Off-roading is more than just a weekend hobby—it’s an exhilarating way to connect with nature, test your vehicle’s capabilities, and challenge your driving skills. Whether you’re planning to explore rocky trails, sandy dunes, muddy backroads, or snow-covered paths, proper preparation is key. Outfitting your vehicle with the right off-road accessories not only enhances performance but also keeps you safe and ready for anything the wild terrain throws at you.
In this blog, we’ll guide you through the essential accessories you need to equip your vehicle for off-roading success. From recovery gear to lighting systems, here’s what should be on your checklist.
1. All-Terrain or Mud-Terrain Tires
Your tires are the only part of your vehicle that makes contact with the ground, so it’s crucial to choose wisely. Stock tires often lack the traction needed for serious off-roading.
All-Terrain Tires (A/T): Ideal for a mix of on- and off-road driving. They provide decent grip on various surfaces like gravel, dirt, and light mud.
Mud-Terrain Tires (M/T): Designed for extreme off-road conditions with deeper tread patterns for maximum grip in mud, rocks, and sand.
Make sure to also check your spare tire—many off-roaders forget to upgrade it along with the others.
2. Lift Kit or Suspension Upgrade
Lifting your vehicle improves ground clearance, allowing you to navigate over rocks, ruts, and logs without damaging the undercarriage.
Body Lifts: Raise the body from the frame but don’t improve suspension travel.
Suspension Lifts: Raise the entire vehicle by modifying the suspension system, giving you better wheel articulation and off-road handling.
A quality lift kit enhances performance but be sure to choose one that’s compatible with your vehicle model and driving needs.
3. Skid Plates and Rock Sliders
Underbody damage is a real threat on rugged trails. Protect your vehicle’s vital components with durable skid plates and rock sliders.
Skid Plates: Guard your oil pan, transmission, transfer case, and fuel tank against rocks and debris.
Rock Sliders: Protect your door sills and sides from rock strikes and can double as steps.
These off-road accessories help preserve your vehicle’s integrity and prevent expensive repairs.
4. Winch System
If you’re venturing into remote or challenging terrains, a winch is a must-have recovery tool. It allows you to pull yourself (or another vehicle) out of sticky situations such as deep mud, snow, or steep inclines.
Look for a winch with a capacity of at least 1.5 times your vehicle’s gross weight.
Choose between steel cable (durable but heavier) or synthetic rope (lightweight and safer to handle).
Pair your winch with a solid mounting bumper, recovery shackles, and gloves.
5. Off-Road Lighting
Visibility can make or break your off-road adventure, especially at night or in low-light conditions.
LED Light Bars: Offer wide, bright illumination across trails.
Spotlights and Floodlights: Help focus light where it’s needed most.
Rock Lights: Illuminate the area under your vehicle for nighttime rock crawling.
Upgraded lighting is one of the most popular and practical off-road accessories for improving safety and extending your adventure into the night.
6. Recovery Gear
Getting stuck is part of the game—but getting out quickly and safely is where your gear matters.
Essential recovery tools include:
Tow Straps or Kinetic Ropes
D-Shackles or Soft Shackles
Traction Boards: Provide grip in sand, mud, or snow.
Hi-Lift Jack: A versatile tool for lifting, winching, and even clamping.
Shovel: Useful for digging out stuck tires or clearing obstacles.
Always keep these in a dedicated recovery kit stored securely in your vehicle.
7. Air Compressor and Tire Deflators
Adjusting tire pressure is a vital part of off-roading. Lower PSI increases your tire’s footprint, allowing better traction on soft surfaces like sand or snow.
Tire Deflators: Help you quickly air down your tires before hitting the trail.
Portable Air Compressor: Allows you to reinflate your tires before returning to pavement.
These off-road accessories are compact but essential for both performance and tire longevity.
8. Snorkel System
Are you planning to cross deep rivers or dusty deserts? A snorkel helps your engine breathe clean, dry air by raising the air intake above water and dust.
Water Crossings: Prevent hydro-lock by keeping the intake dry.
Dusty Conditions: Reduce the amount of debris entering the engine.
Though not necessary for casual off-roading, a snorkel is a valuable addition for those pushing the limits.
9. Roof Racks and Storage Solutions
Carrying gear is a challenge, especially for longer trips. Roof racks and storage boxes expand your cargo capacity and keep your cabin clutter-free.
Roof Racks: Great for carrying tents, fuel cans, spare tires, and more.
Tailgate Storage and Bed Racks: Ideal for pickups and overlanders.
Drawer Systems: Organize tools, recovery gear, and cooking equipment.
Always distribute weight evenly and secure all items before heading out.
10. GPS Navigation and Communication Devices
Off-roading often leads you off the grid. Staying connected and oriented is essential for safety.
Off-Road GPS Systems: Offer trail maps, topography, and real-time navigation.
Two-Way Radios (GMRS/FRS): Provide communication between vehicles without relying on cell service.
Satellite Communicators: Allow emergency messaging when you’re completely off the grid.
Never rely solely on your smartphone—invest in rugged, trail-tested devices.
11. First Aid and Emergency Supplies
Even a well-equipped vehicle can’t prevent every mishap. A comprehensive first aid kit and emergency gear can save lives.
First Aid Kit: Include supplies for treating cuts, burns, and sprains.
Fire Extinguisher: In case of engine or campfire accidents.
Blankets, Water, and Food: Prepare for overnight stays if stranded.
These might not be flashy off-road accessories, but they are among the most important.
Final Tips for Off-Road Preparation
Before hitting the trail, make sure your vehicle is well-maintained and that you’ve done a pre-trip inspection:
Check fluids (oil, coolant, brake, transmission).
Inspect tires and brakes.
Tighten all bolts and accessories.
Make sure all lights work.
Also, never go off-roading alone. Travel with at least one other vehicle when possible and always let someone know your route and expected return time.
Conclusion
Outfitting your vehicle with the right off-road accessories can transform an ordinary SUV or truck into a rugged, capable off-road machine. From tires and winches to lighting and navigation systems, each piece of gear plays a crucial role in enhancing your safety, performance, and enjoyment on the trail.
So, before your next adventure, take time to equip your ride with the essentials—and then get out there and explore with confidence.
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Denny Hamlin leads this week’s NASCAR Cup Series Top-10 Power Rankings after the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
1. Denny Hamlin:
Hamlin finished at Bristol, unable to match the dominant speed of race winner Kyle Larson.
“I was going for my third straight win,” Hamlin said. “Larson, however, was going for the jugular.”
2. William Byron:
Byron finished sixth at Bristol.
“There was only one competition for cause in the entire race,” Byron said. “I think there should have been at the beginning of the race, thrown towards the fans, saying ‘Caution. This race is going to be boring as hell.'”
3. Kyle Larson:
Larson won Stages 1 and 2 at Bristol and cruised to a dominant win in the Food City 500 at Bristol.
“My car was unbeatable today,” Larson said. “That’s in stark contrast to the television rating for the Bristol race. This race was as boring as the tired old Hendrick Cars paint scheme on the No. 5 Chevy.”
4. Christopher Bell:
Bell finished eighth at Bristol.
“Nothing says ‘NASCAR’ like a car at Bristol sponsored by Grizzly Nicotine Patches,” Bell said. “That was on the No. 16 car of AJ Allmendinger. The cool thing is, you can insert them anywhere in your body, not just your mouth.”
5. Ryan Blaney:
Blaney finished fifth in the Food City 500, posting his third top 5 of the season.
“The Bristol race was nothing more than a glorified game of follow the leader,” Blaney said. “And I think it was also the longest game of follow the leader.”
