ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (May 17, 2025) – Kekai Hauanio kicked off his Road America SpeedTour weekend with a Race 1 win in Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.). In a competition filled with close racing and fierce battles, three different drivers led laps, with Hauanio ultimately emerging to claim his second win of the season.
Notes of Interest:
Kekai Hauanio earned his second F4 U.S. win of the 2025 season, taking the checkered flag in Race 1 at Road America.
Clemente Huerta Raab claimed his second podium of the season, improving his career-best finish with a runner-up result in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.
With a third-place result, Caleb Campbell secured his career-best F4 U.S. finish and first podium.
Ty Arbogast set his career-best finish with a fourth-place result in Race 1.
Three nations were represented on today’s podium with American Hauanio, Huerta Raab descending from Chile and Campbell representing Canada.
Three teams celebrated podium finishes, with Crosslink Motorsports taking the win, Kiwi Motorsport crossing the line second and LC Racing finishing third.
With the field set by championship point standings after qualifying was washed out, Alex Popow (No. 55 Dr. Michael Thompson MS DDS PPLS / MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) led the field to green with Cooper Shipman (No. 14 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to his outside in second. Behind them, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) and Clemente Huerta Raab (No. 17 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) lined up third and fourth. As the green flag waved, Hauanio found momentum on his side—carrying his surge around the outside to overtake Shipman in Turn 1, and pulling side by side with Popow as they raced over the Ariens Tunnel. With Hauanio initially getting the point position, Popow made a crossover move to reclaim the spot as they raced toward the Sargento Bridge. The two remained nose to gearbox, with a nearly identical situation playing out on the second lap as Hauanio took the lead in Turn 1, and Popow took it back as they raced under the bridge. Behind them, Demitri Nolan (No. 5 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) was making a statement, climbing from his seventh-place starting position up to third.
After a 10-minute battle of cat and mouse, Hauanio and Popow raced wheel to wheel through Turns 5-6-7. Popow went off the racing surface, allowing Hauanio to claim the top spot and giving Nolan the opportunity he needed to move into second. Continuing to apply pressure, Nolan then pulled side by side with his Crosslink Motorsports teammate as they raced down the front straight, completing the pass and taking the top spot before they reached Turn 2.
With the safety car deployed moments later, Nolan knew he had to kick it back in high gear with an impending restart and dash to the finish. The field went green with approximately 12 minutes left on the clock, and Hauanio pulled wheel to wheel with Nolan almost immediately. Mere feet behind them, Huerta Raab and Shipman where side by side for third. Stretching back out as they raced toward Turn 8, Hauanio took the top spot, while Nolan, Huerta Raab and Shipman filed in behind him.
As the clock wound down, Hauanio steadily pulled away from the pack. Meanwhile, six cars all ran nose to gearbox behind him waiting for their chance to pounce and pick up a position. Opening up a 2.714-second lead, Hauanio was sailing away toward the checkered flag when Nolan and Shipman made contact behind him. With both drivers spinning through the grass, Huerta Raab was able to scuttle by in second, while Popow took evasive action to claim third. With the clock quickly approaching zero, the double yellow was once again displayed as the field raced toward the checkered flag.
Hauanio was the first to cross the line, with Huerta claiming second and Popow in third. Caleb Campbell (No. 68 Kids Help Phone / Camtacc Properties / Legacy Foundation of Canada / LC Racing Ligier JS F422) rebounded from an early spin to claim fourth, while Ty Arbogast (No. 32 RASE Marketing Ligier JS F422) rounded out the top five.
After the race, the stewards followed up on a corner marshal report to review a pass made by Popow on Campbell. Looking at on-board video, they determined that the corner stations and FlagTronics video boards all displayed the full-course caution when Popow overtook Campbell. As a result, Popow was issued a five-second penalty, dropping him to fifth in the final results, and promoting Campbell to the third and final podium position.
“It was a really good race,” said Hauanio after climbing from the car. “I had some good battles in the beginning, but once I got to the lead, I just told myself, ‘don’t look in the mirrors—just push forward.’ I hit all my marks and came off with the win. It was good.”
F4 U.S. returns to the track tomorrow at 10:40 a.m. CT for Race 2 from the Road America SpeedTour. At 9:30 a.m. CT, SPEED SPORT 1 will air a live block of formula races from Road America, kicking off with the Ligier Junior Formula Championship, including F4 U.S. Race 2, and wrapping with Formula Regional Americas Championship. The block will also stream on SpeedTour.TV. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (May 17, 2025) – Drew Szuch was awarded the win in Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) Race 1 on Saturday afternoon at Road America. Climbing from fourth to claim his second win of the season, it was the sophomore driver’s first win at the iconic Wisconsin road course.
Notes of Interest:
Drew Szuch earned his first win at Road America and second of the 2025 season, taking Race 1 at Road America on Saturday afternoon.
Finishing in the runner-up position, Gastón Irazú has yet to finish outside of the top two in Ligier JFC’s first four races this season.
