Although Rajah Caruth is the primary driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, he has spent the past two races at Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet.
That is because, instead of replacing the now-Trackhouse Racing Cup Series driver Connor Zilisch with a single driver, JR Motorsports opted to give the four Hendrick Motorsports Cup drivers a handful of races (10 total) in the No. 88 Chevrolet this season.
After Caruth opened up the season with three consecutive starts in the No. 88 car, William Byron made the first of his three scheduled starts at Phoenix and finished 13th. Kyle Larson then took over for the first of his three scheduled starts at Las Vegas.
Kyle Larson predictably wins at Las Vegas
Teammate Justin Allgaier swept the first two stages of the 200-lap LiUNA! around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas, Nevada oval, but it was Larson who emerged victorious. Larson had not competed in an O'Reilly Series (Xfinity Series) race at Las Vegas since winning at the track for Chip Ganassi Racing in March 2018.
Larson led 47 laps after starting from the front row, and he held off Chase Briscoe, who competes full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing's Cup Series team, by 2.557 seconds to secure his 18th career O'Reilly Series victory.
Larson has now won at least one race in five consecutive O'Reilly Series seasons, and the streak is really 10 in a row if you consider the fact that he didn't run any races in the series from 2019 to 2021.
He has won four of his seven most recent starts dating back to 2024, and with no finishes lower than fourth place during that stretch. He had not competed for JR Motorsports since winning at Watkins Glen International in 2022.
Although the No. 88 car had not yet won this year, or even finished in the top five, Larson's win marks three consecutive victories for JR Motorsports.
Trackhouse Racing Cup Series driver Shane van Gisbergen won in the part-time No. 9 Chevrolet at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) before Allgaier won at Phoenix. Allgaier's No. 7 team leads the owner standings, and Larson's win shot the No. 88 team up to fourth.
Caruth, who finished 19th, is eighth in the point standings with three top 10 finishes in five starts this year.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers' plans for O'Reilly Series
As of now, Alex Bowman is set to drive the No. 88 car at Darlington Raceway this coming weekend, although given his ongoing battle with vertigo, his status remains in question. He is also lined up to drive the car at Nashville Superspeedway in May.
Caruth is set to be back behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet for the following weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway.
Byron is set to return for the race at Kansas Speedway in April and Pocono Raceway in June, and Larson is set to return at Bristol Motor Speedway in April and Texas Motor Speedway in May. Chase Elliott is set to make his two starts in the No. 88 entry in the July races at Chicagoland Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Because of the fact that full-time Cup Series drivers at least three seasons of Cup Series experience are now allowed to compete in up to 10 O'Reilly Series regular season races, up from the previous limit of five, JR Motorsports could technically turn to Byron, Larson, or Elliott to take Bowman's place.
All O'Reilly Series races are set to be shown live on the CW Network, so begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!