Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Nu Way 225 Powered by Bobcat and Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
by NASCAR.com Staff Report
Jesse Love won the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Saturday night for his first victory of 2026.
The defending series champion surged to the lead with 16 laps to go, overtaking Carson Kvapil for the top spot and holding on to win the second race of The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos
Sheldon Creed, last week’s winner at Darlington Raceway, finished second ahead of Haas Factory Team teammate Sam Mayer, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray and Kvapil.
Parker Retzlaff finished sixth as Brent Crews, Sammy Smith, Tucker, Georgia’s Kyle Sieg and Jeb Burton completed the top 10.
Winston, Georgia’s Austin Hill, Jesse Love’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, broke into the top five inside the final 15 laps but was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop with four laps remaining, sinking the Chase driver to 29th, one lap down.
Chaos broke out at Lap 50 during pit stops after the conclusion of Stage 1. In a chain-reaction crash, Chase contender Rajah Caruth was spun from behind when others checked up in front of him. Caruth, Nick Sanchez and Harrison Burton all collected significant damage in the melee as Caruth and Sanchez barely avoided disaster with the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew that was servicing Brent Crews’ car. Two crewmen were contacted, but all were unharmed, according to the team’s social media site.
Trouble sparked again at Lap 134 when Corey Day and William Sawalich added another chapter to their budding rivalry. One week after a Darlington collision between the two put Sawalich out of the race, they found each other again in St. Louis. Day washed up the track into Sawalich through Turn 1, and Sawalich took exception to the contact. Sawalich turned left into Day down the backstretch, ultimately crashing Day out of the race. Day finished 33rd after entering Saturday’s race fifth in The Chase standings.
Taylor Gray was the first Chase driver to experience trouble Saturday night when he spun racing Caruth for ninth place at Lap 13. Neither car was damaged and both were able to continue.