Toyota GAZOO Racing – Christopher Bell NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 29, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
It is Bell’s first pole of the season, first pole at Martinsville Speedway and 14th pole of his career.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Outdoors Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Why were you pessimist about your pole chances going into qualifying?
“Just from the qualifying order, I felt like I didn’t go out late enough to have a shot at it. They told me that the 54 (Ty Gibbs) is quick time and he ran an .81, maybe, and then when I saw a .71 pop up on my dash, I’m like, that’s a pretty good lap, but I definitely expected the track to definitively improve. I thought I was just catching it on the front side of starting to improve. I didn’t want to say I was optimistic, but whenever I saw the 9 (Chase Elliott) go out and I was able to beat the 9, I was like, we are going to qualify better than I expected. As soon as I ran that lap, I knew I was top of the board, but I was expecting to be outside the top-10, maybe eighth to 12th-range.”
How do you explain the start to the season for your team?
“I think it just goes to show that whenever we do it right, we are certainly as capable as anyone. I think there is upwards of five teams that can say the same thing. You look at Ryan Blaney – he’s been incredible, really every race this year he has been incredible and really has nothing to show for it. As some point, they are going to start getting a little bit of luck fall their way, and they are going to be winning races too. I was really mad at myself last week at Homestead because it was an off race for us, but we’ve reached the point in our team maturity, if we just do everything right and we race and execute on the level that we are capable of, we are certainly capable of turning a bad day into a top-15, top-10 finish. I didn’t do that. I spun out and took ourselves out of it early on in the race, which is a bummer. I think it just proving that if we do what we are supposed to do, we are going to be up front.”
Did the tires react similarly to what they did in the fall?
“Mine did. I would say it would look similar. And yes, I’m still hoping for rain.”
Does what happened last fall come to mind when you are back here and you being on the pole after going out so early give you optimism going into tomorrow?
“I will never forget last year’s race, for sure. Definitely going out early, I don’t know, I think our race potential has definitely got better since we qualified up front. After practice, I was really struggling with the handling of my car. I didn’t feel like – I just didn’t know how the day was going to go, but after qualifying first, I think it really helps our chances tomorrow. I’ve always said, if you have a great car and you are great on any given day, it doesn’t matter where you qualify, but it is the day where you are not great – you are just another guy out there, it does really matter where you qualify. Having the track position, starting up front, it will certainly help our race in the beginning.”
How much of an advantage is starting from the pole at Martinsville?
“Well, I’ve never done it, so I can’t give you a great answer on that (laughter). I will say – it is just a war when you get into those teens and twenties. Martinsville is a place where the runs are extremely long, and maybe not by the clock, because the laps go by quick, but you look at – this is the short race, and we still have 80 laps before they pay stage points, and you are not going to pit in that time frame, so at like Homestead, or Vegas – it is an 80 lap stage, but you are pitting so you are only running 40 laps on tires, where here, that first stage will be 80 laps that we have to go on tires, so it is an extremely long run, so what that does – it really rewards the ability to save your tires and not push your car as hard – really the whole run, but especially at the beginning of the run, where if you qualify in the teens and twenties – which I have done a lot in my Martinsville career – you are just in a dog fight for every position because you run the threat of going a lap down at the end of a run, and everyone is just scratching and clawing to out brake everybody, and you penalize the tires at the beginning of the run. I think those first five to 10 qualifiers, are just content and know that they are going to go 80 laps on tires, and they are like we are going to sort it out, get in lines – I think it pays dividends at the end of those runs.”
What is the art of driving in the rain on an oval?
“You are just sliding around. I think the guys that can control the slide the best and maximize the grip level of the tires and find the grip in the race track – those are the successful guys. We haven’t done it a lot, but the few times we’ve done it, I’ve loved it and it has been a ton of fun to do.”
Does your background on dirt help you in damp conditions?
“I think my dirt background has helped give me the skill set that I’m looking around for grip and improvising, and specifically on the damp conditions, which is what we run in, and then in the NASCAR Cup Series, the track is ever changing as it dries out the line is changing, and you have to find different stuff. You have to be able to look around and find those different lines is what dirt track racing – is a skill set that it gives you. I think just moving around and finding the different lines and being unorthodox about it. We saw that at Loudon whenever it rained.”
What is it like to control a slide in a stock car in the wet?
“Well, it becomes a lot easier in these Next Gen cars. I don’t know that I’ve run the old-style cars and the old tires and wheels, but the Next Gen – the cars have become – the grip level has become so peaky on the ovals. You can’t really drift these cars like you could the previous generation cars. Whenever it starts raining that peaky, grip level goes away and you are able to just get over that grip level and slide the car and not spin out. I guess it is just the rain tire and the overall grip level being down, but it is a lot of fun and it is refreshing to be able to slide the car around and not spin out and crash.”
Do you have any additional confidence being the guy who won the last race that was in the rain?
“Well, I would if I didn’t just hear that there is only a 20 percent chance (laughter). But yeah, every time it has rained, we have been super competitive and driven right to the front, so I do certainly have a lot of confidence when it comes to the wet weather procedures.”
What does it say about Kyle Busch racing on dirt at this stage in his career?
“I respect the hell out of him for doing it. I love it. I’m going to dog on him a little bit, but whenever I went to KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) back in 2014, 2015 – we were talking about dirt racing, and he was kind of scoffing at me, like come on, dirt racing is nothing, its nothing, so now it makes my heart happy to see how invested he is in it. I think it does provide a great skill set to be a world class race car driver, and clearly, he feels the same way and has got Brexton (Busch) invested in it. It has been a ton of fun watching Brexton grow through his young life. I think he has – sky is the limit – to be a world class race car driver.”
Have your goals changed with the success you have seen early in the season?
“Certianly, winning the pole here at Martinsville – I would say that has far exceed our goals for qualifying at this place. It has been a very, very tough – tough history of me qualifying here at Martinsville. We have not even – I don’t think we’ve ever qualified in the top-five here. I’ve wanted to win a pole at a road course for a long time. Haven’t done that – but have been really close, but Martinsville, I wouldn’t have even said that winning a pole at Martinsville is a goal, because we haven’t even sniffed it, so it is really refreshing to get one. I don’t know – I’m excited to see how the race unfolds, because I’ve never had the opportunity to start up front here. I think it could – and likely would – be a different feel for me, having track position at the start.”
What have you fought in your career at Martinsville?
“I don’t know. We’ve came here, I’m sure, with many, many different setups. I will never forget that 2022 season, which was the first Next Gen season, that Martinsville 1 was a struggle for the majority of JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) – I was actually one of the best JGR cars, but the rest of the team really struggled, and then we came back and there was a test in the middle of the summer, and we brought the same package, because we had a decent race and the teammates – well Denny (Hamlin) was here – and he had a different setup, and he was super, super fast and I was really slow at that test, and then coming back in the fall, we put in his set-up, and it was amazing. I was really competitive, and we performed well in the race. We were like, okay, box checked – and then from that moment on, the box became unchecked, and it has been a really, really big struggle for us to have good performances here. I wish I could tell you that it has been one thing, but I’ve struggled with everything. I’ve been really tight here, I’ve been really loose here. I can’t get in the corner; I can’t get out of the corner. It’s been a struggle for us, and it has seemed whenever we’ve done everything right – we are just barely squeaking out top-10s. I don’t know. I wouldn’t have said that I felt good after practice, but I feel a lot better after winning the pole.”
About Toyota
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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 31 electrified options.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Qualifying Saturday, March 29, 2025
Ford Qualifying Results:
6th – Chris Buescher 7th – Joey Logano 14th – Josh Berry 19th – Zane Smith 20th – Austin Cindric 21st – Ryan Preece 22nd – Cole Custer 24th – Noah Gragson 25th – Todd Gilliland 27th – Brad Keselowski 32nd – Ryan Blaney 36th – Cody Ware
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Kroger/Old El Paso Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That was pretty solid. I didn’t think we were gonna be worse than seventh or eighth, so that puts us with a lot of good track position to start the race. That will put us with a good pit stall. We all know who hairy pit road can be here, so I’m really proud of everybody for that. This is certainly not my strongest racetrack, so it’s a good start for a good race weekend.”
WHAT KIND OF GRIND IS THIS PLACE? “It’s work (laughing). It’s a really racy track and has been for a long time. You look at it on TV and it looks like a little flat paperclip track. It’s unassuming. You go walk around this place there’s a lot of banking for a short track. There’s a lot more than you realize and then you have the asphalt/concrete challenges as well, but there’s obviously a lot of history around this place. It’s always fun to come up here. It’s a racetrack that admittedly hasn’t been my strongest, but I’m looking forward to the day I get this place figured out and can call it one of my favorites.”
WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE START FOR YOU AND RYAN SO FAR? “Yeah, we’ve had a lot of potential across all three of our race cars. We’ve had a lot of speed and a lot of really strong finishes. We haven’t quite been in the hunt to win a race yet or not quite good enough to win, but certainly proud of what we’ve been doing and knowing that we need a little bit more yet. We are still hunting that. We’re not sitting still over here, but it’s a good start to the season. One of our main goals at the beginning of the year was to fire off with a lot more potential than we’ve had the past few years for this first handful of races and we’ve got that, but we want race wins and checkered flags and clocks in the back of the truck and trophies up on the shelf, so we’re still hunting.”
