Kyle Larson prevailed in a 17-lap shootout and a late challenge from teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 2.
The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led five times for a race-high 93 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he took the green flag from third place and spent the early portions of the event racing towards the front. After finishing in the top-five mark during the event’s first two stage periods and having a brief sniff at the lead during the second stage period, Larson executed a bold three-wide move in between teammate Connor Zilisch and Brent Crews that even involved on-track contact to storm to the lead with 95 laps remaining.
After dominating the final stage period, Larson held a steady advantage over teammate Justin Allgaier when a late-race caution with 22 laps remaining briefly stalled his run to victory. Through a 17-lap shootout, Larson utilized defensive driving to fend off Allgaier throughout the run to pilot the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry from JR Motorsports to his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory of the 2026 season and his second in a row at Texas.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, May 1, Justin Allgaier nabbed his first O’Reilly pole position of the 2026 season with a pole-winning lap at 188.607 mph in 28.631 seconds. Allgaier shared the front row with Brandon Jones, the latter of whom posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 188.075 mph in 28.712 seconds.
Prior to the event, Ryan Sieg and Ryan Ellis dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. Lavar Scott also started at the rear of the field due to an engine change to his No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry.
When the green flag waved, and the event commenced, pole-sitter Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones briefly dueled through the frontstretch until Allgaier motored his No. 7 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead from the inside lane and with the lead through the first two turns. Shortly after, the event’s first caution flew when Taylor Gray, who was racing within the top-15 mark, got clipped sideways by Carson Kvapil, as both he and teammate William Sawalich, the latter of whom got hit by Jeb Burton, spun through the first two turns.
At the front of this incident, Corey Day, who started in sixth place and was coming off his first O’Reilly career victory at Talladega Superspeedway, washed up the track entering the backstretch and smacked the outside wall. Day’s incident damaged the right side and the decklid of his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry and evaporated his hopes of winning the fourth Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of this season as he dropped out of race contention.
The next restart on the sixth lap featured Allgaier motoring away from the field through the frontstretch and from the inside lane before he continued to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Allgaier led the next lap, Brandon Jones retained second place over Connor Zilisch while Kyle Larson, who had an early stab for the runner-up spot, dropped to fourth place in front of Brent Crews as Crews recovered from being dead sideways a lap prior.
The caution, however, returned seconds later due to Austin Green getting hit by Josh Williams and spinning through the first two turns, where the former then barely clipped Mason Maggio and sent Maggio for a spin towards the backstretch’s outside wall. During the caution period, the driver of the Chevrolet Corvette pace car had to take evasive action to avoid Maggio’s wrecked entry as Maggio tried to pull up the track and drive away from the carnage scene in the backstretch.
As the event restarted on Lap 12, Allgaier used the inside lane to motor away from the field through the frontstretch for a second consecutive time. He proceeded to lead the next lap over Jones while Larson navigated his way up to third place in front of Zilisch. While Brent Crews and Sheldon Creed battled for fifth place, Allgaier stretched his lead to eight-tenths of a second over Jones by Lap 15.
On Lap 17, the event’s third caution flew due to Brad Perez getting loose off of Turn 4 and hitting the right side of Austin Green while trying to straighten his entry. As a result of the contact with Green, Perez then shot back across the track and hit the frontstretch’s outside wall head-on, which further damaged the front end of his entry, and slid through the frontstretch as Lavar Scott spun to avoid Perez.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 24, Allgaier fended off teammate Larson through the frontstretch and the first two turns with the lead. As teammate Connor Zilisch, who restarted fifth and used a bold move beneath Crews and Jones to move into third, overtook Larson for the runner-up spot, Allgaier led the next lap. Meanwhile, Jones dropped to fifth place behind teammate Brent Crews before both Jones and Creed dropped Crews out of the top-five mark. Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Jeremy Clements and Jesse Love pursued in the top-10 mark as Allgaier stretched his lead to more than a second.