6. Chase Elliott:
Elliott finished 15th at Bristol as his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, scored an impressive win.
“Kyle was head and shoulders better than everyone else,” Elliott said. “I’m really happy for him, but really sad for myself, because I was driving practically the same car he was.”
7. Ross Chastain:
Chastain came home seventh in the Food City 500 at Bristol.
“I have a reputation of causing a lot of accidents,” Chastain said. “Considering the lack of action in the race, there were probably a lot of people wanting me to live up to that reputation.”
8. Bubba Wallace:
Wallace finished 19th at Bristol.
“There were only nine cars on the lead lap,” Wallace said. “That’s nine more than it seemed were on the lead lap.”
9. Chase Briscoe:
Briscoe finished fourth at Bristol, recording his third top 5 of the season.
“You didn’t see a lot of passing on Sunday,” Briscoe said. “I think a lot of that is due to Bristol’s surface. And that’s ‘concrete’ evidence that the surface should be asphalt.”
10. Alex Bowman:
Bowman experienced engine issues and finally had to retire on lap 343. He finished 37th, 157 laps down, and completes the Top-10 Power Rankings.
“My engine just quit,” Bowman said. “I think it realized how much better Kyle Larson’s engine was, and said to itself, ‘I’ll just quit while I’m behind.”
Kyle Larson stomped the competition by storm and capped off a dominant run with an emotional NASCAR Cup Series victory for the Hendrick Motorsports organization in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 13.
The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led twice for a race-high 411 of 500 scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place and led for the first time on Lap 40 after he overtook his teammate and pole-sitter Alex Bowman. Larson would then proceed to lead through Lap 389, where he swept the event’s first two stage periods in the process.
Then, within the final 110 laps of the event, Larson surrendered the lead for the first time to pit along with a bevy of his fellow competitors under green. Despite cycling out inside the top 10 on the track while a handful of names led by Ryan Blaney were trying to stretch their fuel tank as long as possible, the Californian would cycle back on the lead lap with 62 laps remaining before he returned atop the leaderboard two laps later.
Larson, mired in lapped traffic, lapped all but eight competitors, never looked back as he beat runner-up finisher Denny Hamlin by more than two seconds to notch his second Cup victory of the 2025 season and dedicate his victory to a communications/public relations veteran behind the NASCAR spotlight, the late Jon Edwards.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, April 12, Alex Bowman sped to his second Cup pole position of the 2025 season and the seventh of his career with a pole-winning lap at 128.675 mph in 14.912 seconds. Joining Bowman on the front row was Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 128.563 mph in 14.925 seconds.
Prior to the event, Joey Logano and John Hunter Nemechek dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
Stage 1
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Alex Bowman quickly muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet entry ahead from the outside lane. He then transitioned to the inside lane in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which enabled him to retain the lead for a full lap around the Last Great Colosseum. As Bowman led the first lap, Stenhouse followed suit in second along with Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. With the field behind jostling for early spots, Bowman proceeded to lead to the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Bowman was leading by two-tenths of a second over Stenhouse while Hamlin, Larson and Ryan Blaney pursued in the top five. Behind, Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar and Chase Briscoe followed suit from sixth to eighth, respectively, while Ty Gibbs, trapped on the outside lane and slowly losing spots, was back in ninth place ahead of Ty Dillon, Josh Berry, Brad Keselowski, Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell.
Fifteen laps later, Bowman stabilized his early advantage to two-tenths of a second over Stenhouse while Hamlin, Larson and Blaney continued to pursue in the top five. Bell, Hocevar, Briscoe, Haley and Ty Dillon were racing in the top-10 mark. Gibbs, who lost a bevy of spots early, managed to move back in line towards the inside lane. However, Gibbs was mired in 13th place behind Berry and Keselowski. Tyler Reddick, who barely slid through the first two turns, was mired in 19th place between Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. Newcomer Jesse Love was running in 23rd place behind William Byron.
Another 10 laps later, Bowman continued to lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Justin Haley while Hamlin, Larson and Stenhouse pursued in the top five. Larson, however, would then emerge as the new leader by the Lap 40 over teammate Bowman as the former used the outside lane to rocket past the latter through the frontstretch. By then, Blaney, Bell, Hocevar, Briscoe and Keselowski occupied the top-10 spots as Larson started to stretch his advantage beyond half a second.
At the Lap 50 mark and with tire wear becoming a concern for select teams, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over runner-up Haley and by more than two seconds over third-place Hamlin while Bowman and Stenhouse continued to trail in the top five. Larson, who would encounter no tire wear issues over his next 10 laps, retained the lead by more than a second over Haley while Hamlin, Bowman and Stenhouse retained their respective spots in the top five.
Meanwhile, Joey Logano, who started at the rear of the field, was up to 27th place behind Ross Chastain and rookie Riley Herbst. Bubba Wallace was up in 13th place and teammate Reddick was in 16th place in front of Chase Elliott. William Byron was mired in 20th place in front of Austin Dillon. Kyle Busch, and Jesse Love had dropped to 33rd place in front of John Hunter Nemechek.
Towards the Lap 75 mark, Larson, though mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by one-and-a-half seconds. Haley, Hamlin, Bowman, Stenhouse, Hocevar, Blaney, Bell, Keselowski and Ty Gibbs all trailed in the top 10, respectively. Not long after, Hamlin overtook Haley for the runner-up spot.
By Lap 90, Larson was leading by within a second over Hamlin. By then, select names that included Chris Buescher, Nemechek, Jesse Love, Corey LaJoie, Cole Custer, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Cody Ware and Josh Bilicki were lapped. With more names that included Noah Gragson, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Todd Gilliland also being lapped, Larson, who would pursue Joey Logano to lap him, would extend his advantage back up to two seconds at the Lap 100 mark. Meanwhile, top-five competitors Haley, Bowman and Stenhouse trailed the lead by three to five seconds.
On Lap 110, Larson, who lapped Logano two laps earlier and continued to be on cruise control at the front, stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Hamlin while third-place Haley trailed the lead by nearly five seconds. Larson would then encounter a challenge lapping Ryan Preece, who was in 25th place and refused to let Larson drive away, just past the Lap 115 mark. This allowed Hamlin to decrease Larson’s advantage to within and less than a second by Lap 120. Logano, meanwhile, was sandwiched between the top two competitors of Larson and Hamlin.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 125, Larson, who managed to lap both Preece and Michael McDowell two laps earlier, captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Hamlin settled in second ahead of Haley, Bowman and Hocevar while Bell, Blaney, Stenhouse, Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, Preece, who was in 24th place, managed to fend off McDowell and Logano to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down, which enabled him to receive the free pass and cycle back on the lead lap during the first stage break period.
Under the first stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Larson, whose entry was being serviced by a quartet of new pit crew members that came from Justin Haley’s No. 7 team, exited first ahead of Hamlin while Haley, Bowman, Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Stenhouse, Blaney and Chase Briscoe followed suit, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Busch and Shane van Gisbergen were both penalized for speeding on pit road. Austin Cindric was also penalized for pitting outside his pit box.
Stage 2
The second stage period started on Lap 142 as Larson and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Larson rocketed his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry away from the field from the outside lane while the inside lane, led by Hamlin, struggled to launch. Hamlin’s restart issue allowed Spire Motorsports’ Haley and Hocevar to navigate up into the top-three spots while teammate Ty Gibbs challenged Hamlin for more. As Larson led the following lap, Hocevar overtook teammate Haley for the runner-up spot while Bowman challenged Gibbs for fifth place.
