Justin Allgaier outduels Jesse Love for NASCAR O’Reilly Series victory at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday night in the GOVX 200.
PHOENIX, Ariz. – JR Motorsports’ driver Justin Allgaier pushed forward when it mattered most, his No. 7 Chevrolet leading only the last 11 laps of Saturday night’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway to claim his third win at the one-mile oval and take over the championship lead in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Allgaier Outduels Love for Victory
Allgaier had to pass the night’s most dominant driver, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, to earn the trophy. Love came into the race with the best average finish in the last four Phoenix races and again proved how good he is in the desert, leading a race-best 114 of the 200 laps.
There were no caution periods in the opening two stages of the race – the first stage won by Allgaier’s teammate Sammy Smith and the second stage won by Love.
Two late race yellow flags, however, bunched the field on restarts and allowed Allgaier’s team to rally from a slow pit stop earlier in the night. The two former champions went door-to-door following the final restart with 15 laps to go, the 2024 series champ Allgaier ultimately besting the 2025 champ Love with a daring move on the outside and then holding him off by 0.449 seconds at the finish line to earn JR Motorsports’ 107th victory.
“So proud of this team,” said Allgaier, praising the team for overcoming a poor stop early. “It wasn’t for lack of adversity, and it seems like those are the ones that are big for us. I cannot say enough about this team.
“It never gets old winning,” added Allgaier, who has now won at least one race for a record ten consecutive seasons. “This team rallied and never gave up.”
The GOVX 200 Results
As encouraging as the night was – a stage win and fourth consecutive top ten finish on the season for Love, the 21-year-old was understandably frustrated to finish runner-up after such a dominant showing.
“The car tightening up there at the beginning of stage three put us behind, so just frustrated,” said Love, noting that he refused to just walk away happy with a runner-up showing after such a strong effort.
“Obviously not why I’m here [to finish second]. Just beyond frustrated with myself. I don’t know what else to say, just upset, upset with myself.”
The top finishing 14 cars were Chevrolets. Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate, Carson Kvapil, who looked strong mid-race and led 22 laps, finished third, followed by Haas Factory Team co-drivers Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer.
Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Rajah Caruth, Corey Day, and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top-1. It’s the third top ten of the season for both Smith and Day.
NASCAR O’Reilly Series Point Standings
The championship standings now mirror Saturday’s outcome with Allgaier holding a three-point advantage over Love. Austin Hill is just five points behind Allgaier. Carson Kvapil and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.
Up Next
The series heads to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next week’s race. The LiUNA starts at 5:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Allgaier is the defending winner of that race.