Kyle Larson seized an opportunity at the start of a 47-lap dash that enabled him to win The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 14.
The reigning two-time Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led the final 47 of 200-scheduled laps. He started alongside pole-sitter Sam Mayer on the front row and raced upfront through the fifth O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event of this year’s schedule in Sin City.
After securing a pair of top-10 results throughout the event’s first two stage periods, Larson was scored in seventh place during the event’s final restart with 47 laps remaining. At the launch, Larson quickly navigated his way to fourth place entering the first turn. He then used the outside lane to overtake Corey Day and Sheldon Creed through the first two turns. During this time, he also drove alongside Brandon Jones and dueled with him through the backstretch. He then motored away for his first lead of the event. With the lead in his possession, Larson maintained for the remainder of the event. He beat Chase Briscoe by more than two seconds to notch his first checkered flag of the 2026 NASCAR season.
On-track qualifying determined the starting lineup on Saturday. Mayer secured his second O’Reilly pole position of the 2026 season with a pole-winning lap at 183.287 mph in 29.462 seconds. Mayer shared the front row with Kyle Larson, the latter of whom qualified in second place with a lap at 182.902 mph in 29.524 seconds.
Before the event, the following drivers, including Blaine Perkins, Patrick Staropoli and Anthony Alfredo dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Sam Mayer launched ahead from the inside lane along with teammate Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones. Kyle Larson, who started on the outside lane, struggled to launch. The field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Mayer retained the top spot, leading the field back to the frontstretch to complete the first lap.
Then on the second lap, the event’s first caution flew. Connor Zilisch, who motored his way to 13th place, slid from the bottom lane and made contact with Jeremy Clements in Turn 1. As a result, Clements slid from the top to the bottom of the first two turns and hit the right side of Zilch’s entry before both straightened their entries and proceeded.
The next restart on Lap 6 featured teammates Mayer and Creed dueling for the lead through the first two turns. Mayer used the inside lane to move in front of Creed and retain the lead entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out, Mayer cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap over Creed. Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, Jones and Justin Allgaier followed suit.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Mayer was leading by three-tenths of a second over Creed. They were followed by Love, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Jones, Larson, Parker Retzlaff and Corey Day in the top 10. Meanwhile, Day was battling Chase Briscoe for 10th place. They were racing ahead of Rajah Caruth, Cole Custer, Austin Hill and Carson Kvapil. Jeb Burton, Dean Thompson, the Sieg brothers of Ryan and Kyle, and Harrison Burton were mired in the top 20, respectively.
Three laps later, the event’s second caution flew. Custer, who was racing in the top 15 and battling Caruth for position, got loose and spun from the top to the bottom of Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Austin Green, who was racing within the top-20 area, also spun to the bottom of the track after he locked up his tires while trying to react to Custer’s incident.
The field restarted under green flag on Lap 19. Mayer rocketed ahead of Creed, Love and the field entering the first turn. While Mayer led the next lap, Briscoe used the outside lane to go from 12th to sixth in a single lap. Briscoe proceeded to move up to fourth place by Lap 25 after overtaking Love and teammate Taylor Gray. Mayer led Creed by nine-tenths of a second and third-place Allgaier by more than a second.
On Lap 34, Allgaier, who overtook Creed for the runner-up spot four laps earlier, used the frontstretch’s apron to overtake Mayer and lead for the first time. Despite having Mayer initially reeling in to reclaim the lead, Allgaier proceeded to extend his lead to a second by the Lap 40 mark. By then, Creed, Briscoe and Gray trailed in the top five, respectively, by three seconds while Love, Larson, Day, Jones and Custer were mired in the top 10 ahead of Austin Hill, Ryan Sieg, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich and Parker Retzlaff.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier captured his third O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Mayer settled in second ahead of Briscoe, Gray and Creed while Love, Larson, Day, Custer and Jones were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, Mayer fell off the pace from the runner-up spot due to losing power. Despite receiving assistance from an on-track safety vehicle, Mayer had his entry taken to the garage for further diagnosis. When pit road became accessible, the field led by Allgaier pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first and he was followed by Gray, Allgaier, Briscoe and Larson, respectively.
The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Love and Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Love motored ahead of Gray and the field that had fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Love continued to lead through the Lap 55 mark, Gray retained second place ahead of Allgaier. Creed, Larson and Briscoe battled for fourth place in front of Jones, Sawalich, Day and Custer.
