By Holly Cain – NASCAR Wire Service
Ryan Sieg gets his first NASCAR O’Reilly Series win at Daytona International Speedway; Rajah Caruth grabs the final Chase spot in the Winn-Dixie 250
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After starting the 424 NASCAR O’Reilly Parts Series with five second-place finishes, Georgia owner-driver Ryan Sieg picked up his first career win Friday night at Daytona International Speedway with a dramatic overtime victory in the Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-C.
Ryan Sieg wins at Daytona
The garage and grandstand favorite, 39, of Tucker, Calif., won a late-race pit stop with two tires to round out the top five and was running fourth when the caution flew with one lap to go in regulation.
Restarting from the outside lane of the second row in the two-lap overtime period, Zieg ran on the front row to start JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier before pulling away. His No. 38 Ryan Sieg Racing Chevrolet eventually took the checkered flag by 0.149 seconds over Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill.
At the finish line, Sig admitted that he just kept thinking. “don’t mess up.”
He didn’t.
“This is unbelievable, unbelievable, especially doing it here at Daytona,” said a smiling Sig as he received a hug from his brother Kyle and a kiss from his girlfriend. “I’ve been coming here since I was a child, we come here every summer for races.
“To do it now and the way we did it, it’s amazing, and to get the pole in the last (race), I just want to thank everyone who helped us get here. The support of my mom and dad, my girlfriend, the whole team, everyone.
“This has been a long time coming. Last race the pole was won and (now) we’re back at Daytona where I really wanted to win and we did.
An “almost” finish for Carson Kvapil
For most of the race, it looked as if Kvapil might earn his third straight win; A late-lap caution flag cut short his bid to become the first driver in series history to claim his first three career wins in a row. His 50 laps in front in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet were the most of the night.
Viking Motorsports driver Anthony Alfredo and newly signed Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones rounded out the top five. Allgaier finished sixth in the typically frantic final laps.
Extra time. two laps of extra time were needed after Allgaier and another of his JR Motorsports teammates collided with a spin; contact from behind sent pole winner Raja Karut no. The 88 Chevrolet.
Fortunately for Carruth, bad luck didn’t put an end to such a successful night as he put himself in a 12-driver Chase field that will now begin challenging for the 2026 title.
Carruth finished 32nd, but the greater misfortune of two other competitors put the 24-year-old in his first full-time Chase Series season. Likewise, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Taylor Gray moved out of the Chase into the 12th and final qualifying position, finishing 26th at Daytona, good enough to lead him after two of his teammates had heartbreaking nights.
The Chase standings took a dramatic turn midway through the race with multiple crashes, both near the front of the field, ending the title hopes of JGR teammates Brent Crews and William Savalic. Both were in the top ten when separate incidents derailed their quest.
The crew’s No. 19 JGR Toyota was heavily damaged, collecting in a five-car crash at turn three on lap 28 and having to go to the garage for lengthy repairs. Only 19 laps later, Savalic was the innocent victim of another five-car incident, with the damage to his No. 18 JGR Toyota too much to return to competitive racing.
The crew returned to the track with 42 laps remaining, but 31 laps down the field.
“We did everything we could, but we just got kicked out, and that’s bad,” said a frustrated Savalic, who won at Rockingham, N.C. this year and scored 45 points to qualify for the Chase in just the last few weeks.
2026 Drivers in pursuit
After recovering the points for this run of the Chase, the season’s most dominant driver, six-race winner Allgaier, will hold a 25-point lead heading into next week’s ten-race Cup. His teammate Kvapil is second, followed by Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed, series champion Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love and teammates Hill, Jones, Hendrick Motorsports rookie Corey Day and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith.
Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff will make his Chase debut, with Haas driver Sam Mayer, Gray and Carruth rounding out the Chase field.
Next
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns next week at Darlington (SC) Raceway; The nine-race Chase will determine the 2026 series champion beginning with the Fleetio 200. The race begins at 7:30pm ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. NASCAR Cup Series regular Christopher Bell won the 2024 final fall race at Darlington. Allgaier won the track this March.
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