The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has been a grind so far consisting zero off weeks. Finally, after 16 races, they will take a break this upcoming weekend while the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Since I last ranked the NOAPS field, Hendrick engines have gone undefeated and the cutline to ‘The Chase’ has changed. Connor Zilisch got his third consecutive win at Watkins Glen International, Corey Day ran down Justin Allgaier for the win at Dover Motor Speedway, and Ross Chastain won a rain-shortened Charlotte Motor Speedway race. Capping off the action so far was Allgaier who just won his series-leading fourth race of the season at Nashville Superspeedway.
My Power Rankings are based on performance in the last four races from the now 27 full-time NOAPS drivers, with equipment and speed before DNFs being considered. Additionally, I’ve included an outlook to the next three races at Pocono Raceway and the road courses at Naval Base Coronado and Sonoma Raceway. Now, let’s get to ranking.
Rank 27. Ryan Ellis (+1)
Ellis maintains his last place ranking, with a difficult stretch of four races. He still has not cracked the top-20 since the opening event at Daytona International Speedway, and the consecutive road courses do not look to be the weeks where he will obtain them. Ellis does have a top-20 at Pocono (an 18th-place with Alpha Prime Racing in 2023) and desperately needs one if the Californian wants to turn this season around.
Rank 26. Josh Bilicki (=)
Bilicki did not prove my road course doubts wrong, maintaining the statistic of only one top-20 finish in the last eight road course races. He also only has one top-20 on non-drafting ovals this season, and a best finish of only 22nd-place since my last Power Rankings. Bilicki has been consistently slow at every track type.
Rank 25. Lavar Scott (-1)
Scott has had a rough stretch, with two DNFs and only one finish better than 25th, a 17th-place at Charlotte. Scott has not seen any of the upcoming three tracks before, and failed to impress on the prior two road courses. The New Jersey born rookie is still very green, and is yet to show he can string even top-25s together.
Rank 24. Kyle Sieg (+3)
The younger Sieg has been better these last four races, with two top-20 results and only one result worse than 25th-place. Unfortunately for Sieg, that one result came at a road course, and we will visit two of them in the next three races. However, Pocono Raceway has been a historically solid track for the Georgia native.
Rank 23. Jeb Burton (-5)
Three drivers have not finished in the top-20 in the last four races. Those are the previously mentioned Ellis and Bilicki and Jeb Burton. Jordan Anderson Racing is a top-20 team, Burton is a Chase caliber driver, but this combination has not shown it recently. Like Bilicki, his best finish in the past four races is only 22nd-place. Burton is decent at Pocono and at road courses, but has zero momentum right now.
Rank 22. Patrick Staropoli (+1)
Like his fellow rookie Lavar Scott, Staropoli is very green. He has put together a respectable four-race stretch, with three finishes between 18th and 25th place. The other race was a last place at Watkins Glen, but showed at the Circuit of the Americas he can earn a solid result at a road course. He has never been to any of the next three tracks before, but has shown decent speed and execution this season despite stepping into uncharted territory.
Rank 21. Blaine Perkins (-1)
Both of Jordan Anderson Racing’s drivers have had a difficult four race stint, with Perkins only having a best finish of 20th-place at Dover. Two DNFs at Watkins Glen and Dover Motor Speedway were followed up by two top-25s at Charlotte and Nashville. Perkins has shown this season that, when finishing under power, he should complete these events between 20th and 25th. A top-25 would be his first in five Pocono starts, but he has shown he can earn a strong finish at a road course.
Rank 20. Harrison Burton (+2)
Burton’s tough season has continued these past four races. He had a solid 17th-place showing at Watkins Glen and finished one position better at Dover, but has failed to crack the top-25 the past two races. Pocono has been a historically poor track for the North Carolina driver, and road courses are a mixed bag.
Rank 19. Jeremy Clements (=)
Clements is set to become the all time NOAPS starts leader at the Naval Base Coronado. He has been inconsistent these past two races, with two finishes above 20th and two below 29th. Clements finished outside the top-30 on both road courses, and his results at Pocono are as inconsistent as his past four races.
Rank 18. Brennan Poole (-2)
A season with only three finishes below 20th-place is great for a driver and team like Brennan Poole at Alpha Prime Racing. Unfortunately for them, two of them have been in consecutive races. Poole earned a top-10 at COTA, and has proven to have top-20 speed on any track, so this two race stretch outside the top-20 should be a fluke for the 35-year old.
Rank 17. Dean Thompson (=)
Thompson has finished three consecutive races inside the top-20 and is coming off back-to-back 14th-place results. He earned a 17th-place at Pocono last season, but his twin sub-25th place finishes on road courses leave him lower on the list than his results say he should be.
Rank 16. Anthony Alfredo (+5)
Alfredo has had a great four race stretch, highlighted by a 10th-place finish at Dover. His worst finish the past four races is 24th-place, but that finish came at Watkins Glen. Pocono is arguably Alfredo’s best non-drafting track, with no finish worse than 16th driving midfield at best cars. On the flip side of the coin, Alfredo is not the best road racer, being shut out of the top-20 on this track type since the 2024 Charlotte Roval race.
Rank 15. Ryan Sieg (-1)
Sieg has finishes of 8th, 7th, and 13th the last three races, but those strong results followed up a 23rd at Watkins Glen. 16th and 23rd is by no means the worst pair of road course results, but better ones will likely be needed if Sieg looks to end a three-year post-season drought; some of NOAPS’ best road course racers are on the Chase bubble. Sieg finished top-5 at Pocono Raceway last season, a result like that could hopefully minimize the hole the two road courses likely will leave the 38-year old in.
