NASCAR
Taylor Gray Takes Second Career O’Reilly Win after Short Pitting at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Joe Gibbs Racing and Kansas Speedway are no strangers to each other on Saturdays. Coach Gibbs owns 15 wins on the intermediate oval, with the latest coming at the hands of Taylor Gray. Thanks to being the first to short pit the final stage, the No. 54 Toyota had track position needed to command the closing laps. The 21-year-old from New Mexico is now a two-time O’Reilly Series winner after beating Sheldon Creed to the checkers.
Much of Saturday seemed like it would belong to another Joe Gibbs Racing driver – Brandon Jones. The No. 20 Toyota took the lead early and converted this into a stage sweeping afternoon. Jones was chasing his fourth Kansas win and second consecutive Heartland checkered flag.
Kansas did show off a few hair-raising moments in its early laps. Polesitter Carson Kvapil lost ground on the start, falling though the pack and eventually going airborne after contact from William Byron and Parker Retzlaff. The JR Motorsports driver was okay after this scary ride in the No. 1 Chevrolet.
The red flag is out after this incident in the opening moments at @kansasspeedway.@Carson_Kvapil exited the vehicle under his own power. pic.twitter.com/Zz0gcuLkFW
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) April 18, 2026
Richard Childress Racing teammates also had a moment together on lap 38, when Jesse Love cut down on Austin Hill. This bobble sent the No. 21 spinning and out of the race after contact with William Sawalich.
A slide from @_AustinHill collects @WilliamSawalich to bring out the caution on Lap 38. pic.twitter.com/dREQRy32IM
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) April 19, 2026
Jones’ march to victory lane only hit a speed bump on his final pit stop. The No. 20 incurred a tire violation, needing to make a pass through penalty. A flying Jones could only rebound to eighth at the checkers. Meanwhile, teammate Taylor Gray undercut the leaders to pit road on lap 143 and had clean air.
“How about Jason Ratcliff?” Gray said. “That pit call was awesome. We had a car capable of winning. I thought the 20 was a little better than us before the green flag cycle started, but we just had to stay locked in, and we had to be a little bit freer.”
“Jason made a really good adjustment on the car and a really good pit call and got us in clean air. It’s been a long start to the year, man—not that we’re not bringing speed to the race track. It’s just that things haven’t really gone our way. So it’s nice to finally be able to close one out.”
Jones grabbed the checkers by almost a second over Sheldon Creed, the 16th runner-up result of his career. Creed also collects the Dash4Cash $100,000 bonus from Kansas. Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, and Brent Crews were other top finishers. The rest of the Kansas top 10 were: William Byron, Cole Custer, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, and Ryan Sieg.
Gray is now ninth in O’Reilly Series points thanks to his first win of 2026, being 65 points ahead of the Chase cut line. O’Reilly Series competitors will be back in action next week from Talladega Superspeedway. The Ag-Pro 300 goes green Saturday, April 25 at 4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Following his dismal Kansas outing, superspeedway ace Austin Hill looks to defend his drafting prowess with a third straight Alabama victory.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
