Daytona Showdown
The stage is set for a pivotal moment in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as the season’s final stretch heads to Daytona International Speedway.
Derek Lemke, the husband of NASCAR driver Natalie Decker, has been absent from the national series since 2023, a hiatus that began after his lone appearance at Richmond Raceway in 2023 and a subsequent start at the Milwaukee Mile later that year.
Now the series will see Mason Maggio step into the No. 91 Chevrolet, the car that Lemke last piloted at Iowa Speedway earlier this year, where he finished 26th for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports.
Maggio, a 32‑year‑old veteran of eleven starts this season, brings a modest résumé highlighted by an 11th‑place finish at EchoPark Speedway and a 15th‑place result at the previous year’s Daytona Beach finale, his best career showing to date.
The upcoming Winn‑Dixie 250 will air live on the CW Network at 7:30 p.m. ET, offering Maggio a chance to improve on a season that has included a DNF at the opener and a handful of top‑20 finishes, the most recent being a 17th‑place result at Talladega Superspeedway.
While the No. 91 entry will not see a second O’Reilly Series race for Lemke at Daytona, the team has confirmed that the remaining eight playoff dates will be filled by yet‑to‑be‑named drivers, leaving the lineup in flux as the series heads into its climax.