May 2, 2026 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Kyle Larson holds off Justin Allgaier for thrilling Texas win

FORT WORTH, Texas—During the final caution of Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway crew chief Andrew Overstreet radioed an encouraging message to pole winner Justin Allgaier.

“Nothing stops a hungry gator,” said Overstreet, referencing Allgaier’s Little Gator nickname. “Not even the so-called ‘Greatest of All-Time.’”

But Kyle Larson, the G.O.A.T Overstreet referenced, proved too much for Allgaier during a 17-lap green-flag run to the finish. Though Allgaier caught Larson in the closing circuits, he couldn’t find a way past his JR Motorsports teammate, who won his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts event in four starts this season.

“I really didn’t think I had a chance there with Justin behind me,” said Larson, who beat Allgaier to the finish line by 0.293 seconds. “He was really good, catching me there on that long run after the (earlier) green-flag stop (on Lap 145 of 200).

“I was just hoping in clean air I could kind of get away, like I did the run before to start stage 3, but he was (able to get) 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 he was always closing on me.

“Thanks to him for racing me clean… that was a great little run to the end there.”

The victory was Larson’s second straight at Texas and third overall and the 18th in the series of his career.

Though Allgaier matched his best finish at Texas and increased his series lead to 121 points over second-place Sheldon Creed, the disappointment was etched in the face of the runner-up.

“Without contact, I don’t know if there was any way to get around him, and I tried everything I could possibly try and just unfortunately came up short,” said Allgaier, a three-time winner this season. “JR Motorsports 1-2, obviously that’s a big deal…

“I don’t know. I’m going to go back and watch this one a bunch and try to figure out what I could have done better.”

Larson was first off pit road under caution for Rajah Caruth’s crash off Turn 2 on Lap 179. Allgaier was third behind Brandon Jones and lined up behind Larson in the bottom lane for the Lap184 restart.

Allgaier quickly cleared Jones and took off in pursuit of Larson, using the top lane to gain time on his teammate. Though Allgaier got to Larson’s bumper in the closing laps, he was stymied in his efforts to pass for the win.

Sam Mayer finished third, one spot ahead of rookie Brent Crews, who collected a $100,000 bonus as the highest-finishing eligible Dash 4 Cash driver. It was the first such payout for Crews in the final Dash 4 Cash event of the season.

Parker Retzlaff came home fifth, followed by Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Jones, Jesse Love and Jeremy Clements.

The race was punctuated by seven cautions (for 36 laps), the first of which was a bifurcated five-car wreck on the opening lap.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Corey Day entered the race fourth in the series standings and exited the event after a hard crash into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 1.

Day started the race sixth in the outside lane and lost control near the exit of one of NASCAR’s most treacherous corners.

“Starting outside, you’ve got to run up there through the first corner,” Day said. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel like I was faster through the corner than the guys in front of me, but I was all good, and all of a sudden I’m sideways, and there’s no saving it coming off of (Turn) 2 like that.

“I hate it for my 17 guys. We had such a good car yesterday, and for me to go ruin it lake that on the first lap of the race, I feel terrible.”

Larson led a race-high 93 laps, followed by Allgaier (54), who won the first 45-lap stage wire-to-wire. Connor Zilisch won Stage 2 before fading to 21st in the final segment.

Larson, Crews and Zilisch provided a breathtaking moment on Lap 105, running three-wide through Turn 4 and bouncing off each other before Larson took the lead. Larson was amazed all three cars escaped without harm.

“I thought for sure it was going to be big,” said Larson, who will race as defending NASCAR Cup Series champion in Sunday’s Wurth 400 Presented by LIQUI MOLY (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).



NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 12
Race Results for the Andy's Frozen Custard 340 - Saturday, May 2, 2026
Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX - 1.5 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/2/2026 @ 06:16 PM Eastern

                                                    Stage 1  Stage 2
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts  Pos          Pos Status Tms Laps

