NHRA Top Fuel Driver Clay Millican Delivers Victory for RWR in the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Less Than 24 Hours After RWR Riders Briar Bauman and Chase Saathoff Sweep American Flat Track SuperTwins and Singles Races in Georgia
POMONA, Calif. (March 30, 2025) – Rick Ware Racing (RWR) earned its third victory in less than 24 hours when NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican drove the RWR-prepared Mighty Fire Breaker/Parts Plus dragster to a final round victory in the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals Sunday at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip.
Millican defeated Tony Stewart with an impressive .038 of-a-second reaction time to take his eighth career Top Fuel win in the NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series. Five of those victories have come since joining RWR in late 2022, with Millican’s prior win earned in the sport’s biggest event, last year’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
“My crew chief (Jim Oberhofer) told me he had it loaded up and a couple things were going to happen. He said we’re going to win, we’re going to blow up and if we lose, we’re going to be a footnote in history,” said Millican, who went 4.273 seconds at 189.71 mph against Stewart before enduring a wild engine explosion at the finish line. “Thank goodness we’re not a footnote in history. Tony Stewart is going to win one of these soon, but all I know is we won the Winternationals.
“But boy, that final round was forever. When you blow it up and – and we blew it up good – and you got a HANS (head-and-neck restraint) device on, you’re stretching that HANS to its limits, trying to look over like, ‘Is he coming or not?’ I couldn’t get there quick enough. I promise I never let off the throttle, even though it wasn’t running no more. But I had that thing buried. I was stomping on the loud pedal harder than normal. What a day.
“Winning (the Winternationals) is one of the majors. It definitely is. We’ve won Indy and now we’ve won here, and that’s pretty dang cool. But to come out and win the way we did today, it was a total team effort.”
Millican’s road to the final came by defeating Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force, and his thundering win against Stewart bookended an impressive weekend for RWR. On Saturday night at the Senoia Short Track in Georgia, RWR’s Progressive American Flat Track riders – Briar Bauman and Chase Saathoff – won their respective classes.
Bauman won the Mission AFT SuperTwins race to score his 27th career victory in the class and his fifth with RWR, as the two-time Grand National Champion came to RWR in 2023.
In a prelude to Bauman’s win, Saathoff triumphed in AFT Singles presented by KICKER. The victory was Saathoff’s first with RWR and the fourth of his career. He joined RWR this year after spending 2022-2024 as an independent AFT Singles rider.
“We’re in the business of trying to win races, and this was a very good weekend for RWR,” said team owner Rick Ware. “Credit goes to our people who put in so much time, energy and effort to make all of this happen. Moments like this are really appreciated because winning in any of these series is just really, really hard. Everyone is good, so when you do have success like this, it makes it even sweeter, because you know how hard you worked to achieve it.
“It’s been a really good weekend, and that makes us want to do it all over again the next weekend and the weekend after that. NHRA is in Vegas in two weeks, AFT is in Ventura in less than a month, and we’ve got NASCAR at Darlington next weekend. There’s no let up, but it’s what we love. It’s how we’re wired.”
Next up for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals April 11-13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Progressive American Flat Track returns to action on Saturday, April 26 at the Ventura Short Track in Ventura, California. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Cup Series doesn’t skip a beat. It heads to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday.
About Rick Ware Racing:
Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver’s seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes fulltime in the elite NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX).
Cook Out 400 – Martinsville Speedway Martinsville, Va. – March 30, 2025
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/JACK LINK’S FORD MUSTANG START: 20TH STAGE 1: 16TH STAGE 2: 25TH FINISH: 37TH POINTS: 24TH RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric started 20th at Martinsville Speedway in the No. 2 Menards/Jack Link’s Ford Mustang and quickly climbed the leaderboard by staying out during a caution on Lap 32 to gain track position. He restarted second and maintained solid pace following the restart, before finishing 16th at the end of Stage 1. Battery issues had begun to surface, prompting the No. 2 crew to troubleshoot the problem as well as flush the cool suit system. Despite the setback, Cindric reported improved handling on the long run and completed Stage 2 in the 25th position. However, the battery issues persisted in the final stint, ultimately forcing an early end to the No. 2 team’s day. The Menards/Jack Link’s machine was credited with a 37th-place finish.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Definitely a disappointing way to end the day. I felt like we had great pace early on, so it’s unfortunate for it to end the way it did for our Menards/Jack Link’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We’ll reset and get ready for Darlington next week.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 ADVANCE AUTO PARTS FORD MUSTANG START: 32ND STAGE 1: 18TH STAGE 2: 6TH FINISH: 11TH POINTS: 10TH RACE RUNDOWN: After starting towards the tail end of the field Sunday afternoon at Martinsville, Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang rallied for an 11th-place finish to cap off the weekend at the half-mile short track. The first caution flag flew on lap 32, allowing the No. 12 team to flip its track position as the majority of the field opted to pit while Blaney was one of six cars to stay out, setting him up to take the ensuing restart from fifth. Ultimately, fresher tires prevailed over the course of the following run as Blaney settled for an 18th-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four tire stop and a round of adjustments during the stage caution, Blaney worked his way back into the top-10 by lap 144 and continued his fight to the front, coming away with a sixth-place result in Stage 2. Blaney settled into fifth for the opening run of the final stage before the last round of pit stops took place following the caution on lap 274 as the Advance Auto Parts Ford lined up to take the green flag from seventh with 114 laps remaining. Blaney continued to hold steady in the top-10 before the field took the green one last time with 75 laps to go, but was unable to make up any ground over the course of the final run in an 11th-place effort.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Really proud of the effort from our 12 group after the way our weekend started. The strategy played into our favor early to gain back some track position and the changes we made throughout the day allowed us to maintain in the top-10. Just needed a little more for the final run there but a solid day to get us back in the right direction.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG START: 7TH STAGE 1: 1ST STAGE 2: 12TH FINISH: 8TH POINTS: 9TH RACE RUNDOWN: Despite getting collected in a late-race incident that relegated the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford to the tail end of the lead lap, Joey Logano charged through the field over the final 75 laps to come away with an eighth-place finish Sunday at Martinsville, marking his 12th-consecutive top-10 finish at the Virginia short track. Logano displayed top-10 pace throughout the 400-lap event as he worked his way up to second in the running order before the caution flag flew with 10 laps remaining in Stage 1. After taking the restart from the inside of row one, Logano took control to come away with his second stage win of the season in a two-lap shootout. Varying strategies resulted in Logano restarting from 29th to begin Stage 2, but he once again climbed the leaderboard on fresh tires to reach 17th when the caution flag flew on lap 122. Crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call for right side tires only on the ensuing stop as the No. 22 team gained seven spots on pit road to vault Logano back into the top-10. After crossing the line 12th in Stage 2, several cautions continued to stack up the field before Logano was involved in an incident in turn three with 83 laps to go as the No. 19 got sideways and made contact with the left rear of the No. 22. Despite receiving minimal damage, Logano hit pit road for four fresh tires and lined up to restart 25th with 75 laps remaining. Logano made quick work through the field as the race remained green for the entirety of the run, ascending to the top-10 with seven laps to go before ultimately taking the checkered flag eighth.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “It seems like it’s been a typical 2025. A pretty solid car and then something happens. Overall, I feel the guys gave me a really fast Shell-Pennzoil Mustang, one that was possible to win with if we got the track position. We went for that stage win early in the race in Stage 1. I think that was the right call. We got ourselves back in the ballpark there and the long haul was pretty good.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway on Sunday, April 6. Live coverage of the Goodyear 400 begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1 with in-car camera angles available all race long through MAX Driver Cam.
Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team got off to a fast start in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, leading 40 laps in the first Stage before mechanical gremlins led to lost laps and eventually a 33rd-place finish.
Berry started Sunday’s race from 14th place and took the lead on Lap 34 by staying on the track while drivers ahead of him made pit stops during a caution flag for debris on the track. Once out front, Berry cruised at the head of the pack for 40 laps, finally giving up the top spot when he made a pit stop at Lap 73.
But the strong start fell apart just after Berry exited pit road following his first stop. The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse lost power on the backstretch. Berry made it back to the pits, where the crew got him back under power, and he rejoined the race in 38th place, one lap down.
He ended the first 80-lap Stage in 38th place but lost another lap when the electrical problems returned, and the crew replaced his battery during a Lap 86 pit stop.
Berry ended Stage Two in 37th place and took the wave-around during a caution period at Lap 202 to regain one of the lost laps. But the mechanical woes returned around Lap 275 as he once again lost power, coasting into the pits for more repairs. He lost two more laps and ended the race in 33rd place, four laps in arrears.
Berry and the No. 21 team now turn their attention to next Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Berry and the team will run a throwback scheme based on the Ford-powered Lotus that Jim Clark, with pit support from the Wood Brothers, drove to victory in the 1965 Indianapolis 500.
About Motorcraft® Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to under hood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford Dealers and Lincoln Retailers, independent distributors and automotive-parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty* of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com. *See your dealer for limited-warranty details.
About Quick Lane® Tire & Auto Center Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine maintenance, serving all vehicle makes and models. Quick Lane provides a full menu of automotive services, including tires, oil change and maintenance, brakes, batteries, alternator and electrical system, air conditioning system, cooling system, transmission service, suspension and steering, wheel alignment, belts and hoses, lamps and bulbs and wiper blades plus a thorough vehicle checkup report. Service is performed by expert technicians while you wait at any of nearly 800 locations in the U.S., with evening and weekend hours available and no appointment necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com. *See your dealer for limited-warranty details.”
About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services. The company does that through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough EVs along with embedded software that defines exceptional digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, Ford is pursuing mobility solutions through Ford Next, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 177,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at corporate.ford.com.
About Ford Performance Ford Performance is based in Dearborn, Mich. It is responsible for Ford’s performance vehicle development and major racing operations globally, including NASCAR, IMSA, SRO British GT, FIA World Rally Championship, Supercars Championship, World of Outlaws, Ultra4, SCORE-International, FIA Rally-Raid, Formula Drift, NHRA, Rebelle Rally, Thailand Super Series and our latest commitment in Formula 1 with RedBull Ford Powertrains. Ford Performance also maintains a constantly evolving fleet of electric performance demonstrators to showcase the limits of electrification technology. In addition, the organization also oversees the development of Ford’s racing engines, as well as the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts. For more information regarding Ford racing’s activities, please visit Performance.Ford.com or follow @FordPerformance on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.
About Wood Brothers Racing Founded in 1950 by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood in Stuart, Virginia, Wood Brothers Racing holds a special place in NASCAR history as the sport’s longest-running team. Over eight decades, the team has earned 101 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, along with 120 poles, and remains proud of its longstanding relationship with Ford Motor Company, fielding only Ford products since its inception. Glenn’s brother, Leonard Wood, played a key role in shaping modern racing by developing the techniques behind today’s pit stops. With a rich legacy rooted in innovation and tradition, Wood Brothers Racing continues to honor its heritage while adapting for the future as it competes in NASCAR’s premier series with Josh Berry.
Last soccer year was remembered for many bright moments. First of all, it was Euro 2024, where the Spanish national team shone brightly and the Georgian national team opened for everyone in a new way. But even this tournament was marred by several scandals. While fans are making football prediction for today we can remember a few of the biggest scandals of last year.
The new format of the Champions League
Everyone was talking about the introduction of a new format. Representatives of UEFA convinced everyone that this option would better level the chances of teams and would allow more interesting matches with results for today btts and equal confrontations. Accordingly, the audience will be more interested, and the clubs will earn more money.
But clubs believe that such innovations only increase the number of matches per year. At the same time, the players can no longer withstand the loads and the clubs’ payrolls only expand. To spend the season with 15-18 players in the squad is already unrealistic.
At the same time, sports organizations require compliance with financial fair play, which only increases the scandal. Many clubs are surprisingly not performing well in the European Cup and this has become a reason to argue about the correctness of the innovation. Let’s see if the new format of the Euro cups will take hold, but the fact that it has already become more scandalous than spectacular is a fact.
Demirala’s disqualification at the Euros
Imagine that you play as a center back and in the 1/8 finals of the Euros you score a double in the opponents’ goal. Your goals:
take the team to the quarterfinals;
become a player’s first double for the national team;
bring the love of the country from the fans.
It’s a beautiful story for Demiral, isn’t it? But in the end, he will face a 2-match suspension. The fact is that the player showed a gesture symbolizing the nationalist movement in Turkey. The footballer claimed that on emotions he wanted to demonstrate some national gesture, but in the end, he was disqualified.
Because of this misdemeanor, the Turkish national team lost in the quarterfinals, because the Netherlands easily passed through the zone where Demiral should have been. And the scandal was the reason for the team’s low mood for the match. That’s how a player from a hero became a scandalizer.
Real boycotted the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Last season Real showed incredible soccer and everyone was sure that its main star Vinicius would get the Ballon d’Or. But a day before the award presentation Real learned that the winner would be Rodri.
The team management regarded such information as disrespect and the club refused to come to the ceremony. At the same time, Carlo Ancelotti was recognized as coach of the year, and Real was recognized as the best club. According to rumors the day before the award, Vinízus even managed to celebrate the victory, but in the end, he did not receive the Golden Ball, and a whole scandal came out.
Mudryk caught doping
In 2023, the Ukrainian winger moved to Chelsea for 70 million Euros. This is a record transfer for a Ukrainian player. But in Chelsea, he could not play at the right level. And now, at the moment when something started to work, Mykhailo was caught doping.
Now Mudryk faces a 4-year disqualification and it is the end of his career as a top-football player. According to many sources, meldonium was found after matches in the national team of Ukraine. There are rumors that Chelsea even plans to sue the Ukrainian Football Federation. The player himself has already initiated an autopsy of the B sample to prove his innocence. But the chances of success are extremely low.
