DARLINGTON, S.C. — Justin Allgaier’s formula for winning Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway was simple enough: take advantage of excellent pit stops and muscle his way into the lead on the final two restarts.

The result was Allgaier’s fourth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at the 1.366-mile track, his second of the season and the 30th of his career, tying him with Joey Logano for seventh on the series’ career win list.

After a slow pit stop under the third and final caution on Lap 127 buried the dominant car of Kyle Larson in fifth place, Allgaier seized the lead from Brandon Jones on the last restart with 15 laps left and beat Jones to finish line by 0.578 seconds.

Allgaier is the first repeat winner of the 2026 season – he also won at Phoenix on March 7 — and his victory is the fourth straight for JR Motorsports Chevrolets.

“These guys have never quit all year — they won the race,” Allgaier said of his pit crew. “They’ve never given up. They were on top of it all day on pit road.

“We definitely weren’t the best all day. Kyle (Larson), obviously, was amazing. He had us covered. … I didn’t do a very good job with it all day, if I’m being honest with you. Probably one of the worst days personally I’ve had here at Darlington.

“At the end there, I was worried about Brandon (Jones) — he had a fast car — and I was worried that the 19 (third-place finisher Christopher Bell) and the 88 (Larson) were going to get through the traffic there.”

But it was the 39-year-old Allgaier who took the checkered flag, and the driver of the No. 7 JRM Camaro savored the victory.

“Nobody will ever know, the later you get into your career, how much these victories mean,” Allgaier said. “And to come at Darlington, a place I’ve loved for so long, is really special.”

Larson was able to catch and pass Allgaier after a restart on Lap 99, after losing a spot to Jones on pit road and watching Allgaier flash past into the lead on the restart lap.

But the final restart, which followed a five-car wreck involving Dean Thompson, Austin Hill, Kyle Sieg, Alex Labbe and Lavar Scott, was another matter. Larson could gain only one position and finished fourth ahead of Carson Kvapil.

“It became tougher to pass,” explained Larson, who led the first 94 laps from the pole and won the first two stages. “At the end, the pace picked up, and you’re stuck.

“Unfortunate, but that’s the way racing is sometimes. That sucks, but I had a lot of fun today.”

First off pit road under each of the final two cautions, Jones chose the bottom lane for the final restart, but Allgaier powered into the lead from the top lane.

“The 7 (Allgaier) just kept getting just barely better launches than I could on that second lane, and he had just a little more juice in the tank on the short run today,” Jones said. “We were matching, if not slightly better on the long run, but just ran out of laps there at the end.”

Corey Day finished sixth, posting his fifth-straight top 10 in his rookie season. Sheldon Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer completed the top 10.

Allgaier heads for next Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway (3:30 p.m. on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a 52-point lead over second-place Jesse Love in the series standings. After spinning on pit road during the first stage break, Love recovered to finish 11th, his first result outside the top 10 this season.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200

Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C.

Saturday, March 21, 2026

1. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 147.

2. (8) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 147.

3. (2) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 147.

4. (1) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 147.

5. (3) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 147.

6. (12) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 147.

7. (13) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 147.

8. (5) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 147.

9. (18) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 147.

10. (6) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 147.

11. (10) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 147.

12. (21) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 147.

13. (22) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 147.

14. (9) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 147.

15. (15) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 147.

16. (27) Nick Sanchez, Ford, 147.

17. (7) William Sawalich, Toyota, 147.

18. (23) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 147.

19. (30) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 147.

20. (32) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 147.

21. (33) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 147.

22. (14) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 147.

23. (19) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 147.

24. (17) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 147.

25. (20) JJ Yeley, Ford, 147.

26. (25) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 147.

27. (24) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 147.

28. (31) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 146.

29. (28) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 146.

30. (26) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 146.

31. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 145.

32. (36) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 145.

33. (35) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 145.

34. (38) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 145.

35. (11) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 142.

36. (29) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, Accident, 123.

37. (16) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, DVP, 121.

38. (34) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, Accident, 120.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 112.442 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 47 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory: .578 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 25 laps.

Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Larson(i) 1-94;B. Jones 95-98;J. Allgaier 99-114;K. Larson(i) 115-127;J. Williams 128;B. Jones 129-132;J. Allgaier 133-147.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson(i) 2 times for 107 laps; Justin Allgaier 2 times for 31 laps; Brandon Jones 2 times for 8 laps; Josh Williams 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,19,1,20,7,99,2,18,96,9

Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,1,20,7,99,9,96,17,19,18

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

SAN DIEGO — Only three active head coaches in Division I college basketball have won multiple national championships. Two of them meet for a berth in the Sweet 16 when Bill Self’s No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks face Rick Pitino’s No. 5 St. John’s Red Storm on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament East Region.

Self, winner of the 2008 and 2022 national championships at Kansas, praised Pitino’s continued success over multiple eras. Pitino is 30 years removed from winning his first title with Kentucky in 1996 and won another at Louisville in 2013, although the latter has been officially vacated by the NCAA.

“To me, the coaches (who) are so impressive are (those who) coached without a 3-point line, then became efficient with the 3-point line. Coached without a shot clock, then became one of the best with the shot clock – always evolving with the game,” Self said. “And (Pitino) has done that as well as anybody maybe ever.”