Harbir Dass earned his third podium of the 2025 season, taking third in Race 1 at Road America.
Beckham Jacir recorded a career-best finish with his fourth-place result. Jacir returns to the series this weekend after making his debut during the 2024 season finale at Circuit of The Americas.
Kelsey Pinkowski also recorded a career-best finish with a ninth-place result. Just last weekend, Pinkowski was in Japan racing in Kyojo Cup.
Daniel Cará was the first to cross the line in Saturday’s race, but a five-second penalty relegated him to a sixth-place finish on the official results.
The battle in the opening Ligier JFC race was fierce from the wave of the green flag. With the field set by the championship points, Gastón Irazú (No. 42 Elia Group / Baly / Canal 4 / Ancap / Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) and Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Wines / WorkHub / Cará Origin Motorsports Ligier JS F4) lined up side by side to lead the field to green. Behind them, Berg Racing teammates Harbir Dass (No. 23 Northcoast Medical Group / Dubby Energy / Dass Psych LLC / Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) and Drew Szuch (No. 28 Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) were hot in their tracks. Cará stepped up to challenge Irazú as they raced between Turns 11 and 12, but by the time they emerged from Canada Corner, it was Dass who held the lead. With Cará tight on Dass’ gearbox, the Brazilian pulled side by side with the leader racing toward Turn 5 and emerged from the corner with the lead.
Meanwhile, Irazú was making up ground after dropping to fifth during the opening lap, climbing to third by the completion of lap two and moving into second just one lap later. Up front, the battle between Cará and Dass continued as they raced wheel to wheel down the frontstretch, allowing Irazú to begin closing in. With Cará emerging as the leader, Irazú had Dass in his grips as they raced through the kink, completing the pass by the time they exited Canada Corner. With Cará pulling to a slight advantage, Irazú, Dass, Szuch and Beckham Jacir (No. 7 STONICA / BELL / OMP / P1Doks / LC Racing Ligier JS F4) raced in a tight pack as they jockeyed for position. As the race neared its halfway point, Dass reached Irazú’s gearbox. Irazú went wide on the exit of Turn 1, allowing Dass to pull to his inside as they raced over the Ariens tunnel and complete the pass. The safety car was deployed as a car made impact in Turn 8, leading to a caution while safety crews worked to clear the scene.
Cará was the first driver to see the waving green flag when the race resumed, with Szuch, Irazú, Jacir and Dass in his wake. A green-white-checkered finish, Cará cleared the field by the time they reached Turn 1. Szuch was in second when they took the green, but Irazú challenged, claiming the position by the time they reached the white flag. Determined to put up a fight, Szuch stayed tight on Irazu’s gearbox as they raced around the 4.048-mile circuit, but it quickly became a four-way battle with Jacir and Dass joining the brawl.
Racing toward the checkered flag, Cará led the way, with a three-wide battle for second behind him. Szuch crossed the line second in the middle lane, Irazú took third in the inside line and Dass crossed the line fourth on the outside. Jacir followed just inches behind, crossing the line in fifth.
After the race, the Stewards reviewed a lap-one incident, where the No. 10 attempted a late pass on the No. 42 in Turn 12. With the two cars making contact in the apex, the stewards determined that the No. 10 was predominately responsible for the collision and issued a five-second time penalty. As such, Cará dropped to sixth on the final results, and Szuch was promoted to the win, claiming his second victory of the 2025 season. Irazú and Dass moved up to second and third, respectively.
“It was a really close and tactical race today,” said Szuch after being awarded the victory. “Harbir [Dass] and I fought hard to finish well on the track, so to end up with the win after everything is very gratifying. Berg Racing definitely had to earn the double podium today.”
Ligier JFC will be back on track tomorrow for Race 2 from the Road America SpeedTour, with lights out scheduled for 9:50 a.m. CT. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED SPORT 1 and stream on SpeedTour.TV, with pre-race coverage beginning at 9:30 a.m. CT. SPEED SPORT 1 is available on Amazon Prime Video, Roku, Pluto TV, Sling, STIRR and more. Additional news and updates will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Alex Palou was the fastest competitor on the first day of the PPG Armed Forces Qualifying Session for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 17.
The reigning three-time NTT INDYCAR Series champion from Barcelona, Spain, was the 23rd competitor in line to post a four-lap average-qualifying speed and bid for a starting spot for this year’s Greatest Spectacle in Racing at Indianapolis.
During his lone four-lap session of Saturday’s session, Palou, driving the No. 10 DHL/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda entry, posted an average qualifying speed of 233.043 mph, which was enough to retain the top-starting spot for the remainder of the session.
As a result, Palou, who will be making his sixth consecutive bid to win his first Indy 500 victory this year, will be one of 12 competitors who will continue the quest for pole position for this year’s Indy 500 on Sunday, May 18. In addition, Palou, the 2021 Indy 500 pole winner, will attempt to become the first competitor to repeat as a Indy 500 pole winner since his teammate Scott Dixon achieved the latest feat between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Photo by Paul Hurley (Penske Entertainment).