Just past the Lap 150 mark and with a series of on-track battles ensuing around the Last Great Colosseum, Larson, who was clocking in fast lap times on his fresh tires, was leading ahead of Haley, Hamlin, Hocevar and Bowman while Bell, Ty Gibbs, Blaney, Allmendinger and Stenhouse followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Keselowski, who made contact with Bubba Wallace in Turns 3 and 4 before he then briefly checked up and was hit in the rear by Chase Elliott, was slated in 13th place behind Briscoe and Wallace while Elliott and Reddick occupied the top-15 spots.
By Lap 165, Larson grew his advantage up to seven-tenths of a second over runner-up Haley as Hamlin, Hocevar and Bowman trailed in the top five. Bell, Ty Gibbs, Blaney, Allmendinger and Briscoe would race in the top 10 ahead of Stenhouse, Wallace, Keselowski, Elliott and Reddick while Austin Dillon, Byron, Chastain, Zane Smith and Berry were mired in the top 20 ahead of Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch, Cindric, Preece and Nemechek, respectively.
Through Lap 175, Larson, who was starting to lap competitors racing towards the rear of the field, extended his advantage to a second over Haley, Hamlin and Hocevar while fifth-place Bell and sixth-place Ty Gibbs trailed by two seconds. Then two laps later, the caution flew when Shane van Gisbergen, who was two laps down and racing outside the top-30 mark, got loose underneath Cody Ware entering the first two turns and slipped up the track as both spun and hit the outside wall. The incident left van Gisbergen sitting backwards against the wall before he nursed his damaged No. 88 Safety Culture Chevrolet entry back to his pit stall.
During the recent caution period, some of the drivers, including Blaney, Stenhouse, Wallace, Keselowski, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Zane Smith, Kyle Busch, Ty Dillon, Cindric, Suarez and Nemechek pitted their respective entries. The rest, led by Larson, including most of the front-runners, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Nemechek had a wheel roll out from his entry and hit Suarez’s entry as Suarez was pitting for service.
At the time of the impact, two of Suarez’s crew members just avoided being hit by the tire. Ultimately, Suarez was penalized for a tire rolling out of his pit box. In addition, McDowell was penalized for speeding on pit road.
The start of the next restart on Lap 188 featured Larson rocketing away from Hamlin to maintain the lead as Hamlin held off Haley and Bowman to retain the runner-up spot. Then, just past the Lap 190 mark, teammate Bowman challenged and overtook Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Haley dropped to fifth place as Bell moved up to fourth place. Meanwhile, Blaney, who pitted for fresh tires, carved his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry up to 10th place as Hocevar proceeded to overtake teammate Haley for fifth place.
At the Lap 200 mark, Larson was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bowman while Hamlin, Bell, and Hocevar trailed in the top five ahead of Haley, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe, Reddick and Blaney, respectively. By then, Byron, Allmendinger, Berry, Wallace and Stenhouse occupied the top-15 spots while Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Zane Smith and Cindric were in the top 20.
Fifteen laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Bowman and Hamlin while top-five racers Bell and Hocevar trailed by three seconds. Haley and Gibbs, both of whom raced in the top-seven mark, trailed the lead by four seconds, eighth-place Briscoe trailed by five seconds and the trio of Blaney, Reddick and Byron trailed by six seconds. As Larson started to approach lapped traffic, he would continue to lead by two seconds at the Lap 225 mark.
Just past Lap 235, Larson continued to lead by more than two seconds over teammate Bowman, Bell and Hocevar while top-seven competitors Hamlin, Haley and Gibbs trailed by less than four seconds. Ten laps later, Hamlin and Haley would navigate past Gibbs for fifth and sixth, respectively, on the track as Larson kept leading by more than two seconds.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 250, Larson cruised to his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season and his second straight in the Bristol event. Teammate Bowman, who slightly cut the deficit to under two seconds, was in second place. Bell, Hocevar, Hamlin, Haley, Gibbs, Blaney, Briscoe and Reddick scored in the top 10, respectively.
By then and ironically, Preece, who was strapped in 24th place, received the free pass as the first competitor who was scored a lap down, just like in the first stage period.
During the second stage break, the lead lap field, led by Larson, returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first ahead of teammate Bowman while Hamlin, Bell, Gibbs, Hocevar, Briscoe, Haley, Blaney and Reddick followed suit, respectively.
With 235 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Larson and Bowman occupied the front row. At the start, Larson rocketed ahead with another strong start from the outside lane. He maintained the lead for a full lap while Hamlin navigated his way into the runner-up spot over Bowman. Behind Hamlin’s teammates, Bell and Ty Gibbs battled for fourth place before Bell slipped up the track through the first two turns.
Bell would keep his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE entry racing straight despite dropping to sixth place while Gibbs moved up to fourth. In the process, Hocevar navigated his way into fifth place while Haley, Blaney, Byron, Briscoe and Reddick pursued within the top-11 mark.
With 220 laps remaining, Larson was leading by half a second over Hamlin and by nearly a second over teammate Bowman while Gibbs, Hocevar, Blaney, Bell, Byron, Haley and Briscoe were racing in the top 10 ahead of Reddick, Allmendinger, Chastain, Berry and Wallace, respectively.
Ten laps later, Larson’s lead grew to nearly two seconds over Hamlin while Hocevar and Gibbs battled for third place. Gibbs quickly prevailed to claim third place over Hocevar. Blaney was in fifth place over Byron and Bell, while Haley dropped to ninth place. Meanwhile, Larson led by a second with 200 laps remaining while teammate Bowman, who was racing at the front earlier, had plummeted to 14th place as Bowman reported that he was “Blowing up.”
Down to the final 185 laps of the event, Larson grew his lead back up to two seconds over Hamlin and Ty Gibbs while Bowman, who had dropped out of the lead lap category, was down in 29th place and had faint smoke starting to puff out of his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet entry. Meanwhile, Hocevar and Blaney were in the top five as Larson retained the lead by two seconds with 175 laps remaining.
With 150 laps remaining, Larson stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Hamlin while third-place Ty Gibbs started to reel in teammate Hamlin for the runner-up spot. By then, Bowman took his car to the garage as Hocevar and Blaney continued to race in the top five ahead of Byron, Bell, Briscoe, Chastain and Haley.
Twenty-five laps later, Larson stabilized his lead to less than two seconds over Hamlin while third-place Hocevar trailed by three seconds. Behind, Blaney overtook Gibbs for fourth place while Byron, Briscoe, Chastain, Bell and Haley were in the top 10, respectively.
Then, with 115 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs pitted his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE entry from fifth place under green. By then, select names that included teammate Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric and Cole Custer pitted before more names that included Hamlin, Byron, Briscoe, Hocevar, Allmendinger, Chastain, Austin Dillon, Elliott and the leader Larson pitted within 110 laps remaining.
Amid the pit stops, Hocevar endured a slow pit stop due to his car dropping off the jack prior to the left-side tires being serviced. Following the pit stops, Blaney, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead while Reddick, Wallace, Keselowski and Preece were scored in the top five, respectively. By then, Larson and Hamlin were scored in seventh and eighth, respectively, while only the top-three competitors were scored on the lead lap.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Blaney was leading by more than 12 seconds over runner-up Reddick and by more than 13 seconds over third-place Wallace. Preece and Stenhouse, the first two competitors who were scored a lap down, were in the top five. Meanwhile, Larson occupied sixth place ahead of Hamlin while Zane Smith, Ty Gibbs and Byron were scored in the top 10, respectively. In addition, Bell was mired in 11th place ahead of teammate Briscoe and Chastain, while Haley and Hocevar were mired back in 16th and 18th, respectively.