1 3 88 Kyle Larson(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200 3 4 0 Running 5 93
2 1 7 Justin Allgaier Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 200 1 3 54 Running 2 54
3 17 41 Sam Mayer Andy's Frozen Custard 40th Anniv Chevrolet 200 7 5 44 Running
4 5 19 Brent Crews # Mobil 1 Toyota 200 5 2 48 Running 2 2
5 10 99 Parker Retzlaff Fentanyl Free America Chevrolet 200 10 7 37 Running
6 11 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Chevrolet 200 6 9 38 Running
7 7 21 Austin Hill Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet 200 8 8 36 Running
8 2 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Sylvania Toyota 200 4 6 41 Running
9 21 2 Jesse Love Samsara Chevrolet 200 28 Running
10 8 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 200 9 29 Running
11 14 9 Carson Kvapil Arby's BBQ Chevrolet 200 26 Running
12 18 96 Anthony Alfredo Big Rack Spirits Chevrolet 200 25 Running
13 15 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 200 24 Running
14 9 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps/GEMORO Chevrolet 200 23 Running 1 1
15 16 18 William Sawalich Starkey Toyota 200 10 23 Running
16 22 26 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group/Big River Toyota 200 21 Running
17 28 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 200 20 Running
18 26 92 Josh Williams Optum Chevrolet 200 19 Running
19 37 45 Lavar Scott # Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet 200 18 Running
20 27 44 Brennan Poole Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet 200 17 Running
21 4 1 Connor Zilisch(i) Registix/TruckClub Chevrolet 199 2 1 0 Running 3 48
22 24 24 Harrison Burton Pit Boss Competition Series/Academy Toyota 199 15 Running
23 20 3 Austin Dillon(i) Boot Barn Chevrolet 199 0 Running
24 38 02 Ryan Ellis Eclipse Claims Consulting Chevrolet 199 13 Running
25 29 31 Blaine Perkins WERNER Chevrolet 199 12 Running
26 25 27 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 199 11 Running
27 33 07 Josh Bilicki Stand Ready Apparel Chevrolet 198 10 Running
28 36 55 Joey Gase Stripes TV Chevrolet 198 9 Running
29 35 53 David Starr Clean Burn Chevrolet 197 8 Running
30 23 28 Kyle Sieg SynerFuse Chevrolet 196 7 Running
31 32 0 Garrett Smithley Trophy Tractor Chevrolet 194 6 Running
32 30 91 Mason Maggio Success Unlocked Chevrolet 189 5 Running
33 12 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 188 4 Running
34 13 32 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 180 3 Accident 1 2
35 19 87 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 17 2 Accident
36 34 42 Brad Perez Weiss Sand & Clay Chevrolet 17 1 Accident
37 6 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 1 1 DVP
38 31 35 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 1 1 Engine


Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 23 Secs. Average Speed: 149.522 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.293 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 1, 88, 20, 19, 00, 41, 21, 51, 99
Stage 2 Top 10: 1, 19, 7, 88, 41, 20, 99, 21, 00, 18

Race Comments: Kyle Larson has won the Andy's Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 19th victory in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 02, 39 (Unapproved Adjustment) and No. 45 (Engine).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps; Laps: 2-6 (#9, 54, 17, 18, 27 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 9-12 (#87, 91 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 19-24 (#87, 42, 45 Incident Fronstretch [91]); 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [07]); 68-71 (Debris [3]); 92-97 (Stage 2 Conclusion [55]); 180-183 (#32 Incident Turn 2 [2]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 6 drivers; J. Allgaier 1-53; K. Larson(i) 54; C. Zilisch(i) 55; K. Larson(i) 56; C. Zilisch(i) 57-93; B. Crews # 94; C. Zilisch(i) 95-104; K. Larson(i) 105-144; B. Crews # 145; R. Sieg 146; R. Caruth 147-148; K. Larson(i) 149-179; J. Allgaier 180; K. Larson(i) 181-200.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: May 9, 2026 - Watkins Glen International

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CURRENT O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 12 0 598 0 0 3 5
2. Sheldon Creed 00 12 0 477 -121 121 1 0
3. Jesse Love 2 12 0 431 -167 46 0 2
4. Corey Day 17 12 0 400 -198 31 1 2
5. Brandon Jones 20 12 0 394 -204 6 0 2
6. Sammy Smith 8 12 0 376 -222 18 0 1
7. Austin Hill 21 12 1 357 -241 19 1 4
8. Carson Kvapil 9 12 -1 357 -241 0 0 1
9. Parker Retzlaff 99 12 1 329 -269 28 0 0
10. Taylor Gray 54 12 -1 306 -292 23 1 0
11. William Sawalich 18 12 0 303 -295 3 1 0
12. Sam Mayer 41 12 2 285 -313 18 0 1
13. Ryan Sieg 39 12 0 277 -321 8 0 0
14. Brent Crews # 19 8 1 273 -325 4 0 0
15. Rajah Caruth 32 12 -3 271 -327 2 0 1
16. Brennan Poole 44 12 0 238 -360 33 0 0

7. Dean Thompson 26 12 1 217 -381 21 0 0
18. Jeb Burton 27 12 -1 211 -387 6 0 0
19. Jeremy Clements 51 12 1 208 -390 3 0 0
20. Anthony Alfredo 96 12 1 202 -396 6 0 0