Ross Chastain out at Daytona after back-to-back historic performances

For simply the sixth time in NASCAR nationwide sequence historical past and the first time within the historical past of the O’Reilly Auto Elements Sequence, a staff swept the highest 4 positions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July, with Carson Kvapil successful the race for JR Motorsports forward of Justin Allgaier in second, Ross Chastain in third, and Chase Elliott in fourth.

Chastain, a full-time Cup Sequence driver for Trackhouse Racing, is the one full-time Cup driver to take full benefit of NASCAR’s loosened restrictions on drivers with not less than three years of expertise competing in O’Reilly Sequence and Craftsman Truck Sequence races, operating 10 within the former and eight within the latter this yr.

After being part of the historic day at Indy, he returned to the seat of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway and completed fourth.

Whereas it was not the primary time in NASCAR historical past {that a} staff instantly adopted up a high 4 sweep with one other win and even one other 1-2 end, it marked the primary time {that a} staff that had simply swept the highest 4 took three of the highest 4 spots within the subsequent race as nicely, as Kvapil earned his second win in a row forward of Rajah Caruth in second place. Caruth was within the No. 88 Chevrolet that Elliott, one other full-time Cup driver, drove at Indy.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Williams Sawalich broke up the JRM celebration in third place, though they would not have swept the highest 4 anyway since Allgaier was solely twenty fourth. The opposite JRM driver, Sammy Smith, was seventeenth, after ending nineteenth at Indy.

Ross Chastain performed for the 2026 O’Reilly Sequence season

As a result of this Friday evening’s O’Reilly Sequence race is the common season finale, Cup Sequence drivers are ineligible to compete. However even when they weren’t, Chastain can be the one one ineligible anyway, since his Iowa begin was his tenth of the O’Reilly Sequence season.

However even with Chastain not eligible, JR Motorsports have opted to not run the No. 9 Chevrolet for anyone else on this 160-lap race across the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Seaside, Florida oval, as an alternative putting a give attention to their 4 full-time entries.

Allgaier has already clinched the common season championship whereas Kvapil is second within the standings and trying to clinch the No. 2 seed for the upcoming nine-race postseason. Sammy Smith is eighth within the standings and may end the common season anyplace between fourth and ninth, whereas Caruth is simply 15 factors under the reduce line, after having cut up time with JRM and Jordan Anderson Racing all through the common season.

Whereas the No. 9 automobile will not be again this weekend, it’s lined as much as make 4 appearances in the course of the playoffs, all with Jake Finch, who made his first begin of the season at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) in mid-July, behind the wheel.

Finch is ready to run the postseason races at Darlington Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Talladega Superspeedway. JR Motorsports don’t have any present plans to run the automobile within the different 5 “Chase” occasions.