NASCAR
Kyle Larson Has the Hot Hand Late in Las Vegas O’Reilly Series Race
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Entering Saturday with the shortest odds, Kyle Larson was money when it mattered in Las Vegas. The Hendrick Motorsports star making his first O’Reilly Series appearance of the year wheeled the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to a clutch victory. Taking command with 47 laps to go, Larson never looked back. Combined between both series, this marks a fifth Las Vegas win for the reigning Cup champion.
Both stages were dominated by defending winner Justin Allgaier, who started fourth and quickly found the lead. Not only was Allgaier going for back-to-back in Las Vegas, he was also trying to earn a second consecutive win after last week’s Phoenix triumph. Having added track time from Cup Series practice earlier on Saturday seemed to help Allgaier further hone his craft.
Pit strategies in the final stage jumbled up the running order, forcing Allgaier to lose a few spots. This exchange briefly gave rookie Corey Day clean air, his first ever O’Reilly laps led. The student was no match for his master, Kyle Larson, however. With fresh tires on the lap 154 restart, the No. 88 shot out of a cannon and soon built up a large lead. Thanks to no further cautions, Larson eventually drove off to a winning margin of two-and-a-half seconds.
“I finally remembered what (Cooper, son) told me and decided to go faster,” Larson said. “No, but my car was not handling the best at all. Just super super tight loaded. I couldn’t carry any speed through the corners, and I was getting ate up on restarts, really the whole run. That last restart 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 allowed my car to be okay on the long run. I think that helped. So I was a bit nervous. I knew the 00 [Creed] and Briscoe were ripping the top. I tried it once, and I didn’t feel good up there at all. Glad we were able to pick our way through traffic well enough. We got a few more, so hopefully we can get some more wins.”
“I got to see a lot of racing out the windshield because I was just an average, mid-pack guy for most of it. It was good, really good racing. Corey [Day] was fun to watch, he was sideways like the whole time. I was like ‘man if I could just get some of his turn, I could look really good.’ He did a good job. I don’t know if you saw on boards of him, people behind him, but he was sideways. So that was cool to see. Clean air must’ve meant a lot today, so I’m glad we were able to get the lead when it mattered.”
Larson’s first O’Reilly Series showing of 2026 ends with career victory number 18 for the California driver. This ties Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger at 19th on the series’ all-time wins list. Expect Larson to have ample more winning opportunities this season.
Chase Briscoe was a distant second behind Larson, after recovering from wall contact and a flat tire late. Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Sammy Smith were the top five. The rest of the top 10 were: Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, Corey Day, William Sawalich, and Austin Hill. Despite losing out on the Las Vegas win, Allgaier retains the points lead by 13 markers over Love.
Kyle Larson will have a prime chance at a weekend sweep in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400. The No. 5 HendrickCars.Com Chevrolet Camaro will roll off in the fifth position.
O’Reilly Series cars will be back in action next Saturday from Darlington Raceway. The Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 goes green at 5:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credits to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
