Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson is set to make his fourth appearance of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season behind the wheel of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
All four Hendrick Cup drivers entered the year lined up to compete in multiple O'Reilly Series races in the No. 88 car, which is primarily driven by Rajah Caruth after Connor Zilisch drove it full-time a year ago.
To maintain his full-time status in the series, despite not running the full schedule for JR Motorsports, Caruth managed to land a deal with Jordan Anderson Racing behind the wheel of the No. 32 Chevrolet for the 10 races in which the Hendrick drivers were lined up to drive the No. 88 car.
With Larson set to drive the No. 88 car at Texas, Caruth is set to be back in the No. 32 car for the sixth time this year.
Rajah Caruth replaced by Kyle Larson at Teaxs
Caruth was also in the No. 32 Chevrolet at Phoenix Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Kansas Speedway. This weekend is set to mark his fifth time switching cars this season.
William Byron drove the No. 88 car at Phoenix and Kansas and finished 13th and sixth, respectively. Larson won at Las Vegas and then finished fourth at Darlington and second at Bristol. Alex Bowman was supposed to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet at Darlington but was sidelined due to vertigo.
With four more O'Reilly Series races lined up for the Hendrick Cup drivers later this season, Caruth is set to switch teams several more times throughout the remainder of the regular season.
Bowman is set to run the May race at Nashville Superspeedway, Byron is set to run the June race at Pocono Raceway, and Chase Elliott is set to run the July races at Chicagoland Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This weekend's start for Larson is set to be his final series start of 2026.
In his first season as a full-time driver, Caruth is 12th in the point standings, but he's just 14 points above the cut line after a disappointing 30th place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
The 23-year-old Atlanta, Georgia native is notably set to run the No. 88 entry in the final two regular season races and throughout the entire nine-race postseason, which should bolster his chances at competing for a championship if he is able to remain within the 12-driver playoff picture before then. The No. 88 team is third in the owner standings, while the No. 32 team is 16th.
Live coverage of Saturday afternoon's Andy's Frozen Custard 340 is set to be provided by the CW Network starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action from Texas Motor Speedway!
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