Kyle Larson Replaces Alex Bowman in No. 88 at Nashville
Kyle Larson will drive JR Motorsports’ No. 88 in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, replacing alex bowman for a second planned start this weekend. Bowman was originally set for two races in the car, but he will miss both after missing his first planned start at Darlington Raceway following a vertigo diagnosis.
Larson is already 2-for-4 in NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts this season, and he finished fourth when he substituted for Bowman at Darlington. That gives JR Motorsports another proven option in a car that has already rotated through five drivers in 2026.
JR Motorsports No. 88
JR Motorsports has split the No. 88 among five drivers this season, including the four Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series drivers and Rajah Caruth. Larson now joins that group for Nashville, taking over one of the two races Bowman had been scheduled to run.
The swap keeps the car in the same shared-start pattern that has defined its 2026 campaign. The entry list for Saturday shows Larson in the No. 88, while Bowman remains on the entry list for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Bowman’s missed starts
Bowman has now missed four races because of vertigo. He sits 33rd in points and is 156 points outside the current cutoff spot for the 2026 Chase for the Cup, so every lost start adds more ground to recover in the standings.
Darlington already cost him the first of his two planned JR Motorsports outings, and Nashville removes the second. The result leaves Larson in the seat for Saturday while Bowman’s Cup schedule still shows him entered for Sunday.
Nashville entry list
Saturday’s change is straightforward: Larson drives the No. 88, Bowman does not. For JR Motorsports, the move preserves the shared-entry plan; for Bowman, it adds another missed race to a season already shaped by vertigo and lost track time.
The only certainty on the sheet is the lineup at Nashville Superspeedway. Larson gets the seat, Bowman stays off the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car, and the gap in his 2026 Chase for the Cup chase remains the harder problem.
