INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 25, 2025) – Alex Palou’s place among the legends is now secure.
Three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou earned the first oval victory of his career, capturing the biggest race of them all, the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Best milk I’ve ever tasted,” Palou said on the Victory Podium after a hearty swig from the traditional winner’s bottle of milk. “It tastes so good. What an amazing feeling.”
Palou won under caution when “500” rookie Nolan Siegel crashed his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet in Turn 2 on the final lap of the 200-lap race, which started 43 minutes late due to passing sprinkles. Two-time defending series champion Palou passed the No. 28 Allegra Honda of Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson on Lap 187 and never trailed thereafter.
“I cannot believe it,” Palou said. “It’s amazing to win. There were some moments that I felt really good in the race, but at the end I didn’t know if I was going to able to pass Marcus or not, but I made it happen. First oval win. What a better place?”
Palou earned his fifth win in six series races this season in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, padding his championship lead to a whopping 115 points over Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren. But more importantly for his legacy as one of the great all-time champions of the sport, he gained a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy – the first Spaniard to earn that distinction – and immortality.
“It’s going to make Alex Palou’s career, it’s going to make his life, and it certainly has made mine,” winning team owner Chip Ganassi said.
Chip Ganassi Racing earned its sixth victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and first since Ericsson won in 2022.
Ericsson finished second for the second time in the last three years, as he also was the narrow runner-up to Josef Newgarden in 2023. Newgarden’s drive to become the first to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s ended with a mechanical problem in his No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet, as he ended up 25th after completing 135 laps.
David Malukas, who missed last year’s race with injury, finished a “500” career-best third in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, his fourth top-four “500” finish in the last five years, but with none ending on Victory Podium. Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top five in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian.
Robert Shwartzman, the first rookie pole sitter since 1983, ended up in 29th place. He was eliminated from the race during a pit lane mishap on Lap 87 when his No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet skidded through his pit box, hitting the inside wall and a few crew members.
The race, which took place under cloud cover in unseasonably cool air temperatures in the low 60s, featured a chaotic first half with six of the race’s seven caution periods in the first 108 laps. That attrition eliminated seven cars, including in separate incidents marquee drivers such as Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, Marco Andretti of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian and NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who was attempting to complete the “500” and the Coca-Cola 600 this evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the same day.
But once the race settled into a groove, it became a furious contest of dueling pit strategies and breathtaking passes amid thick traffic.
Palou made his final pit stop on Lap 168, playing a potentially dangerous game with fuel mileage, as 32 laps was around the maximum fuel mileage on one tank.
Malukas took the lead on Lap 169 when 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay pitted in the No. 23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES Chevrolet, the last of his 48 laps led. Only two-time “500” winner Takuma Sato led more laps, with 51 out front on the 2.5-mile oval. Hunter-Reay stalled on pit exit, ending his chance to contend for a second win.
Chicago native Malukas then made his final stop on Lap 170, handing the lead to Ericsson. Malukas exited the pits ahead of Palou, giving him perhaps a chance to contend for the win once Ericsson made his final stop.
But Palou then hustled past Malukas for position, taking advantage of lapped traffic that slowed Malukas. Ericsson made his final stop on Lap 175 with slick and quick service from Andretti Global and exited the pits in front of Palou and Malukas.
“I’m not going to lie: I was crying coming into the pits (after the race),” Malukas said. “Man, we were just so close to getting it. Lappers came in, and he (Palou) was able to get a run. We were leading, so he had a good tow, and he timed that perfectly. It’s bittersweet because we didn’t get it.”
Palou sat in second while in Ericsson’s aerodynamic draft, saving fuel, stalking and presumably waiting until the last five to 10 laps to pounce. Ericsson was trying to navigate the turbulent air from the cars of Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammates Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster, who were battling for 15th place on the tail end of the lead lap ahead of Ericsson.
But Palou surprised the sellout crowd of 350,000 on Lap 187 by using the aerodynamic tow from Ericsson’s car and diving under the Swede entering Turn 1 for the last of the 22 lead changes in the race.
“We had those lappers ahead of us that were making it difficult,” Ericsson said. “He got a run on me. I didn’t know if he was going to go for it or not. That’s the thing that I’m thinking about constantly now – I should have covered that inside, of course.”
Ericsson stayed close to Palou for the next 13 laps but never got close enough to make a run for his second spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
“That was painful,” Ericsson said. “To miss out, so close again. Second time second place here, and this is a winner-takes-all kind of place. It’s really painful. We kept fighting. Congrats to Alex and Chip Ganassi Racing.”
