By Matthew Thomerson/TheFourthTurn.com

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Despite late-race pushes from several title contenders, it was the veteran Justin Allgaier holding on to claim his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts title as Brandon Jones won the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday night.

Allgaier, who entered his 16th full-time season with thoughts of retirement, ultimately came back and put up one of the best seasons of his career, and was the one to beat when it mattered most. It looked much different than his first title just two years ago, where there was serious doubt Allgaier was going to come back from a practice crash and win it all. Ultimately, Allgaier finished second that night to hoist the trophy in Phoenix, but the second one came in a much different fashion. 

Despite a lackluster start to The Chase and no victories in the final nine races, the 40-year-old put together just enough results and consistency to outlast his competition in the finale race. This time around, there was no one-race take-all format, and with the lead Allgaier built up throughout both The Chase and the season as a whole, all he had to do was finish modestly, and the championship was his. He did just that, finishing seventh with many stage points earned throughout the evening.

“Means more than you’ll ever know,” Allgaier said post-race. “It’s obviously not the finish we wanted tonight. Wanted to be in victory lane. But this team never quits. The effort, the time they put in. The pit crew, phenomenal job.The first one was for me. The first one I really enjoyed. This one is for all these men and women standing back here. They have worked their tail off.

“These two (in reference to his daughters), my wife, my parents, everybody you mentioned, it means so much. Congrats to Kaden last night, obviously he did a great job. Congrats to all the guys in the Chase this year. It was super fun.”

Allgaier now joins a revered list of drivers to claim multiple titles in the series, and with his confirmed return for 2027 and beyond, he could try to become the first to win three titles. Allgaier finished the season with six wins (career high), 19 top-fives, and 24 top-10 finishes. He led a total of 803 laps on the season.

Lost in the shuffle of championship celebration was race winner Brandon Jones, who caught a lucky break with a late caution to inherit the lead and drove away to win his second race of the season, both at intermediate tracks. The win marked the 700th for Toyota Racing in NASCAR, also.

“Tonight nobody even really made a mistake,” Jones said. “I think we executed the race phenomenally, really. The pit strategy was really good, the call to stay out was really good until later, and we caught the caution at the right time, and adjustments were great. Sometimes you have nights like these where you want to capitalize on it. ”

Entering the finale, there were five drivers that had a mathematical shot at the title, considered to be unlikely in the revamped Chase format. Jesse Love, who won the 2025 title and came into the weekend with the best average finish on intermediate tracks, finished fourth and second in the standings. Carson Kvapil finished second in the race and third in the standings. Sheldon Creed came home sixth to secure fourth in the final standings.

Corey Day entered the race as a dark-horse pick by many, but his day and title hopes quickly unraveled after being involved in an early caution. He finished 34th, 25 laps down and fifth in the standings.

Creed’s teammate Sam Mayer swept the stages and led 36 laps, but an unscheduled green-flag stop paired with rough restarts only got him to ninth.

There were four cautions for 27 laps, and 12 lead changes amongst five leaders. There was also a brief red flag to clean up the tire barriers at the entrance to pit road.

Allgaier gave Chevrolet its 24th driver title in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and its 10th straight Manufacturers Championship.

The 2027 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season begins at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 20. 

Photo Credit: Patricia McCormack/TheFourthTurn.com