FORT WORTH, Texas — Crew chief Mardy Lindley called his shot.

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

Lindley was right. Larson made a late pit stop and proceeded to win Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in two overtimes.

The victory was Larson’s second of the season, his second at Texas and the 17th of his Xfinity career, with Larson charging from the seventh position on a Lap 194 restart — behind six cars that stayed out on older tires — to win in two extra periods.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

On Lap 188, Larson was cruising to a probable win with a lead of more than six seconds when Corey Day — in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that Larson drove to a dominating win at Bristol in mid-April — hit the tire barrier on the inside of Turn 3 to cause the ninth of 11 cautions.

That’s when Lindley made the call to bring Larson to pit road, and ultimately it paid off. After moving from third to second on the first overtime restart, Larson took 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 surged from fourth to second in the final two laps.

“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.

“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.”

As Larson worked his way through the field twice — once from the 20th starting position and again after an uncontrolled tire penalty sent him to the rear after the first stage break — Allgaier led a race-high 99 laps and kept Larson at bay until a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the final stage scrambled the running order.

It was during that cycle that Allgaier’s race came to an untimely end. Running 12th after pitting on Lap 153, Allgaier closed fast on the No. 5 Chevrolet of Kris Wright near the exit from Turn 4.

Wright failed to hold the bottom lane and drifted up the track into Allgaier’s line. Allgaier made a move toward the inside but couldn’t avoid Wright’s car. The No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet slammed into the outside wall in the tri-oval, slid down onto the infield grass and ended the race on a wrecker.

MORE: Weekend schedule: Texas | Fantasy Fastlane

Allgaier, who had lost position to Larson during the pit sequence, was gracious in his assessment of the wreck that ended his day.

“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 88 and trying to push and ultimately put myself in a bad position…

“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.”

Allgaier’s exit opened the door for Mayer, Gray, Austin Hill and Nick Sanchez. Driving the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet, Sanchez ran consistently in the top five until the second overtime, when he hit the wall and dropped to 20th at the finish.

Riley Herbst finished third after restarting sixth in the final overtime, with Hill coming home fourth, Mayer fifth and Harrison Burton sixth. Jesse Love, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones and Jeb Burton completed the top 10.

The Xfinity Series’ next race is the BetMGM 300, scheduled for Saturday, May 24 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Larson as the winner. The No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet piloted by Daniel Dye had two lug nuts not safe and secure, which will result in a monetary fine and one-race suspension for crew chief Kevin Walter. Additionally, the Nos. 19, 21, 41 and 88 cars will be taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center for further engine dyno testing.

Contributing: Staff reports

FORT WORTH, Texas — When Netflix began filming “Full Speed: Season 2,” which chronicles the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick found himself in familiar territory.

As a Championship 4 driver last season and being a featured player in Season 1, Reddick knew what to expect when Netflix came calling this time around.

“I’ve done it both years now, and it’s fun,” said Reddick, who finished fourth in the 2024 final standings. “You get to know the people you’re working with. As long as you are open to and embrace the idea of letting everyone see what happens behind the scenes, if you’re comfortable with that, it’s a lot of fun.”

The five-episode series debuts on Wednesday, May 7, with particular emphasis on the sport’s top stars who qualified for the playoffs, among them Reddick, three-time champion Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell.

RELATED: Get a ‘Full Speed’ sneak peek

Contributors to the series include Dale Earnhardt Jr., broadcaster Marty Smith, former crew chief/current television analyst Steve Letarte, FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass and broadcaster/pit reporter Kim Coon.

“Full Speed: Season 2” not only takes a close look at the technical and emotional aspects of competition, but it also highlights the drivers’ home lives and activities away from the race track.

Very little is off limits to the Netflix cameras.

“I think you always (have to draw lines),” Reddick said. “It’s been a while ago now, so I couldn’t even tell you what those things were. You want to share as much as you can, but there are certain things that take place that you could classify as industry secrets, right?

“You’ve got to be careful sometimes, but for the most part, given the environment, it doesn’t happen very often.”

FORT WORTH, Texas — There’s a glaring hole in Chris Buescher’s resume — one he’s determined to fill.

Buescher grew up in Prosper, Texas, 37 miles north of Dallas. By default, Texas Motor Speedway is his home track on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit.

