No ‘Big One’ in JRM Win at ‘Dega

Round two of this weekend’s triple header is the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Progress Group 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Forty-one teams brought cars for 38 starting spots.

There is no practice at the superspeedway, just two rounds of qualifying where the top 10 will move on to a second round to set the pole.

Jesse Love had some issues going through inspection and has lost his pit stall selection for next week.

The first car on the track to make a qualifying run is Caesar Bacarella who posted a time of 52.903 seconds around the 2.66 mile track.

Lee Pulliam had a brake issue ass he was coming out to make his qualifying run.

In the top 10, Corey Day’s car is being taken back to the garage for an engine change with a water leak.  Day will start the race form the back of the field.

With a time of 52.435 seconds, Jesse Love puts his number two car on the pole for the fifth consecutive time.  Missing the pole by just two thousandths of a second, Jake Finch starts alongside Love on the front row.

The starting lineup for the Progress Group 250:
Jesse Love
Jake Finch
Sam Mayer
Carson Kvapil
Austin Hill
Rajah Caruth
Anthony Alfredo
Brent Crews
William Sawalich
Corey Day
Sammy Smith
Sheldon Creed
Nick Leitz
Justin Allgaier
Jeremy Clements
Brandon Jones
Taylor Gray
Caesar Bacarella
Harrisson Burton
Ryan Ellis
Patrick Staropoli
Josh Williams
Connor Mosack
Mason Maggio
Ryan Sieg
Parker Retzlaff
Dean Thompson
Joey Gase
Kyle Sieg
Will Rodgers
Leland Honeyman
Jeb Burton
Lavar Scott
Daniel Dye
Brennan Poole
Josh Bilicki
Blaine Perkins
Carson Ware
Garrett Smithley
Lee Pulliam

Patrick Emerling, Carson Ware, and Lavar Scott failed to qualify for the race.

Stages one and two of the race are 25 laps each with stage three lasting 44 laps for a total of 94 laps around the 2.66 mile tri-oval.

There are no lights at Talladega; as a result, the race must finish before the sun goes down.  NASCAR has announced that they will begin the finishing process for the race at 5:55 local time (6:55EDT).

Austin Hill needs to lead just 46 laps to have 1,000 laps led at drafting tracks.

Jesse Love brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Jake Finch alongside.  Jake Finch takes the lead.

Lap two, Carson Kvapil comes up on the outside lane to take the lead.

The top three cars are all JR Motorsports cars – Carson Kvapil, Jake Finch, and Rajah Caruth; Jesse Love and Austin Hill round out the top five.

Lap three, Corey Day has moved up 21 spots since the race start.  Drivers are three wide through the field with Carson Kvapil leading the race.

Lap four, Justin Allgaier has entered the top 10.

The top five are Carson Kvapil, Jake Finch, Rajah Caruth, Brent Crews, and Sheldon Creed.

Lap five, Justin Allgaier has entered the top five.

Lap six, Corey Day has entered the top five!

The top five are Carson Kvapil, Rajah Caruth, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Corey Day.

Lap seven, the drivers have gotten single file with Carson Kvapil leading the race.

Lap 10, Carson Kvapil has led nine of 10 laps so far with Rajah Caruth in second; Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Corey Day round out the top five.

The top five drivers are separated by less than half a second!

Ten laps remain in stage one with Carson Kvapil leading the way; Rajah Caruth, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Corey Day round out the top five.

Lap 17, a small group of drivers has dropped down to the inside lane and are slowly working their way to ward the front.

Seven laps remain in stage one, drivers are dropping down in hopes of moving up to take the lead.  Carson Kvapil continues to lead the race.

Parker Retzlaff gets off into the grass but gets the car moving again with two flat tires.  He reports something broke. The track stays green.

Just four laps remain in stage one with Carson Kvapil in the lead; Rajah Caruth, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Corey Day round out the top five.

Cason Kvapil wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Carson Kvapil
Rajah Caruth
Justin Allgaier
Corey Day
Sheldon Creed
Connor Mosack
Taylor Gray
Jake Finch
Jeremy Clements
William Sawalich

Drivers come down pit road for service with Corey Day winning the race off of pit road.  Carson Kvapil stalled his car coming out of his pit stall.

Jesse Love was charged with an improper fueling penalty on pit road.  The fuel man was chasing a tire.

Austin Hill has a major radio issue that the team is trying to repair.

Corey Day brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with William Sawalich alongside on lap 32.  Drivers get four wide across the track.

Corey Day leads the race with Sheldon Creed in second; Rajah Caruth, Justin Allgaier, and Taylor Gray round out the top five.

Lap 34, Carson Kvapil takes the lead and leads the outside lane against the wall.

Lap 35, the top five are Carson Kvapil, Corey Day, Rajah Caruth, Jusitn Allgaier, and Taylor Gray.

Lap 38, Carson Kvapil leads the race with Corey Day in second, Austin Hill, Rajah Caruth, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Three lanes are forming across the track as the drivers battle for position.