“Amazing day for us,” Palou said in the DEX Imaging Media Center. “[I] Struggled a little bit in practice. We were not able to finish a full qualifying run. It was tough conditions today. Glad that we got our balance right. We had a ton of speed in the car. It’s been great to the comeback we did from last year. Really fast cars and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, the reigning Indy 500 pole winner, and Josef Newgarden, the reigning two-time Indy 500 champion, posted the second- and third-fastest four-lap average-qualifying speeds of 233.013 mph and 233.004 mph, respectively, as both trailed Palou in Saturday’s first qualifying session.
The trio of Palou, McLaughlin and Newgarden along with Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, rookie Robert Shwartzman, David Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist, Takuma Sato, Will Power, Marcus Ericsson and Christian Lundgaard will return and contend for the 2025 Indy 500 pole position by transferring through Saturday’s Top-12 mark.
Conor Daly, who had his first qualifying run disallowed due to a front wing violation discovered during the post-qualifying technical inspection and rallied to be the final competitor to qualify to improve on his previous laps, just missed the top-12 mark despite posting a fast four-lap average run of 231.725 mph in his No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet entry.
Starting 14th through 29th for the 2025 Indy 500 are Alexander Rossi, Kyffin Simpson, Ed Carpenter, Santino Ferrucci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Sting Ray Robb, Christian Rasmussen, Kyle Larson, Louis Foster, Callum Ilott, Helio Castroneves, Kyle Kirkwood, Nolan Siegel, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Jack Harvey and Colton Herta, respectively.
Notably, Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, managed to improve from qualifying towards the top-30 cutline to qualify in 21st place, overall, in his second qualifying bid with his best average-lap session occurring at 231.326 mph. As a result, Larson, who is driving the No. 17 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet entry, will officially commence his second bid to complete the Memorial Day double attempt and compete in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, the latter of which occurs at Charlotte Motor Speedway, on the same day next Sunday, May 25.
Photo by Joe Skibinski (Penske Entertainment).
Colton Herta was involved in a harrowing rollover accident during his qualifying bid but he returned to the track in the closing minutes. He posted a four-lap qualifying average run of 230.192 mph, which was enough to claim the 29th-starting spot for this year’s Indy 500.
The competitor who claimed the 30th and final transfer spot to the 2025 Indy 500 from Saturday’s qualifying session was Graham Rahal, the latter of whom managed by posting his best four-lap average-qualifying run at 229.863 mph. This year marks Rahal’s first automatic transfer to the Indy 500 following the first day of the Indy 500 qualifying trials in three years after he had to go through the Last Chance Qualifying round over the previous two seasons.
Meanwhile, Rinus VeeKay, Marcus Armstrong, rookie Jacob Abel and Marco Andretti are the four competitors who will compete for the final three starting spots for this year’s Indy 500 through the Last Chance Qualifying round that will occur on Sunday, May 18.
Notably, Armstrong managed to post two four-lap average-qualifying attempts after he rallied from being involved in a vicious accident during Saturday morning’s practice session in Turn 1. After being evaluated and cleared to compete from the medical center, Armstrong’s No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda team prepared a road-course entry as a back-up entry for Armstrong’s attempt to make the main event. Despite missing the top-30 cutline on Saturday, Armstrong will have one more attempt to make the 2025 Indy 500 field on Sunday.
The second day of the PPG Armed Forces Qualifying session for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 continues on Sunday, May 18, with the top-12 qualifiers qualifying, where six will transfer to the Firestone Fast 6 session, beginning at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. The Last Chance Qualifying session will follow suit at 5:15 p.m. ET before the Firestone Fast Six occurs at 6:25 p.m. ET, where the pole-sitter and the full field lineup will be determined.
No. 6 Brad Keselowski is set to lead the field for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race after defending his pole position with a strong win over Ross Chastain and William Byron in Saturday’s All-Star Heat 1. (NWS/HHP photo)
Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell will lead the field to green for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race after winning their respective Heat Races on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway
Ross Chastain and Joey Logano finished second in Heats 1 and 2 respectively and will make up Row 2 for Sunday’s $1 million-to-win, All-Star showcase of NASCAR’s best drivers
Tickets for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race are on sale at northwilkesborospeedway.com
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (May 17, 2025) – Brad Keselowski’s hopes of a breakthrough NASCAR All-Star Race victory were high after winning the pole on Friday, but a dominant Heat Race win on Saturday made Keselowski even more confident.
The driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford held off a spirited charge from Ross Chastain and William Byron – both on fresher tires after pitting during a mid-race caution – to win the first of two 75-lap NASCAR All-Star Heat Races. Christopher Bell dominated the second Heat Race from the pole, beating Joey Logano to the finish line by 2.085 seconds.
Keselowski’s Heat Race victory was his second in a row, while Bell notched the first of his career. The pair will take the green flag first and second on Sunday.