It’s also a track that has baffled him throughout his career. In 15 starts at the challenging 1.5-mile speedway, Buescher has yet to post a top 10.

MORE: Texas starting lineup | Texas schedule

In fact, he has finished on the lead lap in only two of the 15 starts — his two most recent — and he has led just two of the 4,735 laps he’s completed.

It’s not that Buescher hasn’t had the speed to belie his record at Texas.

“Since Texas has been reconfigured, we’ve been a lot better there from a speed standpoint, but haven’t really closed the deal to (finish) better,” Buescher said. “We’ve had really good runs that just haven’t ended well.

“All that being said, you want it to be better, being a home track and having so many friends and family come out to that one. It takes a little extra out of you not to be able to seal the deal there.”

RELATED: Best photos from Fort Worth

To conquer Texas, NASCAR Cup teams must find a workable setup balance between the two ends of the track, which are markedly different. Turns 1 and 2 are flatter (maximum 20 degrees of banking) and consequently slower than Turns 3 and 4, which are banked at 24 degrees.

Conventional wisdom suggests a trade-off is required, but negotiating Turns 1 and 2 with speed is critical to a fast lap. With the Gen 7 car, introduced in 2022, the trade-off isn’t as extreme as it used to be.

“It was a lot at first, but with this car and the ability to shift (from fifth to fourth gear in the first two corners), that took away a lot of the compromise,” Buescher said. “You’re able to drop a gear and keep that momentum up in Turns 1 and 2 a lot better.

“It’s taken away that old Kentucky feel, where you had to set up for one side or the other. The (Turn) 1 and 2 (end) is not the crawling corner that it was with the last generation car.”

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for the Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A general graphic depicting the Cup Series layout on pit road at Texas Motor Speedway.
See where your favorite NASCAR Xfinity Series driver will pit for the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

2025 Xfinity Series Texas race pit stall assignments.

See where your favorite NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver will pit for the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A general graphic depicting the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series layout for Texas Motor Speedway.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Ride ‘em, cowboy.

Decked out in Texas-appropriate attire, Carson Hocevar put his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole for Sunday’s Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With the second fastest lap in the era of the Gen 7 car, Hocevar toured the 1.5-mile track in 28.175 seconds (191.659 mph) to edge 2023 race winner William Byron (191.564 mph) for the top starting position by 0.014 seconds.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Texas

The Busch Light Pole Award is the first of Hocevar’s career, and at age 22, he’s the youngest-ever pole winner at Texas.

Clad in a firesuit designed as a cowboy outfit — courtesy of sponsor Chili’s — and sporting a black 10-gallon hat, Hocevar reveled in the moment after his lap stood up to all comers.

“Having the cowboy outfit — what better place to be on the pole,” Hocevar said. “I’m normally so hard on myself, and I didn’t think I nailed that lap at all, but I’m super proud of this team.

“I’m so proud, because I’ve never had the No. 1 pit stall, and I’ve had a lot of issues with pit road and we’ve had a lot of bad luck. So I finally get the No. 1 pit stall and I’m pumped about that.”

Austin Cindric, last Sunday’s Talladega winner, qualified third at 191.523 mph in a closely compacted field. Larson, the last driver to make an attempt, was fourth at 191.421 mph.

With 10 drivers to go, Ty Gibbs topped the chart at 191.293 mph, but Michael McDowell, Hocevar’s teammate, eclipsed his time by 0.006 seconds in a lap at 191.333 mph.

“Obviously, with Michael going out and putting up a really good lap time, I felt like we were faster than him in practice, and that gave me a little bit of confidence that our stuff was going to be as quick, if not hopefully a little quicker,” Hocevar said.

McDowell will start fifth on Sunday, with Gibbs sixth. Josh Berry, three-time Texas winner Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 on the grid.

One driver who left the session with regret was Cindric, who felt he could have gone faster.

“I feel like I left a pole lap out there,” he said. “I sent it into Turn 1 and didn’t quite get to the bottom and didn’t quite maximize my exit. I guess I can be happy with where we are at, but I definitely feel like you want to do it all.

“We’re in a great spot for (Sunday) and should have a good pit stall, so I feel good about where we are. We’ll try to go get another one.”

Defending race winner Chase Elliott will start 29th.

Note: Since the Gen 7 car was introduced in 2022, only Christopher Bell at Michigan International Speedway in 2023 has run a faster lap than Hocevar at Texas. Bell’s speed at the 2-mile track was 193.382 mph.