Twenty laps later, Blaney continued to lead by 15 seconds over Reddick as they were the only two competitors who were scored on the lead lap. Behind, Wallace, the first competitor scored a lap down, retained third place as Hamlin started to reel in Larson for fourth place. Soon after, Blaney lapped runner-up Reddick and the former would retain his full-lap advantage with 70 laps remaining while Larson and Hamlin overtook Wallace to move up to third and fourth on the track.
Then, with 67 laps remaining, Reddick pitted his No. 45 The Beast Toyota Camry XSE entry from the runner-up spot. This kept Blaney as the only competitor who was scored on the lead lap and with the overall lead. Larson, who moved into the runner-up spot, started to reel in Blaney on four fresher tires. Larson would then unlap himself from Blaney with 62 laps remaining and Hamlin would follow suit. Both Blaney and Wallace pitted a lap later. As a result, Larson cycled back into the lead with 60 laps remaining while Hamlin followed suit.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Larson, who was mired in lapped traffic, led by half a second over Hamlin while Ty Gibbs, Briscoe and Byron were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Blaney was back in eighth place behind Chastain and Bell while Reddick and Wallace were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively. Meanwhile, teammates Hocevar and Haley were strapped back in 11th and 12th, respectively, while Allmendinger and Austin Dillon were in the top 10 on the track.
Ten laps later, Larson slightly increased his lead to seven-tenths of a second over runner-up Hamlin while third-place Ty Gibbs trailed by five seconds. Briscoe and Byron continued to race in the top five and Blaney gained two spots up into sixth place while Larson extended his lead up to a second with 30 laps remaining.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson, who continued to be surrounded in lapped traffic, maintained his lead to a second over Hamlin while third-place Ty Gibbs trailed by six seconds. By then, only nine competitors were scored on the lead lap, among which included Briscoe, Byron, Blaney, Chastain, Bell and Allmendinger as Larson led by more than a second with 10 laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson, who hit the outside wall through the first two turns several laps earlier but kept his car racing straight, remained in the lead by more than two seconds over Hamlin. Despite being surrounded by lapped traffic and with Hamlin unable to reel in his deficit, Larson was able to cycle his way around the Last Great Colosseum smoothly for a final time before he zipped back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by more than two seconds over Hamlin.
Victory
With the victory, Larson, who won Saturday’s Xfinity Series event and finished second during Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series event as part of his triple-header weekend sweep attempt at Bristol, notched his 31st career win in NASCAR’s premier series, which kept him in 30th place on the Cup Series’ all-time wins list. The victory was Larson’s second of the 2025 season, his third at Bristol and his first time ever winning the spring Bristol event. It also marked the third victory of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate and the 14th at Bristol for Hendrick Motorsports.
Amid the celebrations, Larson dedicated his dominant Bristol victory to Jon Edwards, Hendrick Motorsports’ communications director and Larson’s former public relations representative who passed away three days prior to Sunday’s event.
Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“This [win]’s definitely for Jon,” Larson said on the frontstretch on FS1. “He’s just a great guy. We’re gonna miss him, but successful weekend here. [I] Wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate, but I know he’s celebrating with us in spirit. Just a flawless race once again here at Bristol for the No. 5 team. Really, really good car. However many laps of green we ran there was a lot of fun.
I was pretty comfortable with things and then Denny [Hamlin] came on really strong there before the pit cycle,” he continued, “I just kept the pressure on from there, so I knew I had to make some good moves in traffic..Felt like I did a pretty good job there in traffic. [I] Split the middle sometimes when I needed to, so yeah, just a lot of fun. The pit crew, this is their first win with the No. 5 team, so it’s gonna be fun celebrating with them and yeah, just good to be back in Victory Lane.”
Like Larson, Jeff Gordon, a four-time Cup Series champion and current vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, took a moment to recognize Edwards, who had served as Gordon’s public relations representative throughout Gordon’s racing career.
“It’s been a rough week, I’ll be honest,” Gordon said in Victory Lane. “I lost somebody’s like a brother to me and so many other people that he impacted. The outpour, I just want to say thank you to everybody that has been sending messages, making phone calls, the tribute on the car. Kyle [Larson] was very close to Jon and Jon did a lot for him, so you could tell he was driving with a passion out there. What a dominant performance and this one is for Jon. He would not want the limelight or any of this attention, but I know how proud he’d be of this performance and this team.”
Denny Hamlin, who was coming off back-to-back victories at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway and had won the spring Bristol event a year ago, settled in second place for his fourth top-two result of the year. Hamlin was pleased with his run despite coming up one spot short of notching a third consecutive victory,
He also took the moment to pay tribute to not only Jon Edwards, but Shigeaki Hattori, the 2018 Craftsman Truck Series championship-winning team owner of Hattori Racing Enterprises who also passed away earlier this past week.
“You got to give [the No. 5 team] their due and Kyle [Larson] his due,” Hamlin said. “Just a dominant performance and it looked like a pretty flawless day for him. It looked pretty easy. It was all I had to try to keep up there. Glad we were able to give him a little bit of a run with our Progressive Toyota. I wish we could have got one more spot, but I just wanted to keep [Larson] honest there at the end.
“That’s all I tried to do, but he just was too much to handle. It’s been a great run here over the last month. We’ve been really good. [I] Just got to continue this momentum and it all starts tomorrow. You go back to work and you figure out how you can get just a little bit better.”
Ty Gibbs, who was coming off a ninth-place result at Darlington Raceway and had recorded an average finishing result of 22.0 through the first eight scheduled laps, capped off a strong performance from start to finish by recording his first top-five result of the year in third place.
“We had a really good, clean day,” Gibbs said. “Really happy to have that. It’s been [a] pretty chaotic start to our year, so I think we’re back where we’re going to run. Really excited for the future and to get back racing after this off weekend. I think we’re really capable of winning a lot this year, so we’ll see what we have, what we can do and still have a fun time, have a blast.”
Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney finished in the top five while William Byron, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, the following names that included Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Justin Haley, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, rookie Riley Herbst, Daniel Suarez and Corey LaJoie finished 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 28th, 33rd and 34th, respectively. In addition, newcomer Jesse Love finished 31st in his Cup Series debut while pole-sitter Alex Bowman, who was unable to finish the event due to his late engine issues, ended up in 37th.
There were four lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 40 laps. In addition, only nine of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the ninth event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 30 points over Denny Hamlin, 41 over Christopher Bell, 42 over Kyle Larson, 68 over Chase Elliott, 71 over Ryan Blaney and 72 over Tyler Reddick.
Results:
1. Kyle Larson, 411 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Ty Gibbs
4. Chase Briscoe
5. Ryan Blaney, 48 laps led
6. William Byron
7. Ross Chastain
8. Christopher Bell
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Austin Dillon, one lap down
11. Carson Hocevar, one lap down, two laps led
12. Josh Berry, one lap down
13. Justin Haley, one lap down
14. Kyle Busch, one lap down
15. Chase Elliott, one lap down
16. Brad Keselowski, two laps down
17. Austin Cindric, two laps down
18. Tyler Reddick, two laps down
19. Bubba Wallace, two laps down
20. Ryan Preece, two laps down
21. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down
23. Noah Gragson, two laps down
24. Joey Logano, three laps down
25. Chris Buescher, three laps down
26. Erik Jones, three laps down
27. Zane Smith, three laps down
28. Riley Herbst, four laps down
29. Cole Custer, five laps down
30. Michael McDowell, five laps down
31. Jesse Love, five laps down
32. Ty Dillon, six laps down
33. Daniel Suarez, six laps down
34. Corey LaJoie, six laps down
35. Todd Gilliland, seven laps down
36. Cody Ware, seven laps down
37. Alex Bowman – OUT, 39 laps led, Engine
38. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Suspension
39. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical
The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter their lone off-weekend period of the 2025 season before returning to action at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, for the Jack Link’s 500. The event is scheduled to occur on April 27 and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
LAS VEGAS (April 13, 2025) – Antron Brown and Justin Ashley led Team Toyota on Sunday at the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals, making the Top Fuel final round Sunday afternoon – both coming up just short of victory. Brown finished as the runner-up in his second final round appearance this season while today’s result was Ashley’s first final round of 2025. Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence both advanced out of round one at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but were defeated in the semi-finals.
