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Kyle Larson wins at Las Vegas.
Kyle Larson has now won in three of his last four starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The two-time and defending Cup Series champion’s latest victory came on Saturday at Las Vegas.
Wheeling the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Larson led the final 47 circuits of The LiUNA on his way to the checkered flag. It was the California native’s 18th career win in the series.
Fellow Cup star Chase Briscoe finished second in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Sheldon Creed came home third, followed by Justin Allgaier in fourth and Sammy Smith rounded out the top five.
Kyle Larson didn’t lead until the final 47 laps
Throughout Saturday’s 200-lap race, nothing was going Larson’s way.
As he told The CW in his post-race interview, the 33-year-old struggled with the handling of his HendrickCars.com machine. His car was tight, unable to carry speed through the corner, and failed to get going on restarts.
That was until the final restart when Larson said he got a great launch and was able to get in clean air. While he cited concerns about Creed and Briscoe’s ability to run the high line, Larson was able to keep them at bay.
“I was a bit nervous. I knew the 00 [of Sheldon Creed] and Briscoe were ripping the top. I tried it like once in [turns] one and two and I didn’t feel good up there at all, so glad we were able to pick our way through traffic well enough,” Larson said.
Larson’s son, Owen, was in attendance for Saturday’s race. The 32-time Cup winner joked that he listened to his 11-year-old son’s advice in the waning laps of the race.
“I finally remembered what he told me and decided to go faster,” Larson said.
Justin Allgaier fell short of the win after winning both stages
For much of Saturday’s race, it looked as though Justin Allgaier was on his way to back-to-back victories in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Unfortunately for the 2024 series champion, he had to settle for fourth. Allgaier led a race-high 48 laps and won both stages, totaling 20 stage points.
In his post-race interview with The CW, Allgaier said the track position simply slipped away from him after a lane choice on the final restart shuffled him back. Despite falling short, Allgaier is looking forward to next week’s race at Darlington.
“It’s disappointing when you don’t win one with as good of a car as we had. I thought we by far had the best car today. Just poor choice on my part and all it takes is one mistake and you put yourself in a bad spot. We’ll regroup. We’ll go next week. Another great racetrack for us. Hopefully, do a better job,” Allgaier said.
Justin Allgaier extends points lead after strong Las Vegas showing
It might not have ended in a win, but Allgaier managed to grow his points lead with a quality run at Las Vegas. The driver of the No. 7 now has a 13-point advantage over Jesse Love after five races in 2026.
Austin Hill sits third in the standings (-29), with Creed in fourth (-49), and Carson Kvapil in fifth (-64).
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series circuit heads to Darlington Raceway for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 on Saturday, March 21. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.
John Breeden John Breeden is a NASCAR contributor at Heavy Sports. He has five years of sports journalism experience. He graduated from James Madison University in May of 2022 with a degree in media arts and design. John is also a sports reporter for the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Previously, John was a sports writer for JMU’s The Breeze and a NASCAR content writer for Sportskeeda. More about John Breeden
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