Hocevar fastest in practice

Hocevar also paced Cup Series practice Saturday at Texas, recording a lap of 190.894 mph in Group 2. Allmendinger finished second overall at 190.215 mph, pacing Group 1 drivers.

Noah Gragson, Larson and McDowell completed the top five. Berry, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10. Cindric had the 11th-best time in practice but had the fastest 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-lap averages.

MORE: Practice lap averages

Shane van Gisbergen scraped the wall at the end of Group 1 practice, incurring minor right-side scrapes. Otherwise, the two 25-minute sessions were without incident.

Contributing: Staff reports

FORT WORTH, Texas — Daniel Suárez enters the race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway with only two top-10 finishes in the first 10 races of the 2025 Cup Series campaign.

At this point in the season one year ago, the driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet was already a winner, beating Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in a three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in one of the closest finishes in Cup Series history.

RELATED: Texas schedule | At-track photos: Texas

As they entered 2025, Suárez and team had high expectations. Although he acknowledged that they had not met their goals by this point in the season, the 33-year-old still holds onto those expectations, recognizing that there is still work to be done.

“We all have high standards and high goals,” Suárez said Saturday. “With that being said, we have work to do. We haven’t started the season as consistent and as fast as we would love to as a company. We almost won Las Vegas with a second there. And we have had some spikes of speed, but we have had more spikes of no speed than spikes of speed.

“We changed a lot of things in the offseason, in our process, and in the structure of the team and I don’t feel that we’re seeing the results of that just yet. I think it’s going to come, but we’re not there just yet, so we have to just continue to work and continue to work on the basics, and hopefully we can show on track all the work that we’ve been putting in pretty soon.”

Despite the inconsistent start to the year, the mile-and-a-half style race tracks have produced the strongest performances for the No. 99 Chevrolet team. With a second-place finish at Las Vegas early in the year and a fifth-place finish at the Texas track last year, this weekend could prove fruitful in getting the program back on track.

“I think that actually, if anything, regular mile-and-a-halves, without counting Darlington and Homestead, which are pretty different mile-and-a-halves, I think that we are pretty good along with road courses,” Suárez said. “But we’re still a little bit inconsistent in our speed, you know, and that’s something that we have to work on as a company, as a group, not just in the 99. I believe that we’re heading in the right direction. It’s just taking longer than I was expecting.”

With adversity early in 2025, the Monterrey, Mexico native is staying humble at heart and embracing the coming weeks leading up to the NASCAR Cup Series’ first race in Mexico on June 15 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

The upcoming home race is allowing Suárez to enjoy every moment by bridging the gap and introducing the Mexico City fans to NASCAR as much as he can before Cup cars hit the road course next month.

“Man, honestly, I am over the moon with everything that is happening with NASCAR,” Suárez said. “I feel very, very blessed to be in this position and to be able to be the face for Mexico and for the Latinos in NASCAR is quite a privilege.

“To be living and experiencing the NASCAR dream in this era is quite an honor, and really, a lot of work has been taking place with everything in Mexico. It’s getting closer and closer. It feels very, very real. I feel like it’s just around the corner. Yeah, I mean, extremely happy.”

FORT WORTH, Texas — A NASCAR official displayed the spoilers from both the No. 22 Team Penske car of Joey Logano and the No. 60 RFK Racing entry of Ryan Preece at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday after their respective disqualifications last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Brad Moran, managing director for the Cup Series, met with the media outside of the series competition hauler to explain the separate issues with the two spoilers that led to the teams forfeiting their top-five finishes.

At superspeedway races, a specific brace is utilized to help maintain the required spoiler angle at high speeds. For Logano’s No. 22 Ford, two violations were discovered in post-race inspection.

RELATED: Texas schedule | Cup Series standings

First, a nut was missing from the bolt that keeps the brace intact. Secondly, a fastener on the brace was not securely fastened and maintained. Both violations could potentially cause deflection in the spoiler when the cars reach high speeds.

“First of all, all fasteners need to be fastened and secure at all times during an event,” Moran said. “So obviously, that’s one problem. And the second problem is that, like I just mentioned, all the parts that are in this assembly, which is the brace, the bolts, the lock nuts, the washers, must be maintained. And obviously, one was missing.