Through the first 30 laps, Allgaier was leading by nearly two seconds over Zilisch and by three seconds over Larson while Jones and Crews pursued in the top five ahead of Sheldon Creed, Mayer, Hill, Clements and Love. Behind, Kyle Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Retzlaff, Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Ryan Sieg and Carson Kvapil trailed in the top-20, respectively, as Allgaier added another second to his advantage, where he led by more than three seconds over Zilisch at the Lap 35 mark.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier, who was leading by more than three seconds, captured his fifth O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Teammates Zilisch and Larson settled in second and third, respectively, while Jones, Crews, Creed, Mayer, Hill, Clements and Parker Retzlaff were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 28 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the event’s first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead by exiting pit road first ahead of Zilisch, Larson, Jones and Crews. Amid the pit stops, Brennan Poole was penalized for vehicle interference.
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as teammates Allgaier and Zilisch occupied the front row in front of teammate Larson, Jones, Crews and Creed. At the start, Allgaier and Zilisch dueled for the lead before Zilisch used the outside lane to briefly motor his No. 1 Registix/TruckClub Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead. With Allgaier slipping to third place, Larson went beneath Zilisch through the backstretch and motored ahead with the lead, where he led the next lap. Zilisch and Larson swapped the lead three times over the next three laps before the former retained it for good by Lap 57.
Just past the Lap 60 mark, Zilisch was leading by more than a second over Larson, Allgaier and Crews while fifth-place Jones trailed by two seconds. Behind, Mayer, Retzlaff, Hill, Creed and Ryan Sieg were racing in the top-10 mark ahead of Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Jesse Love, Dean Thompson, and Kvapil, as Harrison Burton, Taylor Gray, Clements, Caruth and Alfredo were mired in the top-20 mark ahead of Kyle Sieg, Austin Dillon, Lavar Scott, Blaine Perkins and Josh Williams, respectively.
Following another caution that flew from Laps 68 to 71 due to debris that was detected across the backstretch and occurred due to Austin Dillon shredding a right-front tire, the event restarted on Lap 71. At the start, Zilisch motored ahead with the lead from the inside lane and after he received a strong push from Crews. Through the first two turns, Allgaier used the outside lane to battle Crews for the runner-up spot. As the field led by Zilisch cycled back to the frontstretch to complete another lap, Allgaier prevailed in the battle for second place and Mayer joined the battle by overtaking Crews for third place.
During the next lap, Allgaier motored away with the runner-up spot and tried to reel in Zilisch. Behind, Crews fended off Mayer and Larson for third place and Larson engaged in a tight battle with Mayer for fourth place while Jones and Retzlaff tried to reel in from behind.
At the Lap 80 mark, Zilisch stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Allgaier and Crews while Larson and Mayer trailed in the top five, respectively. As Jones, Retzlaff, Hill, Creed and Sawalich trailed by as far back as six seconds in the top-10 mark, Zilisch maintained his advantage to a full second over Crews while third-place Allgaier trailed by one-and-a-half seconds.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Zilisch fended off a late charge from Crews by a tenth of a second to capture the stage victory. Crews settled in second ahead of Allgaier, Larson and Mayer while Jones, Retzlaff, Hill, Creed and Sawalich were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the event’s second stage break period, the lead lap field led by Zilisch returned to pit road for a second round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Zilisch retained the lead by exiting pit road first ahead of Crews, Larson, Allgaier and Jones, respectively.
With 103 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Zilisch and Crews occupied the front row in front of Larson, Jones, Allgaier and Retzlaff. At the start, Zilisch gained the upper hand through the frontstretch and the first two turns as he led from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Zilisch cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap over Larson and Crews while Allgaier occupied fourth place in front of a bevy of competitors that included Hill, Mayer, Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Sawalich, Kvapil, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Love.
At the event’s official halfway mark with 100 laps remaining, Zilisch retained the lead by half a second over teammate Larson while Crews, who trailed by seven-tenths of a second, dropped to third place. Then four laps later, Larson got underneath Zilisch as both drag-raced through the backstretch. Their side-by-side battle allowed Crews to reel in and join the battle. Seconds later, Larson got loose underneath Zilisch and slightly went up the track, which allowed Crews to get beneath both Larson and Zilisch amid a tight three-wide move. With the trio making contact against one another, Larson, who was pinned in the middle of the three-wide scuffle, managed to motor ahead and lead with 95 laps remaining.
Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by three seconds over runner-up Crews and by more than four seconds over third-place Allgaier. Meanwhile, Jones and Retzlaff cracked the top-five mark while Zilisch, who trailed the lead by nearly eight seconds, dropped to sixth place in the leaderboard. Hill, Mayer, Kvapil and Sammy Smith occupied the remaining top-10 spots over Sawalich, Creed, Clements, Love and Ryan Sieg as Larson stabilized his lead to three seconds over Crews with 70 laps remaining.
With 60 laps remaining, Larson increased his advantage to four seconds over Crews as Allgaier, Jones, Retzlaff, Hill, Kvapil, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Sawalich all raced in the top-10 mark, with the latter trailing as far back as 16 seconds. Meanwhile, Zilisch, who had been methodically losing spots and pitted five laps earlier under green flag conditions due to a flat right-front tire, was mired two laps down in 28th place.
A lap later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops ensued as Kvapil surrendered his spot within the top-10 mark by pitting his No. 9 Arby’s BBQ Chevrolet Camaro entry. Richard Childress Racing’s Hill and Love pitted during the next two laps before Allgaier, Retzlaff and Mayer pitted their respective Chevrolet entries with 56 laps remaining.
The leader, Larson, along with Crews and Jones, pitted simultaneously shortly after as Sawalich, Alfredo, Dean Thompson, and others pitted. At the conclusion of the pit stops, Larson cycled back on track ahead of Allgaier, Jones, and Crews. Larson then officially cycled back to the overall lead with 51 laps remaining after Rajah Caruth pitted.
With 40 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than two seconds over Allgaier while Crews trailed in third place by five seconds. Fourth-place Jones trailed the lead by nearly seven seconds, and fifth-place Retzlaff trailed by nine seconds while Hill, Kvapil, Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Creed occupied the remaining top-10 spots ahead of Love, Clements, Alfredo, and Zilisch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap.
Ten laps later, Larson’s advantage slightly decreased to 1.889 seconds over Allgaier, though the latter was unable to gain significant ground on the former. Meanwhile, third-place Crews trailed by nearly five seconds while top-five competitors Jones and Retzlaff both trailed by as far back as nine seconds in the top-five mark.
Then, with 22 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Rajah Caruth getting loose entering Turn 2. He then veered to the right, hit the outside wall, spun down the track, and hit the inside wall on the right side while facing backwards. At the time of caution, Larson was leading by 1.617 seconds over Allgaier, while only 12 competitors were scored on the lead lap. During this latest caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Larson retained the lead by exiting pit road first over Jones, Allgaier, Crews, and Hill, respectively.
The ensuing restart with 17 laps remaining featured Larson muscling ahead of the field through the frontstretch and using the preferred inside lane as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first two turns. Amid a series of late jostling for spots, Larson led the next lap by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier and Jones. As Mayer jumped to third place in front of Crews, Jones, Creed, Retzlaff, Hill, Love and Clements, Larson methodically added one-tenth of a second to his advantage over the next three laps. By the time the event reached its final 10-lap mark, he was leading by half a second over Allgaier.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Larson, who had his advantage shrink to a tenth of a second a lap prior, went on the defensive. He kept Allgaier trailing behind, maintaining the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allgaier. Allgaier reduced his deficit to a tenth of a second during the next lap, and Larson grew it back to two-tenths for the following lap before Allgaier reeled in to trail by a tenth of a second with two laps remaining.
When the white flag waved, and the final lap started, Larson remained in the lead by a tenth of a second over Allgaier. Through the first two turns, Larson went on defensive mode as he kept Allgaier squarely behind his rear bumper. With Allgaier trying to reel Larson back down through the backstretch, he tried to use the outside lane to draw even with Larson through Turns 3 and 4.
But Larson used the inside lane to maintain the lead and slightly pull away. With Allgaier unable to recover, Larson cruised back through the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier.
