Carson Kvapil Survives 2OT Restart at Iowa to win Second NASCAR O’Reilly Series Race in a Row

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RPW –  NEWTON, IA – Carson Kvapil survived two overtime restarts Saturday evening to hold off JR Motorsports teammate Rajah Caruth and win his second consecutive NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race in the Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway.

The decisive moment came on the final restart when Kvapil got a strong launch and cleared Ross Chastain exiting Turn 2.

“I think the nine probably had it, had that yellow not come out,” Kvapil said after climbing from his No. 1 Chevrolet. “We got the restart we needed and we got the win.”

“It just goes to show what this number one group has and what they bring to the racetrack,” he added.

During the first overtime, Brent Crews went three-wide into Turn 1, got loose and triggered a massive crash that collected several contenders, including Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Carson Brown, Patrick Staropoli and Kyle Sieg.

Caruth avoided the crash and went on to score a career-best second-place finish.

“We were chasing the balance all day and the restarts worked out for us,” Caruth said after climbing from his No. 88 Chevrolet. “Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, and it worked out for us today.”

William Sawalich finished third, significantly improving his chances of making the Chase. He is now tied with Crews for the final transfer spot, one point ahead of teammate Taylor Gray.

Chastain finished fourth after leading 63 laps and losing the lead on the first overtime restart.

Sheldon Creed finished fifth, followed by Nick Sanchez, Gray, Dean Thompson, Harrison Burton and Brennan Poole to round out the top 10.

Polesitter Ryan Sieg held off a charging Allgaier to win Stage 1, earning his first stage victory of the season.

Creed finished third, Chastain fourth and Sammy Smith fifth. Mayer, Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Corey Day and Sawalich also earned stage points.

The first caution flew on Lap 28 when Nathan Byrd spun exiting Turn 4 while battling Garrett Smithley for 34th. Allgaier narrowly avoided the incident.

Jesse Love later spun in Turn 3 after suffering a transmission failure while running inside the top 10. No caution was issued, but Love eventually pulled into the garage for an extended period before returning to the track to finish 35th.

Allgaier passed Creed for the lead on Lap 103 and pulled away to win Stage 2 by 2.5 seconds.

Allgaier continues to lead the series with eight stage victories this season and added 83 laps led to his season total.

Kyle Sieg hit the bump in Turn 1 and spun on Lap 77, bringing out a caution early in Stage 2.

With 101 laps remaining, Anthony Alfredo spun on the frontstretch to bring out another caution.

The sixth caution flew on Lap 159 when Staropoli spun Sawalich in Turn 1 following a chaotic restart.

Cautions continued on Laps 167 and 175 as Carson Ware and Lavar Scott separately crashed into the outside wall.

The ninth caution came when Staropoli was turned into Mason Maggio, sending Maggio spinning into Turn 1.

Day’s strong run ended violently on Lap 194 when contact from Smith sent him hard into the outside wall in Turn 2.

Jeb Burton spun exiting Turn 2 with five laps remaining, bringing out the 11th caution of the day and setting up the overtime finish.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns in three weeks for the regular-season finale at Daytona.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – Hyvee Perks 250 

Iowa Speedway

Newton, IA

Saturday August 8, 2026

1. (3) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 260.
2. (4) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 260.
3. (17) William Sawalich, Toyota, 260.
4. (2) Ross Chastain (i), Chevrolet, 260.
5. (6) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 260.
6. (14) Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 260.
7. (13) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 260.
8. (27) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 260. 
9. (16) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 260.
10.  (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 260.
11.  (28) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 260.
12.  (21) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 260.
13.  (10) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 260.
14.  (15) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 260.
15.  (20) Carson Brown (i), Chevrolet, 260.
16.  (18) Brent Crews (R), Toyota, 260.
17.  (9) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 260.
18.  (22) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 260.
19.  (19) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 260.
20.  (25) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 260.
21.  (23) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 260.
22.  (34) Joey Gase, Ford, 260.
23.  (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 260.
24.  (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 260.
25.  (31) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 260.
26.  (30) Derek Lemke, Chevrolet, 259.
27.  (12) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 259.
28.  (24) Lavar Scott (R), Chevrolet, 259.
29.  (33) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 258.
30.  (7) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 257.
31.  (35) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 257.
32.  (36) Tyler Tomassi, Toyota, 256.
33.  (1) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, Accident, 252.
34.  (29) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Suspension, 231.
35.  (11) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 200.
36.  (8) Corey Day, Chevrolet, Accident, 193.
37.  (37) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.