Sammy Smith sweeps Talladega with Truck, O’Reilly wins
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 25, 2026
Smith sweep
Sammy Smith put together a Talladega sweep, winning both NASCAR races at the same track and turning a strong weekend into a milestone performance. He won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 225 and then backed it up in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Progress Group 250, becoming the first non-Cup driver since Greg Biffle in 2001 to sweep the Truck and O’Reilly races at the same venue. In the Truck race, Smith survived overtime and took the lead on the final lap in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. In the O’Reilly race, he needed a last-lap pass over teammate Carson Kvapil and beat him to the line by 0.084 seconds. Smith led only the final lap in that race, but it was enough to claim the win and finish the weekend.
Truck race
The Truck victory carried extra weight because it was Smith’s first in 11 Truck Series starts. He timed the finish perfectly after the race went to overtime, then made the move that mattered most by grabbing the lead on the final lap. Tyler Ankrum followed in second and finished as the top Chase driver in the field, giving the race another playoff layer beyond the winner’s circle. The race’s shape changed after a lap 79 crash involving Thomas Annunziata, Kaden Honeycutt and Grant Enfinger sent it to overtime. Earlier, the first stage ended early because of a lap 17 crash that collected Tony Stewart and Daniel Hemric. Those incidents framed a race that kept tightening at the end, leaving the final restart and final lap to decide the outcome. Smith handled it better than anyone else in the closing moments, and the win delivered his first Truck Series victory. The result also showed the value of staying close enough to strike when the race opened up late, a trait that paid off in both of his wins at Talladega.
O’Reilly race
Smith’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win was even more striking for how the race unfolded. Carson Kvapil controlled the tempo for most of it, leading a race-high 67 of 94 laps before finishing second after Smith’s late pass. Jesse Love, who started from the pole, finished third, and Justin Allgaier took fourth after winning Stage 2. Allgaier also left the race with his deficit to Love trimmed to 19 points with two races left, adding another layer to the title picture in The Chase presented by Mobil 1. Smith’s win ended a 53-race winless streak and gave him his first victory of the season. It was also his fourth career victory in 139 starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The finish came down to the final lap, when Smith slipped past Kvapil and crossed the line first in a race that stayed tight at the front from start to finish. The pressure of the moment did not change the outcome. Smith found the opening he needed, took advantage of it and left Talladega after winning both races. The race was the seventh event of The Chase presented by Mobil 1, and it also thinned the playoff field. Five playoff drivers, Taylor Gray, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff and Rajah Caruth, were eliminated from title contention, underscoring how much was at stake even before the final lap decided the winner.