“It doesn’t hurt,” said Keselowski. “It’s been a good two days for everyone on this No. 6 crew. It’s good to be running up front and running fast. This is fun.”
Chastain was exuberant after finishing second in Heat Race 1 and earning a third-place starting spot for Sunday’s race. Byron, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman completed the top five with Josh Berry sixth.
“After starting from the tail, in a row by ourselves, just to pass three cars would’ve been progress for us,” Chastain said. “It feels so good to run like this. This place is as fun as it looks.”
Bell rolled off first for Heat 2 and asserted his dominance early. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver wasn’t challenged over the first 30 laps and found it easier than expected to keep Logano at bay for the remainder of the event.
“Maybe the Mobil 1 Camry’s a million-dollar Camry,” said Bell. “The guys did an amazing job making this car better overnight. It was nice being able to cruise for those first 30 laps and take care of our tires. This thing was on rails.”
Logano, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher completed the top five in Heat 2 and will comprise the outside for Rows 2 through 5 when Sunday’s $1 million All-Star showcase roars to life.
TICKETS: Only A limited number of NASCAR All-Star Race tickets and camping spots remain and can be purchased online at www.NorthWilkesboroSpeedway.com.
MORE INFO: Fans can connect with North Wilkesboro Speedway and get the latest news regarding NASCAR All-Star Week and North Wilkesboro Speedway by following on X and Instagram or by becoming a Facebook fan.
NASCAR CUP SERIES NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY HEAT RACE QUOTES MAY 17, 2025
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
“I thought our No. 9 Amazon Prime Video Chevrolet was pretty good. I think it was worth fixing it. We knew we had a little bit of damage. We weren’t exactly sure to what extent or how much it was going to hurt us, but we just didn’t want to have to wonder about it. I certainly think it was the right call. To come from 10th to third was pretty good, with all things considered. We had a good pit stop and gained a couple spots on pit road, and we got a couple spots on track. We start sixth tomorrow, and we’ll try to go to work from there.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 4th
“In the truck, entering high and staying high in (turns) one and two, was sort of better for me. In the Cup car, I kept trying that and it was just too loose, so I had to be a lane down. That’s where I found the best speed, being a lane down, so what I learned in the truck didn’t really translate to the Cup car. But still getting the track time and being able to move around; knowing what to expect, feeling tire chatter and all that sort of stuff was helpful.
Overall, it was a good effort by this No. 8 SENIX Chevrolet team. We certainly want more. I felt like we fell off a little too much there at the end. We just got too tight. We’ll go to work on it and get ready for tomorrow.”
About General Motors
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NORTH WILKESBORO, NC (May 17, 2025) – Christopher Bell won the second heat race on Saturday evening and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE will start on the front row for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How was the car for you in today’s heat race?
“Maybe the Mobil 1 Camry is a million-dollar Camry. It’s feeling really good. I knew yesterday in practice that if they could get some rear grip in it, I felt like I had a lot of car potential. The guys did an amazing job on just making the car better overnight and it was really refreshing to get out there and just cruise those first 30 laps. Then, I didn’t know how it was going to work with having Joey (Logano) right behind me, but this thing was on rails. I’m really happy and excited about the opportunity tomorrow.”
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.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – THAT WENT ACCORDING TO PLAN. IS THIS A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR THIS TEAM? “Yeah, it doesn’t hurt. It’s been a good two days for everyone on this 6 crew and hopeful the other two cars can have good runs – the heat race and the Open so that we can get a great day for tomorrow. It’s good to be starting up front with the Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang and to be running fast. This is fun.”
YOU TRIED SOMETHING DIFFERENT. WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS SETUP AND MAYBE TIRES. DO YOU WANT TIRES TOMORROW? “Those guys that put tires on, they were really hard to hold off. I had the preferred groove and just tried to use it to my advantage. We’ll see if that’s the case tomorrow.”
KESELOWSKI WINNER’S PRESS CONFERENCE
IS THIS STILL A ONE-GROOVE TRACK? “Oh, no. It’s definitely not a single groove racetrack. They were running me real hard. We had good pace and that was a little bit of a dogfight, so I thought it was great racing.”
HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT RACING SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH THOSE GUYS FOR ALL THOSE LAPS? “That’s what this is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a fun race and I think I ran beside the 45, the 1, the 24 for at least a dozen or maybe two dozen laps. It was a good battle. I’m glad that we came out on top, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be, right?”
BEING OUT FRONT YOU GET BETTER AIR BUT IS IT ALSO TIRE THING? “Those guys were running hard and that’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s always a battle on these short tracks to have the right balance between driving the car hard enough to stay up front, but not driving it too hard to run the tires off of it and that’s part of the challenge of being a race car driver and I welcome it.”
ARE YOU GOING TO NEED TIRES TOMORROW NIGHT? “We’re gonna find out. It’s always hard to say. The track conditions are always changing, particularly when we’ll have the Open before the race tomorrow. I suspect the track will just become more and more favorable to tire wear.”