“We don’t go out the intent, but we all know superspeedways, we pay a lot of attention to spoiler area deflections. There’s a lot of work that goes into it by the teams, you know, they may have innocently left the nut loose. We don’t know that, we don’t take that into consideration.”

For Ryan Preece’s No. 60 RFK Racing entry, it was discovered that the team had an unapproved number of spoiler shims, which similarly deals with spoiler deflection.

“They’re allowed two shims maximum at a superspeedway that must go the entire distance; the maximum they can be is 50 (thousands), which these are OK,” Moran said. “Where the problem comes in is that there was a third (shim). Pretty cut and dry, black and white.

“Unfortunate. The 60 had a great race, same with the 22, but we have to do our job to keep parity in the field. Everybody knows the rules. You know, this is our job to find things like this, clean it up.”

Preece was relegated to 38th in the 39-car field with Logano placed last in the official results. Both drivers also earned just one point in the championship standings, with the disqualification erasing what would have been a 40-point day for Preece and 41 points for Logano.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A tale of two cities transpired on pit road as the checkered flag flew on the SpeedyCash.com 250 from Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. With Corey Heim standing tall, victorious at the start/finish line, Ben Rhodes and Daniel Hemric were left with mixed emotions after the final restart in NASCAR Overtime.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Rhodes restarted on the outside front row on the final restart on Lap 172 and held pace with Heim, who had the dominant truck all night, leading 96 of the 174 total laps.

Heading into Turn 3, coming to the white flag, there was slight contact between the two front-runners, pushing the No. 99 of Rhodes up the race track and leaving the door open for the No. 19 of Daniel Hemric to charge to the bottom, making it three-wide at the white flag.

When the race was all said and done, neither Hemric nor Rhodes would wind up in Victory Lane, with the No. 11 of Heim taking home the win. Exiting his ThorSport Racing in frustration, Rhodes said he felt he was raced unfairly and had no room to challenge for victory at the end.

“I think we got used up by the 11 being on the outside line with clean air on both of our noses,” Rhodes said on pit road post-race. “He just decided to run us up the track and out of the groove at both ends of the track. So on the last restart, you know, we’re in three and four. We’re coming back around to the white; he runs me way high. We both have to lift, pretty unacceptable, in my opinion, because, you know, we could have wrecked there.

“So, you know, I’m not gonna cry about it, but it just stinks when you have a good opportunity to win a race and then you get run a little dirty. But you know, I know how it is with him, and he’s got his third win of the season. We’re still looking for our first right now, so when you have these opportunities, you need to seize them, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

WATCH: Rhodes upset by Heim’s tactics | Hemric: ‘Second’s not fun’

Parked one spot ahead of the two-time Craftsman Truck Series champion on pit road was the runner-up finisher, Hemric, who was able to capitalize on the Heim-Rhodes scrap to maneuver his Chevrolet to the inside of the two and have a shot at the win entering Turn 1.

“I knew when they got side by side I’d have a big run,” Hemric said. “I didn’t know if I have enough pure tire capability left to make the move, and kind of created just enough angle to get left of the 11 to get three-wide at the bottom, just didn’t have enough left to make it stick through one and two.”

“So either way, we were not good when we started. (Crew chief) Josh Graham did the exceptional job of tuning on me correctly, in the right direction, and yeah, ultimately found ourselves with the opportunity and stayed quite close.”

Close it was, as the Kannapolis, North Carolina native had a shot on the final lap to punch his ticket to Victory Lane for the second time this season. At the end of the night, that is all Hemric could ask of his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team.

“Just trying to win,” Hemric said. “That’s what this team deserves. That’s what everyone on this No. 19 team deserves. I feel like, you know, we put so much into this deal, and we overcame some adjustments and stuff that we had to go through at the beginning of the race. You’ve got to go for the win. That’s what we did. Came up short, but great execution today.”

FORT WORTH, Texas — A casual glance at the box score might tell you Corey Heim’s victory in Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250 was a cakewalk.

Quite the contrary. Heim’s 14th career win was anything but easy.

The driver of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota and Craftsman Truck Series points leader had to survive two overtimes at Texas Motor Speedway to pick up his first victory at the track and his third of the season.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Heim was barely ahead when caution stalled the first overtime almost before it began. The restart in the second extra period packed a surfeit of drama into the final two laps.