Conclusion
Of course, this is not all the scandals of the past year, which many analysts and representatives of xGscore.io analyzed over the past year. We can remember Cucurella’s hand play in the match against Germany at the Euros and Pogba’s doping scandal. But it was the scandals mentioned in the article that were the most discussed last year. We hope that 2025 will be less scandalous and more soccer.
Ty Dillon and the No. 10 Mark III team started Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway from the 28th position and with focus and determination, moved into the top 25 by the end of stage one. With a fast Chevy, the team made routine stops during the second stage and Dillon was scored 20th at the end of the stage. Happy with the handling of the No. 10 Chevy and the direction the team was going, Dillon was able to run as high as 13th in the final stage before crossing the finish line in 15th.
“I’m really happy with our performance today. Our Mark III Camaro was solid in practice and we built off that. We had a decent qualifying run, just the result didn’t really show the potential we had in the car. I think as a team we were just really patient and focused on executing and not taking ourselves out of the race. We knew we had a decent enough car to get back up there and Andrew (Dickeson, crew chief) made a good call giving us an advantage there at the end on tires to battle back to the top 15. I’m just proud of our effort to bounce back. We worked really hard last week and the result didn’t show. This week to have a really good effort and to get the result this week was really good, so happy all around.” Ty Dillon
Allmendinger reported early his Black’s Tire Service Chevy was lacking grip and drive off. On the first stop of the day, the team made a wedge adjustment to help with the handling of the car. Allmendinger restarted in 26th and was running 19th when the next caution came out on lap 71. Crew chief, Trent Owens, and Allmendinger collectively decided to stay out and make a run for stage points. Allmendinger went to finish the opening stage in third, earning eight stage points. In the second stage, Allmendinger reported his Chevy was freer than the run before and he still needed more forward drive. After contact on the right rear in the final stage, Allmendinger came to pit road under caution for four fresh tires to eliminate concern of the tire going down. The No. 16 car was able to make up the track position and later maintained position inside the top 20. When the caution came out on lap 298, Allmendinger was running 17th and stayed out to save tires for a potential late race caution. As the laps winded down, Allmendinger continued to lose grip in the car, causing him to fall back to 23rd.
“I thought we did fairly well today trying to make the most of our day; we fought the balance of the race car in general. We made a good decision there to get stage points in the first stage so that helped our day, for sure. Unfortunately, we lost it completely on the last run, got way too loose and that cost us a few spots. We knew it was an uphill battle all day and besides the last run, we really made the most of the day. It’s a little disappointing to not run a little bit better, but we generally understand why, and we’ll move on to Darlington.” – AJ Allmendinger
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 27 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
Ryan Preece 7th, Chris Buescher 24th, & Brad Keselowski 26th
Martinsville, VA (March 30, 2025) – Ryan Preece stood tall at NASCAR’s shortest track on Sunday, recording his third consecutive top-10 finish of the season. Preece led Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing with a solid 7th-place finish at Martinsville. Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski overcame challenges to score 24th and 26th-place finishes, respectively.
No. 60 – Ryan Preece
Ryan Preece continues to make a statement with the way he and the No. 60 team have started the year. At Martinsville on Sunday, Preece established a career-best streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes. His 7th-place result placed the Fastenal Mustang as the highest-finishing Ford in the field, marking the second week in a row that an RFK Racing car earned that recognition.
Earlier in the weekend, it was clear that Preece had a fast race car. At one point during time trials, it appeared Preece would win the pole. However, a slight miscue on the unforgiving half-mile resulted in a 21st starting position. Determined to make up for that in the race, Preece set his sights on another solid finish with RFK’s newest team.
The speed and Preece’s grit resulted in a 7th-place finish in Stage One – earning valuable stage points. Stage Two proved more of a challenge. The car started to develop a tight condition, and Preece concluded that stage in 23rd. Crew Chief Derrick Finley made adjustments and improved the car. Preece took advantage and, over the final run, charged into the top 10 to finish 7th.
“I didn’t expect that one,” Preece said of his career-best third consecutive top-10 finish. “Honestly, it all started with me messing up in qualifying and putting us back there. Ultimately, we got some great stage points, some great calls, and great adjustments on the box, and we got this Fastenal Ford Mustang where it needed to be.”
No. 17 – Chris Buescher
After a very quick qualifying run, Chris Buescher started 6th at Martinsville on Sunday. It wasn’t long before that speed was on full display. As the green flag waved, Buescher fired off with the leaders and held the Kroger/Old El Paso Ford inside the top 10 in the early laps.
As the first stage wound down, Buescher and Carson Hocevar made contact. Buescher spun and sustained right-front suspension damage. The No. 17 team immediately went to work repairing the damage. The incident forced Buescher to lose the lead lap, though he would eventually get it back. When Stage One concluded, Buescher was 37th.
During the stage break, the team continued to work on the car. The repairs allowed Buescher to continue turning highly competitive laps, and he was 30th at the end of Stage Two. Stage Three brought more contact, this time with Noah Gragson as the two battled for the same piece of real estate at the bottom of Turn One. Buescher, though, was able to retain position on the lead lap and raced hard to bring home a 24th-place finish.
No. 60 – Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski entered Sunday looking for his third career Martinsville victory. Starting 27th, he used a combination of savvy, aggressive driving and astute pit strategy to gain track position early. Toward the end of Stage One, the BuildSubmarines.com Ford elected not to pit during a caution period when many leaders did. The net result was restarting inside the top 5 and finishing 4th in Stage One – gaining valuable stage points.
As the race progressed, the ebbs and flows of the event found Keselowski once again fighting for track position on the heavily congested half-mile. It’s a track where Keselowski has led more than 1,000 laps in his career, and his experience allowed him to work toward a solid finish. He ended Stage Two in 24th, confident that he could make his way to the front in the final segment.
Before Stage Three began, Crew Chief Jeremy Bullins made adjustments to give the BuildSubmarines Ford more drive off. The car was good, but a green-flag pit stop on lap 270 (of 400) proved critical. Keselowski lost a lap, and because a caution came out shortly after, that round of green-flag stops only affected him and a handful of others. Most drivers were able to pit under caution without losing a lap. Although the No. 6 team fought hard, they were never able to get back on the lead lap and finished 26th. Keselowski heads to Darlington next, where he is the defending winner.
Up Next
Darlington Raceway (Darlington, SC): Sunday, April 6, 2025, at 3:00 PM ET on FS1
RFK Racing, in its 38th season in 2025, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988, and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass 300 wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content, and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
POMONA, Calif. (March 30, 2025) – Clay Millican edged out Tony Stewart in an explosive Top Fuel final round on Sunday for Rick Ware Racing, winning for the first time at historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also won the third of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Millican went 4.273-seconds at 189.71 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mighty Fire Breaker/Parts Plus dragster before a wild engine explosion at the finish line, as Stewart drove into tire smoke almost immediately in the finals. It is the eighth career victory for Millican, who defeated Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force to reach the final round, and first in 2025.
