Gateway O'Reilly Recap: Love Ends His Wait, Creed Takes the Chase Lead

Jesse Love had spent the season carrying the title of defending champion without adding another victory. With 16 laps remaining Saturday night at Gateway, he made the opening that finally ended his wait. Love worked underneath Carson Kvapil in Turns 3 and 4, used a small amount of contact to complete the pass and led the rest of the Nu Way 225 at World Wide Technology Raceway. His No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet beat Sheldon Creed by 0.896 seconds, ending a drought that stretched back to the championship finale at Phoenix last November.

For much of the evening, Kvapil had the strongest argument for Victory Lane. He started on pole, led the opening 78 laps and won Stage 1. His final tally of 105 laps led was a career high, but the transition from daylight to darkness left the JR Motorsports driver with a different handling problem. Kvapil told NASCAR.com his car became too tight, making it harder to turn as a run developed. His team adjusted the balance, but traffic complicated the diagnosis.

Kvapil still launched well on the final restart with 24 laps remaining. Love and Creed stayed close, and Love made the winning pass nine laps into the run. Kvapil understood the move, telling NASCAR.com, “it's for the win. I get it, right?” He also expected the same tolerance if their roles were reversed. Kvapil slipped to fifth behind Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray. Love, who won Stage 2 and led 70 laps overall, secured the last 16. The two front-row starters combined to lead 175 of 180 laps.

“I'm just so proud of my team,” Love told The CW afterward. The September 12 victory was his fourth in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and first of 2026. It brought him within 16 points of the championship lead after the second Chase race. Creed left with that lead, turning a runner-up finish into a three-point advantage over Justin Allgaier.

The First Stage Break Blocked Pit Road

Cars stacked up near the entrance to the pit stalls, spinning Rajah Caruth and sending Nicholas Sanchez toward Brent Crews' crew as it serviced the No. 19 Toyota. Ten cars were involved, and the race stopped under a red flag for 7 minutes, 54 seconds. NASCAR reported that two crew members were contacted and that Joe Gibbs Racing said everyone was unharmed.

Sanchez and Harrison Burton were out, while Caruth and Brandon Jones continued with damage. Caruth eventually finished 11th and Jones 15th. Crews recovered to seventh. On a night when the leaders controlled nearly every lap, those repairs and recoveries gave the affected teams something to take home from an incident that could have ended their races.

Day and Sawalich's Collision Reached Beyond Their Own Cars

Their clash a week earlier at Darlington carried into another race. After the Lap 133 restart, Day and Sawalich made contact before Sawalich turned into Day down the backstretch. Day spun into the inside wall, ending a race in which he had finished second and seventh in the stages. He was classified 33rd; Sawalich continued to 16th.

Allgaier sustained right-front damage in the incident and finished 13th. He had already recovered from a loose wheel that required an extra stop after Stage 1, working his way back to sixth by the end of Stage 2. His final result cost him the championship lead, while Creed's second place completed a win-and-runner-up opening to The Chase. Day dropped to eighth in the standings, 69 points behind Creed.

Hill's Recovery Ended With Another Stop

An early loose wheel sent Austin Hill to pit road, but he recovered and reached the top five late. A flat tire forced him back in with four laps remaining, leaving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29th, one lap down. Hill's two interruptions underline how quickly a strong recovery can disappear when a late stop comes under green.

Gray's night went the other direction. An early spin while racing Caruth left him with work to do, but he brought the No. 54 Toyota home fourth. Mayer advanced from 18th to third, putting both Haas Factory Team cars in the top three behind Love.

Love and Kvapil supplied the two highest base scores, at 69 and 66.5 points respectively, with both priced at $14. Kvapil's 105 laps led and first- and third-place stage finishes kept his score well above the drivers who passed him late. Love in Group A and Kvapil in Group B produced 254.38 points.

Creed made the next selection straightforward. His 53 points at $12 beat Mayer's 51 at $13 in both production and price. Kyle Sieg's ninth-place finish supplied 33 points for $6, and Myatt Snider's 25th-place finish added 16 at $4. That pair allowed Love, Kvapil and Creed to fill the three largest multiplier slots. Parker Retzlaff returned 40 points at $10 and Jeb Burton scored 32 at $8, but neither fit the best combination as efficiently.

The incidents explain several disappointing totals. Day collected points in both stages but finished with 21 at a $12 salary. Hill returned 19.4 at $11. Allgaier scored 41 at $14, leaving him well behind Love and Kvapil at the same price. These comparisons use the recorded results and salaries; no race-specific model projections were published for Gateway.

Highest-Scoring FantasyJolt Lineup

Using the recorded race scores and salaries, the best five-driver combination under the $50 cap was:

Salary: $50 of $50. Total: 391.13 points. Scores are shown rounded to two decimal places. This is a retrospective calculation from the recorded results.

Creed's win at Darlington and second place at Gateway put him at the front of a tight championship race. Allgaier trails by three points, Kvapil by nine and Love by 16. Love gained two positions to fourth, making Saturday valuable well beyond the trophy.

The series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300 on Friday, September 18, with coverage scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW. Love has finally converted his speed into a win. Kvapil leaves with evidence that he can control a race, and a clear handling problem to address before the next opportunity.

Post-race inspection confirmed Love's victory. Hill's No. 21 team will lose pit selection at Bristol because of an at-track inspection penalty, adding another complication to its recovery from Gateway.

• Distance: 180 laps, 225 miles.
• Cautions: Seven for 37 laps, leaving 143 green-flag laps.
• Lead changes: Eight among four drivers.
• Race time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, 13 seconds.
• Average speed: 92.965 mph.
• Margin of victory: 0.896 seconds.