After a two week hiatus, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series prepares for The Chase with one final race at Daytona International Speedway. Eight of the twelve spots have been clinched already. Those drivers and their points situations are listed below.
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#7 Justin Allgaier (Lead)
These drivers don’t need to worry about making the Chase this weekend, but they do need to worry about where they’ll be placed for the beginning of it. Allgaier has already clinched the first seed. He will begin with 2,100 points. The battle for the second seed is primarily between Kvapil and Creed. Second place will start with 2,075 points. Third will start with 2,065, and the rest of each seed’s points rest will go as follows.
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4th– 2,060: 5th– 2,055: 6th– 2,050, 7th– 2,045: 8th– 2,040: 9th– 2,035: 10th– 2,030: 11th– 2,025: 12th– 2,020
This format means that each position matters. Five points equates to five positions on the racetrack, which can come in handy by the end of the season.
We outlined the drivers who are already in, but what about those who could potentially not be a member of The Chase?
#99 Parker Retzlaff (+46 to the cutline)
Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff has been one of the biggest surprises this season. Both Retzlaff and Viking Motorsports have not been members of postseason play before. After purchasing old Kaulig Racing equipment, and expanding to two entries, the team has seemed to find it’s groove. So far this season, Retzlaff has four top 5’s, and ten top 10’s. Retzlaff is in a good position to make the cut unless he crashes early and scores no stage points. He currently sits 9th in the standings.
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#41 Sam Mayer (+19 to the cutline)
In 10th is Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer. As I’ve eluded to before, Mayer seems to be a driver on the move in 2027, but for now he’s attempting to make the Chase once more. Mayer is having an atypical year so far, posting an average finish six spots lower than last season. Mayer hasn’t exactly been performing worse, but his downfall has been his inability to finish races. So far this year, Mayer has six DNFs. Last season he only had three DNFs, but in three of the past four seasons, he’s had six or more DNFs. Mayer has a cushion, but he could be in trouble if he was to add another DNF to his tally this season.
#18 William Sawalich & #19 Brent Crews (+1 to the cutline)
Both of the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers of William Sawalich, and Brent Crews are tied for 11th place, sitting just one point above the cutline. Sawalich has finished outside of the top 20 in three of the four races this season, but he has had three straight top five finishes. As for Crews, he only ran two of the superspeedway races this season. Crews finished 2nd at Talladega in April, and a crash took him out in Atlanta this past July. Crews has eleven top 10 finishes this season despite only running in 19 races. With only one position separating these drivers from the race, it all comes down to this.
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#54 Taylor Gray (-1 to the cutline)
Teammate of Crews, and Sawalich is Taylor Gray, who sits one position behind the both of them in the standings. Just like Sawalich, Gray has not had much luck on superspeedways this season. He has also finished outside of the top 20 in three of the four races ran, with his best finish being a 9th at Atlanta. With only a singular point separating these three teammates, This wildcard of a race will truly make or break their seasons.
#88 Rajah Caruth (-15 to the cutline)
The last driver who is statistically still in contention is JR Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth. The HendrickCars.com driver has been driving for two different cars this season. Caruth has driven thirteen races in the #88 JR Motorsports entry, while driving the remaining ten in the #32 Jordan Anderson Racing car. On superspeedways, Caruth has been the best among the drivers previously mentioned. He has also scored top tens in three of the four races. In the season opener at Daytona, Caruth scored a 10th place finish. Caruth will need some help in order to make the chase, but with how unpredictable Daytona can be, anything can happen. It will be crucial for Caruth to qualify up front, and score stage points throughout the race. Things will be a lot easier to manage, if Caruth can cut that deficit to single digits by the beginning of stage three.
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Owners Points
Another important thing to consider is that the #19 Joe Gibbs entry is already locked into The Chase in the owner points. Due to Crews not turning 18 years old until the end of March, the #19 ran four races this season without him behind the wheel. The owner points is significant because of the higher payout per team. Additionally #9 JR Motorsports entry is only 42 points below the cutline in owners points. However, they are not fielding that car this weekend, eliminating them from contention. This is a move that I’m sure has reasoning, but definitely a missed opportunity here for the team.
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