Millican was also dynamite on the starting line during eliminations, including a lethal .038 against Stewart, denying the racing legend his first career Top Fuel victory and moving to sixth in points.
“My crew chief (Jim Oberhofer) told me he had it loaded up and a couple things were going to happen. He said we’re going to win, we’re going to blow up and if we lose, we’re going to be a footnote in history,” Millican said. “Thank goodness we’re not a footnote in history. Tony Stewart is going to win one of these soon, but all I know is we won the Winternationals.
“But boy, that final round was forever. When you blow it up and – and we blew it up good – and you got a HANS [head restraint] device on, you’re stretching that HANS to its limits, trying to look over like, ‘Is he coming or not?’ I couldn’t get there quick enough. I promise I never let off the throttle, even though it wasn’t running no more. But I had that thing buried. I was stomping on the loud pedal harder than normal. What a day.
“Winning [the Winternationals] is one of the majors. It definitely is. We’ve won Indy and now we’ve won here, and that’s pretty dang cool. But to come out and win the way we did today, it was a total team effort. I pulled us out once, which rarely ever happens, and the team just stuck together.”
Stewart reached the final round for the third time in his career and first this season after defeating reigning world champion Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and points leader Shawn Langdon.
In Funny Car, Beckman handed John Force Racing its 300th Funny Car win after he went 4.015 at 302.88 in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to knock off Daniel Wilkerson in a historic championship round at the legendary facility – and the home track for JFR. It is the 38th career win for Beckman, who replaced Force after his crash last year and has won the last two races in Pomona.
Force also won last year’s Winternationals, making the car a remarkable 12-0 in the last three Pomona races. The weekend belonged to Beckman, who won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the first time with two standout runs and then made a series of passes in the 3.80s to reach Sunday’s final.
He defeated Jeff Diehl, Chad Green and Matt Hagan to reach the championship round. There wasn’t another 3.80s in the fold, but after Wilkerson had trouble at the starting line, Beckman recovered and rolled to his first victory of the season and 36th in his career. It’s also the first time he has led the points since 2020, as Beckman continues to perform at a high level since replacing Force following his crash in June.
“The car was amazing all weekend. We qualified fourth, but we got qualifying points every single round and ran 3.80s every round of eliminations until the final when the flawless part fell off a couple of hundred feet out and car shook the tires and knocked them loose,” Beckman said. “That’s where, as a driver, you’ve got to be ready to give one back to the team because they’d given me everything all weekend long.
“It felt good to be able to pedal the thing and take it down there and have the car not blow up. It’s pretty cool when they hand you a trophy, your car still intact, and get John Force Racing its 300th Funny car win.”
Wilkerson reached the final round for the second time in his career thanks to round wins against J.R. Todd, Paul Lee and Funny Car rookie Spencer Hyde.
There appears to be no stopping Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson these days, especially at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, as the reigning world champion set the track record in the final round against KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn with a stellar run of 6.476 at 210.90 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. That gives Anderson a remarkable 16 career wins in Pomona – the second-most in NHRA history – including the last two races.
He won the NHRA Finals last November against Glenn, a final-round matchup that has repeated itself the first three races of the 2025 campaign. Glenn won the first in Gainesville, but Anderson has taken the last two. While Phoenix was a wild and wacky final round, this one was much more conventional, as Anderson continued his torrid run this weekend. He was in the 6.40s throughout eliminations, including a 6.477 against Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the second round that initially broke the track record from 2014.
Anderson, the current points leader who also won the GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award for a second straight race, then broke it again in the championship round with a spectacular run, giving the six-time world champion his second victory this season and 108th in his marvelous career.
“We set a [track] record in the final and this is the way you want to do it,” Anderson said. “You want to go out and earn it every single run, and you want to save your best for the final round, and that’s what we did. These are proud days today, and just like three months ago here in the final round, you want to give your best shot in the final round against the toughest competition.
“I love this place. Nine times out of 10 when we come here, you get friendly conditions like this, and I was able to drive better than I normally drive as far as reaction time goes. The slight cloud cover, the cool temperatures just feel good for a driver and that just plays more into my hand. are the conditions I need. I wish we could race here every weekend.”
Glenn continued his impressive season as well, advancing to a third straight final round and 30th in his career after defeating Erica Enders, Matt Hartford and Deric Kramer.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action April 11-13 with the 25th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
POMONA, Calif. — Final finish order (1-16) at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. The race is the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
TOP FUEL:
Clay Millican; 2. Tony Stewart; 3. Brittany Force; 4. Shawn Langdon; 5. Jasmine Salinas; 6. Doug Kalitta; 7. Josh Hart; 8. Ida Zetterstrom; 9. Scott Palmer; 10. Steven Chrisman; 11. Justin Ashley; 12. Shawn Reed; 13. Antron Brown; 14. Steve Torrence.
FUNNY CAR:
Jack Beckman; 2. Daniel Wilkerson; 3. Matt Hagan; 4. Spencer Hyde; 5. Chad Green; 6. Blake Alexander; 7. Cruz Pedregon; 8. Paul Lee; 9. Bobby Bode; 10. Jeff Diehl; 11. Austin Prock; 12. J.R. Todd; 13. Ron Capps; 14. Dave Richards; 15. Alexis DeJoria; 16. Steven Densham.
POMONA, Calif. — Sunday’s final results from the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. The race is the third of 20 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel — Clay Millican, 4.273 seconds, 189.71 mph def. Tony Stewart, 6.187 seconds, 99.83 mph.
Funny Car — Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 4.015, 302.28 def. Daniel Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 8.292, 91.83.
POMONA, Calif. — Final round-by-round results from the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE — Tony Stewart, 3.713, 314.68 def. Antron Brown, 5.253, 139.70; Josh Hart, 3.675, 332.67 def. Justin Ashley, 4.536, 184.75; Brittany Force, 3.700, 337.75 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.048, 252.61; Shawn Langdon, 3.668, 331.28 def. Ida Zetterstrom, 3.806, 278.40; Doug Kalitta, 3.660, 338.34 def. Scott Palmer, 3.852, 288.52; Clay Millican, 3.874, 282.54 def. Shawn Reed, 4.696, 238.01; Jasmine Salinas, 3.716, 331.45 def. Steve Torrence, Foul – Red Light;
FINAL — Anderson, 6.476, 210.90 def. Glenn, 6.503, 211.66.
POMONA, Calif. — Point standings (top 10) following the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series –
Jack Beckman, 271; 2. Paul Lee, 212; 3. Matt Hagan, 197; 4. Chad Green, 194; 5. Austin Prock, 171; 6. Ron Capps, 164; 7. Daniel Wilkerson, 160; 8. Bob Tasca III, 153; 9. Cruz Pedregon, 141; 10. Alexis DeJoria, 139.