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of downtown Detroit (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Race Results
(6) Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
(9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
(7) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(3) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(5) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 200, Running
(23) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 200, Running
(15) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(18) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(8) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(11) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(2) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
(21) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 200, Running
(22) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
(16) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 200, Running
(20) Louis Foster, Honda, 200, Running
(24) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 199, Contact
(27) Colton Herta, Honda, 199, Running
(14) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 199, Running
(33) Will Power, Chevrolet, 199, Running
(28) Graham Rahal, Honda, 199, Running
(30) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 198, Running
(26) Jack Harvey, Chevrolet, 198, Running
(4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 197, Running
(25) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 171, Mechanical
(32) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 134, Mechanical
(17) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 91, Contact
(19) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 91, Contact
(13) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 91, Contact
(1) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 87, Contact
(31) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 80, Contact
(12) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 73, Mechanical
(29) Marco Andretti, Honda, 4, Contact
(10) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 0, Contact
Race Statistics Winner’s average speed: 168.883 mph Time of Race: 2:57:38.2965 Margin of victory: Under caution Cautions: 7 for 45 laps Lead changes: 22 among 14 drivers
Lap Leaders: Shwartzman, Robert 1 – 8 O’Ward, Pato 9 – 10 Sato, Takuma 11 – 23 Rossi, Alexander 24 – 29 Rasmussen, Christian 30 – 32 Rossi, Alexander 33 – 36 Rasmussen, Christian 37 – 38 Rossi, Alexander 39 – 42 Carpenter, Ed 43 Harvey, Jack 44 – 46 Sato, Takuma 47 – 60 Kirkwood, Kyle 61 – 62 Sato, Takuma 63 – 86 Hunter-Reay, Ryan 87 – 102 DeFrancesco, Devlin 103 – 119 Daly, Conor 120 – 132 Malukas, David 133 Hunter-Reay, Ryan 134 – 139 Rasmussen, Christian 140 – 142 Hunter-Reay, Ryan 143 – 168 Malukas, David 169 Ericsson, Marcus 170 – 186 Palou, Alex 187 – 200
Indianapolis, Ind. (25 May 2025) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) fought through a myriad of incidents, pit strategies and even some early-race rain to post its best Indianapolis 500 result since 2021 as Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) used a strong late-race run to finish fifth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday.
Drivers Helio Castroneves (No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda) and Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Spectrum Honda) each improved nine positions over 200 laps of the 2.5-mile IMS oval, and only a late run down pit lane for a splash of fuel kept four-time Indianapolis 500 champ Castroneves from bagging his 18th Indy 500 top 10. The Brazilian was running in eighth with two laps to go before the fuel stop dropped him out of the hunt and left him to finish 13th. Armstrong also needed a late fuel stop but climbed from 30th on the starting grid to finish 21st.
Rosenqvist started from the middle of the second row and put his CREED / SiriusXM Turbo-themed MSR machine in the mix right away, moving up to third quickly before a Lap 19 caution that was extended by a brief rain delay turned meticulously-planned race strategies into a pile of lottery tickets.
The middle portion of the 500-mile event saw three different factions taking turns leading the 33-car field, but the MSR trio stayed on the same strategy as the leaders, allowing Rosenqvist to remain in the top five as the leaders rotated through their fuel stops.
A Lap 92 caution flag was extended to 18 orbits behind the pace car by the last of the brief showers that blew through Central Indiana on Sunday, but perhaps as an homage to the legendary event, Mother Nature retired for the afternoon and turned the second half of the day into a true race.
The MSR trio pitted one by one over their last two stops, importantly with Rosenqvist pitting one lap later than his stablemates on both of the final stops – a move that paid off for the Swede in the final moments of the race.
Rosenqvist found himself in the lead draft after his last stop, running fifth in a group that was separated by less than two seconds over the final 30 laps. He fought desperately over those final trips around the oval and was able to fight off the advances of those behind him to come home in fifth.
The result was the third top-five run of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season for Rosenqvist and his fifth top 10 in the year’s six races. Castroneves’ impressive effort yielded his best Indy 500 finish since placing seventh in 2022 while Armstrong also posted his best-ever Indy result.
MSR will get right back to work next week as the series heads to the streets of Detroit for the Detroit Grand Prix, which will run on a temporary circuit through the downtown streets of the Motor City for the second straight season. Sunday’s race will get underway at 12:30 ET and can be seen live on FOX. Fans can also follow the action live on Sirius XM radio on Channel 218.
