Sports
Late charge nets Justin Allgaier fourth victory at Darlington
Mar 7, 2026; Avondale, Arizona, USA; JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier (7) celebrates his victory of the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images 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.
Sports
Stingy Sabres finally permit a goal, but topple Kings
Mar 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) blocks a shot against Buffalo Sabres right wing Josh Doan (91) during the first period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Tage Thompson and Zach Benson each had a goal and an assist for the visiting Buffalo Sabres in a 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon.
Sam Carrick and Rasmus Dahlin scored 59 seconds apart midway through the third period, Josh Norris had two assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for the Sabres (44-20-6, 94 points), who have won four in a row, seven straight on the road, and 12 of 13 since the Olympic break.
Buffalo has allowed one goal in the past three games.
Artemi Panarin scored and Anton Forsberg made 28 saves for the Kings (28-25-16, 72 points), who had earned points in five of the previous six games (3-1-2).
Carrick retrieved the puck along the wall after two Kings players converged on Benson. He carried it above the goal line before lifting a backhand over the right shoulder of Forsberg to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 11:12 of the third period.
The Kings challenged for a missed game stoppage on a high stick by Benson just prior to the goal, but it was determined there was no high sticking and Buffalo went on a power play for delay of game on the failed challenge.
Dahlin was then credited with a power play goal after a rebound went off Kings defenseman Cody Ceci, between Forsberg’s pads and across the goal line to make it 3-1 at 12:11.
Benson scored into an empty net to make it 4-1 with 2:25 left.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead on the first of their three power plays in the game.
Anze Kopitar had the puck in the right face-off circle when he made a backhand pass to Panarin in the left circle and he scored with a one-timer at 10:48 of the first period.
It was the fourth straight game the Kings scored a power-play goal and ended Buffalo’s shutout streak at 174:55.
It was also Panarin’s fifth goal and 14th point in 12 games since he was acquired from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4, although his first game in black and silver did not occur until Feb. 26.
The Sabres tied it 1-1 at 4:05 of the second.
Forsberg made a save on a wrist shot by Peyton Krebs, but the rebound came to Thompson alone in front of the crease. Forsberg lunged at Thompson to try and poke the puck away, but Thompson dragged the puck around Forsberg and slid it into the open net for his team-leading 36th goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers take down Sharks as road win streak hits 8
Mar 21, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) reacts to a goal scored by center Christian Dvorak (not pictured) against San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) during the third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Christian Dvorak scored a power-play goal early in the third period, helping the Philadelphia Flyers extend their season-high road winning streak to seven games with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Philadelphia’s road winning streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history (1985-86, 2017-18 seasons), one shy of the eight-game run from 1982-83.
Owen Tippett scored in the second period and defenseman Travis Sanheim and Noah Cates each found the empty net 36 seconds apart in the third.
Dan Vladar made 24 saves for the Flyers (34-23-12, 80 points), who completed a sweep of their three-game California road trip and improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games overall. Philadelphia also finished off a season sweep of San Jose after posting a 4-1 home victory on Dec. 9.
Macklin Celebrini notched an assist on defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s power-play goal, boosting the former’s career total to 99. Celebrini (19 years, 281 days) is one assist shy of becoming the second-youngest player in NHL history to reach that milestone behind only Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (19 years, 134 days on Dec. 19, 2006).
Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 24 shots for the Sharks (32-30-6, 70 points), who have lost four in a row and seven of their last nine (2-5-2).
Philadelphia fourth-liner Garnet Hathaway unloaded on Celebrini, prompting San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro to come to his teammate’s defense and earn a roughing penalty to boot. The Flyers made the Sharks pay, as Dvorak one-timed Travis Konecny’s cross-slot feed past Nedeljkovic for a 2-1 lead at 1:47 of the third period.
Tippett reeled in a diagonal pass from Trevor Zegras, maneuvered around San Jose defenseman Nick Leddy and wired a shot past Nedeljkovic to open the scoring 2:26 into the second period. The goal was Tippett’s 24th of the season and fifth in his last eight games.
Celebrini worked along the left-wing boards before advancing the puck to William Eklund, who skated in from the left circle. Eklund alertly delivered a centering feed to an unmarked Orlov, who made no mistake from the slot to forge a 1-1 tie with 6:48 remaining in the second period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire earns road win as Union stays in Eastern Conference basement
Mar 21, 2026; Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Union forward Bruno Damiani (9) is tripped up by Chicago Fire defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi (4) while going for the ball during the first half at Subaru Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Jonathan Bamba scored his second goal early in the second half and the visiting Chicago Fire earned a 2-1 victory on Saturday against struggling Philadelphia Union.
Hugo Cuypers added his fourth goal late in the first half for the Fire (2-2-1, 7 points) who earned their first away victory of the season after leading the Eastern Conference with nine in 2025.
Chris Brady made three saves as Chicago avenged its elimination by Philadelphia in last year’s first-round playoff series and snapped a four-match winless run against the Union in all competitions.
Milan Iloski scored his first goal for Philadelphia just before halftime. But the Union (0-5-0, 0 points) extended the worst start for a reigning Supporters’ Shield holder, less than 72 hours after their elimination from the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 1-1 draw at Mexico City’s Club America and a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
Bamba put Chicago in front in the 58th minute.
From near midfield, Cuypers spotted Robin Lod down the right. Lod eventually dribbled into the right edge of the penalty area on his right foot, before cutting back onto his left to cross.
With Cuyper in the center of the box, the cross sailed beyond just him, where Bamba connected with an excellent side-footed volley to beat Andre Blake inside the left post.
Philadelphia pressured for an equalizer, but Chicago came closest to scoring the game’s fourth goal. Maren Haile-Selassie missed narrowly wide on the break in the 63rd minute, then Lod rattled the crossbar from a similar attack in the 82nd.
Both teams scored during the more than seven minutes of first-half stoppage time.
First, it was Chicago through Cuypers.
Lod’s initial pass was deflected out wide, where Andrew Gutman reached it on the left flank.
Gutman drove forward and curled in an outswinging, left-footed cross. Cuypers ran between Philadelphia’s center backs to meet it with a powerful header past Blake from six yards out.
Philadelphia leveled from a long throw-in four minutes later. Alejandro Bedoya flicked on Frankie Westfield’s throw from the right, then Iloski won the second ball as he somehow generated enough power to loop his header over Brady and under the crossbar from near the penalty spot.
–Field Level Media