Starting second to Heim’s outside, Ben Rhodes held his ground, racing side-by-side through the first two corners. As the drivers navigated Turn 3, both had to lift off the gas, allowing Daniel Hemric to make a strong move to the inside at the start/finish line.

But Heim pressed the accelerator, charged between trucks and surged into the lead, clearing Hemric and Rhodes in Turn 1. Heim pulled away slightly to beat Hemric to the stripe by 0.279 seconds, as Rhodes lost momentum and faded to sixth.

“I wasn’t going to let that one get away from me,” said Heim, who led a race-high 96 of 174 laps and gained an extra playoff point by winning Stage 2. “I’ve given up too many this year so far. I’m just overwhelmed — so many restarts there at the end and guys were taking me three-wide.

“I wasn’t going to let them take it from me… They tried to take me three-wide into (Turn) 1, and I drove until I couldn’t anymore.”

WATCH: Heim elated, exhausted after victory

At age 22, Heim is the youngest driver in series history to reach 14 wins. Friday night‘s Truck Series race also was the first to go to overtime after 21 straight events had ended in regulation.

Rajah Caruth ran third behind Heim and Hemric, with Tyler Ankrum finishing fourth and Tanner Gray fifth.

Rhodes took issue with the way Heim raced him into Turn 3 on the white-flag lap in the second overtime.

“I was a little upset, and even still watching the replay, with how I was run in 3 and 4 by Heim,” said Rhodes, a two-time series champion. “Basically, to see him come off the bottom, and the groove is extremely narrow here. That’s why all those wrecks kept happening.

“I had to lift. I think he had to lift, and that’s what opened up for three-wide down the frontstretch and why we’re in sixth place.”

All told, the race produced 11 cautions for 57 laps, a testament to the intense action at the Fort Worth track.

Texas Motor Speedway, arguably the most treacherous 1.5-miler on the schedule, claimed three early victims. On Lap 31, rookie Giovanni Ruggiero drove too low entering the tri-oval, clipped the grass below the apron and shot up the track, collecting Brandon Jones and Kaden Honeycutt in a violent collision.

The impact ripped the right front wheel off Jones’ Toyota and destroyed Honeycutt’s Chevrolet.

“It is just so hard to see the grass here on the frontstretch when you’re behind other trucks,” Ruggiero said. “I definitely misjudged it on my part. Really unfortunate for all of my guys.

“We had a really fast JBL Tundra — definitely not how I wanted tonight to go. Just have to keep digging and come back stronger for the next one.”

On Lap 52, Layne Riggs spun underneath the Ford of reigning series champion Ty Majeski. Thirteen laps and two cautions later, Riggs was off course again after contact with Luke Fenhaus’ Ford, this time bouncing through the frontstretch grass and tearing the nose off his F-150.

Andres Perez de Lara backed into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 57, damaging his Chevrolet beyond repair. Before the end of the second stage, the race was peppered with six cautions, with the longest green-flag run coming from the start of the race to a competition caution at Lap 20.

The tenor of the race changed after the second stage break. During a 60-lap green-flag run that began on Lap 87 and featured a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Heim built a lead of 15.794 seconds before Frankie Muniz crashed in Turn 2 on Lap 147 to cause the eighth caution of the night.

Grant Enfinger and Heim divided the stage wins, with Enfinger leading twice for 18 laps. His fortunes went south with 13 laps remaining, when Stewart Friesen’s No. 52 Toyota broke loose and made contact with Enfinger’s No. 9 Chevrolet in a contest for second place, sending both trucks into the outside retaining wall and collecting Chandler Smith’s No. 38 in the melee. That forced a red flag with 11 laps left.

From that point, the race reclaimed its frenetic character and required the two overtimes to get to the finish. The result left Heim 46 points ahead of second-place Chandler Smith in the series standings.

The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is the Heart of America 200, scheduled Saturday, May 10 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas Speedway.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Heim as the winner. The Nos. 07, 15 and 99 trucks will be brought to NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR and JDV Productions have postponed Saturday’s Cheshire County Clash NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Monadnock Speedway due to a forecast of inclement weather.

Officials from JDV Productions, the racetrack, and NASCAR are working collaboratively to find a date in the best interest of competitors and race fans. An announcement on the new event date is expected to come next week.

For updated event information as available, fans may go to nascar.com/regional.