Felix Rosenqvist: “The CREED wagon was really quick. It was a good race, we had two restarts where we lost a lot, kinda just got stuck on the inside. We also had some really good restarts as well. Everyone kind of went through the same thing and we were hanging in the same group. It was hard to pass and I feel like we were a bit quicker than the guys in front. I felt like I was just risking the car every corner to try to get a run and I wasn’t even close to get around Pato. We started fifth and finished fifth. As much as I’m disappointed for having the opportunity to win, I’m super proud of my group – the 60 car crew did a masterclass execution with good pit stops and good strategy and that’s what we need for the rest of the season.”
Helio Castroneves: “Wow, the No. 06 Cleveland-Cliff’s machine, setup-wise was really good, I was having a blast out there. We had a couple of issues unfortunately but we had a phenomenal car to be battling in the end, but unfortunately, as I said, those issues cost us a little bit. I’m so proud of this MSR group, Felix did a phenomenal job in the top 5, I feel that Marcus learned a lot today, and I want to come back. I want to come back next year and we can have three fast cars again and with a better ending.”
Marcus Armstrong: “I’m sorry to the team for getting a questionable penalty on the restart. We went a lap down because of that. Otherwise, we were kind of in the game. It was a trying week, after the accident and everything, but I think we handled everything really well. We went forward several places, so good job to the team, the car was strong.”
Williams rolled into 26th after a chaotic start. After two cautions in quick succession, he took the green flag on lap 32 in 25th. Dealing with both the heavier-than-usual traffic and a tight-in, loose-middle Chevy, he finished Stage 1 in 25th. He pitted for tires, fuel, and a packer adjustment before starting Stage 2 in 22nd, eventually finishing it in 24th. Following a full-service pit stop at the end of the second stage, Williams fired off in 22nd with 102 laps remaining in the race. The No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevy showed speed on the restart, with Williams mixing it up immediately in his first foray into the top 20. Soon after, however, the car’s handling went away, and Williams was relegated to 24th, one lap down, by lap 130. After the leaders began stopping for their final scheduled pit sequences, Williams rotated back to the lead lap. In a stroke of luck, the caution came out on lap 147 with Williams running in 14th as the last driver one lap down. He pitted for tires, fuel, and a spring rubber adjustment, restarting in 13th on lap 155. The yellow flag reappeared two laps later, and although Williams expressed concern about a potential left-front issue, the team decided to stay out and restart 13th. He quickly got shuffled back to 20th with 36 laps to go. After a spin brought out a caution with 23 to go, Williams pitted for his last set of sticker tires, fuel, and a host of adjustments. On consecutive restart attempts, cars wrecked while the field barreled into the first turn, and Williams benefited with a 13th-place restart with six laps remaining. He rocketed into seventh by planting his Chevy on the bottom, and he’d restart there for overtime following another wreck. With momentum on his side, Williams held on to finish in seventh, his best result of the season.
“We managed to have a good day. We needed that. It’s huge to have this finish… hopefully this is the start of a good streak. [The car] began handling weird later in the race, so I thought we were gonna struggle. It’s nice to have things end up going our way.” – Josh Williams
Jumping six spots by lap three, Eckes radioed that the balance of the No. 16 Campers Inn RV was slightly free but better than the team had fired off in practice. Eckes stayed out during the two Stage 1-cautions but received right-front fender damage battling inside the top 10 with 10 laps remaining. He fell to 13th, where he finished the first stage. During the stage break, Eckes pitted for tires, fuel and adjustments. After starting the second stage from 11th, he fell to 16th where he finished the second stage, noting that the earlier damage was likely the cause of the now-inconsistent handling of the No. 16 Chevy. Eckes pitted for tires, fuel, and adjustments to help remedy the handling, before starting the final stage from 11th place. Eckes made a green-flag pit stop on lap 142 for tires and fuel, before an untimely caution came just a few laps later, trapping him a lap down. He took the wave around and restarted 23rd. The next caution came just two laps later. Eckes stayed out under caution, as crew chief Alex Yontz did not believe that newer tires would be enough of an advantage. Eckes restarted 20th with 38 to go, making it up to 14th when the next caution came out on lap 177. He pitted for tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment, radioing that he needed track position more than anything. Navigating through multiple cautions on restarts, Eckes fought back to earn a ninth-place finish.
