Justin Allgaier win O’Reilly Series race at Phoenix

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier pushed forward when it mattered most, his No. 7 Chevrolet leading only the last 11 laps of Saturday night’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway to claim his third win at the 1-mile Arizona oval and take over the championship lead in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Allgaier had to pass the night’s most dominant driver, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, to earn the trophy. Love came into the race with the best average finish in the last four Phoenix races and again proved how good he is in the desert, leading a race-best 114 of the 200 laps.

There were no caution periods during the first two stages of the race. Allgaier's teammate Sammy Smith won the first stage, while Love claimed victory in the second stage.

However, two late-race yellow flags brought the field together on restarts, enabling Allgaier’s team to recover from an earlier slow pit stop. The two former champions raced side-by-side after the final restart with 15 laps remaining. In the end, the 2024 series champion Allgaier outmaneuvered the 2025 champion Love with a daring move on the outside, holding him off by .449 seconds at the finish line to secure JR Motorsports’ 107th victory.

“So proud of this team,” Allgaier said, commending the team for overcoming an early pit stop issue. “It wasn’t for lack of adversity, and it seems like those are the ones that are big for us. I cannot say enough about this team.

“It never gets old winning,” added Allgaier, who has now won at least one race for a record 10 consecutive seasons. “This team rallied and never gave up.”

Despite the encouraging night, which included a stage win and a fourth consecutive top-10 finish for the season, the 21-year-old Love was understandably frustrated to finish second after such a dominant performance.

“The car tightening up at the beginning of stage three set us back, so just frustrated,” Love said, expressing his refusal to be content with a runner-up finish after such a strong effort.

“Obviously not why I’m here [to finish second]. Just beyond frustrated with myself. I don’t know what else to say, just upset, upset with myself.”