Sports
Justin Allgaier wins at Martinsville for 3rd OAP victory of season
Mar 28, 2026; Martinsville, Virginia, USA; JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier (7) celebrates his win with his crew after the race at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Justin Allgaier ended the day where he started — out front — but it was a dramatic and challenging route to the trophy hoist in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts NFPA 250 at the historic half-mile Martinsville Speedway.
En route to his win, the 2024 series champion started from pole position and led the most laps (114 of 250). The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet claimed his second win in as many weeks — third of the season and 31st of his career.
Allgaier led the opening 65 laps of the race, won Stage 1, and then led the final 26 laps, bookending a typically thrilling edition of competition at the famed paperclip track.
“I keep saying it and I keep talking about how great this team is, but we have fired off 2026 better than I could have imagined,” said Allgaier, whose win marks the JR Motorsports organization’s fifth consecutive this season — one shy of the record set by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.
“It is pretty incredible, just the emotion,” added the 39-year-old, who has increased his advantage atop the standings to 92 points over reigning series champion Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love. “I said it last week, but you get later on in your career, and you never know if you’ll win another one and this year has been pretty special.”
The victory is hard-earned, considering the race was slowed 13 times because of incidents on the notorious, challenging short track.
Most impactful, a 19-car pileup on a late race restart brought out a 26-minute red flag, massively reducing the field of true contenders. Late model superstar Lee Pulliam, making his first-ever start in a NASCAR national series driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, brought out the caution period after missing a shift on the restart from his front row starting position.
His team co-owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., reassured and encouraged Pulliam on the radio during the race stoppage, telling him, “I know you didn’t want that to happen, and you’ll handle it like a pro, we all make mistakes.” Adding post-race, “all in all, incredible to come in, run a race, lead laps, and run the car up front and get a great result in a tough place, he survived. He’s a helluva driver.”
After the race Pulliam, whose 40 laps led were second only to Allgaier, immediately addressed the late-race restart situation. “Just first off real quick, I’d like to apologize to everyone we tore up there. I just couldn’t get going with the older tires and it was just a little bit of inexperience.”
“Just so thankful to be here and do this. What a dream come true to drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” added the well-respected and highly revered 37-year-old North Carolina native, who sold out of t-shirts commemorating his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut this weekend.
“The whole experience has been pretty special for me, something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. Just thankful for everybody that led to this moment, and I hope I made all you fans proud leading all those laps.”
“Man, that was super cool driving away. Just wish I could have gotten going on the restarts a little better, and if I ever get another chance to do this, I’ll learn from my mistakes and come back stronger.”
Corey Day’s second-place finish in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet was a career-best for the 20-year-old and marked an impressive sixth consecutive top-10 finish for the young driver. Sammy Smith finished third and posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville. Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed finished fourth in the No. 00 Chevrolet with Pulliam rounding out the top five.
Austin Hill was sixth, followed by Dean Thompson, Cup Series regular Ross Chastain, Ryan Sieg and 18-year-old rookie Brent Crews, who rounded out the top 10.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Rockingham Speedway for next Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire (2:30 p.m. ET, CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sammy Smith is the defending race winner.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — NFPA 250
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, March 28, 2026
1. (1) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.
2. (7) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 250.
3. (9) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 250.
4. (6) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 250.
5. (12) Lee Pulliam, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (26) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 250.
7. (22) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 250.
8. (38) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 250.
9. (14) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 250.
10. (4) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 250.
11. (10) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 250.
12. (8) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 250.
13. (13) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 250.
14. (17) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 250.
15. (15) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 250.
16. (27) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 250.
17. (28) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 250.
18. (3) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 250.
19. (37) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 250.
20. (16) William Sawalich, Toyota, 250.
21. (34) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 250.
22. (36) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 250.
23. (11) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 250.
24. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 250.
25. (2) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 250.
26. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 248.
27. (25) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 242.
28. (5) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 234.
29. (30) Austin Green, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
30. (23) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
31. (19) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
32. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.
33. (18) Nick Sanchez, Ford, Accident, 213.
34. (35) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, Suspension, 207.
35. (21) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 205.
36. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Brakes, 183.
37. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Oil Cooler, 89.
38. (29) Luke Baldwin(i), Ford, Accident, 31.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 55.015 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.258 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 14 for -153 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Allgaier 1-65;C. Day 66-102;S. Mayer 103-111;A. Hill 112-114;S. Mayer 115-119;A. Hill 120-125;R. Caruth 126-129;H. Burton 130;R. Caruth 131-144;H. Burton 145-160;J. Allgaier 161-183;L. Pulliam 184-187;B. Jones 188;L. Pulliam 189-224;J. Allgaier 225-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 3 times for 114 laps; Lee Pulliam 2 times for 40 laps; Corey Day 1 time for 37 laps; Rajah Caruth 2 times for 18 laps; Harrison Burton 2 times for 17 laps; Sam Mayer 2 times for 14 laps; Austin Hill 2 times for 9 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,20,88,19,00,8,96,1,2,18
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,41,54,39,18,96,88,24,17,7
–Field Level Media
Sports
Blue Jays notch second straight walk-off in comeback over Athletics
Mar 28, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (22) hits a walk off single against the Athletics during the eleventh inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images Ernie Clement stroked an RBI single to left in the 11th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays came back to defeat the visiting Athletics 8-7 on Saturday in extra innings.
Clement’s hit against Luis Medina (0-1) gave the Blue Jays their second straight walk-off win to open the season.
Spencer Miles (1-0) made his major league debut in the 11th and pitched around a walk to earn the win.
