennan Poole, Andrew Patterson and Jeremy Clements all slid into the wall after driving through the oil. The incident ended the nights of Creed and Gray. 

The caution period extended through the end of Stage 2 as weather conditions deteriorated, and NASCAR officials eventually declared the race official. 

Shortly after, NASCAR officials would call the race due to weather, making the end of stage two the end of the race.

Earlier in the race, Zilisch passed Allgaier late in Stage 1 to earn his 15th career stage victory. Allgaier finished second in the stage, followed by Chastain, Day and Sam Mayer. Love was sixth, Brandon Jones seventh, followed by Caruth, Brent Crews, and Creed to complete the top ten.

A major crash on Lap 52 eliminated Crews, Jones, and Harrison Burton from contention. Jones was clipped by Creed on the backstretch and spun into Crews, whose Toyota slammed the outside wall head-on before collecting Burton. 

Mayer also crashed hard on Lap 61 while racing middle of three-wide with Zilisch and Day entering Turn 2. Mayer’s Chevrolet snapped loose, and he overcorrected before pancaking the outside wall to bring out another caution. 

The opening caution came on Lap 2 when Burton spun in Turn 3 while attempting to clear Love.

After the ensuing restart, Allgaier took the lead from Mayer and controlled the race until the scheduled competition caution on Lap 33, which quickly turned into a lengthy red flag for rain. The stoppage lasted 4 hours and 22 minutes before racing resumed.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – CharBroil 300

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, NC

Saturday May 23, 2026

1. (14) Ross Chastain (i), Chevrolet, 91.
2. (17) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 91.
3. (6) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 91.
4. (7) William Sawalich, Toyota, 91.
5. (2) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 91.
6. (5) Connor Zilisch (i), Chevrolet, 91.
7. (9) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 91.
8. (29) Cole Custer (i), Chevrolet, 91.
9. (24) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 91.
10.  (10) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 91.
11.  (8) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 91.
12.  (31) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 91.
13.  (13) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 91.
14.  (21) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 91.
15.  (30) Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, 91.
16.  (16) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 91.
17.  (37) Lavar Scott, Chevrolet, 91.
18.  (23) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 91.
19.  (22) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 91.
20.  (36) David Starr, Chevrolet, 91.
21.  (27) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 91.
22.  (35) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 91.
23.  (28) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 91.
24.  (33) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 91.
25.  (26) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 91.
26.  (32) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 91.
27.  (11) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 91.
28.  (20) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, 91.
29.  (1) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 91.
30.  (15) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 90.
31.  (25) Taylor Gray, Toyota, Accident, 73.
32.  (12) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.
33.  (34) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Engine, 72.
34.  (38) J.J. Yeley, Ford, Fuel Pump, 64.
35.  (4) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 62.
36.  (3) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 61.
37.  (18) Brent Crews, Toyota, Accident, 51.
38.  (19) Harrison Burton, Toyota, Accident, 51.