HEAT RACE 2
Ford Finishing Results:
2nd – Joey Logano 5th – Chris Buescher 8th – Austin Cindric 9th – Harrison Burton
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DID IT FEEL UP FRONT AND DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE SOMETHING FOR THE LEADERS TOMORROW? “Yeah, it was really just seeing the front to start the race is what we wanted to do. There’s a lot of opportunity there with different strategies. We saw the 19 stay out and go for it there, and it didn’t work out for him. That’s kind of an all or nothing call and we were debating about it as well, so once we couldn’t get the lead we knew we were gonna pit. We made a good adjustment on our car and learned something for tomorrow night, so that’s a good thing. We’re in a good spot. We’re gonna start on the outside lane, which isn’t a bad thing to fire off and we’ll try to get the old 22 rolling and tune on it as the night goes along.”
HOW DID YOU FEEL THE TRACK WIDENED OUT AND HOW HAS IT CHANGED FROM LAST YEAR? “The track is super wide. I mean, you saw the 20, he was up by the wall. I was surprised three and four hasn’t widened out much more than it has. It may tomorrow night because I feel like last year was a little wider in three and four, but one and two is serviceable in every single lane, so that makes it pretty fun. It’s hard to pass because every lane is strong, so it’s hard to complete passes, but there are definitely options to try to get clean air.”
DO YOU THINK CLEAN AIR WILL BE KEY TOMORROW NIGHT? “It was last year. I’ve got to assume it will be again this year.”
No. 66 Spectrum Honda crew rebuilds car after practice incident
Indianapolis, Ind. (17 May 2025) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) used nearly every single minute of the longest day of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule in Saturday’s attempt to qualify all three of its cars for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, but despite yeoman’s work over the seven-hour session, MSR will have to return to the 2.5-mile oval tomorrow to fill its dance card.
However, the day will also feature a chance for the Ohio-based team to earn its best-ever starting spot for the Memorial Day Classic as a strong run from Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda), who ran the fastest single lap of the day, punched his ticket for tomorrow’s 12-car shootout for the pole position.
The degree of difficulty ratcheted up quickly for MSR when Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Spectrum Honda) crashed hard in the morning practice session, causing the team to pull the backup car – which was in road-course configuration – off the truck and get it ready for a four-lap qualifying run. The team completed the arduous task with an hour left in the day’s running, but after five laps spread over two aborted attempts, Armstrong was left wait until tomorrow to cement a spot in the 33-car field.
Meanwhile, four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves (No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda), solidified a spot in the field with his first qualifying run of the day, then came back later and ran more than 1.3mph faster, vaulting his MSR machine into the 24th starting spot as he looks to become the first driver to ever win five Indy 500 crowns.
The unique Indy 500 qualifying format saw the 13th through 30th starting positions set Saturday, while the fastest 12 drivers advanced to Sunday’s opening session. The slowest four cars in the field will also attempt to earn the 31st through 33rd positions on Sunday.
Rosenqvist ran a blistering opening lap on his run (233.334mph) and followed that up with another orbit at more than 233mph on his way to a four-lap average of 232.449mph – a speed that put him eighth among the 34 qualifiers.
The MSR drivers will have a practice session available Sunday prior to Sunday’s final qualifying runs that will set the top 12 along with the final three cars in the 33-car field. Teams can practice from 1 – 4 p.m. ET, tomorrow, followed by two hours of final qualifying. Fans can follow the practice live on FS2, with the qualifying shown live on Fox. SiriusXM will also host live INDYCAR Radio coverage on XM Ch. 218.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) – Starting TBD, Four-Lap Avg. Speed 232.449 mph: “Qualifying went pretty good for us, but bit of a tough day for the team. A lot of work by everyone in the garage and we were all a little nervy today with the tricky conditions. But we did a good job and I think the car is quite a bit quicker than P8. So I’m pretty excited to go back tomorrow with a new attempt and see if we can get on the front row.”
Helio Castroneves (No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda) – Starting 24th, Four-Lap Avg. Speed 230.978mph “Definitely an interesting day for us. However, the team did a great job to find a lot of the issues we had and we were able to execute. Unfortunately was a little late in the day for us to keep trying to improve, so we have to start in a position we were not expecting. But we have a really good race car and can do well next weekend. And hopefully now I can help Marcus to get back on the saddle and put this car in the show tomorrow.”
Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Spectrum Honda) – No Time: “It was a rather large hit but I’m OK. One of my first reactions when I got to the medical unit was that I’m ready to go flat into Turn One again. We have fast cars and I am looking forward to the race. Massive credit to the MSR crew for putting the car together so quickly. We made our two attempts, the first one we didn’t have telemetry and the second we went out with the same exact set up. I said ‘if the car is good enough to do it, then I’m not going to be the reason we can’t.’”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – THAT WENT ACCORDING TO PLAN. IS THIS A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR THIS TEAM? “Yeah, it doesn’t hurt. It’s been a good two days for everyone on this 6 crew and hopeful the other two cars can have good runs – the heat race and the Open so that we can get a great day for tomorrow. It’s good to be starting up front with the Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang and to be running fast. This is fun.”