CHEVROLET IN NHRA 2025 LUCAS OIL NHRA WINTERNATIONALS IN-N-OUT BURGER POMONA DRAGSTRIP POMONA, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP | NOTES & QUOTES MARCH 30, 2025
JACK BECKMAN RACES TO JOHN FORCE RACING’S 300TH FUNNY CAR VICTORY AND CHEVROLET’S 172ND AT POMONA
Greg Anderson Captures Chevrolet’s 404th Pro Stock Victory and His 108th Career Win Defeating KB Titan Racing Teammate Dallas Glenn in the Finals
Notes:
Jack Beckman defeated Daniel Wilkerson in the NHRA Winternationals’ final round to capture John Force Racing’s 300th Funny Car victory, his 36th-career win in his 72nd final round in Funny Car, and Chevrolet’s 172nd Wally trophy in Funny Car.
Beckman’s run of 4.015 seconds E.T., in the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car, at 302.28 mph was good enough to get the victory after Wilkerson smoked the tires mid-run.
In a close drag race during the Pomona semifinals, Brittany Force fell to Clay Millican on her run of 3.812 seconds E.T. at 263.92 mph to Millican’s 3.750 seconds E.T. at 324.12 mph.
Despite the top qualifying effort, Austin Prock and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Funny Car team faced early elimination in Round 1 by Blake Alexander.
The Force, Prock, and Beckman trio of John Force Racing had a successful Saturday at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, seeing double No. 1 qualifiers by Force and Prock in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, and Beckman capturing the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win.
Capturing Chevrolet’s 404th victory in Pro Stock since 1970 and resetting the track record at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Drag Strip, Greg Anderson captured his 108th career victory with his run of 6.476 seconds E.T. at 210.90 mph. Anderson defeated KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, facing off for a fourth final round in a row. Anderson’s win Sunday is his second in a row, after capturing victory in Phoenix.
Anderson, driving the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS Pro Stock, captured his 134th career No. 1 qualifier and second of the 2025 season with his fastest lap of 6.490 seconds E.T. at 211.26 mph.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
JACK BECKMAN, DRIVER OF THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE AND COOLANT CHEVROLET SS FUNNY CAR FOR JOHN FORCE RACING:
“It’s about the team, the PEAK guys. I thought maybe we could run 3.80’s every run this weekend and it didn’t happen. The track got way better, shook the tires, it hurt. I’m glad I’m loaded up on Ibuprofen because of my neck and back, but I was able to get back on it and save one for the team. For the sponsors, PEAK, the whole Cornwell team was over helping us, that’s what kind of organization JFR is. For Hendrick Cars, obviously, our Chevy SS was flying. The power’s here. This is about John Force. This is Funny Car Win No. 300 for Team John Force Racing. Nine of us got 143, the boss man (John Force) got 157. This is No. 300. This is a big deal. That is a milestone in drag racing.”
On his semifinal run and the Pomona track…
“Pomona is such an interesting track because the shutdown is so short, and the lanes have personality. They’ll push you. It’s not that you don’t stay on top of it, but Pomona you’re extra vigilant out there. We’ve got Dan Wilkerson in the final. They’ve been doing fantastic, and I know that’s a Cinderella story. That Chevy is hungry, that PEAK squad is on mean right now, for Graham Rahal Performance, Hendrick Cars, I can’t wait to strap back in.”
AUSTIN PROCK, DRIVER OF THE CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVROLET SS FUNNY CAR FOR JOHN FORCE RACING:
“Let’s be honest, it hasn’t been phenomenal. We have been working on it all weekend, and we’ve had trouble in that area. We thought we were heading in the right direction. We changed some more things this morning, and it just didn’t do the job. Frustrated in myself. I should be able to run 4.20 pedaling it like that. I missed that first pedal and that cost us the run. You win and lose as a team, but it’s frustrating for Cornwell Tools, HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet. We’ll regroup, we’ll go to the next one and try and get the job done for John Force.”
GREG ANDERSON, DRIVER OF THE HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET SS PRO STOCK FOR KB TITAN RACING:
“I think we made up for last week and I apologize for last week. That wasn’t much of a final, but that one was. That was pretty cool right there. We both did the best we possibly could do. It was just a great drag race. Thank the Lord, KB Titan has just absolutely come out of the gates smoking this year, and I hope it can last. I know, obviously, we’re not making friends out here, but that’s the name of the game. That’s what you come out to try to do. So far, so good. We’re looking good so far.”
UP NEXT:
The fourth round of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series takes place April 11-13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals air live on Sunday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Coverage airs throughout the weekend with NHRA on FOX and NHRA.tv, streaming available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.
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Denny Hamlin reigned supreme for the first time in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season by clinching a dominant victory in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, March 30.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led twice for a race-high 274 of 400 scheduled laps in an event where he started in fifth place and primarily raced at the front. Despite settling in ninth place due to various mixed strategies occurring prior to and at the conclusion of the first stage period, Hamlin would muscle his way back to the front and lead for the first time on Lap 126.
Over the next 200 laps, Hamlin would maintain the lead and win the second stage period in the process. Despite being mired through five restarts due to five caution periods throughout the final stage period, he used the clean air to outlast a late challenge from teammate Christopher Bell during the final restart with 75 laps remaining. For the remainder of the event, Hamlin maintained a reasonable gap from the field and navigated his way through lapped traffic to cruise to his first Cup Series victory of the 2025 campaign.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 29, Christopher Bell claimed his first Cup pole position of the 2025 season with a pole-winning lap at 96.034 mph in 19.718 seconds. Joining Bell on the front row was Chase Elliott, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.951 mph in 19.735 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Christopher Bell launched his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead of the field through the frontstretch as he proceeded to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind stacked up in two lanes while jostling for early spots, Bell easily led the first lap over Chase Elliott while Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin followed suit in the top five, respectively.
Over the next four laps, Bell stretched his early advantage to as high as six-tenths of a second over Elliott while Bowman, Hamlin and Larson trailed in the top five, respectively. Behind the leaders, Chris Buescher retained sixth place ahead of a heated battle for seventh place that involved Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace. In addition, William Byron fended off Tyler Reddick for ninth place and Chase Briscoe battled teammate Ty Gibbs for 11th place while Kyle Busch battled Michael McDowell for 14th place. Amid the battles, Bell continued to lead by half a second over Elliott at the Lap 10 mark.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Bell maintained the lead by less than half a second over Elliott while Bowman, Hamlin, Larson, Buescher, Logano, Wallace, Byron and Reddick followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Behind, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe, Josh Berry, McDowell and Kyle Busch trailed in the top 15 ahead of Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith and Ryan Preece while Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliland, AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer and Daniel Suarez occupied the top 25 spots ahead of Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley, respectively. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney, who qualified in 32nd place, gained only a single spot as he was mired in 31st place.