With the victory, Larson, who led a race-high 93 laps, notched his 19th NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career victory in his 124th series start, his second of the 2026 season and his third overall at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson, who achieved the victory in his fourth and final O’Reilly scheduled start of the 2026 season, also won for the fourth time driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports. Larson’s Texas O’Reilly victory marked the seventh win of this season for JR Motorsports and the 10th for Chevrolet.
“I really didn’t think I had a chance there with Justin [Allgaier] behind me,” Larson said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “He was really good and catching me there on that long run after the green flag stop. [I] Was just hoping cleaner I could kind of stretch away like I did the run before to start Stage 3. He was just really good behind me, and he could run a lot of different lanes back there, too. I was trying to do what I could to take his air away while also maintaining a good corner for myself, but man, he was always closing on me. Thanks to him for racing me clean there. He could have easily got in the back of me. I could tell he was trying to pack some air to get me free. That was a great little run to the end there.”
Meanwhile, Allgaier, who led 54 laps, was left disappointed on pit road after he was outdueled by Larson, which prevented him from winning at Texas for the first time ever. Amid the disappointment, Allgaier increased his points lead to 121 over Sheldon Creed.
“I felt like the shot run for us is a little bit of a struggle, I guess, all day,” Allgaier said. “We were on the splitter a little too hard to fire off on those runs, and really, that was the difference maker at the end of the race. I’m disappointed. Without contact, I don’t know that there’s any way to get around [Larson], and I tried every lane I could possibly try and just unfortunately come up short. I’m gonna go back and watch this [race] a bunch and try to figure out what I could have done better…One of us had to win, right? We very could have easily wrecked there and either one of us won. We both finished one, two. It’s a good points day for us again, and we’ll move on to next week.”
As Larson celebrated an O’Reilly race victory, rookie Brent Crews emerged victorious in his own form. By emerging as the highest-finishing Dash 4 Cash contender in fourth place on the track and ahead of Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, and Corey Day, Crews pocketed the fourth and final $100,000 bonus of the 2026 season. Crews, who achieved the bonus for the first time ever in his inaugural O’Reilly campaign, also notched his fourth consecutive top-five result and sixth top-10 result through eight starts this season.
“This Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was as fast as it could be,” Crews said. “Just needed a little bit there more at the end. Just go a little tight, but other than that, I had a blast there at the end, getting to race Larson and Allgaier and Sam [Mayer]. Great points day for this team. Ready to keep learning.”
Sam Mayer came home in third place ahead of Crews, while Parker Retzlaff notched his second top-five result of the 2026 season by finishing in fifth place. Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Jesse Love, and Jeremy Clements completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured seven cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 12th event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the standings by 121 points over Sheldon Creed, 167 over Jesse Love, 198 over Corey Day, and 204 over Brandon Jones.
Results:
- Kyle Larson, 93 laps led
- Justin Allgaier, 54 laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Sam Mayer
- Brent Crews, two laps led
- Parker Retzlaff
- Sheldon Creed
- Austin Hill
- Brandon Jones
- Jesse Love
- Jeremy Clements
- Carson Kvapil
- Anthony Alfredo
- Sammy Smith
- Ryan Sieg, one lap led
- William Sawalich
- Dean Thompson
- Patrick Staropoli
- Josh Williams
- Lavar Scott
- Brennan Poole
- Connor Zilisch, one lap down, 48 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Harrison Burton, one lap down
- Austin Dillon, one lap down
- Ryan Ellis, one lap down
- Blaine Perkins, one lap down
- Jeb Burton, one lap down
- Josh Bilicki, two laps down
- Joey Gase, two laps down
- David Starr, three laps down
- Kyle Sieg, four laps down
- Garrett Smithley, six laps down
- Mason Maggio, 11 laps down
- Taylor Gray, 12 laps down
- Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident, two laps led
- Austin Green – OUT, Accident
- Brad Perez – OUT, Accident
- Corey Day – OUT, DVP
- Dawson Cram – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the Mission 200 at The Glen (Watkins Glen International) in Watkins Glen, New York. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 9, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN, and SiriusXM.
