The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series had a summer break of sorts. From the end of July to the end of August, the series only took the green flag once. August 28 saw the regular season finale at Daytona International Raceway. This was followed by the opening three races of the Chase at Darlington Raceway, Worldwide Technology Raceway, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
The series will have their final off weekend while the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Raceway. NOAPS will then return at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and race every week until the end of the season. This off week is a perfect time to rank the full 2026 field one final time.
My Power Rankings are based on performance in the last four races from the 27 full-time drivers, with equipment and speed before DNFs being considered. Additionally, I’ve included an outlook to the rest of the Chase.
Rank 27. Lavar Scott (-2)
Lavar Scott has had a difficult four race stretch. He saw a top-20 at Daytona, but has failed to finish inside the top-30 since. He was not great at any of the tracks the series returns to, but returning to tracks for the first time could help the New Jersey born rookie end the 2026 season on a higher note.
Rank 26. Josh Bilicki (=)
Only one driver has four consecutive finishes below 20th, and that is Josh Bilicki. Like Scott, it has been a rough season for the 31-year-old. Talladega Superspeedway is the lone bright spot for Bilicki, as the 28th-place he earned at Daytona is his only superspeedway finish worse than 17th.
Rank 25. Ryan Ellis (+2)
Ryan Ellis moves up to 25th-place, but this is more due to miserable stretches for Bilicki and Scott. Ellis earned his second top-20 of the season at Daytona, but continued to be shut out of the top-20 outside of the Floridian racetrack. This, combined with the news that he will not return to Young’s Motorsports, spells a difficult final stretch to the season for the 36-year-old.
Rank 24. Patrick Staropoli (-2)
Like Ellis and Scott, Patrick Staropoli has one top-20 in the past four races, but his came at Gateway. Also like Scott, the fellow rookie will begin returning to tracks he’s raced before. Martinsville Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway both saw top-20s in the spring, with Las Vegas seeing a 21st-place. Additionally, as seen at Martinsville and Kansas, the 36-year-old has improved his second time at a track.
Rank 23. Blaine Perkins (-2)
A 34th-place at Bristol broke a four race stretch with finishes between 15th and 22nd for Blaine Perkins. Perkins has been slightly better than Staropoli recently, but has a slightly worse outlook looking forward. Martinsville and Talladega are two of his best tracks, but intermediate ovals are the 26-year-old’s weakness.
Rank 22. Jeb Burton (+1)
Jeb Burton has two top-10s in the past four races, but the other two races saw him finish 25th and 33rd. Rankings wise, 19th through 22nd place are very close. The tracks in the Chase have strong potential for Burton: He is a two-time winner at Talladega, is always strong in the fall Martinsville race, and finished top-10 at Phoenix in the fall. The reason he ranks 22nd is that the 34-year-old series veteran has not lived up to his potential this season. In 2025, Burton entered the final regular season race in postseason contention. In 2026, he was eliminated well before Daytona.
Rank 21. Jeremy Clements (-2)
Like Burton, Jeremy Clements has not lived up to his full potential. The newly-Haas aligned Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet Camaro has shown incredible speed, such as with a stage win at Indianapolis and several top-10 runs. The 41-year-old’s struggle is turning those top-10 runs into top-10 finishes; he only has four on the campaign.
Rank 20. Kyle Sieg (+4)
A career three race stretch vaults Kyle Sieg up four spots. For the first time in his career, Sieg finished three consecutive races inside the top-20 and finished top-10 on a non-drafting oval at Gateway. His run at St. Louis also earned the 25-year-old his first multi-top-10 season. Las Vegas and Charlotte, the next two tracks the series visits, saw two of Sieg’s strongest results of the season.
Rank 19. Harrison Burton (+1)
The Burton cousins are on opposite ends of this four driver group. A DNF at Gateway was Harrison Burton’s only finish outside the top-20 in the past four races. After a disappointing majority of the season, Burton and the Sam Hunt Racing No. 24 team have figured it out entering the final stretch of the season.