Three laps later, Elliott overtook Bell exiting the backstretch to assume the lead for the first time in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet entry. With the lead in his possession, Elliott would proceed to lead through the Lap 30 mark. By then, his lead grew to six-tenths of a second over Bell while Bowman, Hamlin and Larson continued to trail in the top five.
On Lap 31, the event’s first caution flew due to debris in Turn 4. Under the caution period, a majority of the field led by Bell pitted for a first round of pit service while the rest led by Josh Berry and including Austin Cindric, Cole Custer, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and rookie Riley Herbst remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Bell exited pit road first following a two-tire pit stop. Joey Logano, who also opted for a two-tire pit stop, exited second, as Elliott exited third while on four fresh tires. Bowman, Hamlin, Larson, Wallace, Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick followed suit, respectively.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 39, Berry muscled ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Cindric briefly stumbled from the outside lane. As Berry led through the first two turns and the backstretch, the field fanned out and the competitors jostled amongst one another between those who pitted and those who did not. As Herbst slowly started to drop below the leaderboard on his worn tires, front-runners Bell, Logano, Elliott, Bowman, Hamlin, Larson and Wallace were mired from sixth through 12th, respectively, while being trapped by Brad Keselowski as Berry continued to lead through the Lap 45 mark.
Shortly after, Logano made contact with Keselowski entering Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 46. This allowed Logano to move into the top five. Then, entering Turns 1 and 2, Keselowski got loose and made contact with Bell that nearly sent both up the track. Amid the contact, both continued to race straight, but both had dropped to the top-15 mark. As Logano, Bowman, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson and Wallace raced from fifth to 10th, respectively, Bell had dropped to 12th place and Keselowski was trying to retain 14th place. Meanwhile, Berry continued to lead over Cole Custer just past the Lap 50 mark.
By Lap 60, Berry extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Custer while Logano, Bowman and Cindric occupied the remaining top-five spots ahead of Elliott, Larson, Blaney, Hamlin and Wallace. Meanwhile, Bell continued to race in 12th place behind Reddick and Keselowski had dropped to 16th place behind Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs. In addition, Byron, who endured a slow pit service during the event’s first caution period, was mired in 28th place while Riley Herbst had dropped to 36th place on his worn tires.
Ten laps later, the event’s second caution flew when Chris Buescher, who was racing in 24th place, got turned by Carson Hocevar amid contact as the former proceeded to hit the outside wall and spin through the frontstretch. By then, Berry had stabilized his lead to two seconds over a hard-charging Logano while Custer, Bowman and Elliott occupied the remaining top-five spots ahead of Larson, Hamlin, Wallace, Reddick and Austin Dillon.
During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Berry pitted their respective entries, while the rest led by Logano remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Elliott managed to exit pit road first ahead of Hamlin, Custer, Berry, Larson and Wallace. Amid the pit stops, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road. Cody Ware would also be penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
Shortly after, trouble struck for Berry as he experienced a battery issue to his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry. With Berry stalled on the track, he was pushed back to pit road and dropped out of the lead lap category.
With the event restarting under green for a two-lap shootout to the first stage’s conclusion, Logano wasted no time rocketing his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead with the lead from the inside lane. Logano would proceed to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Bowman fended off Keselowski and AJ Allmendinger for the runner-up spot. Behind, John Hunter Nemechek dueled with teammate Erik Jones and Ryan Preece in a tight three-wide battle for fifth place in front of Hamlin and Elliott while Logano retained the top spot during the following lap.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Logano captured his second stage victory of the 2025 Cup Series season. Bowman followed suit in second ahead of Allmendinger, Keselowski and Erik Jones while Nemechek, Preece, Elliott, Hamlin and Custer were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, some led by Logano and including Preece, Allmendinger, Keselowski and Erik Jones pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Bowman remained on the track. Not long after, Cindric would pit after reporting a power issue to his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry.
The second stage period started on Lap 92 as teammates Bowman and Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, both Hendrick Motorsports teammates dueled for a full lap in front of Hamlin, Nemchek, Larson and Custer. With Elliott using the outside lane to lead the following lap, he then managed to clear Bowman entering the backstretch to have both lanes to his control. Elliott would proceed to lead to the Laps 95 and 100 marks while Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE entry up to second place. Hamlin would proceed to reel in Elliott for the lead while Larson, Bowman and Wallace followed suit in the top five, respectively.
Through the Lap 110 mark, Elliott retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Larson, Wallace and Ty Gibbs were racing in the top five ahead of Bowman, Custer, Bell, Chase Briscoe and Reddick, respectively. Behind Ross Chastain, McDowell, Blaney, Gilliland and Gragson trailed in the top 15 ahead of Suarez, Haley, Logano, Ty Dillon, and Byron, while Elliott stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over Hamlin by Lap 115.
On Lap 121, the caution flew due to Burt Myers falling off the pace through the frontstretch as Myers would end up stalling his No. 50 C3/Team AmeriVet Chevrolet entry just in front of the pit road exit zone and past the first two turns. By then, Elliott had extended his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin while Larson, Wallace, and Ty Gibbs were in the top five, respectively.
During the latest caution period, a majority of the leaders led by Elliott pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road while Bowman returned to pit road to have a potential loose wheel addressed.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 131, Hamlin fended off Wallace from the outside lane to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Hamlin would proceed to lead the following lap over Wallace while Ty Gibbs, Suarez and Custer trailed in the top five. With the top-four competitors racing in a single-file line, the rest of the field behind fanned out to two- and three-stacked lanes as the competitors jostled amongst one another between those who previously pitted and those who did not. Amid the bumps and battles ensuing within the field, Hamlin led past the Lap 135 mark.
Towards the Lap 140 mark, Hamlin’s advantage grew to eight-tenths of a second over Wallace. Behind, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe and Suarez continued to race in the top five ahead of Chastain, Bell, Elliott, Larson and Byron while Blaney, Logano, Reddick, Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon, McDowell, Erik Jones, Hocevar, Zane Smith and Haley followed suit in the top 20, respectively.
Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to extend his lead as he led by more than a second over Wallace. As Gibbs, Briscoe and Chastain retained their respective spots in the top five, Elliott carved his way into sixth place and Blaney navigated his way into ninth place behind Suarez. Meanwhile, Larson was strapped in 10th place ahead of teammate Byron while Logano was back in 13th place behind Reddick.
Another 10 laps later, Hamlin, who was approaching lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace while Elliott, Gibbs and Briscoe were in the top five. Behind, Chastain, Bell, Blaney, Larson and Reddick occupied top-10 spots in front of Suarez, Logano, Byron, Gragson and Zane Smith as Hamlin’s lead stood to one-and-a-half seconds by Lap 170.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 180, Hamlin cruised to his second Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Elliott, who overtook Wallace for the runner-up spot five laps earlier, followed suit in second ahead of Wallace, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe while Blaney, Chastain, Bell, Larson and Reddick were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first following a swift pit service from his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team. Elliott, Wallace, Briscoe and Bell exited in the top five while Blaney, Larson, Logano, Chastain and Ty Gibbs followed suit in the top 10, respectively.