WHAT ARE YOU ABLE TO DO MORE OF NOW THAT YOU’VE GOTTEN OFF TO A BETTER START? “For us, we’re much closer to baselines and stuff to work on versus having to wholesale race cars throughout a weekend or throughout a race. I wouldn’t say we’re blindly guessing because we’re never doing that, but we’re not having to swing so hard to find where we’re trying to get to and with that sometimes it’s hard on the other side of it because we’re certainly pretty decent but we want to be better. We don’t want to get complacent here, so we still have to keep pushing but at least we feel like we’re making smaller swings.”
WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS PLACE AND THE POTENTIAL OF WINNING HERE? “This is not my best racetrack, but we’ve had a couple solid top 10s here. Brad runs really well here. Ryan runs really well here, so we have a lot of good things to go off of and we just qualified really well, so I’m really proud of everybody with this Kroger/Old El Paso Ford Mustang to be that close to the front. That’s a heck of a start for us. I don’t want to talk about clean air and dirty air, but unfortunately it makes a difference no matter where we go and we’ll take all we can get, but then just as importantly a good pit stall selection and a lot of things that can certainly help this be one of our stronger Martinsville days.”
THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF PIT ROAD INCIDENTS THIS YEAR. WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE AND HOW DIFFICULT IS IT NAVIGATING PIT ROAD? “These pit roads haven’t changed, we’re just closer together than we’ve ever been, whether that’s speedway racing, road course racing, short track racing, we’re closer together, so you have more cars on pit road at the same time. The cars are quite robust and so no one is willing to give anything. The old steel-bodied cars if somebody came out from a pit box and you think you have a nose up on their rear bumper, you’re gonna concede that because you’re not gonna take a risk of ripping a left-front fender off. Now, there’s no penalty for that. People just try and muscle through and bumper car down and it makes chaos on pit road. We’ve watched a lot of it. We’ve been really close to a lot of it this year. We have strategically chosen pit stalls to try and stay away from some of the areas where we’ve been part of the chaos in the past and Scott and our group have done a nice job at keeping us out of that very largely this season.”
Special race will be just the second time in 50-plus years iconic track has played host to LODRS event
POMONA, Calif. (March 29, 2025) – In celebration of NHRA’s upcoming 75th anniversary in 2026, officials at In-N-Out Burger and NHRA announced the scheduling of a special Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event on March 12-15, 2026, at historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
The event, which will be the first time that a Lucas Oil Series event has been held at the legendary track since 2002 and just the second time in more than 50 years, will be billed as the Snyder Family’s Salute to NHRA’s standout Sportsman racers.
“The Sportsman racers have been wanting and begging for a divisional race in Pomona for a very long time, so I think I can say – on behalf of all Sportsman competitors – this is a dream come true,” said In-N-Out Burger Owner and President Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, who also races in the Top Sportsman ranks.
“I have no doubt the 2026 race will have a high entry attendance and fill up quickly. It is an honor to have my family’s name and legacy associated with it, as In-N-Out Burger and cars have always gone together like burgers and fries. My hope is this divisional race further fuels the passion for drag racing among both racers and loyal NHRA fans.”
The Snyder family that owns In-N-Out Burger has been involved in NHRA Drag Racing for decades, dating back to company founder Harry Snyder’s part-ownership of iconic Southern California dragstrip Irwindale Raceway and continuing with his son Guy’s participation as a racer.
Snyder-Ellingson, granddaughter of the founder, competes in NHRA’s Top Sportsman class and will participate in a Pomona event expected to draw hundreds of the region’s best Sportsman racers.
“Having a Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip is absolutely incredible,” Division 7 Director Matt DeYoung said. “Our racers and division crew love this track and the amazing history it holds. The tremendous support of NHRA drag racing from the Snyder family has always been strong, but taking this additional step with a great race like this for the Sportsman racers during our 75th anniversary celebration isn’t taken lightly.”
The exciting announcement of the special event took place Saturday before the third round of qualifying during the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Snyder-Ellingson also received a trophy from Phil Burgess, editor of the NHRA’s National Dragster magazine, celebrating the facility’s selection as “Track of the Year” in last year’s fan voting for the National Dragster All-Star Team.
Since In-N-Out Burger became the title sponsor of the iconic Southern California track – as well as the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals to close out the season – to close out 2022, the track has undergone a number of major upgrades and improvements as it continues to celebrate a rich history that includes more than 70 years of racing.
“I want to congratulate Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson and the local NHRA team for the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip being awarded Track of the Year. Fairplex is proud to be home of this legendary speedway,” said Walter Marquez, President & CEO of Fairplex. “And we are thrilled to see a third event coming to Pomona in 2026, with the Snyder Family’s Salute to NHRA’s standout Sportsman racers. It’s a great way to celebrate the track’s 65th year of racing as well as NHRA’s 75th anniversary.”
“The Pomona Dragstrip is an iconic track with a long record of legacy moments in drag racing history,” Snyder-Ellingson said. “Drag racing has deep roots in both Southern California and In-N-Out Burger. For seven years starting in 1965, my grandfather Harry was a part-owner of the original Irwindale Raceway. To once again have the In-N-Out name associated with racing in Pomona and have the track recognized as the 2024 National Dragster All-Star Team ‘Track of the Year’ is beyond special to my family and me.”
Further details regarding the next year’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Pomona – as well as the NHRA’s year-long 75th anniversary celebration in 2026 – will be announced in the coming months. For more information on NHRA, including the 2025 schedule, please visit www.NHRA.com.
About NHRA
NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With more than 100 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville Media Availability Saturday, March 29, 2025
Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse and Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse, both stopped by the infield media center at Martinsville Speedway and answered questions. Below is a transcript of both Q&A sessions.
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW COOL IS IT FOR YOU TO BE A PART OF THE WOOD BROTHERS TEAM DURING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON? “It’s exciting. Obviously, seeing all of the photos in the tunnel walking in here was really cool. They’re really close by, so it’s a home race for them and we’re gonna try to do our best to have a good weekend.”
THREE OF THE FORMER SHR DRIVERS IN THE TOP 16 IN POINTS. WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT ALL OF YOU? “I don’t know. That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t want anybody to feel slighted, but we’ve had good starts to the season. Obviously, last year was a difficult ordeal to manage. Honestly, I feel like the place was falling down around us. We were just trying to do the best we could week in and week out, and for my team – Rodney and the 4 team – I think they were the cornerstone of that place for years, but, without a doubt, I think we’ve all found good opportunities.”
WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM PHOENIX THAT YOU APPLY HERE AND CAN THAT CARRY OVER? “I hope so. I think that the 21 car has been pretty solid here. The Team Penske cars are always good here and I feel like we can carry that momentum. I love coming here. I feel like it should be a good opportunity for us. If we can just keep on doing what we’ve been doing, qualifying well on Saturday and stay up front in the race.”
THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR SOME RAIN TOMORROW WHICH COULD LEAD TO WET WEATHER TIRES. YOU WERE THIRD AT NEW HAMPSHIRE THE LAST TIME ON THOSE. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF THOSE WET WEATHER TIRES? “I don’t know. It was interesting last year when we did that at Richmond and New Hampshire. Honestly, all of our cars last year ran really well on the rain tires, which I don’t really know why, but our cars were honestly more competitive on those tires than the tires we ran normally compared to the field. I felt like I have a good feel of what I need to do. I’m just gonna have to work with Miles and try to prepare for that scenario the best we can if it does come.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR THROWBACK SCHEME FOR DARLINGTON? “It’s a really cool story. The Wood Brothers pitted Jim Clark’s Ford-powered Lotus in the Indy 500 and that’s what we’re throwing back to because they won the race (1965), but it was really cool to hear the stories from Leonard about how much it meant to him. You think somebody that’s been in NASCAR for 75 years and accomplished all of these amazing things, for him to say that moment was one of the most memorable that he’s had in his entire life really puts into perspective how big of a moment it was. There was a lot of ingenuity that the Wood Brothers brought to that team to speed up the pit stops and Len and Eddie, they got all of that down to the seconds that they saved. They know the story way better than me, but it’s really just a cool deal. It was Ford’s first win in the Indy 500, so there were a lot of cool moments. We’re excited for it.”
HOW DO YOU RATE YOURSELF AT DARLINGTON AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? “Darlington is always a tough one. If you have a good car, you look like a hero. If you have a bad car, you don’t. It’s that kind of thing. Last year, I had two really good cars there and ran really well. We didn’t get the finish we wanted in the Southern 500 with an accident there at the end, but I feel good about it. We ran third in the spring. If we can translate some of what I learned last year and apply it to the 21 car, hopefully we can have a good day.”
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THIS MARTINSVILLE PRACTICE? WHAT IS THE GAME PLAN? “I think not really overthink it, honestly. The track is gonna change a lot between the first group and the second group. The second group is gonna be way slower with all the rubber on the track, so just making sure your car turns well, can maneuver through the rubber or stay out of the rubber if you need to, and just kind of try to separate that from qualifying and just go out and hit a good lap. One thing I love about coming here is I’ve been here a lot. I’ve made a lot of laps around this place compared to most places that we go, so, for me today, I think we just go out and do what we’ve been doing, not overthink it and we’ll be fine.”
DOES WINNING EARLY IN THE SEASON CHANGE YOUR GOALS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE THE REST OF THE YEAR? “Yeah. I think that’s a fair way to put it. I feel like, for me, I’ve never been a real goal setter, but obviously for a majority of the field, aside from a handful of guys that you want to call the favorites for the championship, their goal is to make the playoffs. So, to accomplish that, hopefully barring anything crazy, it was a big deal already. That’s a big positive for us, so now I think it’s about working together and getting better, staying competitive over the course of the summer and then just kind of see what happens when we make it to the playoffs. A lot of it comes down to just finishing and execution and being there at the end of the races. There’s no reason why we can’t advance through a couple rounds of the playoffs.”
