NASCAR O'Reilly Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Kyle Larson admits mistake after crashing Justin Allgaier in lead battle

Larson got loose in the battle for the lead, resulting in contact that ended Allgaier's day

Justin Allgaier was hoping to earn JR Motorsports its 100th win as a team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He is already responsible for 25% of them, but it did not work out that way.

On a late-race restart, he chose the outside line as the control car. NASCAR Cup star Kyle Larson joined him on the front row. The two drivers were side-by-side through the first set of corners, but their battle came to an abrupt end as Larson got loose at the exit of Turn 2. He clipped Allgaier, sending him into the outside wall and ending his day.

"Yeah, I don't know," said a rather despondent Allgaier, who was consoled by team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the wreck. "We'll go back and look at it, but I hate it for our team, (and) everybody at JR Motorsports. I'm really hopeful that regardless of the outcome for our #7 team, I really hope at least one of the JR Motorsports Chevrolets is able to go to Victory Lane and get that 100th win for Dale Jr. ... Unfortunately, Indianapolis is one of those places where it doesn't take much to have an incident like that."

Allgaier did get his wish in the end as 19-year-old Connor Zilisch earned his third consecutive win and JR Motorsports' 100th as an organization in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Kyle Larson explains what happened

Larson rebounded to finish fourth, and was apologetic after the race as he reflected on the incident with Allgaier.

"I wish I would have gotten clear there off of (Turn) 1," said Larson as he watched a replay of the pivotal moment. "He [Allgaier] didn't really pack air too much on my door there. I just got enough and got just a little bit loose. My angle was bad as I was trying to shortcut the entry, and then I was kind of along for the ride. Tried to bail quickly and just caught his left rear, and wrecked him. I hate that.

"You never want to do that to somebody racing full-time like that, so I wish I could have done some things different. Honestly, I don't really know what I could have done right there other than to maybe help my angle into (Turn) 2 a little bit. Again, sorry to Justin and the #7 team."

Larson starts 13th for Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, entering the event as the defending winner of the Brickyard 400.