Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Texas Motor Speedway wasn’t originally on the docket for Kyle Larson, but a last-minute change of plans wasn’t going to stop the NASCAR Cup Series driver from taking another shot at “embarrassing” the field.
Larson ended up getting a phone call mid-week to take over driving duties of the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports this weekend, after Connor Zilisch suffered an injury to his lower back in a last-lap wreck at Talladega Superspeedway.
Zilisch, despite the injury, was at the track this weekend watching on, as Kyle Larson schooled the NASCAR Xfinity Series field late in the going, taking his fresh Goodyear tires to the front of the pack and winning the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300.
It’s the 17th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for Larson, and his second with JR Motorsports.
A native of Elk Grove, California, Larson took the victory after leading 32 laps in Saturday’s event, which ranked third behind Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill. However, an array of strategy calls during a late-race caution brought some adversity to the No. 88 camp.
When the top seven drivers stayed on the racetrack with old tires, Larson and crew chief Mardy Lindley decided to come to pit road and take on four tires, miring them back into the fourth row on a restart inside the race’s final 10 laps.
RACE RESULTS: Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas
Several cautions followed for various incidents, as Larson methodically worked his way through the pack and put himself in position to sweep around the outside of Sam Mayer during the second attempt at NASCAR Overtime.
The 32-year-old driver made the final pass for the lead immediately after the restart and put his Blues Hog Chevrolet in Victory Lane after a hard-fought race, Larson’s first in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Texas’ new configuration.
“There was a lot of survival, it felt like, throughout that race, just dodging some wrecks, balance we had to work on quite a bit, so it was fun,” Larson told The CW after the race. “I feel like my car, if I ever got to the lead I could stretch out, I just couldn’t get by Justin [Allgaier], he was doing a good job of running where I needed to be.”
It’s the second victory of the season for the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, after Connor Zilisch won earlier in the season at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
“Thanks to JRM for letting me come run this thing here today, obviously wish Connor was in the car, but it means a lot that they thought of me to call up to run this thing,” Larson added.
After spending the afternoon running solidly around the top-10 to top-15, Taylor Gray made an appearance towards the front at the end of the 208-lap contest, collecting a career-best second-place finish.
Riley Herbst, making his second start of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, snuck into the picture late, as well, finishing third. Austin Hill and Sam Mayer, two of the drivers who found themselves in the hunt for the victory all afternoon, finished fourth and fifth.
Harrison Burton was sixth, with Jesse Love, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, and Jeb Burton completing the top-10.
The event featured 11 caution flags for 62 total laps, which offered several chances for the field to get swapped up based on strategy, which ultimately gave some drivers a major chance to put together some good results.
NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Justin Allgaier had the dominant car on Saturday afternoon at Texas, and was poised to fight Larson for the victory in the final stage, when an incident with a lapped car, the No. 5 of Kris Wright, caused a crash that took him out of the event.
Now, after a long string of races to start the season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will get two weeks off to relax, as the series will not return to action until Memorial Day Weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Justin Allgaier remains the series points leader by 51 markers over Austin Hill. Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, and Brandon Jones complete the top five.