Rank 14. Rajah Caruth (+1)
The balancing act continues for Caruth, and has finished top-20 in every race since my last Power Rankings. A 10th-place at Charlotte was the highlight, with a hiccup of contact from the lead with Jesse Love. Caruth will stay in Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 32 for Pocono, then move back to the JR Motorsports No. 88 for the two road courses. Caruth earned an impressive 19th-place at Nashville for JAR and an impressive 12th-place at Watkins Glen.
Rank 13. Taylor Gray (-2)
In my previous power rankings, I have described stretches of races as topsy-turvy. Nobody has had a more topsy-turvy stretch than Taylor Gray’s four race run. A 3rd-place at Watkins Glen and a 9th-place at Nashville sandwiched sub-30th place finishes. The next three races should be great for the 21-year old, he has finishes of 5th and 9th at Pocono and is one of the best road course racers in the series. However, he has proven all season that he can not be trusted to execute races consistently.
Rank 12. Parker Retzlaff (-2)
The outlook for Retzlaff looks slightly worse than for Gray. His 8th-place at Watkins Glen was his first ever top-10 on a road course, and he has never finished better than 22nd in three NOAPS starts at Pocono. Despite this, I rank him above Gray because he has been much more consistent. Like Gray, he did earn a sub-30th place finish at Dover, but his other two finishes have both been 12th. Retzlaff currently is 29 points above the Chase cutline, and if he can avoid catastrophic days like Dover and perform like Watkins Glen on the two road courses, a Cinderella chase birth for Viking Motorsports is very possible.
Rank 11. Sam Mayer (+1)
Mayer has improved results-wise these last four races, with two top-5s and only one finish below 15th. Pocono is a very strong track for Mayer, with his only finish outside the top 10 coming in his NOAPS debut all the way back in 2021, and he has won four road course races. Mayer needs three strong races to cement his spot as a Chase driver, and these three should provide that, so long as he and the team execute.
Rank 10. Sheldon Creed (-8)
The Haas teammates rank consecutively in this installment. Creed has had a terrible four race stretch, with a best finish of only 15th at Nashville. Creed is generally good at Pocono but failed to finish in 2025, and has not shown his typical road course speed with finishes of 11th and 29th place. He is still over 100 points ahead of Mayer, so he ranks above his teammate for now, but Creed desperately needs to right the ship and return to the version of him that scored nine consecutive top-10 finishes.
Rank 9. Sammy Smith (-2)
Dropping Sammy Smith two spots doesn’t feel right, but with the drivers ahead, this makes the most sense. Smith has two top-10s and a worst finish of only 16th, and is a solid road course racer with a good track record at Pocono. He has continued a very consistent season, but has not shown winning pace. Any given week, Smith can be relied on to finish between 8th and 15th with occasional higher or lower finishes.
Rank 8. Brent Crews (-5)
I referred to Gray as “one of the best road course racers in the series”, but Crews is arguably the best. Crews had issues early at Dover and Charlotte, but was able to come back to 22nd at the former, scored a 6th-place at Watkins Glen and had a chance to win Nashville and settled for a runner up. Two bad results drop Crews to 8th in these Power Rankings, but he could easily win any of the next three races and move back up to the top come next installment. Crews has continued to impress for his age and is steadily improving behind the wheel week after week.
Rank 7. William Sawalich (+6)
Sawalich has had a career best three-race stretch as he will go into Pocono with finishes of 4th, 4th, and 3rd. This, of course, masks a disappointing 36th-place DNF at Watkins Glen. Sawalich needed to step it up after a difficult 2025 and inconsistent start to 2026, and he truly has. Sawalich could realistically win either road course race, and has been strong on unconventional ovals such as Rockingham and Dover.
Rank 6. Carson Kvapil (+3)
While not a career best like Sawalich, Kvapil has had a strong three race run, with three straight top-10 finishes including a 9th-place at Charlotte in the DGM Racing No. 91. Kvapil is expected to race for JRM at Pocono and Naval Base Coronado then move back to DGM at Sonoma. Kvapil should continue the trend of strong runs, as he finished 6th at Pocono last season and JR Motorsports always brings fast cars to road courses.
Rank 5. Brandon Jones (+1)
Brandon Jones has continued his quietly strong season, with three finishes above 6th in the last four races, only marked down by a 35th-place finish at Charlotte. Pocono is a good track for Jones, he famously beat the late Kyle Busch for a Craftsman Truck Series win there in 2020, and his Watkins Glen result of 5th is accompanied by a solid 15th-place at COTA.
Rank 4. Austin Hill (+4)
Austin Hill has turned it on these past four races, with finishes of 11th, 5th, 3rd, and 11th. The consistent Hill has seemingly returned, and right on time too. Hill won Pocono in 2023 and is always a contender on road courses, highlighted by a runner up at COTA to Shane van Gisbergen.
Rank 3. Corey Day (+1)
Day is continuing to prove Hendrick Motorsports’ decision to revitalize their NOAPS program right. This stretch was highlighted by his second career win at Dover, and has finished 5th and 6th the past two races. Day has never seen Pocono, but that hasn’t seemed to matter for the Californian driver, shown when he finished 5th-place in his first time at COTA.
Rank 2. Jesse Love (+3)
There is a reality where we are discussing Jesse Love’s fourth consecutive win. Love was a turn away from winning Watkins Glen, contact from Caruth away from contention at Dover, was a close second to Chastain before the final caution at Charlotte, and had a fast car at Nashville. Love has arguably been the fastest driver these past four races, finished runner up at Pocono last season, and is a consistently solid road course racer.
Rank 1. Justin Allgaier (=)
There was, once again, only one driver who could be ranked first. Allgaier secured the hat trick at Nashville, a runner up at Dover, a 10th-place at Watkins Glen, and still led the most laps in his only bad race at Charlotte. Allgaier leads the standings by nearly 200 points, and is having such a good season he is considering postponing his retirement.
