TALLADEGA, Ala. — For much of Saturday afternoon, Carson Kvapil led a parade of race cars around Talladega Superspeedway as if he had been named The Progress Group 250 grand marshal.
The rest of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series contenders were satisfied to ride in a long single line behind Kvapil, whose assignment evidently included breaking through the air for everyone on the track. No one presented a challenge to the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
Then, on the last lap, as on so many last laps at Talladega, chaos took over.
MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega
The straight line of cars broke into branches. Sam Mayer began the march, dropping low in Turn 1 in an attempt to pass Kvapil. That move fizzled, and Mayer eventually finished 13th, a lesson in last-lap strategy — or the lack of it — at Talladega.
From there, the run to the finish was a mixture of surges and blocks. On the backstretch, Sammy Smith got a push from Justin Allgaier and moved side by side with Kvapil into the homestretch. At the line, Smith edged Kvapil, who had led 67 of 94 laps, by 0.084 seconds for the win.
Kvapil was left in second place, losing an excellent chance to make a major gain in the race for the series championship. Kvapil remained fifth in the standings, picking up 20 points on leader Jesse Love, but Kvapil still trails by 59 markers with only two races remaining in The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
Disappointment was written across Kvapil’s face in the immediate aftermath of the race.
“I think I might have left the bottom open, but I don’t know if it really would have made any difference,” Kvapil said. “I felt like there were more (JR Motorsports) teammates and more momentum up top and that the bottom would really get pinned down. I chose to go to the top there, and I guess it was the wrong move.
“I feel like we (JRM drivers) were super-organized all day and stayed with each other and raced it out right to the end. So, I’m just disappointed for this team.”
WATCH: Allgaier talks about Talladega result
Kvapil, in the front all day, had a good look at the drivers who might challenge him at the end.
“I knew the run was going to come,” Kvapil said. “I saw the 41 (Mayer) peek down there into [Turn 1], and I blocked it, and it pushed me out. Then the guys behind me got side by side. Then I was just kind of out there on my own. I had to make a decision in Turn 3 on what lane I was going to stick with to the end. Hindsight’s 20-20, but I picked the wrong one.”
JR Motorsports’ Allgaier was involved in the chess-like finish as he and his teammates battled for positioning and drafting help.
“I think we all had a different kind of vision of what the last few laps were going to look like,” Allgaier said. “They definitely were different than all of us had drawn up on the playbook. I think we did a really good job today of managing the day as a whole as a company.”
Kvapil, who led 31 straight laps before the final one, wound up being a target of too many challengers after leading for so long.
MORE: O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule
“I would have told you seven days a week and twice on Sundays that you would want to be leading coming to the white flag,” Allgaier said. “Obviously, that’s not how it worked out. I thought Sammy and I were probably sitting ducks and that Carson was probably going to be in the catbird’s seat.”
Instead, that seat belonged to Smith, who led only the final lap.