In a race filled with twists and turns, Kyle Larson captured Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway thanks to a decisive pit strategy call by crew chief Mardy Lindley that transformed what appeared to be certain defeat into a thrilling double-overtime victory.

With just 12 laps remaining in the scheduled distance and cruising with a commanding six-second lead, Larson’s path to victory seemed all but assured. Then, Corey Day crashed his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet—ironically the same car Larson had driven to victory at Bristol earlier this season—into the tire barrier in Turn 3, bringing out the ninth caution of the afternoon.

In that critical moment, crew chief Mardy Lindley made the call that would ultimately decide the race.

“We’ve got to stop to win,” Lindley radioed to Larson, who was substituting for the injured Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

While six competitors opted to stay out on older tires, Larson followed his crew chief’s guidance and pitted for fresh rubber. The decision initially placed him seventh for the restart on lap 194, but the tire advantage proved decisive as the race extended through two overtime periods.

After moving from third to second during the first overtime restart, Larson seized the lead from defending race winner Sam Mayer in the second overtime and pulled away to win by 1.265 seconds over Taylor Gray, who himself surged from fourth to second in the final two laps.

“It was a lot of survival, I felt like in that race,” Larson said in Victory Lane. “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.”

The victory marked Larson’s second of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, his second at Texas Motor Speedway, and the 17th of his career in NASCAR’s second-tier series.

What made Larson’s victory even more impressive was that he had to charge through the field not once, but twice during the race. After starting from the 20th position, Larson worked his way forward only to be sent to the rear following the first stage break due to an uncontrolled tire penalty during a pit stop.

“Thanks to JRM for letting me come run this thing here today,” Larson added. “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.

For much of the afternoon, Larson’s JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier appeared to be the driver to beat. Allgaier led a race-high 99 laps and repeatedly kept Larson at bay until a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the final stage reshuffled the running order.

It was during this pit sequence that Allgaier’s promising day came to an abrupt end. Running 12th after pitting on lap 153, Allgaier rapidly closed on Kris Wright’s No. 5 Chevrolet near the exit of Turn 4. Wright drifted up the track into Allgaier’s line, and despite Allgaier’s attempt to avoid contact by moving inside, the two cars made contact. Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet slammed into the outside wall in the tri-oval before sliding down onto the infield grass, ending his race.

Despite the disappointing conclusion to what had been a strong performance, Allgaier displayed remarkable sportsmanship in his post-crash comments.

“The hard part is, ultimately it falls on my shoulders,” Allgaier said. “We’d about gotten crashed a couple laps before the green-flag stop there, and I think they had some damage and he [Wright] was having a bit of a tough time with his race car, and I’m trying to catch back to the No. 88 and trying to push and ultimately put myself in a bad position.”

He added, “Kyle and I had a great battle, and I was having a lot of fun with it. Obviously, the guy’s ultra-fast in anything that he drives… I think probably the most disappointing part about today is that it’s my mom’s birthday. I would love to get a trophy and celebrate her birthday with that, but instead I’m standing here talking to you guys.”

Behind Larson and Gray, Riley Herbst finished third after restarting sixth in the final overtime. Austin Hill came home fourth, followed by Sam Mayer in fifth and Harrison Burton in sixth.

Rookie Jesse Love continued his solid season with a seventh-place finish, while Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, and Jeb Burton completed the top 10.

Nick Sanchez, who had run consistently in the top five driving the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet, hit the wall during the second overtime and dropped to a disappointing 20th-place finish.

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