Kyle Larson holds off Justin Allgaier for thrilling Texas win

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

Kyle Larson narrowly defeated Justin Allgaier in an exciting finish at Texas.

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

However, Kyle Larson, whom Overstreet referenced as the G.O.A.T., proved to be too formidable for Allgaier during a 17-lap green-flag run to the finish. Although Allgaier closed in on Larson in the final laps, he was unable to overtake his JR Motorsports teammate, who secured his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts victory in four starts this season.

“I really didn’t think I had a chance with Justin behind me,” said Larson, who edged out Allgaier by 0.293 seconds. “He was very strong, catching me on that long run after the earlier green-flag stop on Lap 145 of 200.

“I was hoping to pull away in clean air, as I did at the start of stage 3, but he managed to stay behind me, running various lines. I tried to disrupt his airflow while maintaining a good corner for myself, but he was consistently closing in.

“I appreciate him racing me cleanly… it was a great run to the finish.”

This victory marked Larson’s second consecutive win at Texas, his third overall, and the 18th in his series career.

Although Allgaier equaled his best finish at Texas and extended his series lead to 121 points over second-place Sheldon Creed, the disappointment was evident on his face.

“Without making contact, I’m not sure there was a way to pass him. I tried everything I could and unfortunately came up short,” said Allgaier, a three-time winner this season. “A JR Motorsports 1-2 finish is significant…

“I’ll review this race multiple times to see what I could have improved.”

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 Lap 184 restart.

Allgaier quickly overtook Jones and pursued Larson, using the top lane to close the gap on his teammate. Despite reaching Larson’s bumper in the final laps, he was unable to pass for the win.

Sam Mayer finished third, ahead of rookie Brent Crews, who earned a $100,000 bonus as the highest-finishing eligible Dash 4 Cash driver. This was Crews’ first payout in the final Dash 4 Cash event of the season.

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

The race featured seven cautions (for 36 laps), the first being a five-car wreck on the opening lap.

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

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

“Starting outside, you have to navigate the first corner,” Day said. “I didn’t feel faster than those ahead, but suddenly I was sideways, and there’s no recovering from that in Turn 2.

“I regret it for my team. We had a strong car, and to ruin it on the first lap is disappointing.”

Larson led for 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 dropping to 21st in the final segment.

Larson, Crews, and Zilisch provided a thrilling moment on Lap 105, running three-wide through Turn 4 and making contact before Larson took the lead. Larson was amazed that all three cars emerged unscathed.