MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Justin Allgaier led the opening 65 laps and the final 26 to win the NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway, his second straight win, third of the young 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season and 31st of his career. The 39-year-old’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-high 114 of 250 laps, extending his points lead over reigning series champion Jesse Love to 92 and pushing JR Motorsports to a fifth consecutive series win to open the year — one shy of the organization record set by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.
The win didn’t come easy. Thirteen caution flags slowed the historic half-mile, including a 19-car pileup on a late restart that brought out a 26-minute red flag and thinned the field of contenders. The incident was triggered by late model star Lee Pulliam, making his first-ever national series start in JR Motorsports’ No. 9 Chevrolet, who missed a shift on the restart from the front row. Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked Pulliam through it on the radio, and the 37-year-old rallied to finish fifth after leading 40 laps — second-most in the race. Corey Day posted a career-best runner-up finish, Sammy Smith was third, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top four.
All-Pro Reels was trackside for the drama at NASCAR’s toughest short track as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series opened its 2026 spring Martinsville weekend.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Rockingham Speedway next for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250.