With 207 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Hamlin and Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead of Elliott exiting the frontstretch and he would proceed to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With both lanes under his control, Hamlin led the following lap while Wallace tried to challenge Elliott for the runner-up spot. Behind, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Briscoe battled for fourth place in front of Blaney and Larson. With Elliott fending off Wallace for the runner-up spot and Bell muscling away from Briscoe with fourth place, Blaney and Larson would challenge Briscoe for fifth place. Soon after, Ty Gibbs would squeeze Logano into the backstretch’s outside wall for ninth place, but both proceeded to duel without drawing a caution as Hamlin led the halfway mark on Lap 200.
With 200 laps remaining, the caution returned when Riley Herbst, who was mired in a tight three-wide battle with Cindric and Allmendinger towards the mid-pack region, got hit in the left-rear area by Cindric that sent Herbst’s No. 35 Lucy’s Toyota Camry XSE entry spinning and hitting the outside wall backwards in Turn 1.
The start of the next restart period, with 193 laps remaining,g featured Hamlin jumping ahead and retaining the lead from the inside lane while Wallace and Elliott dueled for the runner-up spot. Elliott and Wallace would continue to battle dead even for the runner-up spot behind Hamlin over the following lap before Elliott muscled ahead of Wallace with 191 laps remaining. Behind, Bell trailed in fourth place while Blaney was in fifth place ahead of Larson, Chastain, Briscoe, Gibbs and Logano.
Down to the final 175 laps of the event, Hamlin was out in front by more than a second over Elliott while third-place Wallace trailed by two seconds. Bell, Blaney, Larson, Chastain, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Logano continued to race in the top 10, respectively, while Byron, Suarez, Zane Smith, McDowell, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Gilliland, Keselowski and Kyle Busch were mired in the top 20, respectively.
Fifteen laps later, Hamlin, who was approaching lapped traffic, maintained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Elliott while third-place Wallace continued to trail by two seconds. Meanwhile, Bell and Blaney, both of whom were in the top five, trailed by more than three seconds, while top-10 competitors Larson, Chastain, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Logano trailed by within four and six seconds, respectively.
Another 10 laps later, Elliott, who started to reel in on Hamlin for the lead while trying to navigate his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet entry through different lines and zones, only trailed Hamlin by half a second. Despite Hamlin getting mired in lapped traffic, he managed to retain the top spot over Elliott. By then, third-place Wallace trailed the lead by nearly three seconds as both Bell and Blaney remained in the top five ahead of Larson. While Reddick and McDowell fiercely dueled for 14th place in front of Austin Dillon, Hamlin slightly grew his lead back to seven-tenths of a second over Elliott with 140 laps remaining.
Then, with 134 laps remaining, Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Bowman pitted their respective Chevrolet entries. Keselowski would then pit his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry with 129 laps remaining while Hamlin continued to lead ahead of Elliott. The caution would then fly with 126 laps remaining when rookie Shane van Gisbergen spun his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet entry through Turns 3 and 4. As van Gisbergen drove away from his wreckage scene, the right-rear wheel, which had caused van Gisbergen to spin, rolled off the car, and the driver would serve a two-lap penalty in his pit stall.
During the latest caution period, the entire lead lap field, led by Hamlin, pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited first while Bell exited second ahead of Wallace, Elliott and Larson. Chastain, Blaney, Logano, Briscoe and Ty Gibbs would follow suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, John Hunter Nemechek was penalized for speeding on pit road, while Carson Hocevar was also penalized for pitting outside of his pit box.
With the event restarting under green with 114 laps remaining, Hamlin rocketed ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Bell dueled with Wallace for the runner-up spot. As Hamlin led the following lap over his Toyota teammates Bell and Wallace, Elliott dueled with teammate Larson for fourth place while Chastain, Briscoe, Blaney, Logano and Ty Gibbs were mired in the top 10. With Elliott muscling ahead with fourth place, Chastain would then bump and duel with Larson for fifth place as the former would move Larson up the track to claim the spot. With Briscoe challenging Larson for sixth place, the leader Hamlin cruised ahead with 110 laps remaining.
Down to the final 103 laps of the event, the caution returned when Reddick made contact with Ty Gibbs, sending the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE entry spinning in the bottom of Turn 2. As Gibbs spun sideways, Reddick and the Dillon brothers weaved left along with the rest of the field to avoid him before Gibbs was then hit in the left side by Zane Smith’s No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry. During the caution period, some, including Ty Dillon, Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Suarez, Byron and Gibbs pitted. The rest, led by Hamlin, remained on the track.
The next restart, with 94 laps remaining, only lasted two laps before the caution returned when Buescher and Gragson made contact that resulted in Gragson spinning below the track in Turn 2 while Buescher briefly got airborne amid his contact with Gragson. In front of the incident, Preece got Larson sideways entering the backstretch. At the time of the contact, Larson was in ninth place while Hamlin had retained the lead.
The next restart with 85 laps remaining only lasted a lap under green flag conditions before Briscoe, who ran into the rear of Chastain as Chastain threw a block on Briscoe for fifth place entering the backstretch, got sideways after he hopped the curb, slipped up the track and clipped Logano that sent Logano spinning through Turns 3 and 4. At the time of the caution, Hamlin fended off a second challenge from Wallace to retain the lead while Bell followed suit in third.
As the event restarted with 75 laps remaining, teammates Hamlin and Bell dueled for the lead for a full lap as Bell managed to lead the following lap by a hair from the outside lane. As Wallace closely pursued both in his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE entry, Hamlin would use the inside lane to lead the next lap by a fender and he would muscle ahead of Bell through the backstretch. With Hamlin out in front and both lanes under his control with 72 laps remaining, Bell retained second ahead of Wallace while Larson, Elliott, Chastain, Preece, Briscoe, McDowell, and Gilliland pursued in the top 10.
Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by two-tenths of a second over his hard-charging teammate Bell while Wallace, Elliott and Larson pursued in the top five. As Chastain, Preece, Briscoe, Gilliland and Blaney followed suit in the top 10, the following names that included McDowell, Ty Gibbs, Reddick, Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch, Zane Smith, Hocevar, Byron, Logano and Austin Dillon trailed in the top 20, respectively.
Ten laps later, Hamlin maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while third-place Wallace trailed by only seven-tenths of a second. Over the next 10 laps, Hamlin would slightly grow his lead up to half a second over teammate Bell while both Wallace and Elliott trailed by a second. Meanwhile, fifth-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds and sixth-place Chastain trailed by more than three seconds while Hamlin, who started to catch the tail end of the field, retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Bell with 35 laps remaining.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hamlin continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Bell while Wallace, Elliott and Larson pursued in the top five. Chastain, Preece, Briscoe, Gilliland and Blaney would continue to trail in the top-10 mark as Hamlin grew his lead to more than a second over Bell with 20 laps remaining.
