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What to know about Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race weekend at EchoPark Speedway

AuthorEditorial Team
Published
February 21, 2026/03:54 PM
Section
Sport
What to know about Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race weekend at EchoPark Speedway

Atlanta hosts a Saturday doubleheader with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series

Stock-car racing returns to Hampton on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, with a NASCAR doubleheader at EchoPark Speedway, the venue formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. The day’s schedule pairs the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event is the second race of the 2026 season. The race is scheduled for 163 laps on the 1.54-mile quad-oval, a layout that NASCAR runs with superspeedway-style rules. The green flag is scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern, following the Fr8 208, which is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

Qualifying sets the front row; Sam Mayer earns pole position

Qualifying results posted ahead of race day show Sam Mayer winning the pole for the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 in a Haas Factory Team entry, with a best lap of 31.804 seconds. The posted qualifying format for superspeedway-rules tracks uses two rounds, with the top 10 advancing to a final round that sets starting positions 1 through 10.

NASCAR’s live-results page for the event listed several of the fastest qualifiers behind Mayer, including Carson Kvapil, Taylor Gray and Sheldon Creed. The same platform indicated race updates would populate closer to the start time as timing and scoring data goes live.

How Saturday fits into the broader Atlanta race weekend

Saturday’s on-track schedule is part of a three-day NASCAR weekend at EchoPark Speedway:

  • Friday, Feb. 20, 2026: Qualifying sessions are scheduled for both the Fr8 208 and the Bennett 250.

  • Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026: The Fr8 208 begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at 5 p.m. Eastern.

  • Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026: The NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader 400 is scheduled as the weekend’s main event.

Series branding changes in 2026

The 2026 season marks a title-sponsorship transition for NASCAR’s second-tier national series. O’Reilly Auto Parts becomes the naming-rights partner beginning in 2026, and the series races under the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series name.

Saturday’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 is positioned as an early-season points event on a high-speed intermediate track run with superspeedway rules, a combination that typically places a premium on drafting, track position and pit-road execution.

Live leaderboard and timing data are expected to be available through NASCAR’s event results feed as the race approaches its scheduled start on Saturday evening.