Following a caution that flew on Lap 57 when Clements spun through the frontstretch, the next restart on Lap 63 featured Love surging ahead with a push from Allgaier to the lead from the inside lane. Meanwhile, Gray, who was battling Love for the lead before the previous caution, restarted on the outside lane. However, he struggled to launch as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Allgaier used the outside lane to duel against Love through the frontstretch and lead the next lap. While side-drafting Love, Allgaier then used the first two turns to motor ahead of Love. He then proceeded to lead through the Lap 70 mark.
By Lap 80, Allgaier, who has led since Lap 65, retained the lead by half a second. He was followed by a hard-charging Briscoe while third-place Gray trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Love dropped to fourth place in front of Creed, Larson, Day, Zilisch, Austin Hill and Kvapil. Jones, Custer, Sawalich, Ryan Seig, Sammy Smith, Retzlaff, Thompson, Kyle Sieg, Nick Sanchez and Jeb Burton trailed in the top 20, respectively.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier captured his third O’Reilly stage victory of 2026 and his second of the day. Briscoe settled in second ahead of teammate Gray, Love and Larson. Creed, Day, Zilisch, Austin Hill and Kvapil were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the event’s second stage break period, the field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the stops, Love beat Allgaier off of pit road first with the lead and they were followed by Briscoe, Creed and Gray, respectively.
With 103 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Love and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Love used the inside lane to motor ahead and clear Allgaier to retain the lead through the first two turns. As Love led for a full lap, Creed dueled against Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Shortly after, Briscoe, who was racing within the top-10 mark, scrubbed the outside wall from Turns 3 and 4. The incident dropped Briscoe out of the top-10 mark while Love continued to lead Allgaier, Creed and Gray by less than a second at the halfway mark on Lap 100.
A few laps later, Briscoe pitted his entry under green to have a right-front tire inspected for any flattening. Back on the track, Allgaier reeled in and overtook Love to reassume the lead with 96 laps remaining. Love then returned the favor by overtaking Allgaier through the frontstretch with 91 laps remaining.
With 83 laps remaining, the caution flew when Dean Thompson and Patrick Staropoli both spun through the first two turns. During the caution period, the leaders led by Love pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Love beat the field off of pit road first, but he was then penalized for a safety violation. This was due to Love’s crew chief, Danny Stockman Jr., falling over the pit wall while trying to retrieve a changed right-front wheel that was being brought over by Love’s front-tire changer.
The next restart with 77 laps remaining featured Gray and Creed on the front row, where Gray motored ahead from the inside lane. As Gray led, Zilisch overtook Creed for the runner-up spot and they raced ahead of Larson, Day, Kvapil and Allgaier through the backstretch. With both Zilisch and Creed battling for the runner-up spot and Allgaier being mixed in a HendrickCars.com battle with Larson and Day, Gray retained the lead with 75 laps remaining.
Following another caution that flew with 69 laps remaining due to Staropoli and Josh Bilicki wrecking through the fronstretch, some that included Jones, Alfredo, Love, Briscoe, Jeb Burton and Custer pitted for service while the rest led by Gray remained on the track. Gray motored ahead of the field during the next restart with 63 laps remaining. Gray then led the next three laps until Corey Day overtook Gray through the backstretch.
Then, with 53 laps remaining, the caution flew when Gray, who was both trying to reel in Day for the lead and fend off Creed to retain the runner-up spot, tried to block Creed exiting the backstretch. With Creed staying glued to the rear of Gray’s bumper, Gray then got sideways entering Turn 3. Despite Gray’s efforts to have his entry straightened, he hit the outside wall and was knocked out of contention. During this latest caution period, nearly the entire field led by Day returned to pit road for service while Jones, Alfredo and Jeb Burton remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green with 47 laps remaining, Jones led Creed, Day and Larson from the inside lane until Larson, who restarted in seventh place, used his four fresh tires and the outside lane to surge alongside Jones through the backstretch. Larson then continued using the outside lane to motor ahead and lead for the first time during the next lap.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Larson was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Sammy Smith and by six-tenths of a second over third-place Day while Creed and Kvapil were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Briscoe rallied his way up to seventh place behind Retzlaff and he proceeded to navigate his way into the top five with 35 laps remaining while Larson continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second.