In Funny Car, J.R Todd made the semi-finals after winning his quad in the opening round on Sunday. Todd’s GR Supra Funny Car teammates, Ron Capps and Bobby Bode, were eliminated in the opening round.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is back in action in two weeks for another four-wide nationals, this time at zMAX Dragway outside of Charlotte.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series NHRA Four-Wide Nationals The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Race 4 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS
Name
Car
Final Result
Round-by-Round
Antron Brown
Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
Runner-up
W (3.779) v. J. Salinas (3.930) v. S. Palmer (4.772) v. S. Langdon (5.021) W (3.903) v. J. Salinas (3.994) v. S. Reed (4.514) v. J. Hart (6.319) L (3.912) v. T. Stewart (3.870) v. J. Ashley (3.965) v. J. Salinas (4.237)
Justin Ashley
SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
Finalist
Adv. (4.022) v. D. Kalitta (3.774) v. C. Millican (4.080) Adv. (4.090 – holeshot) v. T. Stewart (3.943 – holeshot) v. S. Torrence (3.928) v. D. Kalitta (7.089) L (3.965) v. T. Stewart (3.870) v. A. Brown (3.965) v. J. Salinas (4.237)
Steve Torrence
CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
Semi-finals
Adv. (3.846) v. T. Stewart (3.864 – holeshot) v. R. Passey (4.722) v. S. Chrisman (4.097) L (3.928) v. T. Stewart (3.943 – holeshot) v. J. Ashley (4.090 – holeshot) v. D. Kalitta (7.089)
Doug Kalitta
Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
Semi-finals
W (3.774) v. J. Ashley (4.022) v. C. Millican (4.080) L (7.089) v. T. Stewart (3.943 – holeshot) v. J. Ashley (4.090 – holeshot) v. S. Torrence (3.928)
Shawn Langdon
Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
First Round
L (5.021) v. A. Brown (3.779) v. J. Salinas (3.930) v. S. Palmer (4.772)
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS
Name
Car
Final Result
Round-by-Round
J.R. Todd
DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car
Semi-finals
W (4.382) v. M. Hagan (4.142) v. B. Bode (4.557) v. J. Beckman (5.332) L (4.490) v. M. Hagan (4.126) v. P. Lee (4.140) v. D. Wilkerson (4.249)
Bobby Bode
DC Motorsports Toyota GR Supra Funny Car
First Round
L (4.557) v. J. Todd (4.382) v. M. Hagan (4.142) v. J. Beckman (5.332)
Ron Capps
NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car
First Round
L (4.567) v. A. Prock (4.107) v. C. Pedregon (4.270) v. J. Rupert (5.411)
*= Non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports
TF Final Result: Runner-up
How was the day for you and what momentum does a final-round run bring your team?
“This definitely raises the bar for us. We really wanted the win right there but just hit a bump on the track (on the final run), the car spun a little bit and dropped two holes at the same time. It’s tough when you’re that close. We thought that was our race to lose, but it’s one of those deals where we need to go out and be better for the Charlotte Four-Wides (Nationals). We normally do well at the four-wide nationals, but the good part (here), today was a good day in the points. Look at all the stuff we did this weekend, qualified No. 3 – made some bonus points here, points there. Our goal is to win the next race. Picked up where we left off, back to sea level. Hopefully conditions (at Charlotte) will be a little bit cooler. Besides that, the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster team did a great job this weekend. Every time you walk away from a race where you make the final round, it’s a good weekend in points. We’ll get this dragster back together and get ready for Charlotte.”
JUSTIN ASHLEY, SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, SCAG Racing
TF Final Result: Finalist
Describe your day today.
“I think this (today’s result) gives us a lot of momentum. When you race in the Four-Wide (Nationals), anything can happen, so it’s one of those quirky deals. But it was important for us to start gaining momentum now. This whole SCAG Power Equipment Toyota GAZOO Racing team has been working so hard, and it’s nice to see their work start to come to fruition. Now, this is something we can build off of. Once we’re done here (at Las Vegas), we’ll learn from it, put it in the past and focus on Charlotte.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 32 electrified options.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, April 13, 2025) – Kyle Kirkwood used a superhuman drive Sunday on the streets of Long Beach to prove that Alex Palou is human, after all.
Kirkwood mastered an intriguing contest of tire strategy and speed to win the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach under sunny Southern California skies, ending Palou’s two-race win streak to start the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.
Florida native Kirkwood earned his second Long Beach win from the pole in the last three years, driving the No. 27 PreFab Honda of Andretti Global to a 2.6859-second victory over runner-up Palou in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Kirkwood also won this race in 2023, his first NTT P1 Award and series victory.
“We controlled the race, even from practice,” Kirkwood said. “Really good qualifying, amazing race, amazing strategy. It was just execution all across the board that won us that race today because if Palou was in front, he would have beat us, for sure. This was a track-position race here today, without any yellows.”
Kirkwood led 46 of 90 laps in the second consecutive caution-free race this season, the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race without a yellow flag on the iconic 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit and its formidable and close concrete walls since 2016.
Christian Lundgaard finished third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after passing Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing in Turn 1 for the final podium position with five laps remaining. Rosenqvist placed fourth, as the top four finishers in the race also hold the same spots in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings.
Two-time Long Beach winner Will Power rounded out the top five finishers in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Reigning series champion Palou, who started third, fell short of becoming the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver to win the first three races of the season since fellow series title winner and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon in 2020. But Palou’s metronomic, fast consistency helped him keep the championship lead, by 34 points over Kirkwood in second.
“You never feel amazing when you finish second, but honestly, the 27 car and Kyle, they were amazing all weekend,” Palou said. “Super fast.
“I tried my chances, but we couldn’t really make it work. I had a really bad start on my side, and that kind of put us on the back foot. But we did the best we could. Amazing to be here second, but hopefully next year we can just improve one step.”
The race quickly became a contest of dueling strategies between the Firestone Firehawk primary and alternate tires. INDYCAR rules require teams to use both tire compounds for at least two laps per race, and many drivers who started on the grippier but less durable alternate tires shed them within the first 10 laps for the more durable primary compound.
Kirkwood and Palou were on the dominant strategy of the race, as Palou pitted after Lap 6 and Kirkwood Lap 7 to get on the black-sidewall tires. It became clear through the next fuel and tire cycles that Kirkwood and Palou were the two fastest drivers on track, as the strategists from each team kept close tabs on each other, ensuring no missed chances to pounce due to changing tactics.
The true flashpoint of the race came on Lap 66. Palou made his final pit stop at the end of Lap 64, taking a final set of Firestone Firehawk primary tires. Kirkwood did the same at the end of Lap 65, and Palou was right on his gearbox on hotter, grippier tires when Kirkwood exited the pits at the start of Lap 66.
But Kirkwood stared down intense pressure on his out lap from Palou, who never got close enough to make a move for the lead.
Kirkwood then took the lead for good on Lap 69 when Kyffin Simpson, one of only six drivers to start the race on primary tires, pitted from the lead in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda as he was off-sequence on pit strategy from the drivers who started on the alternate tire. That was the last of nine lead changes today, the most for the INDYCAR SERIES at Long Beach since 2012.
