Kyle Larson looked untouchable at the Darlington O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday. From pole to the first two stages, he won everything that came his way. However, in the final stage, Justin Allgaier turned the tables, handing him a humbling defeat.

Kyle Larson’s perfect run spoiled by Justin Allgaier

In a recent interview with Frontstretch, Larson opened up after being asked to talk about his race on Saturday. Sharing his thoughts, an upset Larson explained how things did not go his way in the latter half of the race, as he lost the plot with a few laps to go.

“Gave up what we had,” Larson said. “Gotten back that longer run. When you give up more than a row. It’s difficult. Well, I mean I was in traffic the run before so it didn’t- it’s just the pace difference was different. To start, I guess it would have been third stage. I lost a spot gave up a row and to choose third, and then settled in the second. The pace was just much slower because we’re all just trying to make it live to go 45 or whatever laps it was going to be. So then they’re at the end when it’s gonna be 15 laps.”

Kyle Larson claimed the pole in the qualifying and then went on to keep the consistency and win the first stage. In Stage 2, he continued to lead, but in the final stage, he lost positions on pit road and failed to recover from there. In the end, he finished the race in fourth place, behind Allgaier, Brandon Jones, and Christopher Bell.

“Everybody’s gonna push harder, and it just brings the pace up and it becomes harder to pass. Yeah, I mean it felt different in practice, like my balance was loose. So I felt like I had 60 laps on my tires. 15 laps into it where I was slipping and sliding my lap times were I guess good, but my balance didn’t feel the best. I think it’s probably balance dependent on how chaotic it feels behind the wheel, but we’ll see.

“The pace difference is definitely slower. So hopefully that makes passing potentially a little bit easier, but yeah, still yet to get to know.”

Regarding the pit-stop, he admitted it was slow but still unsure, as he said, “I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I don’t know. We just had a slow stop.”

Notably, Larson came to this race with enormous confidence, as he wanted to continue his winning run from Las Vegas, where he claimed the victory driving the #88 Chevrolet Camaro SS. Larson’s confidence also comes after the Cup Series drivers were clearly the dominant ones in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Until Las Vegas, three Cup Series drivers had won in five races (excluding Allgaier, the only O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver was Austin Hill, who won at Daytona). After Hill, it was Sheldon Creed at Atlanta, followed by Shane van Gisbergen at COTA.

Allgaier won at Phoenix, but it was Larson who took the ball to the Cup Series drivers’ court. Ultimately, it was all down to Allgaier and Larson, and this time JR Motorsports’ star shone brighter, for which he handed all the credit to his team.

Justin Allgaier credits Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team after Darlington win

After his emphatic win at Darlington, Justin Allgaier credited JR Motorsports for helping him claim the victory. This was his second victory of this season, and fourth at Darlington, the track ‘Too Tough To Tame.’

“All these guys right here. We have not been the best on pit road all year,” Allgaier said in the post-race interview. “These guys have never quit. They have gone to work. They’ve never given up, and they were on top of it all day on pit road. Thank you to these guys…. This whole #7 team to get brand-fresh right culture back in victory lane again this year at Darlington of all places. We definitely weren’t the best all day, Kyle obviously was amazing.”

Thanks to the victory, Justin Allgaier has extended his lead in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series to 52 points over Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love. With the victory on Saturday, Allgaier will look to clinch a similar result on Sunday, when he replaces an ill Alex Bowman in the Hendrick Motorsports.