Ross Chastain wins marathon NASCAR O'Reilly Charlotte race, marred by rain, fog, oil slick
· Yahoo Sports
The NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race ended under caution after Stage 2 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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It was a strange and bizarre race, hindered by rain and later fog. It took over six hours to run the first 90 laps, and the final half of the race never happened.
I'll start with us and this team. I first watched a JRM drive by me here at Charlotte in 2014, and I decided right then that I wanted to get in one, and it took me until 2025 to get in one ... that's a testament to just continuing to work, and I've asked. Couldn't raise the funds, or they were full."
On the death of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, Chastain added: "This weekend, it's just incredible to try and grasp losing Kyle. I just don't understand how he's not here racing. I don't grasp it, mentally or spiritually. Obviously, racing is the best thing we can do to celebrate him and what he did in this sport and in his life."
Chastain finished just ahead of Jesse Love in second and Austin Hill third for Richard Childress Racing. William Sawalich finished fourth, and Connor Zilisch fifth.
Love was unimpressed with NASCAR Race Control, believing they were merely running out the clock under caution so they could end the race.
"I'm mad, so I think it's a complete joke, handling it how they handled it," said Love. "I was really mad when they got out of the car for obvious reasons ... Then I kind of realized, if this week has taught us anything, this all doesn't matter as much as we think it does. There's things way more important than a trophy. As much as I am angry and confused and upset, I also again realize there's a lot of hurt people right now. There's things so much bigger than racing. I think we find some okay-ness in that. I'm just feeling so hard for Brexton, Lennix, Samantha, the parents, and everyone at RCR. That's where the hurt and the anger comes from, right? Wanting to win for those people."
Stage 1
The race went green an hour earlier than expected, and Mayer immediately took the fight to Allgaier for the top spot.
There was an early caution for Harrison Burton spinning off the nose of Love, and Mayer was scored as the race leader.
They then spent several laps behind the pace car as the rain misted down, but the race resumed by Lap 12.
Allgaier back into the lead, and remained there until a Lap 25 competition caution. Mayer had fallen to tenth, and the field came down pit road for pit stops.
The rain began to pick up again, so NASCAR brought the field down pit road and halted the race after 33 laps.
After waiting under red-flag conditions for 4hrs, 21mins, and 59s, the race finally resumed. The battle up front was frantic, with Zilisch taking the lead and winning Stage 1 over JR Motorsports teammates Allgaier and Chastain. They were followed by Day, Mayer, Love, B. Jones, Caruth, Crews, and Creed.
Stage 2
Blaine Perkins stayed out, and the restart was chaotic as Allgaier moved back into the lead.
Behind them, Brandon Jones went spinning, collecting JGR teammate Brent Crews and H.Burton, severely damaging all three cars. The wreck began with contact from Creed into Jones.
Chastain pushed Hill out to the lead on the restart, and then passed him for the top spot as RCR cars were now running second and third, with Love making gains as well.
The next caution flew for Sam Mayer, who tried got sideways and slammed the outside wall in Turns 1/2.
The battle at the front of the field was intense as Love and Chastain went back-and-forth for the top spot.
That's when Dawson Cram's car dumped oil all over the track, with race leader Chastain and most of the field sliding up into the wall on the next lap.
The caution flew as chaos broke out, with various levels of damage throughout the field. While the leaders appeared to escape major damage, the cars of Allgaier, Gray, Clements, Creed were among others who weren't as fortunate, sustaining more significant damage.
The rest of the stage was ran under caution, as it started to rain, putting NASCAR in a bad spot.
Unfortunately, the final 110 laps were not able to be completed.
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