2026 Winn-Dixie 250
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 24 of 33 in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | August 28, 2026 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4 km) | ||
| Distance | 105 laps, 262.5 mi (422.452 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 100 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km) | ||
| Average speed | 132.520 miles per hour (213.270 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | JR Motorsports | ||
| Time | 49.118 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | |
| Laps | 50 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | |
| Time | 46.913 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 38 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | |
| 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, Mike Bagley, and Todd Gordon | ||
| Turn announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2), Kyle Rickey (Backstretch), and Tim Catalfamo (3 & 4) | ||
The 2026 Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Friday, August 28, 2026, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 105 laps—extended from 100 laps due to an overtime finish on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway, it was the 24th race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and the 25th running of the event.
After a late caution occurred on lap 97, Ryan Sieg, driving for RSS Racing, pulled off the upset, holding off the dominant JR Motorsports cars in the final restart to earn his first career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win in his 424th start.[9] Austin Hill won the first stage, leading 22 laps, while pole-sitter Rajah Caruth won the second stage, leading 11 laps. Carson Kvapil led the race-high 50 laps. At race's end, Hill finished second, and Kvapil finished third. Anthony Alfredo and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five, while Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top ten.
The 2026 Chase field was set; the 12 drivers that qualified were Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Corey Day, Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff, Sam Mayer, Taylor Gray, and Rajah Caruth.[10]
Report
[edit]Background
[edit]
The race will be held at Daytona International Speedway, a race track located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, the track is the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. It features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 miles (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 miles (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 miles (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 miles (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010. On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway is being worked on by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, and it cost US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was completed before the start of Speedweeks.
Winn-Dixie was announced as the title sponsor on July 7.[11]
Entry list
[edit]- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
[edit]Qualifying was held on Friday, August 28, at 3:00 PM EST.[12] Since Daytona International Speedway 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]
Rajah Caruth, driving for JR Motorsports, qualified on pole position, having advanced from the preliminary round and setting the fastest time in Round 2, with a lap of 49.118 seconds, and a speed of 183.232 miles per hour (294.883 km/h).[14]
Dawson Cram was the only driver who failed to qualify.
Qualifying results
[edit]Race
[edit]Race results
[edit]Stage Results
[edit]Stage One Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
Final Stage Results
[edit]Stage Three Laps: 45
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 38 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 2 | Running | 55 |
| 2 | 8 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 22 | Running | 45 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 50 | Running | 51 |
| 4 | 9 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 2 | Running | 49 |
| 5 | 13 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 105 | 5 | Running | 36 |
| 6 | 18 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 7 | 33 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 11 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 105 | 1 | Running | 34 |
| 9 | 29 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 10 | 4 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 105 | 3 | Running | 32 |
| 11 | 19 | 92 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 27 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 20 | 71 | Leland Honeyman (i) | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 14 | 24 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 1 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 36 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 16 | 15 | 87 | Nick Sanchez | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 22 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 31 | 45 | Lavar Scott (R) | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 35 | 91 | Mason Maggio | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 3 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 3 | Running | 20 |
| 21 | 23 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 26 | 42 | Natalie Decker (i) | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 23 | 32 | 55 | Joey Gase | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 34 | 53 | Carson Ware | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 6 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 105 | 5 | Running | 17 |
| 26 | 10 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 105 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 27 | 16 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 105 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 37 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 104 | 0 | Accident | 9 |
| 29 | 14 | 17 | Corey Day | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 104 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 38 | 39 | Andy Jankowiak | RSS Racing | Ford | 103 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 21 | 4 | Caesar Bacarella | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 103 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 1 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 103 | 11 | Running | 23 |
| 33 | 28 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 94 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 30 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli (R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 73 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 17 | 19 | Brent Crews (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 61 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 5 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 44 | 0 | Accident | 7 |
| 37 | 7 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 44 | 0 | Accident | 3 |
| 38 | 25 | 32 | Daniel Dye (i) | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 27 | 0 | Accident | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Race statistics
[edit]- Lead changes: 21 among 11 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 4 for 25 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 1 hour, 58 minutes and 51 seconds
- Average speed: 132.520 miles per hour (213.270 km/h)
Standings after the race
[edit]
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References
[edit]- ↑ "2026 schedule". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "NASCAR releases 2026 schedule, adding Chicagoland and shifting All-Star to Dover". NASCAR. August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 27, 2026. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Qualifying Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 28, 2026. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Starting Lineup" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 28, 2026. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Race Results" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 28, 2026. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
- ↑ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 28, 2026. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
- ↑ "Ryan Sieg wins first O'Reilly race at Daytona in 424th career start". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 28, 2026. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase field set". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 28, 2026. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
- ↑ "Winn-Dixie named entitlement partner of summer O'Reilly race at Daytona". Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 7, 2026. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Daytona International Speedway Summer Race Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 NASCAR Qualifying Procedures". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ Srigley, Joseph (August 28, 2026). "Rajah Caruth Earns First Career O'Reilly Series Pole at Daytona". JosephSrigley.com. Retrieved August 28, 2026.