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION OF GETTING TO DRIVE THE 21 AND WHAT’S THE BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE GOTTEN FROM THEM ABOUT DRIVING THE CAR? “Obviously, meeting with the Wood Brothers and beginning that process was something that was really cool. They’re just a great family. It’s a family-run business, a family race team. They’ve been around 75 years, which is truly amazing what they’ve been able to do. I think to add my name as a driver for them and now a winner for them has been really special and I’m just looking forward to keeping it going at this point. Honestly, they haven’t given me a lot of advice. They just want me to go out and do what they know I can do. That’s why they hired me and so far we’ve been doing a pretty decent job with that.”
THIS IS THE THIRD RACE FOR THIS TIRE. DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT TO EXPECT? “I don’t know. I think that’s a hard question to answer, but the reality is the best way I can say it is Martinsville at night time it doesn’t lay rubber. At daytime it lays rubber. It doesn’t matter what tire you’ve got. We raced late model stocks all over the country and we ran a Hoosier F45 at every track in the country and it laid rubber during the day and as soon as it started cooling off it stopped. I think if we have sun and good weather tomorrow, I think it will lay a lot of rubber, which I think will help make the racing better – move the line around a little bit. If it stays kind of overcast and rainy, then I think it will be more of like what we saw in the truck race, which you could tell towards the end that the cars were super edgy, the pace was really fast. There was no rubber on the track, so I think that it really has as much to do with the weather as it does the tire.”
DO THE DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF THESE MARTINSVILLE RACES DICTATE ANY KIND OF DIFFERENT APPROACH? “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think it really changes too much. Obviously, 400 or 500 laps is still a lot of laps here, but the fall race is definitely a little bit more of a grind from that aspect and a little more traditional length, but I think it’s a good balance. I love running laps around this place, so however many they have I’ll hopefully be out there.”
HOW DOES RUNNING IN A LATE MODEL HERE HELP YOU GET AROUND BETTER IN THE CUP SERIES? “I think the biggest thing is just having the experience, really. We came here and we’d get a test day and then come back for the race. I’ve just run way more laps here compared to a lot of the tracks that I go to. In the Cup Series, you’ve got guys that have been going to Homestead since 2005, 2006 or however long, so it’s like when you come here I feel a little bit more at home just because I’ve been here a lot. I have a lot of great memories here. I love coming back here. That late model race, I still keep looking back at that picture on the back wall there of Phillip and Lee. Just winning that race was a big moment for me.”
WHAT HAPPENED ON PIT ROAD LAST WEEK? “It was just really bad timing, I guess. We watched it all together on Monday – me and Joey and Paul, Miles, all of us. It’s hard to have a right or wrong move there. I knew that I was three and then Joey left. The first thing to do is, ‘I don’t want to run into him,’ so I tried to move over hoping we would have a little bit more space and we just didn’t. Looking back, for me, I think I’ve just got to bail, honestly. I’ve just got to stop and let Joey get out and lose a couple spots and live with the result. These races are long. Our car was never the same. The toe was tweaked on it a little bit. The fender was all broken. I thought we went from having a top 10 car to, at best, a 15th, 16th, 17th place car after that. You’ve just got to live to fight another lap and just bail on it.”
YOU’LL LIKELY FACE THAT SITUATION AGAIN, SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH IT IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT? “It’s hard. It’s most definitely hard to do that because you’re taking in a lot. You’re trying to gauge the pace of your pit stop versus the cars around you and how fast their pit stop is gonna be. You’re looking in the camera to see what’s coming behind. You’re listening to your spotter. You’re trying to do a lot of things at once, so it is hard in those scenarios sometimes to avoid it. I think, for us, Miles felt like we qualified second and maybe we should have picked further down pit road to keep ourselves out of that bottleneck that happens three quarters of the way down, but it’s definitely hard to avoid those situations, but, ultimately, the penalty is way worse when you’re facing backwards and going all the way to last.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU HAVE A THROWBACK SCHEME FROM 2006 FOR DARLINGTON BASED ON YOUR DAD’S CAR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT AND WHAT IS IT LIKE TO REPRESENT YOUR DAD AT THAT THROWBACK RACE? “It was neat to get that out there. I think the car looks pretty good. We couldn’t do the avocado green where it’s blue. I was really pushing to have the avocado texture from that car, but we couldn’t do that, unfortunately. It’s neat. I think the font of the numbers bring back a lot of memories for people with the Braun race team. There were a lot of good people on that team. Trent Owens was the crew chief of that car and dad and Trent have known each other for a long time. It’s always good to see Trent around the racetrack. I, unfortunately, wasn’t there. None of my family was there, which was bizarre. I think my sister had a basketball tournament and we were there instead of in Charlotte and it figures my dad wins it and we don’t get to celebrate with him. I’ve been lucky. We did his Jasper scheme from ‘02 or ‘03 one year, which was really neat and now to do that one means a lot to him. It’s cool that we can do that stuff, so it’s pretty special and I’m looking forward to getting it out there.”
HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY INSIGHT ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE ENGINE ISSUE FROM LAST WEEK AND IF IT WAS SIMILAR TO EARLIER THIS YEAR? “We talked through it all week and RYE and Penske and all of us being in discussions – ‘Hey, what happened? What went wrong? What was the cause of it?’ We believe there were separate issues from Phoenix and Homestead. They’re working hard on trying to figure out why this issue at Homestead happened. We knew why the one at Phoenix happened. We kind of figured out that problem and I think we’ve got our arms around why this one at Miami happened and hopefully we’ve taken the correct procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s just unfortunate that two out of three weeks we’ve had an issue there, but those folks work really hard. I hadn’t had an engine failure in a long time, so it’s not like it’s common with those folks. It’s just one of those things. That’s a bummer, but I think we have a really good idea of what went wrong and they’re doing all they can to figure out how can we make that not happen again.”
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO DO DIFFERENTLY INSIDE THE CAR TO PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING? “No, it really wasn’t a part of that. Sometimes it is. You can look at data and say, ‘I really over-revved the downshift,’ but that really wasn’t the case. It was a separate issue, so we’ve just got to dig into why this happened. Was there a piece that was different or maybe made differently? They just kind of go back into the order of things, but they did a good job of trying to figure out what it was and now they’re taking big steps to make sure it doesn’t happen to any other Fords out there.”
HOW TOUGH HAS DANIEL HEMRIC’S JOURNEY BEEN? YOU WERE THERE SUPPORTING HIM YESTERDAY. “Daniel is a good friend of mine. He and I grew up racing a lot with each other on the Legend car side. We got to spend a lot of weekends on the NASCAR side together in different series and I was happy for him to get the win last night. I was happy his family was there, which was really neat to have your family there. He’s been through a lot. He’s been through ups and downs of getting chances and them just not working out and then trying to find, ‘OK, what’s the best way that I can find a good home that I can be competitive and go win at and contend for championships.’ And I think he’s found a really good place there and then you just hope that success continues and you try to rebuild back up to where you want to be. He’s had a lot of adversity thrown his way during his career, but he’s never given up. He’s always been a gritty guy and always done what he needed to do to be successful, so it’s always refreshing when you see really good guys who have maybe not gotten great chances and have kind of jumped around series go win races and be successful. I was really happy for him and it helps that he’s a good friend of mine, too. I think everyone likes seeing the backflip. We haven’t seen a backflip in a while, so it was nice to see that, but he’s fought through a lot and it’s nice to see it all paid off last night.”
HOW TO YOU MENTALLY PREPARE FOR DARLINGTON NEXT WEEK? “It is a tough place. I think it’s one of the toughest places we go, more mentally than anything for me, I think. Like, how do you stay in it for that long? I just feel like the mental mush that your brain is in after leaving that race is pretty high because your concentration level is at 110 percent the whole time. At some places you can kind of get in these zones of kind of like a relaxation mode to an extent of just kind of getting in your flow and doing things, and some of that is at Darlington, but I feel like every lap is just a battle to try to find speed and not find the fence. I kind of relate it to Homestead in a way, but Homestead is a lot wider. You have more room for error, unless you’re pinned on the fence, but Darlington it just sneaks up at you more. There’s less room to work, so I think that’s what makes that place so difficult and the two ends being vastly different is definitely a challenge. I’m gonna be honest with you, I haven’t thought much about Darlington. I have 100 percent of my mind on this weekend and then Monday morning I’m gonna switch to Darlington. It’s a tough place mentally and physically too, it wears you out, so it’s just how do you survive the whole thing and how do you not put yourself in terrible positions to where it can hurt your night. I haven’t finished a race at Darlington in about a year either, so I hope to do that.”
IS NOW THE TIME WHEN YOU REALIZE WHO THE CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS ARE OR ARE WE STILL SORTING THAT OUT? “I think you can get a really good feed on it after Bristol going into the Easter break because you get through a lot of tracks in that span of time – a lot of different variations of racetracks and things like that. I’d say give it a few more weeks.”