Pitino began his full-time head-coaching career in 1978 at Boston University, seven years before the introduction of the shot clock and eight before the 3-point line was introduced across college basketball.

His longevity puts Pitino in the unique position to guide his fourth different program, along with Providence, Kentucky and Louisville, to the Sweet 16. It would be the first such appearance since 1999 for St. John’s (29-6).

The Red Storm advanced to the second round with a 79-53 rout of No. 12 Northern Iowa on Friday, St. John’s seventh straight win overall and fourth in a row by 10-plus points.

The veteran trio of Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins and Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor have paced St. John’s, combining to average 40.5 of St. John’s 81.6 points per game. Ejiofor, the Big East Conference Player of the Year, posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double in Friday’s win.

Kansas (24-10), meanwhile, weathered a furious second-half comeback on Friday to advance past No. 13 Cal Baptist behind standout freshman Darryn Peterson’s 28 points.

The Jayhawks led by as many as 26 points before Cal Baptist cut the deficit to six points with 1:20 left in the 68-60 Kansas win.

Pitino offered effusive praise of Peterson, a potential No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA draft. The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 20.1 points per game despite battling a variety of injury issues throughout the season.

“He’s got great size,” Pitino said of Peterson. “He’s got a beautiful-looking jump shot. …He’s going to be a great NBA player because he has an NBA game.”

Peterson’s presence on the Kansas roster reflects one of the many positives Pitino touted when analyzing his counterpart in Self. Pitino called the Kansas coach a “great evaluator of talent” on top of being a multidimensional tactician.

“He’s a great offensive coach and he’s a great defensive coach,” Pitino said. “He’s such a well-rounded guy. His teams do everything well.”

The Jayhawks come into the second round with a balanced resume but with especially impressive defensive credentials. They have held opponents to 44.5% shooting on 2-point field-goal attempts and only 30.5% from beyond the arc, both top 25 nationally.

Big men Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller both rank in the top 150 nationally in block percentage, per KenPom.com.

They will clash with a stout St. John’s frontcourt led by Ejiofor, whose 16.3 points per game come on 55% shooting from the floor.

–Kyle Kensing, Field Level Media

SAN DIEGO — West Region No. 1 seed Arizona can advance to its third consecutive Sweet 16, but must first get past a ninth-seeded Utah State team on a “revenge tour” heading into Sunday’s second-round matchup.

Using what it viewed as a slight about its seeding for motivation, Utah State (29-6) made an initial statement with its 86-76 win over No. 8 seed Villanova on Friday.

The Aggies rallied from down 10 early in the first half, led by the backcourt tandem of MJ Collins Jr. and Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. The two scored 20 and 22 points, respectively, with each delivering critical baskets down the stretch.

“When you’ve got big-time players and they’re really connected and playing for something bigger than themselves, something special can happen,” Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “When MJ has it going, I’ve said this all along: I think he’s one of the best players in the county. (Collins) and Mason Falslev are one of the best one-two punches in college basketball.”

Collins averaged a team-high 17.7 points per game this season, followed by Falslev’s 16.2. Along with combo-guard Drake Allen, who leads the Aggies at 4.7 assists per game, Utah State features a dynamic, rangy perimeter foundation.

Along with setting the tone offensively, the trio have helped Utah State produce turnovers on 20.6% of opponent possessions — ranking in the Top 20 in the nation per KenPom.com metrics.

“In the Big 12 (Conference), we saw a lot of different defenses, different (schemes),” Arizona guard Jaden Bradley said. “But I’m pretty sure (Utah State)’s going to be tough after looking at their game plan.”

Bradley led the Wildcats (33-2) into the second round after a 92-58 rout of No. 16 seed Long Island on Friday for Arizona’s 10th consecutive win. The Wildcats controlled throughout, though they endured a sloppy stretch in the second half.

Arizona offset any ball-control issues against the Sharks with a 52-31 advantage on the glass, paced by freshman Ivan Karchenkov’s career-high-tying 10 rebounds. The Wildcats have successfully leveraged their collective length to boast a plus-11.1-per game average in rebounding margin, the fourth-best in Division I.

Utah State big man Zach Keller cited Arizona’s rebounding proficiency as the facet of the Wildcats’ game that immediately stands out.

Five Wildcats average more than four rebounds per game, led by senior forward Tobe Awaka’s 9.5. Motiejus Krivas, a 7-foot-2 junior center, averages eight rebounds and Karchenkov averages 4.2.

Also among the quintet are the freshman duo of Brayden Burries (4.7 rpg) and Koa Peat (5.4), Arizona’s top scorers.

Burries knocked down four 3-pointers in the first round, part of a six 3-pointer barrage in the first half for a Wildcats team that averages fewer than six treys a contest. Arizona has instead leaned on its interior scoring, with 57.3% of its scoring coming from inside the arc, the 10th-highest rate in the nation per KenPom.com.

Conversely, Utah State has limited opponents to 44.8% of their offense on two-point field-goal attempts.

–Kyle Kensing, Field Level Media