Lundgaard led 26 laps – second to only Kirkwood – despite starting 12th and using the less-popular strategy of starting on primary tires. His strong result came after Arrow McLaren mechanics worked overtime to rebuild his car after Lundgaard crashed Saturday in qualifying.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, May 4 on the natural-terrain road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Race Results
(1) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 90, Running
(3) Alex Palou, Honda, 90, Running
(12) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(4) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 90, Running
(13) Will Power, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(6) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(2) Colton Herta, Honda, 90, Running
(14) Scott Dixon, Honda, 90, Running
(19) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(17) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 90, Running
(27) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(5) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 90, Running
(9) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(7) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 90, Running
(8) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(20) Louis Foster, Honda, 90, Running
(10) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(24) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(25) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 90, Running
(11) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 90, Running
(22) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 89, Running
(16) Graham Rahal, Honda, 89, Running
(18) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 89, Running
(23) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 89, Running
(21) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 88, Running
(26) Jacob Abel, Honda, 88, Running
(15) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 88, Running
Race Statistics Winner’s average speed: 100.395 mph Time of Race: 01:45:51.2058 Margin of victory: 2.6859 seconds Cautions: None Lead changes: 9 among 7 drivers
Lap Leaders: Kirkwood, Kyle 1 – 6 Armstrong, Marcus 7 Lundgaard, Christian 8 – 27 Dixon, Scott 28 – 29 Kirkwood, Kyle 30 – 34 Lundgaard, Christian 35 – 40 Robb, Sting Ray 41 – 52 Kirkwood, Kyle 53 – 65 Simpson, Kyffin 66 – 68 Kirkwood, Kyle 69 – 90
CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT APRIL 13, 2025
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD AND ARROW MCLAREN REBOUND FOR PODIUM FINISH WITH CHEVROLET AT LONG BEACH
Fighting back after facing an on-track incident in qualifying Saturday, Christian Lundgaard and the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team finished third to give Chevrolet their 340th podium finish in the 2.2-liter twin turbo V6 era since 2012.
Lundgaard’s podium finish is Chevrolet’s 16th on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Streets of Long Beach circuit. Additionally, Lundgaard leaves Long Beach third in NTT INDYCAR SERIES points. This is also a back-to-back podium finish for Lundgaard.
Team Chevy combined for 38 laps led during Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, with now 381 laps led since 2012 in the V6 era.
Starting 13th, Will Power and the No. 12 Team Penske Chevy team fought to a hard fifth-place finish, with Sting Ray Robb and the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet team finishing ninth after starting 19th. Robb additionally led 12 laps in Sunday’s main event.
Chevrolet kicked off race day with a warmup session, with four representing the Bowtie brand in the top-10, including Josef Newgarden (Team Penske), Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren), David Malukas (AJ Foyt Racing) and Christian Rasmussen (Ed Carpenter Racing).
Up next for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Team Chevy heads to Barber Motorsports Park for the fourth round of the 2025 season, the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix. The 90-lap, 207-mile main event takes the green flag live on FOX Sunday, May 4 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Additional coverage throughout the weekend can be found via INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 218.
Top-10 Race Results:
3rd Christian Lundgaard
5th Will Power
6th Scott McLaughlin
9th Sting Ray Robb
Warm Up Top-10 Results:
2nd Josef Newgarden (1:08.3474)
5th Pato O’Ward (1:08.7636)
7th David Malukas (1:08.9893)
10th Christian Rasmussen (1:09.2176)
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
David Malukas, No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“We statistically went on the strategy that, percentage-wise, was in our favor. And of course, out of the how many simulations, 40,000 or 100,000, the five that ended up being no yellows was the one that happened today. So, we chose the safe route, and it just didn’t play out. So, if you think of everybody being on the same strategy as we did, we only lost one position in the end, which I think is a little bit of time in pit stops. So, we’re gonna have to look at the data and see where that time is being lost. But I mean, those other six cars that went primaries, they filtered forward because they were on the better strategy, which gave us that P 17. So, it looks really rough on paper, and it seems like we lost a lot of ground, but according to people in those same strategies, we just lost one position so still not a perfect race, but it looks a lot worse than what it was. So, we just need to put our heads down and figure out what’s the problem in the pit lane, figure out what time we’re losing there and other than that, it’s been a good race for us.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“A pretty awesome day, considering we started last and yesterday was the opposite. Our first stint was awesome, followed up by a really solid green stint, and yeah, that kind of sealed the race for us. Engineering did a great job on strategy. we chose the right tire for our car, and the mechanics did a phenomenal job getting the car in and out of pit lane quick and efficient. So all in all, I mean, the day couldn’t have gotten much better than what it did for the Sexton Properties crew.”
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“I think this one is dedicated to the team. It’s dedicated to Jon Edwards. The entire team, everything that they did overnight to get what they call the old lady back on track. Pretty proud of what we did today. I told the team we had to be aggressive. I think we had the pace. We didn’t qualify where the pace of the car was. To get away with a back-to-back P3 isn’t too bad.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:
“Overall, a tough weekend with some glimmers of hope. Ultimately, we didn’t execute very well today. We will regroup as a team and come back stronger in Barber.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:
“This was a very frustrating end to a difficult weekend. I am very much looking forward to the next event at Barber Motorsports Park. We had a great test there recently and are ready for a better race than what we had today.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:
“What a day. That was awesome. Up ten spots, 19th to ninth on merit. We raced so, so good today. The pace in the car was unbelievable. I knew we had it. We should have been in the Fast 12 in qualifying, but in INDYCAR racing, little things make a big difference. We barely missed the transfer. It’s nice to have a little reward for our work, but all the glory goes to God. It’s been a long three years to this point, but to come back with a team I’ve won with and a championship before. With a leader like Ricardo Juncos, Brad Hollinger and Dave O’Neil, those guys put the hard work in and chose the right people for the job. Townsend, my engineer, huge shoutout to the guys on the pit crew; great stops. Little bobble on the first stop but we nailed the next two. I’m so happy. A little glimmer of hope for our future. I don’t think this is our max potential yet. We’re going to keep driving forward and hopefully, some more to come.”
Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet:
“Overall, I’m quite happy with how the race went today. My target was to reach the top 20, so we achieved that by finishing P18. The issues in qualifying yesterday put us quite behind but the pace today was really good. It seems that, step by step, we’re making the car better, so thank you to the team for their efforts. I saw today a step forward in terms of car performance, strategy and pitstops as well. Overall, we showed that the whole structure has started to improve so it’s very positive and I’m happy. Now we have a short break but before we’ll go straight to Gateway for an oval test and then to Indianapolis. We will just keep working but, step by step, we’re improving.”
Callum Ilott, No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet:
“It was not a very eventful race, and we’ve had two fully green-flag races in a row now. From our side, it wasn’t too bad. It probably was not the optimal strategy, but we had a lot of little issues that we were working through the race with that I needed to try and fix. We were consistent throughout. At the end of the day, we got the car home, but we have a lot of things that we need to look at on and off the track. It’s a part of it; we’re still growing and it’s good to have both cars at least getting closer and closer.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“We were just locked out a little bit there early, and then getting caught up with some guys that came out of pit sequences and stuff like that. So, lost some track position where we were in a really good spot at the start, but it is what it is. I mean, that was the most solid race I’ve had at Long Beach for a long time. So, it’s a P6 for me. I got a little bit of work before we come back here next year to be better. I feel like I’ve always had a couple of bad results to start the year. So, if we go to Barber with a formula we’ve had in the past, and have a win, we’ll get ourselves right back in it and see where we’re at. It’s like big focus. I can’t wait for it. Yeah, we’re ready for that place.”
Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“Very good day. Very good day. Just methodically getting to it, but it was methodical. I was driving very hard, biding my time, used up the perfect amount of push-to-pass in the race to finish it off on the last pass. Love those sorts of days. I didn’t feel very good, to be honest. Felt sick. I could feel myself getting achy in the car but drove the crap out of it. Man, we have a good car, we just have to start at the front. On days like this, get the points. Pretty cool we got a top-five.”
THE MODERATOR: Good be afternoon, everyone. We wrap-up the 50th edition of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. We are currently joined by the third-place finishing driver in Christian Lundgaard. Back-to-back podium finishes. Fifth career podium. Christian, just your thoughts on another podium to start 2025 for you.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, awesome day. I told the team this morning, even before warm-up, Let’s try to go aggressive, and let’s see what we can do. We have the most tires of everybody. We had two sets of alts, three sets of new primaries. So I think all options were open for us today.
We went off strategy compared to what we expected most of the field to do. We were the first primary tire runner in the field. I think that showed that we had the pace, too, today. I think we made up a lot of pace on those pit cycles. The clean air, took advantage of the clear air.
Really happy to reward the guys. Yeah, they had to bring a new car back into play, the old lady, as they called her. We took the car in qualifying yesterday. So for everybody to rebuild a car and put it out on track this morning, she ran effortless today. I’m extremely happy for everybody.
THE MODERATOR: Third in points, 46 behind your pal Alex Palou. Strong start for you in the 2025 campaign.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: No, absolutely. I was very vocal in the off-season that I wanted to get off to a strong start with Arrow McLaren. I think we’ve clearly done that. I’ve never been higher in the championship than where I am now. We’ve done a good job.
We started sort of conservative in St. Petersburg. I think today we showed what we really can be and where we’re supposed to be fighting. Two back-to-back podiums, unlike this guy who decides to either win or finish second in every race. But we’ll beat him someday, I hope.
Q. Christian, did the car feel as good as the one you had yesterday?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I think the car felt the same. What was interesting about qualifying yesterday was I didn’t feel the bump in turn nine braking throughout the entire qualifying until I certainly felt it. Ended up in the wall. I think it was very consistent throughout the race. Even though it’s been two chassis, it’s been very consistent throughout the week.
ALEX PALOU: Different chassis?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, we tubbed it.
Q. Do you know, was the decision to change chassis, swap out the tub, was that difficult? Were they like, We could run this one, but it may not be as good?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: No. Fortunately and unfortunately, Dallara built some very strong parts. The endplate made a dent on the chassis. It was a big hit, but the end plate was fine basically, but the chassis wasn’t, so we had to change it. It was a call straightaway. We changed the chassis. The guys were back home by 10 last night.
Q. Most of the lead changes at the front took place because of pitting. No one passed somebody else on the track. Was that frustrating? Would you like to see more able to pass guys on the track when your car is stronger?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, I would have liked to be able to fight with Alex and Kyle at some point. We started a little far too back. Obviously we were on a completely different strategy than both of them were on. We made the most of our strategy and ended on the podium from 12.
THE MODERATOR: 169 on-track passes this afternoon. Six leaders. Nine lead changes, which is the most since 2012 here.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: And we ran without a yellow flag.
THE MODERATOR: For the second straight race.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: It was weird. I was driving with 10 laps to go, and I’m like, Have we have a yellow this race? Two in a row. Good job.
THE MODERATOR: First time that happened since 2020, the harvest races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. No pressure for Barber, I’m just saying.
More questions for podium finishers.
Q. Christian, you did make a move to get onto the podium late. Was that purely your push-to-pass, taking advantage of that?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Believe it or not, I actually ran out of push-to-pass kind of leading up to that overtake. I looked at the dash at lap 42, and I had 109 seconds left. I knew that was kind of good because that was around halfway mark. I’d used around my 100 seconds halfway through the race. I forgot about it. I forgot about my push-to-pass.
Probably with 15 laps to go, I still had 84 seconds. That came in handy at the end. Obviously I didn’t really think I was going to be able to go get Felix. I mean, Alex, Felix and Kyle just seemed stronger kind of in the beginning of the stint. I think we came back to them at the end of the stint where I think we had a little more pace than they did.
Back marker certainly helped, right? It was good.
Q. There’s a few new guys, not normally up-front people. Sting Ray, Kiffin Simpson, up front for a long time. Was that a surprise?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I think I saw three cars all race that I was fighting, yeah. No. I barely even saw this guy, so…
ALEX PALOU: Pit exit. It was almost close.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Was it?
ALEX PALOU: No, but it was almost close.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: If that’s your definition of close…
ALEX PALOU: We saw each other. I saw you.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Did you?
ALEX PALOU: Yeah.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Wow.
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LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE RECAP
BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 13, 2025) – The NASCAR Cup Series battled it out on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500. Erik Jones, driving the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE, started 28th, while his LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, rolled off 32nd in the No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE. After 500 laps, it was Kyle Larson who emerged victorious.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK NO. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE RACE RECAP: START: 32ND | FINISH: 21ST | POINTS: 21ST
John Hunter Nemechek was forced to start from the rear of the field at the Food City 500 after the No. 42 Dollar Tree found a part failure on their Toyota Camry XSE following qualifying. With high tire wear noted in practice, the early laps were all about managing tire life and gaining track position. Despite starting deep in the field, Nemechek showed resilience in the opening run, holding off the No. 5 for several laps before eventually falling a lap down to the leader with 46 laps remaining in the stage. Struggling with a car that was free on entry, tight through the center, and free on exit, Nemechek battled through handling issues to finish Stage 1 in 30th.
After the opening stage went caution-free, the teams got their first look at the tire wear, and it didn’t appear to be an issue. Crew chief Travis Mack called for four tires, fuel, and an air-pressure adjustment.
During the second stage, Nemechek ran in 27th and was in position to earn the free pass, but just a few laps before the caution came out, the No. 60 overtook him, denying the No. 42 Dollar Tree team the chance to get back on the lead lap. As the field slowed under yellow, the team considered taking the wave around, but that opportunity didn’t materialize, leading them to bring Nemechek to pit road. During the stop, the left front wheel wasn’t secured in time and came off as Nemechek exited his pit stall. He was forced to return to pit road to have a new tire installed. Restarting 33rd, Nemechek faced a tough task with several cars ahead of him and limited track position. Despite being mired in traffic, he noted an improvement in the handling of his No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE. He managed to stay just one lap down through the end of Stage 2, finishing in 31st — a position that allowed the team to take the wave around and rejoin the lead lap to start the final stage.
Starting the final stage in 30th and on older tires, Nemechek knew he had to push hard to stay ahead of the leader and remain on the lead lap. He quickly made-up ground, advancing to 23rd before making a green-flag pit stop on lap 361 for fresh tires and fuel. As the field cycled through green flag stops by lap 439, Nemechek climbed into the top 20 in 19th.
After slipping back as far back as 34th in the running order earlier in the race, the No. 42 Dollar Tree team stayed focused and resilient, battling back from adversity to claw their way back to a 21st-place finish.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:
“It was a decent finish considering the kind of day we had – an up-and-down one. We went a lap down in the first stage and had to take the wave-around. Then we had a tire fall off on pit road, which set us back even more. But the team kept fighting, and we managed to stay just one lap down to the end during that green-flag pit cycle. We had a solid strategy to try and get back on the lead lap. I felt like our Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE had good speed – probably a top-15 car if we hadn’t made a few mistakes throughout the day. Still, it was a solid effort and encouraging speed. We’ll take the off week to reset and get ready for Talladega in a couple of weeks.”