WHAT IS THE ART OF RACING ON A WET TRACK? “Are you saying it’s gonna rain on Sunday? Are you on that boat (laughing)? We’ve had some experience with it the last couple of years. It is always a little bit different when you go to these new places that it could potentially rain at that you haven’t been to in the rain like here, and I think this would be the first place that we’ve gone, if it does rain, of like concrete and asphalt surfaces. So it’s like, concrete always dries faster than asphalt, so the corners are gonna get dry really quick. I think the truck race last year was that way, or two years ago, and the corners were completely dry and the straightaways still had a little bit of water on them, so how does that play into it? It could get exciting. Do I hope it rains Sunday? No, I like this place enough in the dry that I hope it’s just more of a traditional race, but you’ve got to be prepared for everything. I don’t know if it will change up much. You still want to go for the concrete and it will be a little bit easier to see what concrete patches are dry. Sometimes it’s hard to tell on asphalt. The asphalt is dark and it’s hard to make that judgment, but with concrete you’ll be able to tell right away. It will be the same for everybody, so you just hope you do it better than everybody else.”
DID YOU HAVE TO DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT HERE AT MARTINSVILLE WHEN THE CAR CHANGED? DID IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? “Yeah, it definitely did. I think everyone had to change their style up a little bit when you went from the previous car to this one. It’s the same everywhere. You kind of had to change it up of how you approach each place and how you race it. I don’t know which one I prefer here more. I feel like this place has gotten better with this car with this soft tire. I think we’ve been able to move around more. I didn’t think with the old car, the second lane wasn’t there as much as it is with this car and I think that’s just more on Goodyear getting softer and softer and laying rubber down to where you can move around, but I also think the other car was a little bit better in dirty air to where you didn’t have to have that second lane, so it’s just kind of trade offs. I know you’re shifting a lot. I mean, you’re shifting four times a lap around here, so that’s definitely changed the way you get into the corner and approach the center speed of it, so I definitely had to change up I just got fortunate that when I kind of came here with my mindset that it worked with this car with how I changed up from the Gen 6 car. We’ve had good runs here, you just continue to try to keep having them.”
WHAT SHOULD FANS WATCH FOR ON RESTARTS HERE? “Sometimes you’ll get the occasional three-wide dive bomb you have to watch for and then it’s just a matter of, obviously, the bottom is preferred, but am I gonna give up a row to choose the bottom? That’s like a gametime decision and it’s kind of all about how has the top been in this race. You try to notice those things on restarts. I talk with Timmy a lot like, ‘OK, what has kind of been dominant? Has eighth been better than seventh? Or should I choose ninth instead of eighth? Is that gonna play out for me well?’ So it just kind of depends, taking chances and seeing what lanes have worked. The choose rule here is pretty tough and pretty difficult of what you want. All of the short tracks are because you know what you want, but you don’t really want to give up much if you want to get in the preferred lane. Restarts can be pretty crazy and then the stack ups halfway in the field are pretty big, so you have to be ready for that. And, like I said, you never know who is gonna throw it in there three-wide and mess it all up for you.”
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU TOOK FROM YOUR TIME DRIVING WITH THE WOOD BROTHERS? “The fondest memory I have is winning Pocono with those guys. I think what I took from that whole family was just – Eddie said something to me when I went to Penske going into ‘18 and it just kind of let you know how they operate over there. He told me, ‘Even though you’re not driving for us anymore, you’re still part of our family.’ They’re just open armed people. No matter what history you have with us. If you were working with us for a day, 30 years, you’re part of the Wood family and I think that really said a lot. I think that’s why they’ve been around for 75 years is because they’re great people who have been revolutionary in this sport and have also molded with the times – don’t burn any bridges, everybody wants to work with those guys, so I have a lot of fond memories of them and it was so much fun racing for those guys and seeing how they operate from Eddie and Len and Leonard and when Glen would come to the races it was pretty neat just to be in their presence and be racing for a team that has meant so much to the sport and the sport has meant so much to their family as well. No one is gonna be around for 75 years if they don’t really care about what they do and they don’t love it with a passion. I think that speaks volumes to the dedication that they have to racing and NASCAR. They’re pretty special people, so it was cool to see them win a couple weeks ago in Vegas. I was really happy for them and Josh. They’re gonna keep at it and keep going because that’s how they do things.”
WHAT’S IT LIKE COMING BACK TO MARTINSVILLE KNOWING YOU’VE HAD SUCCESS? “It’s always nice to come back to places where you’ve run well. It gives you a little bit more of a sense of confidence like, ‘OK, I know what I need to be to be fairly decent here or contend for a top five or the win.’ It wasn’t always that way. I was terrible here my first two or three years at it and we worked really hard at figuring it out and it just kind of clicked one day and then it’s funny how those things stick with you. It’s like, ‘OK, this is the mindset I have to have coming into here,’ and it’s just kind of stuck. I do like coming here for multiple reasons. On track success is one thing. The other one is growing up not too far from here, so it does mean a lot, but it’s always nice when you come to places you’ve been good at and you just hope to keep that up. I don’t expect to run good here. You never know how years are gonna change or you try something that’s not gonna work. That stuff happens all the time, but it’s just a matter of your mindset going in. It makes you feel a little bit more at ease, but you’re never overconfident and like, ‘Oh, I’m for sure gonna run towards the front in this thing.’ You can’t really have that because you never know what’s gonna happen.”
WHAT’S ONE OF THE THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY THAT MAKES IT UNIQUE FROM ANY OTHER TRACK? “I think from the fan aspect side of it. I came here a lot as a kid and watching and it’s a fun atmosphere. I loved it so much as a kid because you could see everything. You can see no matter where you sit in the stands – you can see at least three quarters of the race track, so that was always unique to me and fun. There was always racing going on anywhere you looked. There was never a break in action. There were battles going on everywhere, so as a kid in the stands you’d just look around the racetrack. If the leader was two seconds ahead, well, you’re gonna have a battle for second or fifth or 10th or 20th. There’s always gonna be something going on that just kind of fascinated me, so it gave you a little bit of different snippets of the race that you could watch in the stands. I think that’s what makes it special for the fans to come out and watch, at least that’s what I took away from it as a kid and then the racing side is what it is. I love the racetrack. It puts on good shows and there’s no other place like it on our circuit. There are a lot of short tracks around the country like it in its own way, shaped like it but not necessarily races like it, but I think it just puts on a great race for fans and that’s why everyone here is very dedicated to Martinsville Speedway and I think you hear most of the drivers say they love it to just because of not only the history behind it, but the on track shows it puts on, too.”
NASCAR CUP SERIES MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MARCH 29, 2025
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
Hendrick Motorsports has won three straight races here. The fall race has been a different story for the organization. Is there a difference between spring and fall races here that is the difference between you guys winning and losing?
“Yeah, I think typically there’s been a new tire going into the fall, so I don’t feel like we’ve had a repeat tire here at Martinsville in the Next Gen era. That’s really allowed us to hone in on our setup. So, yeah, that’s been, I feel like, part of the equation. And then, honestly, just the speed equation. I feel like we’ve been a step off in the fall. It seems like in the spring, everyone’s fairly even in the top five. The Gibbs cars can be pretty strong, and Penske is kind of not as strong in the spring, it seems like. And then they obviously get a lot better in the fall.
So I don’t know. Based on how things are going lately, I feel like Penske’s going to be really good this weekend, and it’ll probably be a battle between all the top organizations. No tire change, so I think you’ll probably see the normal players that you saw in the fall.”
Looking ahead to Darlington, how do you get yourself in the middle space to race that track, not be too aggressive and make sure you get to the end when it really counts?
“Yeah, I think that over-aggression’s kind of overblown at Darlington. Especially with this car, you can be pretty aggressive. It’s just — I don’t know, I think you’ve got to be aggressive at Darlington now to get clean air and to stay up towards the front.
So yeah, you’ve got to be good on the long run. So however you manage that, whether that’s setup or driver inputs, you just have to be good on the long run. But yeah, you can’t really afford to just kind of ride around in this car at Darlington anymore. It’s going to be a lot like Homestead, where you’ve got to run the fence and be good at all the different lanes.”
At what point of the season do you start assessing who’s a legitimate contender in the regular season championship? Is it too early or are we still kind of waiting for the stretch?
“Yeah, I’d say get to July probably and kind of figure out who’s close in points. I think the last few years, we’ve kind of seen that guys within 40 points can kind of make a charge and win the regular season. So honestly, for us, it’s just you’ve got to put a lot of stage wins together. You’ve got to put a lot of race wins together. So yeah, it’s whoever’s going to break out and win multiple races. Obviously Bell’s already done that, but they’ve been kind of up and down, inconsistent. So yeah, I think it’s whoever gets a lot of stage points, stage wins, and then race wins.. whoever kind of starts racking them up.”
How hard is it for you to find patience here in Martinsville to put your car in victory lane?
“Yeah, I mean it’s kind of the same answer I gave about Darlington. You’ve got to be patient mentally, but physically on the track, I think it’s a little bit different. So yeah, I think just taking care of the components of the car.. making sure that you don’t get any major damage. These cars are really tough though, so you’ve just got to watch for stack-ups and things like that. But when it comes to passing, you’ve got to really kind of wear the guy in front of you down. So there’s no other way to do that than just be aggressive.”
Narrow pit road last week, narrow pit road this week, tight pit road at Darlington. It seems like there have been some more incidences on pit road. Maybe you see it differently, but I’m just curious what you’re seeing on pit road and the challenges, especially at these places where it’s a narrow pit road and trying to avoid contact and just trying to keep your car clean?