Rank 18. Brennan Poole (=)
All season, Brennan Poole has been a top-20 machine. Only five drivers have finished top-20 in the past four races, and Poole is one of them. If the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Ford Mustang does not have issues, the veteran driver will almost ensure it a top-20 finish. Phoenix was a struggle in the spring with a 27th-place, but Talladega Superspeedway could provide an opportunity for the 35-year-old to secure his first victory at last. In a season where Sheldon Creed and Ryan Sieg both broke long winless streaks, Poole could very well be next.
Rank 17. Anthony Alfredo (-1)
Alfredo has shown speed in the past four races, which showed in a top-5 at Daytona and a stage win at Darlington, but the results have not been there. The past two races saw results outside the top-20 and mid-race contact with Natalie Decker at Bristol. The final stretch lines-up solid for Alfredo, and like Poole, he will be in contention to break a long winless streak at Talladega.
Rank 16. Dean Thompson (+1)
Sam Hunt Racing as a whole has figured it out. Dean Thompson has brought home 11th, 12th, and 9th place finished in the last three races. Some fans had questions when the 25-year-old’s move to Haas Factory Team was announced. These past three races, Thompson has proven himself worthy of a top-tier O’Reilly opportunity. These strong results, combined with the fact his best tracks of Charlotte and Talladega are still ahead, leave an optimistic outlook for Thompson.
Rank 15. Ryan Sieg (=)
A victory at Daytona masked the disappointment of Ryan Sieg missing the Chase. Since the win, the 39-year-old is yet to return to the top-10. He showed the speed to finish there at Bristol, but failed to finish after a late race incident. Looking forward, Sieg is solid at intermediates, earned a top-10 at Martinsville in the spring, and is the latest winner at a superspeedway.
Rank 14. Rajah Caruth (=)
My Power Rankings consider three factors, and two of them are actual results and speed. If purely the former was considered, then Rajah Caruth would drop four or five spots. If purely the latter was considered, he would be top-10. The past four races have all been the same story for Caruth: various issues denying him the finishes he deserved. Caruth certainly has speed, but the 24-year-old joined the drivers ranked 23-27 as drivers to not earn a top-10 in the past four races. Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Talladega stand out as the best chances for Caruth to return to the top-10 and potentially end the season as an O’Reilly Series winner.
Rank 13. William Sawalich (-4)
Sawalich failed to make the Chase, but has shown the speed of a Chase driver in the opening races. Due to a rivalry with Chase driver Corey Day, he did not earn the finishes at Darlington or Gateway. When the 20-year-old was up front for the finish, he nearly won at Bristol. None of the tracks in the remainder of the Chase stand out as strong tracks for Sawalich, but neither stand out as weak tracks for either. If his speed continues, he could make a run for 13th in points, raise his stock, and build momentum for the 2027 season.
Rank 12. Brandon Jones (-7)
A four races stretch with no finishes below 15th-place and a top-5 typically would not drop a driver seven spots. Brandon Jones has been decent, but the drivers placed behind him in the previous installment have been better. Additionally, the rest of the Chase does not line up great for Jones. His only top-10 at a track the series will return to came at Talladega. Even Martinsville, which is historically one of the 29-year-old’s best tracks, only saw a 19th-place finish.
Rank 11. Parker Retzlaff (+1)
Only four races in the 2026 season have seen a top-15 without Parker Retzlaff. The 23-year-old finished between ninth and twelfth in all five returning Chase tracks. If Retzlaff’s quiet consistency continues, he will likely stick around at tenth in points. If he steps it up, such has in his consecutive top-10s at Gateway and Bristol, then a higher points finish is very possible.
Rank 10. Brent Crews (-2)
A 35th-place finish at Daytona cost the rookie a Chase spot, but Brent Crews has rebounded with two third place finishes in the opening Chase races. Phoenix has been a struggle in the 18-year-old’s young career, but he has been strong at intermediates and had strong results at Talladega and Martinsville in the spring. Five drivers have won their first O’Reilly races in 2026, and Crews could very well be the sixth.