YOU TRIED SOMETHING DIFFERENT. WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS SETUP AND MAYBE TIRES. DO YOU WANT TIRES TOMORROW? “Those guys that put tires on, they were really hard to hold off. I had the preferred groove and just tried to use it to my advantage. We’ll see if that’s the case tomorrow.”
KESELOWSKI WINNER’S PRESS CONFERENCE
IS THIS STILL A ONE-GROOVE TRACK? “Oh, no. It’s definitely not a single groove racetrack. They were running me real hard. We had good pace and that was a little bit of a dogfight, so I thought it was great racing.”
HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT RACING SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH THOSE GUYS FOR ALL THOSE LAPS? “That’s what this is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a fun race and I think I ran beside the 45, the 1, the 24 for at least a dozen or maybe two dozen laps. It was a good battle. I’m glad that we came out on top, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be, right?”
BEING OUT FRONT YOU GET BETTER AIR BUT IS IT ALSO TIRE THING? “Those guys were running hard and that’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s always a battle on these short tracks to have the right balance between driving the car hard enough to stay up front, but not driving it too hard to run the tires off of it and that’s part of the challenge of being a race car driver and I welcome it.”
ARE YOU GOING TO NEED TIRES TOMORROW NIGHT? “We’re gonna find out. It’s always hard to say. The track conditions are always changing, particularly when we’ll have the Open before the race tomorrow. I suspect the track will just become more and more favorable to tire wear.”
Chandler Smith capitalized on a final-lap skirmish involving teammate Layne Riggs and Corey Heim to win the Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, May 17.
The 22-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, led only the final lap. He started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry. Smith then methodically worked his way up the leaderboard and posted top-five results through the event’s first two stage periods.
Racing upfront throughout the final stage period, Smith was poised to overtake Heim for the lead with five laps remaining. However, a late caution for an incident involving newcomer Brent Crews and Ben Rhodes sent the event into overtime. Despite dropping to third place at the start of an overtime shootout, Smith kept both Heim and teammate Riggs within striking distance. Then after Riggs rubbed and sent Heim for a spin through the first two turns on the final lap, Smith navigated his way to assume the lead. It was Smith’s second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2025 season both under caution and in dramatic fashion.
On-track qualifying initially scheduled to occur on Saturday morning was canceled due to on-track precipitation. The starting lineup was determined by a metric system per the NASCAR rule book. As a result, Corey Heim was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Kyle Busch.
Chandler Smith dropped to the rear of the field before the event began due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 entry.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Corey Heim launched his No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry ahead through the first two turns from the outside lane. He quickly cycled his way through North Wilkesboro’s backstretch and final pair of turns (Turns 3 and 4). Heim led the first lap while Kyle Busch and rookie Giovanni Ruggerio followed suit.
Over the next four laps, Heim extended his early advantage to more than a second. Meanwhile, teammate Ruggerio overtook Busch through the frontstretch for the runner-up spot. Heim stretched his lead to nearly two seconds at the Lap 10 mark ahead of Ruggiero and Busch. Stewart Friesen, Sammy Smith and Jake Garcia followed suit in the top-six mark. Meanwhile, newcomer Brent Crews occupied seventh place ahead of Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes while Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Hemric, Kaden Honeycutt, Rajah Caruth and Matt Crafton occupied the top-15 spots ahead of Luke Baldwin, Tanner Gray, Matt Mills, Layne Riggs and Dawson Sutton.
Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Heim’s advantage grew to more than two seconds over teammate Ruggiero. Friesen, who overtook Busch for third place on Lap 11, trailed by more than three seconds. Meanwhile, Busch trailed by more than four seconds in fourth place ahead of teammate Sammy Smith. Garcia, Crews, Enfinger, Majeski and Rhodes followed suit in the top 10, respectively.
Fifteen laps later, Heim continued to extend his advantage, leading by more than four seconds over Ruggerio. The latter started to have Friesen closing in for third place. Despite being mired in lapped traffic, including teammate Toni Breidinger, Heim added another second to his advantage. He led by more than five seconds just past the Lap 40 mark.
On Lap 46, the event’s first caution flew when Tyler Tomassi stalled his entry below the track in Turn 2. During the caution period, some led by Heim and including Sammy Smith, Busch, Crews, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Rhodes, Honeycutt, Tanner Gray, Caruth, Crafton, Baldwin, Conner Jones and Dawson Sutton pitted while the rest led by Ruggerio remained on the track.