“Well, so I think a couple things are happening. I think pit road is more competitive than it’s ever been. So I feel like the rolling time is more of the equation than the pit stop by percentage amount of time. So everyone’s getting super aggressive with rolling time.. clearing out to a lane. If you can get to the outside lane, that’s a huge key because you’ve got guys merging coming off. But, yeah, we’ve just been to some tight pit roads, I would say, recently, and the pit stops are all super close in timing. Like an 8.5 is top of the board, best pit stop you can have, and then a 9.5 is like a middle of the road to a slow stop. So I think you’re just seeing a lot of aggression because the pit stops are so fast and everyone is getting kind of cleared into — like you can have a decent or a slow stop and you might lose three or four spots because everyone’s in a really close pile. So, yeah, I think that’s part of it.”
William, you’re in the points lead. You’ve been fast in every race. How difficult is it to keep that hot hand going, especially in this Next Gen car? And also considering that nearly two-thirds of your wins have come with the first eight races?
“Yeah, I mean, I think we’ve been traditionally strong at the beginning and the end of the season. It seems like we kind of have a lull in the middle. Obviously we’re trying not to do that this year, so I feel like this is a good start. We’ve been really consistent.
Even if you looked at the years that we’ve won races traditionally in the spring, we’ve been very consistent. This year we’ve been super consistent, just looking for a little bit more pace in the end of the race. So I think for us, we just have to continue to focus on our notebook throughout the weekend; what we can do to perfect the end of the race. We’ve had three weeks in a row that we haven’t restarted at the front. At the beginning of stage three, we’ve had some sort of issue, whether it’s speeding, cautions or a strategy thing didn’t work out. We have not had smooth races, but we’ve been able to overcome, and I think that’s where I see our team — our maturity is being able to overcome setbacks.
So if we can do that all year, we’re going to probably be up there in the points the entire time and not have sort of those down stretches that we’ve had in the past. Like I said, hopefully this weekend we can just perfect start to finish this weekend. Typically our guys do a really good job starting the weekend with a close balance, and we just got to keep that going throughout the weekend.”
In the last 13 races, Hendrick Motorsports has won five, leading all the other major teams with victories, but historically Hendrick as an organization just seems to do well here. What do you attribute that to?
“Yeah, it’s kind of the age-old question. I think for us, it’s just good preparation, good engines, good brakes, good teamwork. I think all those thing — you can’t win here if you don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, and that’s why this place is so tough. You have to have good pit stops, good car, good execution. So it just takes everything. I think Hendrick Motorsports has, I feel like, the best teams out there to do that. I think we unload with good cars that are in the ballpark, and we’re just able to work from there to have a really successful weekend. So even the years we’ve been off, we’ve been able to execute our way to wins. I think Kyle (Larson) won here with a two-tire call, and a couple other times we’ve been able to kind of track position our way forward. So, yeah, I think it just takes the whole team.”
William. I’ve got to ask you sort of a two-part question. Number one, you know, you’ve had success here with the wins. Is there one win that you like stronger than any other? And also, where do you have your grandfather clocks?
“Yeah, all the wins here are really special. I’ve been fortunate enough to win three clocks, and I feel like the biggest thing is every one is special for different reasons. The one in 2022 is special for my family, and then the one last year was special for the Hendrick family. So I just feel like every time you win here, it’s just a really big deal. You know, the fans are right there in front of you. It’s really up close, and I feel like there’s just a lot of energy and excitement around the wins here. My clocks are in my house, and, yeah, it’s cool to look at those every now and then and kind of remember what those moments were like. But hopefully we win some more.”
Do you come in here at all remembering the longest 28 minutes of your life, if they were the longest 28 minutes of your life?
“Yeah, yeah ,they were. You know, it’s funny you say that because I hadn’t thought about it much at all, and then I went out for the truck race, and my pit stall was right around pit stall six, and it triggered a memory.. a scar tissue. So, yeah, last fall was wild, for sure. Yeah, I feel like there’s parts of that race you just block out and just, I don’t know, it’s just hopefully we can make better memories here this year, for sure.”
So you mentioned the change in tires over the years. This will be the third race counting Bowman Gray that you’ve run on a specific tire setup. I was curious, with the different temperature changes, do you kind of have a handle on what to expect tomorrow?
“I hope so. I mean, I think we ran this tire at Bowman Gray. We had some issues there, but, yeah, I hope so. We can hopefully dial in some of the things that we need to have with this tire, but last fall was good on this tire. A lot of wear, and obviously like the clumping and the marbling of the tire, so just interested to see how that changes the groove, and the track’s been laying a lot of rubber this weekend. I think the kind of core temperature of the concrete is pretty warm this weekend. It’s not getting super cold overnight, so I feel like that’s helping lay rubber. So, yeah, I think you’re going to see — like I said, I think you’re going to see a really similar race to the fall, and hopefully we’ve just made those improvements where we can be right there.”
About General Motors
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Dye to Give Portion of Darlington Earnings to Victory Junction
WELCOME, N.C. (March 29, 2025) – Kaulig Racing and Daniel Dye announced earlier this week that they are teaming up to honor the late Adam Petty at Darlington Raceway during throwback weekend. Dye’s No. 10 Helm Chevrolet will feature an ode to Petty’s No. 45 Spree Chevrolet scheme from 1999.
Following the tragic death of Petty in 2000, the Petty family opened Victory Junction Gang Camp, Inc., a NASCAR-themed camp to honor his memory. Located in Randleman, N.C., Victory Junction was created as a haven for children with serious illnesses and conditions. The camp allows these children a safe and supervised environment to be children, expand their experiences and create lasting memories. The camp operates on donations and is free to the children.
“I’m really excited that Daniel is running Adam’s paint scheme at Darlington, because this is personal,” said Kyle Petty, father of Adam and son of Richard Petty. “Daniel’s dad, Randy, and I have been friends for most of my life. Just as Randy watched Adam come along and chase his dreams, I’ve been front row to watch Daniel chase his. With Daniel driving Adam’s paint scheme, those two dreams come together.”
As an homage to the Pettys, Dye will donate a portion of his winnings from the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 to Victory Junction, helping ensure campers can have an impactful experience at no cost to their families.
“The support I have received from Petty family over the years has played such a pivotal role in my racing career,” said Dye. “In 2023 I was able to pay tribute to Richard [Petty] with a throwback scheme. Then, last year I was able to do the same for Kyle [Petty], one of my childhood heroes, so honoring his son, Adam, right as we are coming up on the 25th anniversary of his death is so special to me. Although I wasn’t able to meet Adam, his legacy is one that will forever be influential to me and so many others.”
The Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway will take place on Saturday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on the CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR: Channel 90.
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.
B. Force, Capps and Anderson also roll to provisional No. 1 spot at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip
POMONA, Calif. (March 28, 2025) – Doug Kalitta claimed the victory in Friday’s Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, defeating Brittany Force in the final round of the bonus race as part of the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.
Force (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) are the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the third of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
The bonus race was postponed from the NHRA opener in Gainesville and completed Friday in Pomona, as Kalitta went 3.657-seconds at 335.15 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster to power past Force in the championship round of the big-money race.
Kalitta, the 2023 world champion, defeated Clay Millican and Antron Brown earlier in the day to reach the finals, adding another special moment at the track where he earned his first world title less than two years ago.
“It’s been a while since we raced on a Friday, so that was pretty cool and we were super excited for what Right Trailers has done for us with this Callout,” Kalitta said. “We tried to do it in Gainesville, and there’s no better place to bring it than here. I love running this place, but I’m just glad to get by Brittany and Antron and Clay. It was a fun day, for sure.
“The guys gave me a great car to be able to run that .65 after watching Brittany run the .64 a couple times. I knew we had that run in us, and I’m glad we were able to do it.”
Force went to the top during the first session with a run of 3.646 at 334.82 in her 11,000-horsepower Monster Energy dragster. On that pass, she made the fastest run to 1/8-mile in NHRA history, going 301.67. If it holds, it would be her 53rd career No. 1 qualifier. Kalitta is currently second and Josh Hart made a big jump to third after going 3.675 at 332.34.
“To come right out of the box and put a [3.]64 on the board, and then back that up with another .64 is very outstanding for this Monster Energy team,” Force said. “It’s tough when you come into an event and go right into a race without any chance to qualify or make some runs. We went right into it and we were looking to win the thing. Unfortunately, we got beat in the final. It felt like it had cylinders out.
“We’re off to a good start. We still have a long weekend ahead of us, but we put some good numbers on the board. Winning, that’s the ultimate goal. That’s why we’re here. This is my home track and I’d love to win here. We’ve been very successful in the past, and with (crew chief) David Grubnic, we come here and we want to win.”
Just days after a massive explosion and crash in Phoenix, Funny Car’s Ron Capps was back in Pomona, making the quickest run of both sessions, including a run of 3.830 at 328.94 in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra that puts him atop the field as part of a fascinating story. Should that hold, Capps would pick up his first No. 1 qualifier of 2025 and the 38th in his season, but this one would surely be special considering what went down on Sunday in Phoenix.
But Capps and his team showed impressive resilience on Friday, making a run in the 3.80s to open qualifying and then going even lower to close out the day. Capps praised the stellar work of his team to get to this point after what went down at Firebird Motorsports Park, hoping it results in an incredible story on Sunday.
“I’m pretty beat up and sore and bruised up and just wanted to get back in the car,” Capps said. “I just couldn’t wait for today. It could not get here soon enough. No hesitation at all. They pulled me up, and then we fired it and went and before I knew it, I made the run, and they came on the radio and said, ‘You’re the No. 1 qualifier.’
“I’ve done a lot of media this week, and not for the best reason, but we talked about all week in these interviews about how you respond as a driver. How do you respond? But more so our team, and I’ve never, never, ever had any doubt. I’ve bragged about ‘NAPA Know How’ but it’s these guys, man, they’ve hardly slept.”