With less than 15 laps remaining and the leaders mired in traffic, Hamlin would extend his lead to nearly two seconds over teammate Bell as Wallace started to close in on the latter for the runner-up spot. Elliott would also reel in both Bell and Wallace for the runner-up spot as Hamlin’s lead grew to nearly three seconds with 10 laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin, who grew his lead to over four seconds over the previous nine laps, remained in the lead over Bell, Wallace and Elliott. Despite being mired in more lapped traffic, Hamlin would steadily cruise his way around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag of the 2025 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Hamlin, who nearly performed a full circuit celebratory burnout while driving the opposite direction of his home track, notched his 55th career win in NASCAR’s premier series. As a result, the victory placed him in a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th place on the series’ all-time wins list.
In addition, Hamlin, who became the fifth competitor to win through the first seven events of the 2025 Cup campaign, racked up his sixth victory at Martinsville, his first at the track since March 2015 and his first in the Cup circuit since he won at Dover Motor Speedway in April 2024. The victory was also his first with his new full-time crew chief Chris Gayle and with his new primary sponsor, Progressive Insurance.
As a result of winning for a 19th season in the Cup Series division, Hamlin recorded the fourth victory of the year for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[Crew chief] Chris Gayle, all the engineers, the pit crew, everybody on that [pit] wall just decided that they were going to come here with a different approach than what we’ve been over the last few years, and it was just amazing,” Hamlin said on the frontstretch on FS1. “The car was great. It did everything I needed it to do. Just so happy to win with Chris and get 55 [wins]. It’s awesome. [Gayle]’s been such a soldier to come in here to this No. 11 team and learn our style and then over the last few weeks, just putting his final touches on it. It’s really been a great mesh. Our relationship’s getting better. Man, really happy to get a win with him and obviously back here in Martinsville where I spent so many years racing Late Models and whatnot. Gosh, I love winning here.”
As Hamlin celebrated on the frontstretch, Bell, Wallace and Elliott capped off strong runs by finishing second through fourth, respectively. Despite being left disappointed in not catching Hamlin in the closing laps, the trio of Bell, Wallace and Elliott were left pleased with their results as they look ahead towards their season-long goals of contending for more victories.
“We were back and forth on balance a little bit,” Bell, who led 25 laps, said. “I asked to be freer throughout the race and that last run, I just went a little bit too loose and lost my drive-off. It was a great weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, obviously. Showed a lot of pace. All four cars were really good. Really happy to get back up front. The last two weeks have been rough for this No. 20 team.
“Really happy for Denny. He’s the Martinsville master, so second to him is not that bad…Hopefully, we can come back better in the fall and be able to have a nice, solid day like we did today. Everyone executed really well. Thank you to my pit crew. They did a great job. The car was amazing in qualifying, [I] got us that number one pit stall, which was a big part of our success today as well. We did the details right and came home second.”
“A good day, nonetheless,” Wallace, who notched his second consecutive third-place result, added. “Trying to scratch my head on what I could have done different. My restarts were terrible and it’s one of my best traits. Need to go back and study that. What a great day. Continuing to rebound from the start of our season. Super proud of our team. The car was fast all weekend. I let second get away, but I don’t think I had anything for Denny. It would have been nice to try, but a top-three [finish] for Toyota, so a great day.”
“I thought our car was really good, honestly,” said Elliott, who led 42 laps and recorded his second fourth-place result in 2025, [I] needed control of the race. He added, “I really needed to get to Denny there at the end of that second stage and try to get control. I knew the second half [of the race], everybody was going to be better and closer. Just that little bit of being able to control this thing from that point forward means a lot. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a great job getting to him. I was trying and just came up a few car lengths short and it just puts you in a tough spot trying to play catchup and whatnot, but it was a solid day. We need more than solid, so we’ll keep trucking.”
Kyle Larson, who won the spring Martinsville event in 2023, came home in fifth place while Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Todd Gilliland completed the final top-10 spots.
Notably, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Ty Dillon finished in the top 15 while Kyle Busch, teammate Austin Dillon, Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson, rookie Riley Herbst, Josh Berry and rookie Shane van Gisbergen ended up 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd and 35th, respectively. In addition, Casey Mears and Burt Myers ended up 36th and 37th, respectively, while Austin Cindric, who was the lone competitor to retire due to an electrical issue, settled in 38th place.
*Following the event’s post-race inspection, Erik Jones was disqualified due to his No. 43 Dollar Tree/Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE entry failing to meet the minimum weight requirement. As a result, he was demoted to the tail end of the final running order in 38th place.
There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 86 laps. In addition, 22 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the seventh event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 17 points over teammate Kyle Larson, 33 over teammate Chase Elliott, 35 over Christopher Bell, 36 over teammate Alex Bowman and 42 over Denny Hamlin.
Race Results:
1. Denny Hamlin, 274 laps led, Stage 2 winner 2. Christopher Bell, 25 laps led 3. Bubba Wallace 4. Chase Elliott, 42 laps led 5. Kyle Larson 6. Ross Chastain 7. Ryan Preece 8. Joey Logano, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner 9. Chase Briscoe 10. Todd Gilliland 11. Ryan Blaney 12. Michael McDowell 13. Ty Gibbs 14. Tyler Reddick 15. Ty Dillon 16. Zane Smith 17. Kyle Busch 18. Austin Dillon 19. Carson Hocevar 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 21. Daniel Suarez 22. William Byron 23. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down 24. Chris Buescher, one lap down 25. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down 26. Brad Keselowski, one lap down 27. Alex Bowman, one lap down, six laps led 28. Justin Haley, two laps down 29. Noah Gragson, three laps down 30. Cody Ware, four laps down 31. Riley Herbst, four laps down 32. Josh Berry, four laps down, 40 laps led 33. Cole Custer, six laps down 34. Shane van Gisbergen, six laps down 35. Casey Mears, 11 laps down 36. Burt Myers, 12 laps down 37. Austin Cindric – OUT, Electrical 38. Erik Jones – Disqualified
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Goodyear 400 and NASCAR’s annual Throwback Weekend. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 6, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
Top-20 Result for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet Team at Martinsville Speedway
Finish: 18th Start: 18th Points: 27th
“Our No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet started solidly today. We got our car a little better at each stage end and raced our way into the top-15. We had a good pace, and our pit crew picked up positions on every stop. When we came in for the last stop of the race and put on four tires, the handle of our car completely changed and got tight. We’re not sure what caused it, but we will go back to the shop and return better for the next short track race. I’m proud of the effort from my Richard Childress Racing team. We had a top-10 car, I feel like, just missed it at the end.” -Austin Dillon
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Team Capture 17th-Place Finish at Martinsville Speedway
Finish: 17th Start: 12th Points: 16th
“Certainly wasn’t the result we were looking for with our Lucas Oil Chevrolet. We fought with being tight in the center and wrecking loose on exit. The guys stayed after it all day and it actually drove pretty well towards the end. We just couldn’t gain any track position to be able to do something with it.” -Kyle Busch