Ten laps remain in stage two with Carson Kvapil leading the race.

Lap 41, Carson Kvapil leads the outside lane but Austin Hill leads the inside lane and takes the lead of the race.

Justin Allgaier moves up and takes the lead of the race.

Six laps to go in stage two, Justin Allgaier leads the race with Carson Kvapil in second; Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, and Jesse Love round out the top five.

Justin Allgaier closed the gap on points leader Jesse Love at the end of stage one when Love did not earn any stage points but Allgaier did.

If Justin Allgaier can hold on to the lead, he could retake the lead of the point standings…for now at least.

Three laps remain in stage two with Justin Allgaier leading the way.

Justin Allgaier wins stage two for his 12^th stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Justin Allgaier
Carson Kvapil
Sammy Smith
Austin Hill
Corey Day
Sheldon Creed
Harrison Burton
Anthony Alfredo
Brent Crews
Leland Honeyman

Justin Allgaier has earned 18 stage points; Jesse Love failed to earn any stage points, closing the gap in the point standings.

Drivers come down pit road for service with Harrison Burton winning the race off of pit road after taking only two tires.

Brennan Poole was charged with an uncontrolled tire and Leland Honeyman was charged with a  safety violation; both drivers will restart the race from the back of the field.

Harrison Burton brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Taylor Gray Alongside with 38 laps remaining in the race.  Getting a push from behind, Harrison Burton takes the lead.

The first caution flag of the day comes out with 38 laps to go when Taylor Gray tried to side draft Harrison Burton in a three wide battle.  Gray spins and makes contact with Austin Hill as he spins down the track.  Brennan Poole, Brandon Jones, and Leland Honeyman were also involved.

Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Brennan Poole, and Leland Honeyman were charged with pitting while pit road was closed and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.

Harrison Burton brings the field down for the green flag restart with Carson Kvapil alongside with 32 laps remaining in the race.  Burton edges out for the lead but Carson Kvapil quickly jumped out for the lead from the inside lane with Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier right behind; Corey Day and Brent Crews round out the top five.

Justin Allgaier has cut the gap on points leader Jesse Love to just 14; Allgaier was 39 points behind when the race started.

With 29 laps to go, Carson Kvapil leads the race with Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Corey Day, and Sam Mayer rounding out the top five.

Caesar Bacarella gets off into the grass but gets the car back on the track and moving again; the track stays green.

Just 24 laps remain in the race, drivers are beginning to drop down to the inside lane but being left out alone.

Carson Kvapil leads the race with teammates Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier behind; Corey Day, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.

The caution flag comes out with 21 laps to go for debris on the track.

Twenty to go, pit road is open for a “quicky yellow” with some of the drivers back in the field making a pit stop.  Leaders stay out.

Leland Honeyman was charged with having too many crew members over the wall.

Carson Kvapil brings the field down for the green flag restart with 16 laps remaining in the race.  Getting a push form Sammy Smith, Carson Kvapil takes the lead.

Drivers are getting three wide through the field.

The top five are Carsson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Justin Allgiaer, and Corey Day.

Drivers were trying to make three lanes but the lower lane fell apart with a majority of the cars single file against the wall.

Caesar Bacarella is limping his way around the track below the yellow line with another tire issue.

Austin Hill has a flat tire and works his way to pit road below the yellow line.

Ten to go, Carsson Kvapil continues to lead the race with teammate Sammy Smith in second; Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, and Corey Day round out the top five.

Jake Finch works his way to pit road and the garage wit just nine laps remaining in the race.

With eight laps to go, Carson Kvapil has led 62 laps so far.
Seven to go, teams are making plans for the final laps to get their driver the win.

Five to go, Carson Kvapil continues to lead the race.

Three to go, Carson Kvapil holds on to the lead.

Carson Kvapil takes the white flag!

Sammy Smith drops down to battle with Carsson Kvapil for the lead.

Sammy Smith wins the race for the double after winning the truck race on Friday!

Sammy Smith is the seventh driver for JR Motorsports to win a race this season to set a new record.

The unofficial results of the Progress Group 225:
Sammy Smith
Carsson Kvapil
Jesse Love
Justin Allgaier
Sheldon Creed
Corey Day
Blaine Perkins
Den Thompson
Brandon Jones
Anthony Alfredo
Jeb Burton
Mason Maggio
Sam Mayer
Ryan Sieg
Nick Leitz
Josh Bilicki
Rajah Caruth
Jeremy Clements
Connor Mosack
Joey Gase
Taylor Gray
Lee Pulliam
Josh Williams
Harrison Burton
Will Rodgers
Brennan Poole
Garrett Smithley
Kyle Sieg
William Sawalich
Ryan Elliss
Parker Retzlaff
Patrick Staropoli
Daniel Dye
Brent Crews
Austin Hill
Leland Honeyman
Caesar Bacarella
Jake Finch