Rank 9. Austin Hill (-5)
Austin Hill finished top-5 at Daytona and Darlington, but finished outside the top-20 at both Gateway and Bristol. Crews and Hill have similar trajectories for the rest of the Chase. Both are strong at intermediates and Martinsville and are not the strongest at Phoenix. Unlike Crews, Hill is likely the favorite to win at Talladega. The 32-year-old is a two time Talladega winner and an eleven time drafting track winner.
Rank 8. Taylor Gray (+5)
Like his teammate, Taylor Gray has earned three consecutive top-10s. But, outside of Martinsville, the remaining Chase races do not lineup well for Gray. A 13th-place finish in the spring Martinsville race was his best finish at the five races held at Chase tracks. However, two of those races were DNFs, one of which was a Las Vegas race where he earned 15 stage points.
Rank 7. Sammy Smith (+2)
Sammy Smith also earned three consecutive top-10s. In all three of his full-time seasons, the 22-year-old upped his performance in the postseason. Every track in the Chase lines up well for Smith, but Martinsville stands out. Smith has seven consecutive top-10s at the Paperclip and was in contention to win both races in 2025.
Rank 6. Sam Mayer (+5)
After barely making the Chase, Sam Mayer has turned it on in the opening races. Yet another set of three consecutive top-10s vaulted Mayer to fifth in points and sixth in Power Rankings. Mayer has had top-10 speed all season, but has had difficulty finishing races. Now that the 23-year-old has been able to finish races, a top-5 points finish is very possible. The only concern that remains is maturity, as he has been suspended for issues as recently as the 2025 season finale and expressed frustration post-Bristol. The driver aims to make the most out of the 2026 season with Haas Factory Team, as he announced his return to JR Motorsports next year.
Rank 5. Corey Day (-2)
The past four races have been topsy-turvy for Corey Day. 29th, second, 33rd, and fifth are his past four finishes. The 20-year-old has shown speed all season, but like Mayer, has struggled with executing and race craft. For Mayer this showed up as five DNFs, but for Day, this has showed up as disdain from his competitors. Most notably, the 33rd-place result at Gateway was due to retaliation from Sawalich. If the Hendrick driver duplicates his strong runs at several Chase tracks, then a top three points finish is possible. But if he continues making enemies, then it could be a long six races to end the season.
Rank 4. Jesse Love (-2)
With the points, four drivers are realistic championship contenders. First up, reigning champion Jesse Love. Love finally won his first race of the season at Gateway, and was in contention to go back-to-back at Bristol. If Love wants to secure back-to-back titles, he will need to avoid mistakes such as his late contact with Allgaier in that Bristol race. If they are, the 21-year-old will play a part in the championship battle. Phoenix and Talladega are two of his best tracks, and he had the car to beat at Charlotte in the spring.
Rank 3. Justin Allgaier (-2)
Allgaier has dominated the 2026 season, but has lost a bit of his dominance since the summer break. He has still been strong, with a top-5 and a top-10 in the past four races with the other two results not showing the speed he had, but the 40-year-old is no longer an easy favorite to win the championship. For the first time since February, Allgaier is not the points leader, and will have to gain points on Creed and hold off Kvapil and Love to win his second title. Luckily for him, some of his best tracks in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Martinsville are still ahead.
Rank 2. Carson Kvapil (+4)
Since his first victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kvapil has been the best driver in the O’Reilly Series. The results have not necessarily shown it, with a 12th-place at Darlington and 24th-place finish at Bristol despite being in contention for victories. Kvapil has been in contention for the win in all three Chase races, and there is little sign of him stopping. He ranks at second because he hasn’t always gotten the results, but Kvapil could easily win the championship.
Rank 1. Sheldon Creed (+9)
Sheldon Creed has gotten the results. Two victories and a runner-up in the opening Chase races ensured his placement at number one. Looking further back, the 28-year-old has six consecutive top-10 finishes. The only weakpoint left in the season for Creed is Charlotte, a track where he has earned zero top-5s and only two top-10s in five starts. If Creed has a decent run at Charlotte, then Creed could join Greg Biffle, Johnny Benson Jr., and Austin Dillon as champions of both O’Reilly and Trucks.
