Cup Series champ Kyle Larson tries his hand in the Xfinity Series now and then, but he wasn’t originally on the roster for the May 3rd, 2025 race at Texas Motor Speedway. He jumped into the No. 88 NASCAR Chevy as a substitute driver for Connor Zilisch, who was injured in a wreck at Talladega last weekend, and he took that borrowed race car right to Victory Lane.
Larson never strayed far from the front of the Xfinity Series field while Zilisch looked on from the infield. In fact, by Lap 188, Larson held the lead by more than six seconds over P2 and looked like he was going to hold that gap right to the checkered flag when Corey Day wrecked into the Turn 3 tire barrier. Ironically, Day was driving the No. 17 NASCAR Chevy, which Larson himself raced to the Xfinity Series win at Bristol last month.
Larson’s crew chief elected to pull the No. 88 NASCAR Chevy onto Pit Road for a final stop. When the race went green, Larson had to fend off Taylor Gray’s Toyota and defending Texas winner Sam Mayer in the closing laps. After two Overtime finishes, Larson crossed the line 1.265 seconds ahead of the runner-up Gray as Mayer’s Chevy plummeted through the field.
“It was a lot of survival, I felt like in that race,” Larson said. “I got in some wrecks, the balance we had to work on quite a bit. So, it was fun. I felt like if I could ever get the lead, I could stretch it out, but I couldn’t get by Justin (Allgaier). He was running where I needed to be.”
He added, “Thanks to JRM for letting me come run this thing here today. Obviously, I wish Connor was in the car, but it means a lot that they thought of me to call up to run this thing.”
The Xfinity Series has two weeks off, with the next race scheduled for Charlotte on May 24th, 2025. At this time, it’s not clear if Zilisch will be back behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevy when the series returns.
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Good win!