The start of the ensuing restart on Lap 54 featured Friesen getting loose and sliding up the track. He nearly made contact with the leader Ruggiero entering the first two turns. With all the front-runners managing to keep their respective trucks racing straight, Ruggiero retained the lead. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Friesen maintained second place. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted in the top 10, carved his way up to fourth place. He pursued Jake Garcia for more while Ruggiero led at the Lap 60 mark.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Ruggiero, who maintained the lead over the previous 10 laps, notched his first Truck stage career victory. Heim executed a final lap, final corner pass on Freisen for second place. Garcia, Chandler Smith, Riggs, Ankrum, Daniel Hemric, Enfinger and Kyle Busch followed suit in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, some led by Ruggiero and those who did not pit during the previous caution period pitted. The rest, led by Heim and those who pitted during the previous caution, remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 80 as Heim and Riggs occupied the front row. At the start, Heim briefly muscled ahead of Riggs from the outside lane through the frontstretch before Riggs slid up the track from the inside lane and made contact with Heim. With Heim nearly getting into the outside wall and the field fanning out while stacked up in multiple lanes, Enfinger capitalized on the wild start by moving into the lead. Behind, Crews muscled up to the runner-up spot and Heim dropped to third place while Enfinger led the following lap. Enfinger proceeded to lead just past the Lap 85 mark over Crews and Heim while Riggs was back in seventh place.
By Lap 90, Enfinger was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Crews as the latter maintained the spot ahead of teammate Heim. Behind, Ankrum and Caruth were in the top five ahead of Riggs, Busch, Sammy Smith, Rhodes and Chandler Smith, respectively, while Luke Baldwin, Kaden Honeycutt, Conner Jones, Garcia and Ruggiero followed suit in the top 15.
Ten laps later, Enfinger extended his lead to more than a second over Crews and Heim. Ankrum and Riggs were also racing in the top five. Enfinger added another second to his advantage as he led by two seconds by Lap 110 over both Heim and Crews. By then, Ankrum retained fourth place while Chandler Smith overtook teammate Riggs to move into fifth place.
At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Enfinger maintained his lead by more than a second over Heim. Chandler Smith, Ankrum and Riggs were racing in the top five ahead of Crews, Busch, Caruth, Rhodes and Sammy Smith, respectively. By then, Friesen, Baldwin, Honeycutt, Garcia and Ruggiero occupied the top-15 spots ahead of Hemric, Jones, Matt Crafton, Majeski and Tanner Gray while Connor Mosack, Toni Breidinger, Jack Wood, Patrick Emerling and Matt Mills trailed in the top-25 mark.
Then on Lap 137, the caution flew when Conner Jones, who was driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Niece Motorsports and was scored in the top-20 mark, blew a right-front tire and hit the outside wall in Turn 2. Jones’ incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 140 to officially conclude under caution. As a result, Enfinger cruised to his second Truck stage victory of the 2025 season. Heim, who was challenging Enfinger for the lead prior to the caution, settled in second place ahead of Chandler Smith, Ankrum, Riggs, Busch, Caruth, Crews, Rhodes and Sammy Smith, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Enfinger returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Enfinger edged Heim off of pit road first. Chandler Smith, Busch and Riggs followed suit, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Busch was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
With 101 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Enfinger and Heim occupied the front row. Enfinger used the outside lane to launch ahead of Heim and the field through the first two turns. Heim fought back from the inside lane. Chandler Smith then ran into the rear of Enfinger through Turns 3 and 4, which shot the latter up the track and allowed Heim to rocket ahead and reassume the lead. Smith would also move into the runner-up spot before he pursued Heim for the lead. With less than 100 laps remaining, Smith drew his No. 38 QuickTie Ford F-150 entry even with Heim. They battled side-by-side for the lead before he settled behind Heim and kept close pursuit of the latter with nearly 95 laps remaining.
With 90 laps remaining, Heim maintained the lead by a tenth of a second over Chandler Smith. Riggs, who moved up to third place, trailed by more than a second. Behind, Friesen, Ruggiero and Ankrum occupied the top-six spots while Enfinger dropped to seventh place in front of Crews, Garcia and Baldwin.
Fifteen laps later, Heim retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith. Riggs, Friesen and Ruggiero continued to pursue in the top five. With the leaders navigating through lapped traffic, Heim would slightly increase his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Smith with 60 laps remaining while Riggs, Friesen and Ruggiero trailed by as far back as five seconds.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Heim’s lead increased to nearly two seconds over Chandler Smith while Riggs trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Behind, Ruggerio and Friesen trailed in the top five by more than six seconds while Ankrum and Enfinger, both of whom were racing in seventh and eighth, respectively, trailed by nine seconds. As Garcia and Rhodes occupied the remaining top-10 spots, Heim led by more than two seconds with nearly 40 laps remaining.
During a caution period which started with 39 laps remaining when Tyler Tomassi lost a right-front tire and made contact with the Turn 1 outside wall, some led by Chandler Smith pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.
The start of the next restart with 32 laps remaining featured Heim fending off Riggs through the first two turns to maintain the lead. As Chandler Smith pursued in third place, Heim led the following lap and he proceeded to lead with less than 25 laps remaining while the field behind jostled for late positions.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Heim maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Riggs trailed in third place by more than a second. Behind, Ankrum and Crews trailed in the top five ahead of Ruggiero, Enfinger, Rhodes, Hemric and Caruth while Smith started to close in on Heim for the lead.
