By David Morgan, Associate Editor
FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Larson had a rearview mirror full of his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier all the way to the finish of Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard, but was able to hold him off to capture the win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Allgaier started the day from pole and led the way for the duration of the first stage of the race, with a third JRM entry piloted by Connor Zilisch winning the second stage before Larson took command in the final stage.
Despite holding a steady lead as the laps wound down, a caution with 20 laps to go would re-rack the field for another shot at taking down Larson.
On the restart, Larson and Allgaier would separate themselves from the field, setting the stage for a one-on-one battle to the end. As the laps clicked away, Allgaier grew ever larger in Larson’s rear-view, trying to figure out the weak spots in Larson’s defense to try and surpass him and take the victory for himself.
However, the defensive front employed by Larson was just enough to keep Allgaier at bay as he was able to streak across the line 0.294 seconds ahead to claim the victory.
“I really didn’t think I had a chance there with Justin behind me,” said Larson. “He was really good and catching me on that long run after the green flag stop and was just hoping clean air, I could just stretch away like I did the run before to start Stage 3.
“I don’t know. 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 gotten in the back of me. I could tell he was trying to pack some air and get me free, but yeah, that was a great little run to the end there.”
Allgaier noted afterwards that it really came down to track position in the end to determine which of the two would walk away with the trophy.
“Really, just track position,” Allgaier said. “I felt like we fought that short run kind of all night or all day. Just being a little bit too hard on the splitter, on the short run. And it got me behind early. I think that’s the biggest thing.
“The one restart we got kind of way behind and got back to fourth or fifth and had to battle our way back through there. And I think that that’s the hard part. There’s so many good teams and good cars…I thought it really was going to come down to a three or four car battle there at the end with two teammates and just in the last restart, the first three or four laps, I was just too out on the splitter and couldn’t catch him.
“And then once we did, he was able to block all the lanes I needed. I thought we were going to get in a pretty big moment there off [Turn] 2. I got to his outside and he kind of run me up over the top and I didn’t know what to do at that point. Right?
“I mean, without contact, I don’t know how you get by him. And listen, I’ve done this a long time and contact’s great, but it just as easily puts the guy behind you in the catbird seat. And we needed a JR Motorsports win today regardless if it was him or me. And I think we did what we needed to do. It’s a good points day. Just frustrated we’re going to come out of here at Texas without a win.”
Sam Mayer posted his best finish of the season with a third-place result, followed by Brent Crews, who captured the $100k Dash 4 Cash payday, and Parker Retzlaff rounding out the top-five finishers.
Mayer, who was a part of a photo finish at Texas back in 2024, explained that he is pleased with the way the track raced on Saturday and expected it to only get better as the years progress.
“Team was ripping today. Really proud of everyone on Haas Factory Team. Yeah, just really good points day. We needed this so bad. We needed a breath of fresh air and we got it today,” said Mayer.
“This place is turning into a really fun racetrack. It’s crazy as that sounds for everybody at home. But yeah, we were getting after it today. There was like two or three times I thought it was going to wreck and we kept it going. So yeah, just really good day. We needed this for sure.”
He also added a positive outlook for Sunday’s Cup race based on Saturday’s result and how the track widened out throughout the day.
“We were a full car width, like a full lane higher than we were at the end of last year. I feel like that’s just the drivers just trying to get adventurous,” Mayer explained.
“Everyone’s just trying to find new ways to make speed and the more people that clean it off and rub it in, it’s going to be better up there. So, last year I was one of the few that were willing to do it. That’s why I didn’t get as wide, but it’s going to be pretty wide tomorrow. I’m excited.”
The remainder of the top-10 went to Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Jesse Love, and Jeremy Clements.
Next up for the O’Reilly Series will be a trip to upstate New York for a little road course racing at Watkins Glen International, scheduled for 4:00 pm next Saturday on The CW.
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