NASCAR red-flagged the O’Reilly Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, freezing a four-driver title fight with about 100 laps still to run.
Corey Day’s bid already unraveled when he wrecked with Rajah Caruth on Lap 8, so the restart will determine whether points leader Justin Allgaier holds off the three contenders left.
The debris was not a lost wheel. It was the cover of a sand barrel at the pit-road entrance, according to reporter Bob Pockrass, and crews had to clear it before the field could go green again after Andrew Patterson spun as he entered pit road and slammed into the barrels.
Pockrass had previously posted a photo of those barrels, noting they have been hit before. Jeff Gluck reported the red flag coming as well.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day Wreck Reshapes Title Fight
The only driver tied to a major incident so far is Day, a 20-year-old from Clovis, California. He was running around the top 10 when he tried to pass Caruth’s No. 88 Chevrolet down the backstretch, moved up too soon entering Turn 3 and clipped the front of Caruth’s car. The contact sent Day into the outside wall, according to NASCAR.com.
Caruth’s crew radioed to ask what had happened. “My wheel’s straight. I didn’t do anything,” Caruth said over the radio, according to Yardbarker. Day apologized to his team. He was towed to the garage and returned 17 laps down after repairs, while Caruth stayed on the lead lap.
Caruth drives for JR Motorsports, the same organization as Allgaier and Kvapil, and earned a Chase spot at Daytona in August.
Day arrived in stock cars by way of sprint cars. His father, Ronnie, raced sprint cars on the West Coast, and Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon knew the family from that scene. Day angered fellow drivers early in the season before the wins arrived: Talladega in April, then Dover in May, where he passed Allgaier with four laps left.
Through 30 races, Day had four wins and 11 top-five finishes. “I still go out there every weekend with a mindset to learn,” Day said in October, according to NASCAR.com. Saturday was his Homestead debut in the O’Reilly Series.
JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier Faces Restart Pressure
Allgaier carried 2,436 points to Love’s 2,414 into the finale. That put him 22 points ahead of Jesse Love, with Day 23 back, Carson Kvapil 31 back and Sheldon Creed 42 back. Allgaier needed a 54-point day to clinch, according to Yahoo Sports.
Love, the defending series champion, held the points lead until Martinsville, where brake trouble sent him into the wall with 30 laps left and dropped him to second, according to NASCAR.com. Allgaier, the defending race winner at Homestead, is chasing a second series championship.
Allgaier started 11th on the grid, and through two stages Love outscored him. Sam Mayer swept both stages at Homestead. Creed was second in each and Love third in each, while Allgaier finished seventh and then fourth. Stage points put Love at 16 to Allgaier’s 11, which trims the lead to 17 points.
Trouble found two other contenders as well. Kvapil battled electrical problems in the pits, and Allgaier reported a right-rear tire issue, according to NASCAR.com.
Creed, the 2020 Truck Series champion from Alpine, California, started from the pole in his final race for Haas Factory Team. An ignition problem at Phoenix dropped him to 32nd earlier in the Chase, so he needs a victory plus stage points while the contenders ahead of him falter. His No. 00 Chevrolet has led the most laps, with Love, Allgaier and Kvapil close behind.
The field returns in its running order once engines refire. The final stage covers 110 laps, and about 100 of them remain to settle a championship that Allgaier still leads and three drivers are chasing.
Why Was NASCAR O’Reilly Championship Race Under Red Flag? What Happened?