With 10 laps remaining, Heim continued to lead by half a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Riggs continued to trail by more than a second. Smith would slightly cut his deficit down to three-tenths of a second over the next five laps, but Heim kept the top spot during the span.
Then with five laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime when Rhodes bumped and sent Crews for a spin in Turn 2 as the latter was having a stellar run in sixth place during his Truck Series debut. At the moment of caution, Heim, who had Chandler Smith bumping and challenging him for the lead from his inside lane in Turn 3, had managed to retain the top spot over Smith.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Heim using his preferred outside-starting lane to muscle ahead of Chandler Smith entering Turn 1. Behind, however, Riggs, who restarted behind Heim, boosted his No. 34 UNC Charlotte Ford F-150 entry into the runner-up spot over Smith. Riggs proceeded to pursue Heim for the lead entering Turn 3 while Smith and the rest of the field pursued.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim, who got sideways entering Turn 4, remained in the lead by a narrow margin over both Riggs and Chandler Smith. Then as Riggs made his move beneath Heim for the lead through Turn 1, he slipped up the track and made contact with Heim. The contact sent Heim spinning in Turn 2 as Smith capitalized on the dust-up to overtake and fend off Riggs with the lead through Turns 3 and 4. With the caution flying along with the checkered flag and the event being ruled official, Smith, who was leading at the moment of caution, was able to cruise back to the frontstretch victorious for a second time of the 2025 season.
With the victory, Smith, who became the fifth competitor overall to win a Truck race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, notched his seventh career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division and his first since he won at Bristol Motor Speedway in April. The victory was the 12th overall in the Truck division for Front Row Motorsports and the second of the year for the Ford nameplate.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“We fought and clawed today,” Smith said on the frontstretch on FS1. “For us to come from the back to mid-pack twice says a lot of how good this Ford F-150 was today. That last restart, I did everything but the right thing. My teammate, Layne Riggs, executed perfectly and we came out on the right end of the stick. Happy we could bring one home for Front Row Motorsports. Second win for QuickTie Products and second win for this new No. 38 team.”
Teammate Layne Riggs settled in second place following his final-lap skirmish with Heim while Heim, who led a race-high 162 laps, dropped to 17th place in the final leaderboard. In the aftermath of the contact, Heim confronted Riggs and exchanged brief harsh words with the latter before walking away.
“[Riggs] tried to [wreck Hocevar] for the win,” Heim said. “Mission accomplished for him, I guess, this week and it cost him [the win] too. Brutal. We’ve given up so many [wins] this year after pretty much dominating most of this race. [Chandler Smith] was the only other guy that was rightfully good. I felt like he probably deserved to win if anybody, not [Riggs]. Just disappointed.”
“I had a huge run, I went [to the] bottom [lane] and I didn’t fence him,” Riggs said. “I slid him up the track and gave him one lane there. We’re in North Wilkesboro and on the last lap for a Truck win, I feel like I didn’t really do anything wrong there. He continued, “I think that roles reversed, it was hard racing all day. I felt like everybody came out of there alive and we had a good finish. I really only care about my team.”
Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger finished in the top five while Ty Majeski, rookie Giovanni Ruggiero, Kaden Honeycutt, Kyle Busch and Sammy Smith completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 42 laps. In addition, 17 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 10th event of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by 47 points over Chandler Smith, 87 over Daniel Hemric, 93 over Tyler Ankrum and 111 over Grant Enfinger.
Results:
1. Chandler Smith, one lap led 2. Layne Riggs 3. Tyler Ankrum 4. Daniel Hemric 5. Grant Enfinger, 68 laps led, Stage 2 winner 6. Ty Majeski 7. Giovanni Ruggiero, 24 laps led, Stage 1 winner 8. Kaden Honeycutt 9. Kyle Busch 10. Sammy Smith 11. Tanner Gray 12. Jake Garcia 13. Luke Baldwin 14. Stewart Friesen 15. Rajah Caruth 16. Connor Mosack 17. Corey Heim, 162 laps led 18. Matt Crafton, one lap down 19. Patrick Emerling, one lap down 20. Jack Wood, one lap down 21. Toni Breidinger, one lap down 22. Brent Crews, one lap down 23. Ben Rhodes, one lap down 24. Andres Perez de Lara, two laps down 25. Matt Mills, two laps down 26. Dawson Sutton, two laps down 27. Conner Jones, four laps down 28. Spencer Boyd, four laps down 29. Frankie Muniz, seven laps down 30. Jayson Alexander, 13 laps down 31. Tyler Tomassi – OUT, Suspension 32. Ryan Roulette – OUT, Brakes 33. Derek White – OUT, Too Slow 34. Norm Benning – OUT, Vibration
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, May 23, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