ERIK JONES NO. 43 ADVENTHEALTH TOYOTA CAMRY XSE RACE RECAP: START: 28TH | FINISH: 26TH | POINTS: 30TH After starting 28th in the Food City 500, Erik Jones fell to 34th by lap 40. Tire wear was a big concern on the day and by Lap 50 the field was starting to see some rubber buildup.
With 30-laps to go in Stage 1, Jones found himself in 31st. The Michigan native reported the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota was loose in and tight in the center and that he wasn’t able to make forward progress. It was with five laps to go in Stage 1 that he radioed to the crew that the power steering was gone. He finished Stage 1 in the 28th position.
After a pit stop crew chief Ben Beshore said he didn’t see any power steering fluid in the pit box and Jones restarted 23rd Stage 2. Jones continued on and said the car was still too tight and free in the center and off the corner.
The second stage was uneventful as Jones said the car wasn’t handling and he finished Stage 2 at Lap 250 in 26th, two laps shy of the leader.
The team took the wave around at the stage break to try and get track position. Jones continued to fight more of the same handling issues through Stage 3 and with 150 to go he was 28th.
With 143 to go the No. 43 pitted for tires and fuel. The handling continued to be an issue throughout the closing laps and Jones held on to the end finishing 26th. It was a tough day, but the team kept trying to work on the handling for 500 laps.
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series takes a week off before kicking off a 28-week stretch of consecutive events, starting with the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race is scheduled for Sunday, April 27 at 3:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.
Food City 500 – Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tenn. – April 13, 2025
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 SNAP-ON FORD MUSTANG START: 21ST STAGE 1: 18TH STAGE 2: 17TH FINISH: 17TH POINTS: 22ND RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Snap-on Ford Mustang team finished 17th in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. After rolling off 21st, Cindric worked his way into the top 20 early as the field settled into a single-file rhythm around the bottom groove. He finished Stage 1 in the 18th position, but a penalty for pitting outside the box due to a loose wheel forced him to restart at the tail end of the lead lap. He pressed on to the end of the segment to finish 17th and headed to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments to aid center-off turn and a loose condition. He restarted 16th on Lap 265 and informed his team on Lap 294 that the car was much tighter that run. The 26-year-old racer made a scheduled green flag pit stop on Lap 386 for four tires and fuel before ultimately crossing the line 17th to round out the day at “The Last Great Colosseum.”
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “With a lot of unknowns going into today with the tires I felt we adapted pretty quickly in the first stage. We made up some spots and stayed on the lead lap. I think being able to recover from having to pit twice there after the pit stop and kind of come back up through the back and get a decent finish. I still feel like we needed a few more adjustments there to get this Snap-on Ford Mustang where we wanted it, but I’m proud of the no-give-up effort there. It’s a hard place to do it at and it was cool to drive the car with all the Snap-on folks here this weekend.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/RICHMOND FORD MUSTANG START: 5TH STAGE 1: 7TH STAGE 2: 8TH FINISH: 5TH POINTS: 6TH RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney raced his way to a fifth-place finish Sunday afternoon at Bristol, marking his third top-five result of the season. After firing off from fifth, Blaney maintained top-10 pace in the opening 125-lap stage that stayed green for its entirety as the No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford crossed the line seventh in Stage 1. An early caution in Stage 2 brought Blaney to pit road as he was the first of the leaders to opt for service under yellow in order to fight to the front on fresh tires for the ensuing run. Blaney ultimately worked his way up to eighth in the running order by the end of Stage 2. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call for Blaney to run long during the final stage, allowing him to take over the lead on lap 391 in the middle of the green flag pit cycle. Blaney went on to lead the next 48 laps and was the only car on the lead lap with 72 to go before Hassler called him to pit road with 61 laps remaining. Following the four tire stop under green, Blaney rejoined the field scored ninth in the running order and ultimately made his way to fifth with six laps to go for his third-career top-five at Bristol.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “It was just kind of a learning thing all day. The first run of the race nobody really knew what the tires were going to do and everyone kind of just rode around there a little bit and we finally got going and we went so long. Then it was like, ‘Alright, we can go a little bit harder.’ The track widened out, which was good. I honestly don’t know if I really anticipated that with the track getting wide and really not having tire problems. I’m glad that’s the way it was. I think it put on a pretty decent race. There were a lot of comers and goers, except for the lead, I guess, but it was a pretty fun day and a really good finish. We kind of took a chance of running really long there, seeing if we’d get a caution and then we finally bailed and had to make all the ground up and got back to fifth. Overall, it was a solid weekend.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG START: 38TH STAGE 1: 26TH STAGE 2: 28TH FINISH: 24TH POINTS: 9TH RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano started 38th and finished 24th in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Following contact with the outside turn two wall in qualifying Saturday, the Shell-Pennzoil crew repaired the primary car and started at the rear of the field for Sunday’s 500-lap battle. Logano gained eight spots early, but the torrent pace would see the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang get lapped near the end of Stage 1 with Logano crossing the line in 26th position. Logano continued to battle to get back on the lead lap to no avail in Stage 2 coming home 28th. The Shell-Pennzoil crew opted to take the wave around to begin the final stage of the race. Unfortunately, older tires and lack of track position relegated Logano to a 24th-place finish.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Tough day for overall for us with having to fight for track position all day. The long runs didn’t fall in our favor and forced us to take a shot with the wave around at the end of Stage 2. We’ll reset in the off-week and look ahead to Talladega.”
The NASCAR Cup Series next week off for Easter and will return to action Sunday, April 27 at Talladega Superspeedway. Live coverage of the Jack Link’s 500 begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX with in-car camera angles available all race long through MAX Driver Cam.
RICK WARE RACING Food City 500 Date: April 13, 2025 Event: Food City 500 (Round 9 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval) Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
RWR Finish:
● Cory LaJoie (Started 37th, Finished 34th / Running, completed 494 of 500 laps) ● Cody Ware (Started 34th, Finished 36th / Running, completed 493 of 500 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (36th with 45 points) ● Corey LaJoie (38th with 24 points, but running a limited schedule in 2025)
RWR Notes:
● This was LaJoie’s milestone 275th career NASCAR Cup Series start. ● LaJoie’s next start comes on June 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Quaker State 400.
Race Notes:
● Kyle Larson won the Food City 500 to score his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Bristol. His margin over runner-up Denny Hamlin was 2.250 seconds. ● Larson dominated by leading twice for 411 laps (82 percent of the 500 laps available). ● There were three caution periods for a total of 40 laps. ● Only eight of the 39 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● William Byron remains the championship leader after Bristol with a 30-point advantage over second-place Hamlin.
Sound Bites:
“When we got turned by the 88 (Shane van Gisbergen), that put us on a whole different lap and it just kind of ruined our day. We never got the chance to take the ‘wave around’ and get back in position to race the guys who we were faster than. The last half of the race, we were faster than a lot of good cars, but just didn’t get the chance to capitalize on any of it. So, onto Talladega.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“That was a driver’s worst nightmare – a 250-lap, green-flag run to finish Bristol, especially coming off the couch. This place separates the men from the boys. We had a really good Schluter-Systems Ford – thought we could’ve ran 22nd to 26th with some track position – but my dumbass sped on pit road, and you can’t do that. You gotta be perfect in the Cup Series and we weren’t today, but it was still fun to get back in a Cup car and race.” – Corey LaJoie, driver of the No. 01 Schluter-Systems Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The NASCAR Cup Series takes a rare weekend off for Easter before returning to action on Sunday, April 27 for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
