In overtime of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, Brandon Jones edged out Cup star Chase Elliott to claim victory. With older tires, he slid ahead of Elliott. Elliott tried to recover, getting close to the wall to gain momentum before making a move in the final chicane, but Jones held the surge to the finish line.
This was Jones’ eighth career victory, which gave Joe Gibbs Racing its third win of the 2026 season.
“I had to win this one,” Jones commented. “I haven’t felt an emotion like this in a long time. Thanks to everyone for braving the rain and everything… It’s been a year with ups and downs. We had success early on, but we’ve been in a tough stretch these past few weeks, so it’s a pleasure to get it done the way we did today. We really had to fight hard for this victory.”
On competing with a driver like Elliott, Jones added: “That says a lot about our resilience and the work we’re doing. Chase made my life difficult. He’s one of the best in the business, so I knew it would be tough. We all had old tires; it was great to slide and battle like that.”
For his part, Elliott was disappointed to finish one spot behind first. He hasn’t been in many O’Reilly races lately, with his last win in this series coming at Charlotte during the 2024 season.
“I don’t think that was the reason we lost (not having a restart boost), by any means,” Elliott assured. “I know he [Jesse Love] intended to give me a good boost, and it was really more about managing old tires. I was trying to find a good launch, rather than getting a push. I ended up having momentum in the wrong direction in turn 3 and tried to enter very hard, which made me get really tight. I’m honestly very headstrong… Credit to Brandon. He did a good job, had a good restart, and we were side by side in turns 1 and 2. He had the momentum in the right direction going into turn 3, and I put myself in a bad position and paid the price.”
Jesse Love, Brent Crews, and Austin Hill completed the rest of the podium. Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer, and Connor Zilisch rounded out the top ten.
Stages 1 and 2
After a long rain delay, the race started at 10:15 PM EST. Zilisch dominated from pole position, leading the entire opening stage. Behind him, there were many battles and even some contact as drivers jostled around the circuit. Allgaier and Gray started at the back of the pack but quickly worked their way to the front.
Zilisch won Stage 1 with a five-second lead over Love, followed by Day, Elliott, Creed, Gray, Mayer, Sawalich, Allgaier, and Alfredo.
During the stage break, Zilisch lost fuel pressure while leading and needed a push to get back to pit road. He managed to stay on the lead lap, but fell to the middle of the pack. He eventually managed to come back into the top ten.
Elliott won the race off pit road and controlled the restart. Like Zilisch in the previous stage, Elliott dominated and won the stage with relative ease. He was followed by Love, Gray, Allgaier, Mayer, Jones, Creed, Day, Zilisch, and Crews.
The fog also began to cover the circuit, making visibility a challenge for spectators.
Stage 3
Brandon Jones won with his number 20 Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing; followed by Chase Elliott, number 88 from JR Motorsports, and Jesse Love, number 2 from Richard Childress Racing.
During the stage break, Jeremy Clements lost a wheel, resulting in a two-lap penalty since the uncontrolled wheel managed to return to the pit by itself. Allgaier was sent to the back after a safety evaluation (a team member entered the box without the appropriate suit).
On the restart, there was a notable battle between Love and Elliott for the lead, with Elliott ultimately prevailing. Creed made an unscheduled stop due to a tire issue, while Gray passed Elliott to take the lead of the race. He took control and pulled away, but the first natural caution of the race came shortly after.
Zilisch’s promising start was hampered when he blew a tire after hitting the wall, with the tire carcass causing the pace car to come out.
On the next restart, Elliott made an impressive three-wide pass to regain the lead, keeping Gray at bay until the next caution. Once again, Zilisch spun from the high line.
This put the entire group within the fuel window, with just over 40 laps remaining.
R. Sieg won the race from pit road after a fuel-only strategy to save a set of tires, with Jones also surpassing Elliott on the restart.
Jones moved into the lead on the restart, and the next caution came shortly after, with Sawalich spinning on the back straight. He lifted out of the corner and was hit from behind by his teammate Crews.
Elliott decided to restart behind Jones on the outside for the next restart, putting Gray in the front row. This proved beneficial for him as Gray established himself as the race leader while Elliott and Jones battled for second, allowing Gray to pull away with the lead.
With 16 laps to go, Sieg (who had older tires than the rest of the group) made a half turn. Now under caution, he tried to return to pit road, but the whole bumper disintegrated due to a right front tire puncture.
The situation became dramatic on the restart as the group spread four-wide for the race lead. Love briefly took command before Elliott wrestled it back, while Gray fell outside the top five.
Elliott then defended against a charging Jones, only for the caution to come out once again. Kyle Sieg collided with Patrick Staropoli, sending both vehicles spinning. They also hit Brennan Poole and Lavar Scott as they spun down the track.
On the final restart, the second row struggled to advance, leaving Elliott and Jones to face each other side by side for most of the lap. Jones cleared Elliott just before the white flag, who responded by elevating alongside the wall, tapping it for momentum. He shot his vehicle inside of Jones in the final turn, but Elliott didn’t have the exit speed, allowing Jones to get by him and take the victory by 0.171 seconds.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
