NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series title favorites becoming clear as circuit rolls into Rockingham

It's fitting that the one-third mark of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series regular season falls on Saturday at Rockingham Speedway, one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. 

For the second year in a row, the O'Reilly Series at Rockingham is the main event of NASCAR's Easter weekend with the Cup Series taking the week off. A sellout crowd pushing 30,000 people is expected to fill the grandstands for Friday's Truck Series race and Saturday's ARCA East-O'Reilly doubleheader.

In the O'Reilly Series, the fight for the points lead is  in limbo. 2024 champion Justin Allgaier, a three-time winner through seven races in 2026, currently holds a 92-point advantage over Jesse Love, who initially won at Rockingham in 2025 before being disqualified.

But with 17 races remaining before the 12-driver Chase field is set and seeding is determined, other title favorites are beginning to take shape at the top of the points standings. 

Who are the NOAPS title contenders?

Love is winless so far in 2026 but has an excellent chance to turn that around at Rockingham on Saturday. The defending series champion has five top-10s in seven races so far. 

The official defending race winner at Rockingham is Sammy Smith, who has six top-10s in seven races, but, like Love, is also winless so far in 2026. Smith sits sixth in the series standings, and it's his lack of stage points — 33 compared to 105 for Allgaier and 70 for Love — that has kept him out of the top five so far. 

Like Smith, rookie Corey Day has also been consistent, scoring six top-10 finishes in seven races. But he's also struggled to score stage points and was in the headlines early in the season for causing multiple crashes. 

Perhaps the most underrated title threat in the O'Reilly Series is Sheldon Creed, who finally scored his first career win at Atlanta on Feb. 21 and is third in the standings. He has four top-fives and five top-10s through seven races and finally has the burden of not yet having won a race off his back. 

A championship won't be won or lost at Rockingham on Saturday afternoon, but Saturday's race will be an important litmus test for every team in the NOAPS garage. 

Saturday's North Carolina Education Lottery 250 will go green shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.