Shea Langeliers hit his third career grand slam in the seventh inning to give the Athletics a 6-2 lead.
Alejandro Kirk tied the game at six with a one-out solo homer in the ninth against Michael Kelly.
Brent Rooker delivered an RBI single against Louis Varland in the 10th, but Toronto tied it on Addison Barger’s sacrifice fly against Scott Barlow in the home 10th.
Toronto scored in the third against starter Jeffrey Springs with Myles Straw and Andres Gimenez singling to left and George Springer slicing an RBI double to left.
Toronto starter Dylan Cease struck out seven straight before Kurtz led off the sixth with a walk. Kurtz stole second and scored on Tyler Soderstrom’s bloop double to left.
Cease struck out 12 in 5 1/3 innings while allowing one run, three hits and two walks in his Blue Jays’ debut.
Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Springs with one out and a runner at first in the home sixth and allowed a Daulton Varsho RBI single.
Springs allowed two runs, five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
The Athletics opened the seventh with consecutive infield singles on comebackers by Jeff McNeil and Max Muncy. Both deflected off Mason Fluharty’s right leg and he was replaced by Brendon Little. After a double steal, McNeil scored on Denzel Clarke’s infield single. Kurtz walked to load the bases and Langeliers homered to center.
Langeliers hit two homers in Toronto’s 3-2 Opening Day win on Friday.
Leiter plunked pinch hitter Jesus Sanchez with a pitch and Gimenez singled to open the home seventh. Elvis Alvarado replaced Leiter and allowed Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-out RBI single.
Alvarado walked Kirk and Varsho to open the eighth and was replaced by Hogan Harris. Kirk took third on a flyout to right and scored on Sanchez’s infield single to third. Gimenez grounded an RBI single to center.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aryna Sabalenka completes Sunshine Double over Coco Gauff in Miami Open final
Mar 28, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus poses with the Butch Buchholz Championship trophy after defeating Coco Gauff of the United States in the final of the women’s singles at the Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka showed exactly why she deserves that top ranking Saturday.
Sabalenka completed the Sunshine Double, the first to do so since 2022, with her win over No. 4 American Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the Miami Open final at Miami Gardens, Fla.
“I haven’t had a moment to stop, look back and realize what’s happened in the past months. I’m so proud of the work we’ve done and the fight I was able to bring on court,” Sabalenka said during the trophy ceremony after the win. “Coco will fight for every opportunity and she played incredibly, but I was mentally strong. I knew I was doing everything right and it was just a matter of a few points.”
Sabalenka is just the 11th player ever to complete the Sunshine Double, when a player wins the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open back-to-back, and just the fifth ever woman to do so. She joins Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), Victoria Azarenka (2016) and Iga Swiatek (2022).
This also the second straight Miami Open championship for Sabalenka, who defended her title by dropping just one set along the way. She’s the first person since Ashleigh Barty in 2019 and 2021 to win back-to-back titles at this event.
Sabalenka came out hot in Saturday’s final, breaking Gauff’s first serve and forcing seven break point opportunities in the first set. Sabalenka rang home two aces to take the first set 6-2. Gauff fought back in the second set and earned the only break of the set to tie it at a set apiece.
But Sabalenka replicated her success in the first set by breaking Gauff’s first serve and raced ahead once again to a 3-1 lead. With the match on the line and Gauff serving once again, Sabalenka needed just one match point to ice the game and secure the title.
Overall, Sabalenka forced 11 break point opportunities and converted on four of them while facing only two herself. She defended her own serve well by winning 35 of her 47 first serve points (74 percent).
Gauff put up a valiant effort but struggled on her serve, being broken four times and conceding seven double faults.
“Aryna congratulations. We’ve had many battles, many finals and, I think you push me to be a better player,” Gauff said. “You’re a great fighter and hopefully we can play many more. I think we will.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Royce Lewis' HR helps Twins dispatch Orioles
Mar 28, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Minnesota Twins pitcher Taj Bradley (26) delivers during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images Royce Lewis hit a two-run home run and the Minnesota Twins won for the first time under first-year manager Derek Shelton by beating the host Baltimore Orioles 4-1 on Saturday.
Six Minnesota pitchers combined on a five-hitter while striking out 16 batters and walking six.
The Twins prevailed despite managing only four hits – including two by Byron Buxton – with the bats. The outcome came in the second game of the season-opening series.
Anthony Banda (1-0) was the winning pitcher with two-thirds of an inning of relief. Cole Sands worked the ninth and was credited with a save.
The Orioles stranded 11 runners on base. Jeremiah Jackson had two hits for Baltimore.
Minnesota starter Taj Bradley struck out nine in 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits but he was finished after 92 pitches.
Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (0-1) was done after 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits and taking the loss. He walked three and struck out four.
Baltimore scored first on Jackson’s run-scoring single.
Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly tied it in the fourth. When Lewis belted his homer in the fifth, it gave the Twins a lead for the first time this season.
Lewis had 13 home runs last year while playing a career-high 106 games.
Banda entered behind Bradley and notched strikeouts for his two outs and then Kody Funderburk fanned the first two Orioles in the sixth, so it meant that 13 of the first 17 outs recorded by the Twins came via strikeouts.
The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. Eric Orze got Gunnar Henderson on a flyout to end the threat.
The Twins tacked on a run in the seventh on Kody Clemens’ two-out single that drove in Lewis.
Baltimore used five pitchers, registering a total of 10 strikeouts.
The result handed Baltimore’s Craig Albernaz his first loss as a big-league manager.
–Field Level Media
Blue Jays notch second straight walk-off in comeback over Athletics
Aryna Sabalenka completes Sunshine Double over Coco Gauff in Miami Open final
