Taylor Gray of Joe Gibbs Racing scored his first win of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season at Kansas Speedway Saturday, beating a hard-charging Sheldon Creed. The race was Gray’s second career win, his first coming back at Martinsville Speedway last fall.
“How about Jason Ratcliffe? That pit call was awesome,” Gray said in victory lane. “It’s nice to finally be able to close one out.”
There was no practice or qualifying before Saturday’s race due to weather in the area. From the drop of the green flag the day was eventful.
The red flag is out after this incident in the opening moments at @kansasspeedway.@Carson_Kvapil exited the vehicle under his own power. pic.twitter.com/Zz0gcuLkFW
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) April 18, 2026
The first stage of the race almost immediately descended into chaos. The No. 1 Chevrolet of Carson Kvapil for JR Motorsports received contact from teammate William Byron’s No. 88 on the backstretch, sending Kvapil around into Parker Retzlaff. He then went up and over, tumbling wildly before landing on his roof. Thankfully Kvapil was able to climb from his car after being rolled back over and was checked and released from the infield care center.
“I actually didn’t think it was gonna flip over,” Kvapil said. “But once it started doing that, it didn’t really seem too bad.”
After racing resumed, numerous drivers began making moves early. One of those was three-time Kansas winner Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing. Jones swept the first two stages, leading 61 of the first 90 laps.
Stage 3 saw a change of the guard following a great restart from Creed, propelling him to the lead with Jones and Gray following suit.
The race-winning move came during green flag pit stops. Gray came through three laps earlier than the leaders and cycled through in the lead afterward. Jones’ dominant day was marred by his stop after an uncontrolled tire incurred a pass-through penalty.
Creed worked on cutting into Gray’s lead throughout the final 40 laps, but was unable to reach the No. 54 for his second victory of the year. Creed’s silver lining was him winning the ‘Dash 4 Cash’ prize of $100,000.
Race Results
| Position | No. | Driver | Margin |
| 1 | 54 | Taylor Gray | — |
| 2 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | 0.718 |
| 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | 1.854 |
| 4 | 2 | Jesse Love | 10.107 |
| 5 | 19 | Brent Crews # | 11.163 |
| 6 | 88 | William Byron(i) | 18.166 |
| 7 | 0 | Cole Custer(i) | 20.708 |
| 8 | 20 | Brandon Jones | 22.185 |
| 9 | 41 | Sam Mayer | 25.744 |
| 10 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | 31.782 |
| 11 | 26 | Dean Thompson | 1 lap |
| 12 | 17 | Corey Day | 1 lap |
| 13 | 27 | Jeb Burton | 1 lap |
| 14 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli # | 1 lap |
| 15 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | 1 lap |
| 16 | 8 | Sammy Smith | 1 lap |
| 17 | 92 | Josh Williams | 1 lap |
| 18 | 45 | Lavar Scott # | 2 laps |
| 19 | 44 | Brennan Poole | 2 laps |
| 20 | 18 | William Sawalich | 2 laps |
| 21 | 32 | Rajah Caruth | 2 laps |
| 22 | 2 | Ryan Ellis | 2 laps |
| 23 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | 2 laps |
| 24 | 42 | Nathan Byrd | 3 laps |
| 25 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | 3 laps |
| 26 | 7 | Josh Bilicki | 4 laps |
| 27 | 55 | Joey Gase | 6 laps |
| 28 | 24 | Harrison Burton | 10 laps |
| 29 | 74 | Dawson Cram | OUT |
| 30 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | OUT |
| 31 | 35 | Blake Lothian | OUT |
| 32 | 87 | Austin Green | OUT |
| 33 | 91 | Mason Maggio | OUT |
| 34 | 21 | Austin Hill | OUT |
| 35 | 5 | Luke Baldwin(i) | OUT |
| 36 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | OUT |
| 37 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | OUT |