Defending world champion Austin Prock is second after a run of 3.837 at 333.25 and his John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman is third with a run of 3.855 at 326.40.
In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip continues to treat Pro Stock reigning world champion Greg Anderson very well, as the veteran was the only driver to dip into the 6.40s on Friday with a standout run of 6.495 at 210.01 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. It puts him as the quickest Pro Stock qualifier in Winternationals history, while the qualifying field is also the quickest in the race’s iconic history.
Anderson, who has qualified first and second at the first two races, respectively, is on track for his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 134th in his career.
The last time Anderson was in Pomona was the NHRA Finals in November, where he won a winner-take-all final round against KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn. Those two have met in the final round at each of the first two races – with each driver winning a race – and Anderson showed no signs of slowing down on Friday.
“There’s so many cars that can run fast, and I’m so damn proud of this KB Titan team,” Anderson said. “I’ve got eight cars out here this weekend, and quite honestly, any one of those eight cars, if they hit it on the target, any run can go to the pole. I’ve got a small part of that, and probably prouder of that than the fact that my car went to No. 1 because it’s hard to do that to make them all run good.
“I really feel that we can run 6.48, whether we can get below that 6.480 [track record] or into the .47s I don’t know. It’s going to take 100 percent nailing it on the starting line and getting that killer 60-foot [elapsed time].”
Matt Hartford is currently second with a 6.510 at 209.14 and Aaron Stanfield is third after going 6.515 at 210.28.
Qualifying continues at 12 p.m. PT on Saturday at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
POMONA, Calif. — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
NIECE MOTORSPORTS NCTS RACE RECAP: MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY Event: Boys and Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 (200 laps / 105.2 miles) Round: 5 of 25 (Regular Season) Track: Martinsville Speedway Location: Ridgeway, Virginia Date & Time: Friday, March 28 | 7:30 PM ET
No. 42 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Matt Mills | Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett
Key Takeaway: Matt Mills and the No. 42 team fought their way to another top-15 finish at Martinsville Speedway. Qualifying 23rd, Mills went on to finish 25th in both stages with mild damage to the left-front of the J.F. Electric Chevrolet. Through late-race drama, Mills was able to pick up some track position towards the end, finishing in 15th-place.
Matt Mills’ Post-Race Thoughts: “We just didn’t really have the truck tonight. I was trying a lot of different things, but just couldn’t make a change on the balance. Had a clean day for the most part, and it got a little chaotic there at the end. Going into turn one there at the end, we made it into the top-10 and I missed the corner a little bit. I might have got helped, I don’t know, but once I got in the top lane, I fought some more of our balance through the center. We got another top-15, so hopefully we can build on that and keep getting better.”
About J.F. Electric: J.F. Electric is an electrical contractor that provides engineering expertise, backed by construction and installation know-how in a diverse range of service offerings, from utilities and commercial projects, to industrial and telecommunications customers. When having a long family history in an industry, a company not only builds on its knowledge and experience, it takes pride in cultivating a solid understanding of client needs, all the while nurturing strong relationships with its employees. Evolving through five generations of the Fowler family, J.F. Electric has matured into a well-managed and thoughtfully diversified electrical contractor which is poised to continue its growth and expansion into the future.
About Utilitra: Utilitra is a woman-owned firm specializing in utility and technology solutions with a diverse team of specialized professionals. Utilitra is committed to solving their client’s unique challenges, whether one expert or a team of experts is needed. By adapting to the needs of their respective industries, Utilitra has built a range of services for their utility and technology partners.
No. 44 Moore’s Venture Foods Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Matt Gould | Crew Chief: Wally Rogers
Key Takeaway: Matt Gould showed promise in just his third-career NCTS start, but was unfortunately caught up in a late-race incident through no fault of his own. Gould started the 200-lap event in 18th-place, and kept his nose clean through both stages. In the final stage, Gould was well-positioned to capitalize on a great finish, but was unable to avoid a large multi-truck crash in turn four. The No. 44 team kept him in the race, finishing in 22nd-place.
Matt Gould’s Post-Race Thoughts: “I learned a lot tonight. Modulating my roll speed was key. I noticed that a lot of guys beat me through the center in stage one, and when I got behind some good guys, I was able to pick up on that and move through the field. We planned to double pit and stay out to take track position, and felt like we were a top-10 truck. I believe we got up to eighth there before they got together in front of me, and I got pushed into the No. 13 [Jake Garcia]. I just had nowhere to go. But, we kept fighting, nobody gave up, and we finished on the lead lap. I’ve just got to thank everyone at Moore’s Venture Foods, Chevrolet, Precision Vehicle Logistics, and all the guys at Niece Motorsports for supporting me in the race tonight.”
About Moore’s Venture Foods: Moore’s Venture Foods is a family-owned grocery store chain located in Oklahoma. The chain has brick-and-mortar stores in Alva, Fairfax, Shattuck, and Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and has been operated by the Moore family for three generations. To learn more, please visit www.MooresVentureFoods.com.
No. 45 AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Kaden Honeycutt | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
Key Takeaway: Kaden Honeycutt was in contention to score his first-career win at Martinsville, but left disappointed following a late-race crash. Honeycutt earned his best-career starting spot by qualifying in third, and consistently ran near the front of the pack throughout the night. With two second-place finishes in both stages, Honeycutt bagged 18 stage points, ensuring a solid points night. Despite a 26th-place finish, Honeycutt remains well within Playoffs reach.
Kaden Honeycutt’s Post-Race Thoughts: On the late-race incident with No. 98.
“Unfortunately, I think he just wheel hopped and got into me there. I know it’s not intentional; it’s just Martinsville. If I didn’t let him in my inside off of [turn] four, he wouldn’t have been there. I just needed to do a better job to not let him get there. Man, I hate it. We were about to win a grandfather clock. I really thought I could have held him off there pretty easily, and just didn’t. I know he wheel hopped; him and I have raced well in the past, so I know it’s not intentional and he just made a mistake…
…We had a really good night – second in both stages and got really good points. All we needed to do even if we didn’t win was just finish it off, and I just hate we didn’t. I’m very happy with how we improved since the last time we’ve been here. It’s all credit to these guys – everyone at Niece Motorsports, Precision Vehicle Logistics, AutoVentive, Moore’s Venture Foods, DQS, Masked Owl Technologies for giving us the support to build trucks like these.”
About AutoVentive: AutoVentive is an industry-leading Software as a Service (SaaS) applications developer providing customized solutions to the automotive logistics industry. The company is part of Liberty Hill Equity Partners, LLC, a Cincinnati-based private equity firm.
About Precision Vehicle Logistics: Precision Vehicle Logistics is a customer-focused group of professionals committed to service excellence in finished vehicle logistics. Precision offers a unique combination of talented experience, industry-leading software and systems, and a network of partners and resources to deliver customized solutions to the world’s leading automakers.
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is a professional auto racing team founded by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2025, the team celebrates its 10th consecutive season competing in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) where it fields the Nos. 41, 42, 44 and 45. Since its founding in 2016, Niece Motorsports has garnered nine wins, 50+ top-fives, 100+ top-10s, 190+ top-15 finishes and made five playoff appearances. At its 80,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Salisbury, NC, Niece Motorsports is a trusted build shop for the Chevrolet Silverados of multiple NCTS teams as well as a customizable fabrication shop for any manufacturing needs.
Follow the Team: To keep up to date with the latest team news, visit niecemotorsports.com or connect on Facebook and Instagram (@NieceMotorsports) as well as X (@NieceMotorsport).
HEIM BATTLES BACK TO LEAD TOYOTA AT MARTINSVILLE Corey Heim wins both stages, leads 149 laps before being involved on-track incident
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 28, 2025) – Corey Heim had the dominate truck for the second consecutive race as the Toyota Development Driver won both stages and led 149 of 200 laps, before being involved in an on-track incident on a restart with the second and third-place trucks with 32 laps to go. Despite two additional cautions in the final laps, the Georgia-native had an impressive drive as he took his Mobil 1 Tundra from 26th all the way back to 6th to lead Toyota.
Stewart Friesen (ninth) and Lawless Alan (10th) gave Toyota three Tundras in the top-10. For Alan, the top-10 was his best non-superspeedway finish in the Truck Series in his TRICON Garage debut.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) Martinsville Speedway Race 5 of 23 – 105.2 Miles, 200 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Daniel Hemric*
2nd, Tyler Ankrum*
3rd, Jake Garcia*
4th, Chandler Smith*
5th, Ben Rhodes*
6th, COREY HEIM
9th, STEWART FRIESEN
10th, LAWLESS ALAN
12th, GIO RUGGIERO
18th, JUSTIN CARROLL
20th, PATRICK STAROPOLI
21st, TANNER GRAY
24th, TONI BREIDINGER
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 6th
What are the emotions right now and what can you take away from tonight?
“A lot of frustration of course. I really wanted to get a win for Toyota’s 500th Truck start. Obviously, I had the Tundra to do it today. I just feel like we got used up there a little bit. I don’t think he intended to cut my left rear down. I think if he intended to do that, he would have just wrecked me as it is. Just watching it here – he kind of jacked me up in (turns) one and two and then ran into me in (turns) three and four. It wasn’t anything malicious, but I don’t know, I would have liked to be cut a break in hindsight. I think if he was going to cut down my left rear he probably wouldn’t have done it but doesn’t stop me from being pretty frustrated. I’m super thankful for TRICON Garage and Toyota. Our Mobil 1 Tundra was really good today. I don’t know – I guess get a better restart I guess.”
