Kyle Larson will compete as an interim competitor for Connor Zilisch and the No. 88 JR Motorsports (JRM) Chevrolet team in the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Texas Motor Speedway.
The news comes as Zilisch, a full-time Xfinity competitor for JRM, has been ruled out of this weekend’s Texas event. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native is taking time to recover from lower back injuries sustained during this past weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway. Zilisch’s injuries occurred on the final lap at Talladega as he was turned by Jesse Love in the backstretch, hitting the inside wall head-on while leading the race. In the aftermath of the accident, Zilisch, who was unable to complete the final lap, ended up in 27th place. Despite reporting soreness, he initially stated his intentions to compete at Texas.
Through the first 11 events of the 2025 Xfinity season, Zilisch, who is contending for the Rookie-of-the-Year title, has recorded three top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 16.8. He notched his first victory of the year at Circuit of the Americas in late March and is currently ranked in sixth place in the driver’s standings.
With Zilisch ruled out for Texas, Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, will pilot JRM’s No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro entry for the first time since he steered the entry to a victory at Watkins Glen International in August 2022. Larson is also no stranger to Texas when it comes to Xfinity competition. Through eight previous starts in the series at the track, he drove the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet entry to a victory in November 2016. He has also recorded a total of three top-three results and four top-10 results.
Through 118 previous starts in the Xfinity circuit, Larson has notched a total of 16 victories, eight poles, 60 top-five results, 84 top-10 results, 2,822 laps lead and an average-finishing result of 9.8. He made two scheduled Xfinity starts in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry at Homestead-Miami Speedway and at Bristol Motor Speedway, respectively. After finishing fourth at Homestead in March, the Californian notched a dominant victory at Bristol in mid-April.
Zilisch’s timetable in returning to Xfinity competition remains to be determined. Following this weekend’s event at Texas, the series is off for the following two weekends before returning to action at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition this upcoming Saturday, May 3, at Texas Motor Speedway for the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300. The event will be broadcast beginning at 2 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
