The 2026 Ag-Pro 300 was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 113 laps on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) superspeedway, it was the 11th race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and the 35th running of the event.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 33 in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | April 25, 2026 | ||
| Location | Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.66 miles (4.28 km) | ||
| Distance | 113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.74 km) | ||
| Average speed | 152.128 miles per hour (244.826 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||
| Time | 52.525 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 37 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | |
| Time | 49.651 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray, and Parker Kligerman | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Alex Hayden and Mike Bagley | ||
| Turn announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2), Tim Catalfamo (Backstretch), and Dan Hubbard (3 & 4) | ||
In a respectively clean race with action-packed racing, Corey Day, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, took advantage of the lead on the final lap after Sam Mayer spun on the backstretch, and took the victory after leading when the caution came out before the start/finish line. This was Day's first career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win.[9] Brent Crews finished second, and Sheldon Creed finished third. Sammy Smith and Jeremy Clements rounded out the top five, while Dean Thompson, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff, and Austin Green rounded out the top ten.
This was the third of four races for the Dash 4 Cash program.[10] The drivers eligible for the D4C were Taylor Gray, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Jesse Love, since they were the highest finishing O'Reilly Series regulars following the race at Kansas.[11] Creed finished in third and claimed the $100,000 bonus.
Report
editBackground
edit
Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
editQualifying was held on Friday, April 24, at 4:30 PM CST.[12] Since Talladega Superspeedway is a superspeedway, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, single-lap system with two rounds. In the first round, drivers had one lap to set a time and determined positions 11-38. The fastest ten drivers from the first round advanced to the second round, and whoever set the fastest time in Round 2 won the pole and determined the rest of the starting lineup.[13]
Jesse Love, driving for Richard Childress Racing, qualified on pole position, having advanced from the preliminary round and set the fastest time in Round 2, with a lap of 52.525 seconds, and a speed of 182.313 miles per hour (293.404 km/h).[14]
No drivers failed to qualify.
Qualifying results
editRace
editRace results
editStage results
editStage One Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Final Stage results
editStage Three Laps: 63
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 1 | Running | 55 |
| 2 | 18 | 19 | Brent Crews (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 113 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 3 | 5 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 113 | 7 | Running | 50 |
| 4 | 13 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 6 | Running | 42 |
| 5 | 15 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 6 | 17 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 113 | 0 | Running | 44 |
| 7 | 1 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 37 | Running | 32 |
| 8 | 22 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 113 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 19 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 10 | 31 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 5 | Running | 29 |
| 11 | 25 | 5 | J. J. Yeley | Hettinger Racing | Ford | 113 | 2 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 23 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 13 | 6 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 3 | Running | 25 |
| 14 | 35 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 34 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 3 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 27 | 38 | Patrick Emerling (i) | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 17 | 10 | 91 | Mason Maggio | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 28 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 29 | 55 | Joey Gase | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 37 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 12 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 22 | 8 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 22 | Running | 30 |
| 23 | 11 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 4 | Running | 24 |
| 24 | 32 | 45 | Lavar Scott (R) | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 1 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 2 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 112 | 8 | Accident | 16 |
| 26 | 24 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 2 | Accident | 11 |
| 27 | 30 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 112 | 1 | Accident | 17 |
| 28 | 16 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 112 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 112 | 6 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 7 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 112 | 5 | Running | 14 |
| 31 | 9 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 33 | 32 | Tyler Ankrum (i) | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 33 | 36 | 35 | Natalie Decker | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 38 | 74 | Dawson Cram | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 4 | 92 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 21 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 111 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 37 | 14 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli (R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 38 | 20 | 42 | David Starr | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14 | 0 | Overheating | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 38 among 16 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 4 for 15 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 1 hour, 58 minutes and 33 seconds
- Average speed: 152.128 miles per hour (244.826 km/h)
Standings after the race
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References
edit- ↑ "2026 schedule". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
- ↑ "Talladega Superspeedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ "NASCAR releases 2026 schedule, adding Chicagoland and shifting All-Star to Dover". NASCAR. August 20, 2025. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
- ↑ "Entry list" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 24, 2026. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Qualifying Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 24, 2026. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Starting Lineup" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 24, 2026. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Race Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 25, 2026. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
- ↑ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 25, 2026. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
- ↑ "It's a new day: Corey Day scores first O'Reilly victory at Talladega". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Wire Service. April 25, 2026. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
- ↑ "Schedules set for Dash 4 Cash, Triple Truck Challenge in 2026". NASCAR. February 5, 2026. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
- ↑ "Talladega's AG-PRO 300 sets stage for Dash 4 Cash showdown". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Wire Service. April 23, 2026. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Talladega Superspeedway Spring Race Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 NASCAR Qualifying Procedures". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
- ↑ Christie, Toby (April 24, 2026). "Eight Is Great: Jesse Love Secures Eighth Straight Talladega O'Reilly Pole For RCR". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved April 24, 2026.