First truck race of the season, first truck race with TRICON Garage and you end up with a top-10 finish. Can you tell us about your race?
“One of the big of things is – it is a lot of fun being fast. I can’t say enough about the TRICON guys bringing me a fast AUTOParkIt Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. It was one of the first times I feel like I’m leaving here, and I feel like I had a lot of fun. It was battle. We were running eighth-to-tenth the whole first two stages and then coming back on tires – it seemed like on every restart, we made the wrong choice, but then they started to go right for us. I almost broke into the top-five, but then we got shucked in the mayhem. Someone just sailed it off in there, and shipped me three-wide, but finished with a top-10. I’m happy with that. It was a lot of fun. I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
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 31 electrified options.
Daniel Hemric came out on top amid a late turn of events and a late series of on-track carnages that wiped out a bevy of dominant front-runners. It was also his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career victory in the Boys and Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, March 28.
The 2021 Xfinity Series champion from Kannapolis, North Carolina, led the final four of 200 scheduled laps. He started in fifth place, executing a methodically consistent event, keeping his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (MHR) Chevrolet entry intact. Hemric finished in the top 10 through the event’s first two stage periods, but it was no easy feat. He survived a flurry of late on-track carnages involving top front-runners Corey Heim, Kaden Honeycutt and Ty Majeski. He took advantage of the opportunity to battle for the race victory during an eight-lap dash to the finish.
During the eight-lap shootout, Hemric drafted teammate Tyler Ankrum to the lead. After trailing his MHR teammate over the next three laps, Hemric drew himself alongside Ankrum. He dueled with him for a lap before he muscled ahead and led with four laps remaining. With the lead in his possession, Hemric did not look back. He beat Ankrum by half a second to achieve his first career victory in his 55th series start. He also cashed in on the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus of the 2025 campaign.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Corey Heim notched his second consecutive Truck Series pole position of the 2025 season. He posted a lap at 96.347 mph in 19.654 seconds. Joining Heim on the front row was Ty Majeski, as the latter clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.068 mph in 19.711 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race started, pole-sitter Corey Heim gained an early advantage from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry away from Ty Majeski and the field entering the first two turns. Heim would proceed to lead the field through the backstretch before he cycled his way through Turns 3 and 4 and back to the frontstretch, where he led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, a series of early jostles for spots ensued within the field as Heim extended his early advantage to more than a second. Behind, Majeski fended off Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith and Tanner Gray for the runner-up spot while Daniel Hemric occupied sixth place in front of Layne Riggs, Lawless Alan, rookie Connor Mosack and William Byron.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim maintained the lead by more than a second over Majeski while Honeycutt, Chandler Smith and Tanner Gray continued to follow suit in the top five. As Hemric, Riggs, Alan, Mosack and Byron also continued to trail in the top 10, Jake Garcia, Rajah Caruth, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton and rookie Giovanni Ruggiero followed suit in the top 15 while Ben Rhodes Jack Wood, Matthew Gould, Corey Day and Grant Enfinger were mired in the top 20.
Two laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Ryan Roulette, who was racing in 34th place, got bumped by the leader Corey Heim, spun on the frontstretch and made light contact with the inside wall. The incident occurred as Heim was attempting to lap Roulette.
Another seven laps later, the event restarted under green. At the start, Heim fended off Honeycutt and Majeski through the first two turns to retain the lead as he led through the backstretch. As Heim proceeded to lead the following lap, Honeycutt muscled his way into the runner-up spot over Majeski as Majeski was trapped on the outside lane. This allowed Tanner Gray to draw even with Majeski over the following lap while behind, Chandler Smith and Riggs battled in front of Mosack and Hemric.
Then on Lap 23, the caution returned when Riggs, who was racing behind Majeski and Tanner Gray in fifth place, received a bump from Mosack that sent Riggs spinning in Turn 4. Amid the incident, the field scattered to avoid hitting Riggs as the latter managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 34 Infinity Communications Group Ford F-150 entry.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 31, Heim used the inside lane to muscle away from Honeycutt, Majeski and the field through the first two turns. With Heim clearing the field and pulling away through the backstretch, he would lead the following lap while Honeycutt fended off Majeski for the runner-up spot. By then, Mosack was in fourth place ahead of Chandler Smith and Tanner Gray while Byron navigated his way into ninth place behind Hemric and Alan. In addition, Ben Rhodes occupied 10th place ahead of Friesen, Giovanni Ruggerio, Rajah Caruth, Jake Garcia and Matt Crafton.
Just past the Lap 35 mark, Heim extended his advantage to nearly eight-tenths of a second over Honeycutt as Majeski, Mosack and Tanner Gray continued to pursue in the top-five mark. With a series of on-track battles ensuing within the field, Heim continued to extend his advantage as he led by more than a second over Honeycutt by Lap 40.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 50, Heim, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, captured his third Truck stage victory of the 2025 season. Honeycutt followed suit in second place as Majeski, Mosack, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith, Hemric, Lawless Alan, Byron and Stewart Friesen scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, some led by Rajah Caruth and including Giovanni Ruggiero, Jake Garcia, Matt Crafton, newcomer Luke Baldwin, Jack Wood, Matthew Gould, Grant Enfinger, rookie Andres Perez de Lara, Matt Mills, Dawson Sutton, Patrick Staropoli, Spencer Boyd and Justin Carroll pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 61 as Heim and Honeycutt occupied the front row. At the start, Heim launched ahead of Honeycutt from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he led entering the first two turns. As Heim cleared the field and led through the backstretch, Majeski dueled with Honeycutt for the runner-up spot while a majority of the field behind trailed while stacked in two lanes. Heim would proceed to lead the next lap while Honeycutt used the outside lane to muscle ahead of Majeski and claim the runner-up spot.
By Lap 65, Heim maintained a steady advantage over Honeycutt, Majeski, Mosack and Tanner Gray while Chandler Smith, Hemric, Byron, Alan and Corey Day raced in the top-10 mark. Soon after, Friesen overtook Day for 10th place and Hemric would engage in a tight side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith for sixth place. In addition, newcomer Luke Baldwin muscled ahead of Rajah Caruth to claim 14th place and Riggs would join the latter battle. Amid the battles, Heim stretched his advantage to more than a second over Honeycutt at the Lap 70 mark.
At the Lap 80 mark, Heim continued to lead by more than a second over Honeycutt as the lead lap field scrambled to navigate through the lapped traffic. Amid the scramble, Majeski, Mosack and Tanner Gray trailed in the top five while Heim led by nearly two seconds by Lap 90.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 100, Heim, who extended his lead to more than two seconds amid heavy lapped traffic, cruised to his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the event and the fourth of the 2025 season. Honeycutt settled in second ahead of Majeski, Mosack and Hemric while Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Byron, Tyler Ankrum and Lawless Alan were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, a majority of the front-runners led by Heim pitted while the rest led by Caruth, including those who pitted during the previous stage period, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first and he was followed by Majeski, Honeycutt, Hemric, Mosack, Riggs, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Byron and Ankrum, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Ben Rhodes was penalized for a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon prior to a pit stop.
With 88 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Caruth and Matt Crafton occupied the front row. At the start, Caruth launched his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead from the inside lane and he led through the backstretch while Crafton fended off the field to retain second place. As Caruth led the following lap, a series of late jostles for spots ensued between those who pitted versus those who did not. With the field fanning out, the caution returned when Luke Baldwin, who was fighting for a top-20 spot, made contact with Day and hopped the curb after getting squeezed by the latter entering Turn 1, which resulted with Baldwin getting sideways and spinning the No. 66 Mohawk Northeast Inc. Ford F-150 entry to the bottom of the track in Turns 1 and 2.
The next restart period began with 80 laps remaining and featured Caruth gaining another strong start from the inside lane as he rocketed ahead entering the first two turns while teammate Jack Wood battled Crafton for the runner-up spot. Soon after, Heim, who navigated his way up to fourth place, made a bold move beneath Wood to pass the latter entering Turn 3 and battle Crafton for the runner-up spot entering the frontstretch. Heim would then muscle ahead of Crafton and pursue the leader Caruth for the following lap while Majeski overtook Jack Wood for fourth place.
Then, with 77 laps remaining and amid a series of battles within the field, Heim navigated his way past Caruth through the backstretch to return atop the leaderboard. As Heim started to pull away, Wood, who was beating and banging with several front-runners, started to slip back as he got shoved up towards the outside lane and had a tire rub on his No. 91 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST entry. With Wood proceeding under race pace and the field still jostling for late spots, Heim proceeded to lead by more than half a second over Caruth as Caruth was starting to be pressured by Majeski for the runner-up spot.
Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Heim was leading by more than two seconds over Majeski while Honeycutt, Chandler Smith and Caruth trailed in the top five. Behind, Hemric, Crafton, Ankrum, Byron and Ruggiero trailed in the top 10 ahead of Enfinger, Tanner Gray and Riggs while Friesen and Alan bumped and battled fiercely for 14th place in front of Rhodes, Baldwin, Gould, Garcia and Dawson Sutton.
Then, with nearly 50 laps remaining, the caution flew when Corey Day, who was racing in the top 20, was bumped by Dawson Sutton and sent spinning backwards towards the outside wall in Turn 2, where he would hit the wall and sustain damage to his No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST entry. During the caution period, some, including Caruth, Crafton, Lawless Alan, Enfinger, Byron, Tanner Gray, Riggs, Ruggiero and Rhodes pitted while the rest, led by Heim, remained on the track.