With 25 laps remaining, Larson extended his lead to nearly two seconds over Sammy Smith while Creed, Briscoe and Allgaier all trailed by two seconds. Larson had his lead grown to two seconds five laps later while Briscoe overtook Smith and Creed to move into the runner-up spot. Despite having the runner-up spot in his possession, Briscoe could not reel in Larson as the latter led by more than two seconds with 10 laps remaining.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Larson maintained his late lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Briscoe while Creed, Allgaier and Sammy Smith trailed in the top five ahead of Love, Zilisch, Day, Sawalich and Austin Hill. Over the next four laps, Larson continued to maintain his lead to more than two seconds over Briscoe.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained in the lead by more than two seconds over Briscoe. Despite being mired within minor lapped traffic, Larson cruised around Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by two-and-a-half seconds over Briscoe.
With the victory, Larson racked up his 18th career win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division, his second at Las Vegas and his first since he won at Texas Motor Speedway in May 2025. The victory was also Larson’s third driving the No. 88 entry for JR Motorsports, the third race in a row won by a JR Motorsports entry this season and it made Chevrolet five-for-five through the first five events of the 2026 O’Reilly schedule.
Saturday’s Las Vegas event was Larson’s first of three-scheduled starts in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports in this year’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. His next start will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 11.
“My car was not handling the best at all,” Larson said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I was just super, super tight loaded and I couldn’t carry any speed through the corners. I was just getting ate up on restarts, really the whole run. That last restart [with 47 laps remaining], we had some guys stay out and I had a good launch, was able to get to the middle and get some clean air. I think just me being able to run the line that allowed my front tires to build where they needed to just allow my car to be okay on the long run, I think, helped…Glad we were able to pick our way through traffic well enough. It’s always fun to get to race with [crew chief Mardy Lindley] and get another win. We got a few more [races to run], so hopefully we can get some more wins.”
Behind Larson, Chase Briscoe made a strong rally from his midway scrape into the Turns 3 and 4 wall along with pitting under green to settle in the runner-up spot.
“We had a really good WIX Filters Toyota, for one,” Briscoe said. “I knew, even with the adversity that we were dealing with, that we got a lucky break, we were going to be able to hopefully get back up there.” He continued, saying, “I think it was my own fault. I just kind of drove [the car] into the fence and cost myself. I had a lot of fun. It was certainly fun slipping and sliding around. The racetrack widens out and you can kind of run all over. Looking forward to tomorrow. Wish we could have been one spot better today.”
Sheldon Creed settled in third place while Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith rounded out the top five. Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, Corey Day, William Sawalich and Austin Hill completed the top 10, respectively, in the final running order.
There were 16 lead changes for nine different leaders. The event featured eight cautions for 42 laps. In addition, 19 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the fifth event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the standings by 13 points over Jesse Love, 29 over Austin Hill, 49 over Sheldon Creed and 64 over Carson Kvapil.
Results:
1. Kyle Larson, 47 laps led
2. Chase Briscoe, two laps led
3. Sheldon Creed, one lap led
4. Justin Allgaier 48 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
5. Sammy Smith
6. Jesse Love, 36 laps led
7. Connor Zilisch
8. Corey Day, nine laps led
9. William Sawalich
10. Austin Hill
11. Carson Kvapil
12. Parker Retzlaff
13. Brandon Jones, four laps led
14. Kyle Sieg
15. Daniel Dye
16. Josh Williams
17. Harrison Burton
18. Cole Custer
19. Rajah Caruth
20. Brennan Poole, one lap down
21. Patrick Staropoli, one lap down
22. Blaine Perkins, one lap down
23. Josh Bilicki, one lap down
24. Jeremy Clements, one lap down
25. Austin Green, one lap down
26. Lavar Scott, one lap down
27. Jeb Burton, one lap down
28. Mason Maggio, one lap down
29. Joey Gase, one lap down
30. Ryan Ellis, two laps down
31. Dean Thompson, two laps down
32. Nathan Byrd, two laps down
33. Ryan Sieg, three laps down
34. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down
35. Sam Mayer, four laps down, 32 laps led
36. Chandler Smith – OUT, Ignition
37. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led
38. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Fuel Pump
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 21, and air at 5:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM.
