NASCAR champion Kyle Larson wins at the Texas Motor Speedway

Kyle Larson kicked off his Texas Motor Speedway race weekend with a trip to victory lane in the Andy's Frozen Custard 300 (Xfinity Series). The 2021 NASCAR Cup champion accomplished the feat on short notice in the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

For the unversed, Larson took over Connor Zilisch's Xfinity seat at the Fort Worth circuit as the latter recovers from a lower back injury sustained last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway (April 26). The 18-year-old was hit by Jesse Love while in the lead on the final lap before crashing into the wall, bringing out the race-ending caution.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post, the NASCAR Xfinity Series social media team announced Kyle Larson as the winner at TMS on Saturday (May 3).

"Texas Takeover! @KyleLarsonRacin (Kyle Larson) wins at @TXMotorSpeedway (Texas Motor Speedway)," the account wrote.

The substitute driver started 20th before finishing second at the end of stage one behind fellow JRM driver Justin Allgaier. They had a close battle for the lead with 58 laps remaining, but weren't able to take it to the end. Allgaier, the defending series champ, exited the race about 13 laps later due to contact with Kris Wright.

On the final restart, Kyle Larson pulled away from Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray to take the checkered flag with a comfortable lead. He finished ahead of Gray by 1.265 seconds, with Riley Herbst coming home in third.

Kyle Larson driving the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway - Source: Imagn

Neither Larson nor Herbst received points as part-time drivers of the second-tier series, though they will return to TMS on Sunday (May 4) for the 267-lap Cup race. The former driver pilots the #5 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, while the latter drives the new #35 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing.

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"There was a lot of survival": Kyle Larson reflects on Xfinity win at Texas

Kyle Larson had a tough time navigating the field in a race filled with caution from the get-go. He also battled JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier, who he thought did a good job defending against him.

In a post-race interview, the 32-year-old Californian shared his thoughts on his drive at Texas Motor Speedway, saying (via NASCAR):

"There was a lot of survival. I felt like throughout that race, just dodging some wrecks... balance we had to work on quite a bit. So, it was fun. I feel like my car, though, if I could ever get to lead, I could stretch out. I just couldn't get by Justin (Allgaier), and he was doing a good job of just running where I needed to be."

Larson thanked JR Motorsports, an Xfinity Series team owned by 26-time Cup race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., for letting him drive the #88.

"Thanks to JRM for letting me come run this thing here today. Obviously, wish Connor (Zilisch) was in the car, but means a lot that they thought of me to call up to run this thing," the Chevy pilot said.

"Had a lot of fun today and cool to get another win here," he concluded.

The triumph at TMS marks Larson's second win in the 2025 Xfinity Series season. His first win came at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he led 277 of 300 laps in the #17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.