‘Nothing Stops a Hungry Gator’ …Except Kyle Larson
The final laps of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts at Texas looked less like stock car racing and more like two fighter pilots trying to occupy the same piece of sky.
The final laps of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts at Texas looked less like stock car racing and more like two fighter pilots trying to occupy the same piece of sky.
Another Sunday, another reminder that being close doesn’t count for much in NASCAR.
Larson controlled the night, but Bristol controlled the ending, and that ending belonged to Connor Zilisch.
Kyle Larson jumped from seventh to first in the final laps, leaving chaos behind and taking the O’Reilly Series win in Vegas — fifth different winner in five races.
After looking lost all day, Larson prowled through the carnage and finished third, proving sometimes patience and cunning beat speed.
After leading a career-best 48 laps on a drafting track, the defending champ tried to shortcut Stage 2—and instead short-circuited his afternoon.
Hendrick Motorsports looked at Kyle Larson’s numbers, blinked once, and signed the paperwork through 2031.
Whether it’s Phoenix glory or Australian dirt, Kyle Larson keeps proving his reach stretches far beyond the NASCAR garage.
Under the chandeliers of the JW Marriott in Scottsdale, Kyle Larson and NASCAR’s best traded helmets for tuxedos, delivering speeches, laughs, and a few tears as the 2025 season came to an emotional close.
It was the strangest kind of joy. Kyle Larson won the Cup, Denny Hamlin lost his dream, and both men handled it like champions.