With the event restarting under green with 46 laps remaining, Heim rocketed ahead from the inside lane while Chandler Smith, Honeycutt and Majeski went three-wide through the backstretch while battling for the runner-up spot. Amid the three-wide action, the trio remained dead even against one another for a full lap until Majeski prevailed from the outside lane by muscling ahead. With Majeski in the runner-up spot, Honeycutt also fended off Chandler Smith for third place while Heim had stretched his lead to more than a second. The caution would then return with 44 laps remaining when Baldwin, who was racing in seventh place, got bumped by teammate Jake Garcia and sent for a spin in Turn 4. As the field scattered while trying to avoid Baldwin, the latter made contact with Gould while Day was also sent for a spin.
As the event restarted under green with 35 laps remaining, Heim rocketed ahead from the inside lane while Majeski briefly struggled to launch from the outside lane. Then, through the first two turns, Honeycutt, who restarted behind Heim, got into the rear of Heim as the latter got sideways. This allowed Honeycutt to get alongside Heim through the backstretch before he bumped and tried to duel with Heim through Turns 3 and 4.
Then, through the frontstretch, Heim, who got bumped by Majeski, sustained a flat left-rear tire amid his contact with Honeycutt and went up the track, where he then spun his No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry and drew a caution. As Heim plummeted below the leaderboard and pitted for repairs, Honeycutt emerged with the lead ahead of Majeski, Ankrum, Chandler Smith and Hemric, respectively.
Down to the final 27 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Honeycutt and Ankrum, the latter of whom opted to start alongside Honeycutt from the outside lane on the front row, briefly dueled through the first two turns before Honeycutt muscled ahead entering the backstretch. As Honeycutt led, Majeski made his move beneath Ankrum for the runner-up spot. With Honeycutt proceeding to lead with 25 laps remaining, Majeski fended off Ankrum for the runner-up spot while Hemric, Chandler Smith and Jake Garcia followed suit.
Then, as the field fanned out with more bumping and jostling for late spots ensuing, the caution returned when Tanner Gray, who was racing in 20th place, got bumped by Enfinger, which resulted with Gray spinning in Turn 3. As Enfinger went up the track, he then sent Jack Wood for a spin as all three came to a rest with damage to their respective trucks.
The beginning of the next restart, with 15 laps remaining, featured Majeski shoving Honeycutt ahead of Ankrum through the frontstretch. In the process, Honeycutt fended off Majeski and Ankrum through the backstretch before Majeski made his move beneath Honeycutt through Turns 3 and 4. Then, as Majeski drew himself alongside Honeycutt in a side-by-side battle for the lead through the frontstretch, Majeski got sideways and made contact with Honeycutt that sent both spinning up the track in Turn 1.
In the process, Honeycutt backed his No. 45 AutoVentine/Precision Chevrolet Silverado RST entry into the outside wall while Majeski sat backwards up towards the wall. Amid the incident, Ankrum emerged as the new leader while Hemric, Garcia, Chandler Smith, Andres Perez de Lara and Friesen were in the top six, respectively.
During the following restart with eight laps remaining, Ankrum and teammate Hemric rocketed away from the inside lane while Garcia, who restarted on the outside lane and on the front row, stumbled at the start. As a result, Garcia was challenged by Chandler Smith for third place while Ankrum retained a narrow lead over Hemric for the following lap.
With six laps remaining, Riggs, who was racing in sixth place despite sustaining a left-front tire rub amid late contact, nearly spun after Alan ran into the rear of Riggs through the first two turns. Despite keeping his truck straight, Riggs lost a bevy of spots and dropped out of the top-10 mark. With the race also remaining under green flag conditions, Hemric started to intimidate teammate Ankrum for the lead as the latter led with five laps remaining.
Then, with five laps remaining, Hemric made his move beneath teammate Ankrum’s No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for the lead through the backstretch. They then bumped through Turns 3 and 4 while continuing to race dead even for the top spot through the frontstretch. As they navigated past Crafton, who was limping his truck around the track at a slow pace, Hemric would continue to duel with Ankrum for nearly a full lap before he used the inside lane to storm his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST entry ahead through Turns 3 and 4. Despite Ankrum fending off Garcia for the runner-up spot, Hemric would lead with three laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hemric, who spent the previous two laps placing a reasonable gap between himself and teammate Ankrum, remained in the lead by half a second over Ankrum. With Ankrum unable to mount a late charge nor get close to Hemric’s rear bumper, Hemric was able to smoothly navigate his way around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag in the series.
With his first career win, Hemric became the 126th competitor overall to win in the Truck Series division and the first competitor to notch a first Truck career victory at Martinsville since Todd Gilliland made the previous accomplishment in October 2019. The victory was also Hemric’s first across NASCAR’s top three national touring series since he achieved both his first Xfinity Series career victory and championship at Phoenix Raceway in November 2021.
Hemric’s victory was the first for crew chief Joshua Graham and the third consecutive Martinsville win for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s No. 19 Chevrolet entry after the entry was steered to both Martinsville victories a year ago with Christian Eckes.
As an added bonus, Hemric, who performed his celebratory trademark, the backflip, on the frontstretch, was awarded the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus of $50,000 in 2025. This made the North Carolina native the 16th competitor overall to achieve the series’ bonus at least once.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, I’ve been losing my voice here all week,” Hemric said on the frontstretch on FS1. “We found the way there at the end. I want to race Tyler [Ankrum]. Obviously, we got a long season ahead. I want to race him as clean as I could, but I’ve walked out of here twice thinking there’s a missing spot in my dining room for a clock. It’s cool to finally get one here. This truck’s now three-for-three here. That’s the exact same chassis. Huge, huge congrats. Thanks to everyone at [McAnally-Hilgemann Racing], [owners] Bill McAnally, Bill Hilgemann for this opportunity.
“I said I want to come back here and, not come back here to get back anywhere, just come back here to win, to stay humble, just enjoy this journey, man. I’m so thankful for the path I’ve been on and I see this extra 50 grand we won, so thanks to Craftsman and what a series. Super, super proud just to be here…So sweet to have a clock there sitting in the home here soon.”
Tyler Ankrum, who was within reach of notching his second series victory and first since Kentucky Speedway in July 2019, settled in second place for his third top-five result of the 2025 season. Amid the disappointment, Ankrum acknowledged teammate Hemric’s late move and drive to victory.
“Congratulations to Daniel, I can’t think of a nicer guy to win,” Ankrum said. “Yeah, he gave me the bumper, but you’re going to do that at Martinsville. I honestly would much rather have a teammate give me the bumper for the win, so we can just get a win for [McAnally-Hilgemann Racing].”
Jake Garcia finished in third place for his first top-five result of the 2025 campaign. Chandler Smith and Ben Rhodes claimed top-five results.
Corey Heim led a race-high 149 laps and won the event’s first two stages. He rallied to finish in sixth place after a late spin while battling for the win.
“A lot of frustration, of course,” Heim said. “[I] Really wanted to get a win for Toyota’s 500th Truck start, but obviously, [I] had the Tundra to do it today. Just feel like we got used up there [by Kaden Honeycutt with 35 laps remaining] a little bit. I don’t think he intended to cut my left-rear tire down. I think if he wanted to do that, he would’ve just wrecked me as it is. It doesn’t stop me from being pretty frustrated at him to begin with. I just feel like [I] just needed a better restart, I guess.”
Rookie Andres Perez de Lara, Rajah Caruth, Stewart Friesen and Lawless Alan completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Layne Riggs came home in 11th place, Ty Majeski settled in 13th place ahead of William Byron, Tanner Gray fell back to 21st place ahead of newcomer Luke Baldwin and Kaden Honeycutt ended up in 26th place. In addition, Matt Crafton limped home in 27th place, Grant Enfinger retired in 29th place due to not meeting the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) procedure and Corey Day ended up in 32nd place due to a suspension damage from his late pair of incidents.
There were five lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 69 laps. In addition, 23 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the fifth event of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over Ty Majeski, 36 over Chandler Smith, 54 over Daniel Hemric, 62 over Stewart Friesen and 65 over Tyler Ankrum.
Race Results:
1. Daniel Hemric, four laps led 2. Tyler Ankrum, 10 laps led 3. Jake Garcia 4. Chandler Smith 5. Ben Rhodes 6. Corey Heim, 149 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 7. Andres Perez de Lara 8. Rajah Caruth, 17 laps led 9. Stewart Friesen 10. Lawless Alan 11. Layne Riggs 12. Giovanni Ruggiero 13. Ty Majeski 14. William Byron 15. Matt Mills 16. Dawson Sutton 17. Spencer Boyd 18. Justin Carroll 19. Jack Wood 20. Patrick Staropoli 21. Tanner Gray 22. Luke Baldwin 23. Matthew Gould 24. Toni Breidinger, one lap down 25. Connor Mosack, two laps down 26. Kaden Honeycutt, two laps down, 20 laps led 27. Matt Crafton, three laps down 28. Nathan Byrd, four laps down 29. Grant Enfinger – OUT, DVP 30. Cody Dennison, five laps down 31. Alan Waller, 26 laps down 32. Corey Day – OUT, Suspension 33. Frankie Muniz – OUT, Rear End 34. Norm Benning – OUT, Brakes 35. Ryan Roulette – OUT, Handling
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Weather Guard Truck Race. It will also be the second Triple Truck Challenge event and is scheduled for April 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
