(WJZY) - Justin Allgaier won the NASCAR O'Reilly Series race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday night, securing his first victory of the 2026 season. Allgaier took the lead for the final time with 10 laps remaining after recovering from an early 17th-place standing and a difficult mid-race pit stop. The race followed an IndyCar session at the track earlier on Saturday, which required teams to adjust to different tire conditions on the surface. Despite the varying conditions and multiple late-race cautions, Allgaier's car moved through the field to challenge the leaders during the final stage of the event. Allgaier began the race in 17th place but gained 13 positions during the opening portion of the event to finish the first stage in fourth. His progress was hindered at the start of the third stage by a difficult pit stop that forced the team to recover from lost track position. During the final stage, competition for the lead remained tight between reigning champion Jesse Love and Allgaier's JR Motorsports teammates, Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith. Allgaier credited his team's persistence for the victory. "The pit crew never quit," Allgaier said. "The team never quit. They just kept making good adjustments." "With things working out the way that they did, you're just super blessed to have everything kind of open up the way that it did," he added. The final 10 laps followed a period of several cautions that disrupted the rhythm of leaders Love and Kvapil. Allgaier made his move to the front as those drivers battled for the lead. Allgaier described the winning move as a matter of timing and lane selection among a field of talented drivers. "The calling of the restarts and where we needed to go and how we needed to get there, there's so many talented race car drivers and teams in this series," Allgaier said. "It's just the seas parted in the perfect spot for me and we were able to come out here with a win." The West Coast swing of the series continues next week in Las Vegas. The event is expected to feature high winds and bumpy track conditions. Allgaier enters the race as the defending winner of the 2025 spring event in Las Vegas and will attempt to secure his second consecutive victory of the 2026 season. Catch next week's race live on The CW Saturday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m. ET. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by Nexstar. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by Nexstar staff before being published.