Kyle Larson may have retained his points lead in the NASCAR Cup Series after a weekend disaster in the desert. But that was not the case for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader.
With his second victory in three races to open up the 2026 O'Reilly Series postseason at Bristol Motor Speedway a few weeks ago, Haas Factory Team's Sheldon Creed took the lead of the championship standings, and he maintained that lead after each of the next two races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
But the results of the Charlotte race brought three other drivers within 15 points of the driver of the No. 00 Chevrolet for the top spot. While he finished third, the other three drivers in the top four in points also finished in the top four, with four-place finisher Justin Allgaier even winning a stage to make up for the fact that he finished a spot behind Creed.
Now Creed's lead has completely evaporated.
Sheldon Creed drops from points lead to fourth at Phoenix
Power issues during Saturday's race at Phoenix Raceway mired Creed several laps off the lead lap, and he was ultimately scored 32nd, two laps down, when the checkered flag flew.
Reigning series champion Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing dominated the race, winning both stage one and stage two en route to the victory. After entering the playoffs with no wins in 2026, he has now won twice, with his first win coming at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, to take the points lead.
After entering the race two points behind Creed, five points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' Corey Day, and 13 points ahead of JR Motorsports' Allgaier, Love now possesses a 36-point lead over Allgaier in second place. Day is 39 points behind Love in third, while Creed has dropped to 59 back.
Allgaier finished Saturday's race in third place, just ahead of Day in fourth.
There are three races remaining on the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series playoff schedule, starting with this coming Saturday's TPG 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Live coverage is set to be provided by the CW Network starting at 3:30 p.m. ET, so begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!
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