SPEEDWAY, Ind.– Carson Kvapil chose the perfect time to claim his first victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Kvapil’s emotional victory in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 presented by Take 5 Oil Change at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — one of the biggest stages in motorsports — had the driver shedding tears and team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. temporarily at a loss for words.

It was a day of milestones. With Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott in positions two through four, respectively, JR Motorsports scored the first four-driver sweep of an event in series history.

The victory was the 14th of the season for JRM with six different drivers, the latter number tying the record the organization set last year. For the 79th straight race, JR Motorsports placed at least one driver in the top 10, tying the record set by RFK Racing from 2008-2010.

“It means the world to me,” Kvapil said, as his No. 1 Chevrolet team climbed the frontstretch catchfence in celebration of the victory. “It’s very emotional. I rode around on that lap backwards (after taking the checkered flag), and I sat there just thinking about all the hard work I’ve put in — me and my dad, Travis — to get to this point.

“And the faith (team principals) Dale Jr., L.W. Miller and Kelley Miller put behind me to give me this opportunity — a second chance, I guess you could say, to come back at it this year… I’m going to try not to cry too much. I’ve already shed a few tears — just trying to hold it together right now.”

In an event that featured just one caution for an on-track incident, Kvapil passed Chastain on Lap 79 of 100 and held it the rest of the way. Allgaier powered past Chastain into second place on Lap 94 and closed his deficit to Kvapil to less than a car-length on the white-flag lap.

Crossing the Yard of Bricks with one lap left, Allgaier trailed by a scant 0.283 seconds, but his efforts to shrink the distance on the final circuit proved fruitless, and Kvapil crossed the stripe with a 0.643-second advantage to score his first victory.

Kvapil accomplished more than just a win. He moved into second place in the series standings, 265 points behind Allgaier, who has already clinched the top Chase seed.

Kvapil also joined Allgaier and Jesse Love in the Chase with two regular-season races left — as did Sheldon Creed (eighth Saturday), Corey Day (seventh), Brandon Jones (ninth) and Austin Hill (10th).

Allgaier, a six-time winner this season, felt the race slip away from him when his No. 7 Chevrolet fell from first to fourth after the Lap 67 start of the final stage.

“That was kind the difference maker for us, I feel like, over the day,” Allgaier said. “I guess, in some ways, we kind of set up to be good on long runs, and it showed through. That’s why we were able to be really good at the end of that run…

“We made good adjustments. We did all the right things. We just came up a couple of laps short. I think if we have a couple more laps, if we have maybe a little bit different help from some of the lapped cars, there’s things that we maybe could have done different.

“But again, super proud of Carson and the whole No. 1 team. He’s done a really good job, and as a company, to do what we did today shows really where we’re at and what we’re able to accomplish, and for that I’m super proud.”

Crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 1 team kept Kvapil in the mix from start to finish, but that was no surprise. While working as Kevin Harvick’s crew chief, Childers fashioned two NASCAR Cup Series victories at the Brickyard.

Kvapil has cobbled the current season together in three different cars with three different teams–the Nos. 1 and 9 at JR Motorsports and the No. 91 fielded by Mario Gosselin for DGM Racing.

Saturday’s victory was vindication of Kvapil’s determination to sustain a career despite some imposing obstacles in his path.

With seven of 12 Chase positions now filled, the fight for the final spots intensified at Indy. After finishing 12th, Taylor Gray holds the final berth above the current cut line by seven points over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate William Sawalich and 20 over Rajah Caruth, who stayed out on old tires to win the second stage before finishing 22nd.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — Pennzoil 250 presented by Take 5 Oil Change

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana

Saturday, July 25, 2026

1. (2) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 100.

2. (13) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 100.

3. (8) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 100.

4. (7) Chase Elliott(i), Chevrolet, 100.

5. (9) William Sawalich, Toyota, 100.

6. (15) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 100.

7. (11) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 100.

8. (1) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 100.

9. (6) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 100.

10. (19) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 100.

11. (17) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 100.

12. (5) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 100.

13. (3) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 100.

14. (20) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 100.

15. (12) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 100.

16. (26) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 100.

17. (14) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 100.

18. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 100.

19. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 100.

20. (23) Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 100.

21. (25) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 100.

22. (16) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 100.

23. (18) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 100.

24. (22) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 100.

25. (30) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 100.

26. (21) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, 100.

27. (31) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 100.

28. (27) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 100.

29. (28) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 100.

30. (29) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 100.

31. (36) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 100.

32. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 99.

33. (32) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 99.

34. (37) Blake Lothian, Chevrolet, 99.

35. (38) David Starr, Chevrolet, 99.

36. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 99.

37. (4) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 97.

38. (34) J.J. Yeley, Ford, Fuel Pump, 39.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.94 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 56 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.643 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps.

Lead Changes: 10 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: S. Creed 1-23;J. Clements 24-32;C. Kvapil 33;R. Chastain(i) 34-36;W. Sawalich 37-38;R. Chastain(i) 39-54;D. Thompson 55-56;R. Caruth 57-62;J. Allgaier 63-66;R. Chastain(i) 67-78;C. Kvapil 79-100.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ross Chastain(i) 3 times for 31 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 23 laps; Carson Kvapil 2 times for 23 laps; Jeremy Clements 1 time for 9 laps; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 6 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 4 laps; William Sawalich 1 time for 2 laps; Dean Thompson 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 51,9,1,18,41,7,00,54,19,8

Stage #2 Top Ten: 32,7,9,00,1,26,41,18,21,88

–Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

New York Mets All-Star outfielder Juan Soto was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 2 left calf strain prior to Saturday’s home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

An MRI exam revealed the damage that will cause Soto to miss a significant amount of time. New York didn’t immediately release a timetable.

“It’s not what we were hoping for,” Mets interim manager Andy Green told reporters. “He’s a guy we love having on the field. He’s a guy who loves being on the field competing. We’ll be without him for a period of time now.”

Soto missed 15 games with a right calf injury in April. The current injury is considered more serious.

Soto, a five-time All-Star, departed Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers in the sixth inning due to the calf ailment. Green told reporters Soto aggravated it while running to second base in the second inning on Bo Bichette’s double-play grounder.

Recently, Soto has seen occasional time as a designated hitter to help with the calf issue. He played left field against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 16 and left the game in the eighth inning. He also sat out Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers because of the injury before the team’s Thursday off-day.

Still, the injury worsened, as evidenced by Friday’s departure while serving as the DH and culminating in Saturday’s news.

Green feels this is a situation in which nobody should have regrets.

“This last week, we gave him at-bats, we gave him rest in times when we felt it appropriate, and then yesterday he couldn’t get over the hump,” Green said. “Is it possible we could have looked back and thought we could have moved a little bit quicker on this, given where we’re at today? Yes.

“I don’t know that that ultimately changes the situation we’re in right now. I respect somebody who’s trying to get on the field and play through things.”

Soto is batting .283 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs in 84 games, his second with the Mets as part of a 15-year, $765 million contract.

Green doesn’t believe the injury is season-ending but thinks it’s wise to review Soto’s routine.

“Juan wants to be and expects to be a generational, Hall of Fame-type player,” Green said. “So the way he’s wired, he’s going to look at whatever he can to keep himself on the field going forward, and we’ll partner with him in trying to find what those answers are and if there are adjustments to make in anything from prep to recovery to anything that is possible to be considered.”

New York recalled first baseman Eric Wagaman from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move. The 28-year-old Wagaman batted .162 (6-for-37) with two homers and four RBIs in 21 games with the Mets earlier this season.

–Field Level Media

Nick Martinez tossed six shutout innings and Yandy Diaz recorded his 1,000th career hit with Tampa Bay as the Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Martinez (10-2) allowed four singles with no walks and five strikeouts. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 19 of his 20 starts this season.

Cole Sulser and Garrett Cleavinger each pitched a scoreless inning before Bryan Baker worked around a one-out single in the ninth for his 27th save.

Chandler Simpson and Diaz had two hits apiece for Tampa Bay, which recorded its seventh shutout and won for the fifth time in its last six games.

Diaz lined a leadoff single to right field in the first inning against Tanner Bibee (4-10) to become the fourth player in franchise history to record 1,000 hits with the team.

Cleveland lost its fourth straight game and has scored a total of four runs in its last three.

Tampa Bay threatened to move ahead with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning, but Bibee escaped unscathed on Ben Williamson’s groundout.

The Rays broke the scoreless tie in the fifth. Diaz hit a one-out double and moved to third on Jonathan Aranda’s single before scoring on Junior Caminero’s double off the right-field wall. Cedric Mullins followed with a sacrifice fly to put Tampa Bay ahead 2-0.

With runners on the corners and one out in the sixth, the Rays added to their lead when Victor Mesa Jr. scored on Hunter Feduccia’s sacrifice bunt.

Bibee yielded three runs on nine hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out five while throwing a season-high 107 pitches.

The Guardians were stymied by Martinez, who threw 60 of his 84 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 2.45, second best in the American League.

Cleveland drew its first and only walk of the day when pinch-hitter David Fry walked with two outs in the eighth. Steven Kwan followed by lining out to center.

–Field Level Media