NASCAR News: Larson Dominates Las Vegas for O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Victory

Las Vegas, NV – Kyle Larson (pictured) continues to prove that Las Vegas Motor Speedway is his playground, regardless of the series. In a commanding performance, the Hendrick Motorsports star charged from seventh on the final restart at Lap 154, seizing the lead and cruising to victory in The LiUNA! on March 14, 2026.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

This marks the fifth different winner in as many races this season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Piloting the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in his first series start of the year, Larson finished 2.557 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Briscoe, claiming his 18th career win in the series and his second at LVMS—adding to his three triumphs here in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Briscoe, who overcame a costly brush with the wall and a flat tire, rallied impressively to second in the No. 19 Toyota. Sheldon Creed secured third in the No. 00 Chevrolet, followed by series points leader Justin Allgaier in fourth and Sammy Smith in fifth.

“I was a bit nervous on that final run,” Larson admitted. “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. I don’t know—clean air just must have meant a lot today. So, glad I was able to get the lead when it mattered.”

Briscoe owned up to his mid-race mishap: “Even with the adversity we were dealing with, I knew if we got a lucky break, we were going to hopefully get back up there. Honestly, it wasn’t an unfortunate break with the tire—I think it was my own fault. I just drove it into the fence and cost myself. I had a lot of fun. It was certainly fun slipping and sliding around the race track. You could kind of run all over. I had a blast.”

One of the race’s standout performers was Jesse Love, who piloted one of the quickest cars on track, leading 36 laps and emerging first off pit road after Lap 120 stops. However, a pit crew safety violation—where a member fell over the wall—dropped him to a 32nd-place restart. Love’s resilient drive back through the pack netted him sixth place.

Creed’s podium finish came with drama. On Lap 148, while battling for second, he tapped Taylor Gray’s No. 54 Toyota, sending it hard into the Turn 3 wall and triggering the race’s eighth and final caution. Gray was eliminated, finishing 37th.

“I just got into him,” Creed explained. “I was trying to pack some air. I didn’t know he was that close to the 17 (eighth-place finisher Corey Day). I could have cut him more of a break there, and I didn’t. That’s not the way I wanted to race him.”

Connor Zilisch impressed in seventh as the fourth JR Motorsports driver in the top seven, while Day notched his fourth straight top-10 after leading nine laps pre-incident. William Sawalich and Daytona winner Austin Hill rounded out the top 10 in ninth and 10th, respectively.

Allgaier dominated much of the event, leading a race-high 48 laps (just one more than Larson’s 47) and sweeping the first two stages. This extended his championship lead over Love to 13 points.

Pole-sitter Sam Mayer led 32 laps early but faded to 35th after late-race issues. Other notables included Cole Custer (18th) and Chandler Smith (36th, sidelined by ignition failure).

Race Results