“We struggled a little bit in practice, but we made some adjustments to fire off decent in the race. We got some body damage early on and just had to fight back from that for the rest of the day. All in all, coming home with a top-10 finish with the amount of damage we had isn’t a bad day.” – Christian Eckes
Although he fired off free, Dye radioed that the No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet was much better than his Stage 1 finish of 19th place. During the stage break, Dye pitted for tires and fuel and started the second stage from 17th place. Firing off much too free that time, Dye fell nine spots, finishing the incident-free second stage in 26th place. Dye radioed that he was loose on entry and exit, before pitting for tires, fuel, track bar, and wedge adjustments. He started the final stage from 26th place. Firing off much better, he gained seven positions in under 10 laps. Dye made his green-flag pit stop just one lap before the next caution came out, trapping him one lap down as a result. Another caution just two laps later saw Dye in the free pass position, putting him back on the lead lap to restart 22nd with 38 laps remaining. Back under caution six laps later, Dye pitted for his last set of sticker tires. He avoided multiple incidents on restarts, putting himself into his best position of the race when the caution flag came back out on lap 195. While under yellow after an overtime-inducing caution, the left-rear wheel on the No. 10 Chevy came off, as a result of possible damaged threads on the wheel, ending Dye’s race early. He was scored 31st.
“Not the day we hoped for. Our No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevy was pretty loose throughout the race, but we were in a good spot there at the end. Unfortunately we had a left-rear wheel come off the car under caution that ended our day right before going into overtime.” – Daniel Dye
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.
William Byron rallied from a late pit road speeding penalty that sent him to the rear of the field to execute a thrilling NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in overtime in the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24.
The two-time Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led four times for 71 of 205 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 24. Byron would proceed to sweep the event’s first two stages before he encountered a roadblock prior to the final stage period that involved speeding while exiting pit road with the lead. Forced to drop to the rear of the field, Byron would methodically carve his way back to the front.
Then amid late carnages and ensuing cautions that occurred within the final 50 laps, Byron’s key strategy to victory occurred during a caution period that started with 23 laps remaining when he was among several who opted to pit for fresh tires while Justin Allgaier, who dominated the event, opted to remain on the track. Three restarts later and as the event was sent into overtime, Byron used his fresher tires to overtake Allgaier prior to the final lap and proceed to cruise to both his first Xfinity victory in eight years and his first at his home track.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Taylor Gray notched his second Xfinity career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 176.482 mph in 30.598 seconds. Joining Gray on the front row was rookie Connor Zilisch, the latter of whom posted his best qualifying lap at 176.315 mph in 30.627 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Parker Retzlaff, Katherine Legge and Ryan Ellis dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
Green Flag
When the green flag waved and the race started, pole-sitter Taylor Gray rocketed ahead from the inside lane while the outside lane led by rookie Connor Zilisch jumbled up as the latter struggled to launch through the frontstretch. This caused multiple competitors racing on the outside lane, including Justin Allgaier and William Byron, struggling to regain momentum as Gray led through the first two turns. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Gray proceeded to lead the first lap.
Within the mid-pack region, Matt DiBenedetto fell off the pace due to his No. 99 Sci Aps Chevrolet Camaro entry generating smoke. Despite his early issues, he pitted without drawing a caution. As the race remained under green flag conditions, Gray maintained the lead through the first five laps. Gray continued to lead by the 10th lap, where he was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Austin Hill while Zilisch, Byron and Sam Mayer were in the top five. By then, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, rookie Christian Eckes and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 while Jesse Love, Chase Briscoe, rookie Nick Sanchez, rookie Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, rookie William Sawalich, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Jeremy Clements and Blaine Perkins trailed in the top 20, respectively.
At the Lap 15 mark, Gray continued to lead by more than a second over Zilisch while Byron, Mayer and Creed followed suit in the top five. Two laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Kris Wright spun in Turn 2. During the event’s first caution period, some including Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Garrett Smithley, Nick Leitz and CJ McLaughlin pitted while the rest led by Gray remained on the track.
The start of the next restart on Lap 23 featured the field fanning out through the frontstretch while Gray rocketed ahead and maintained the lead through the first two turns. Byron then drew even and dueled with Gray through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, Byron used the outside lane to muscle ahead with the lead. Meanwhile, Zilisch got beneath Gray through the first two turns and assumed the runner-up spot. With Gray settling in third ahead of Mayer and Creed, Byron led to the Lap 25 mark.
Following the event’s second caution period that flew by Lap 27 due to Brad Perez stalling his entry in Turn 4, the next restart on Lap 31 featured Byron muscling ahead of Zilisch from the inside lane through the first two turns. Byron proceeded to lead the next lap over Zilisch while Allgaier navigated up to third place ahead of Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Gray. With the event surpassing the Lap 35 mark, Byron led by nearly a second over Zilisch.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Byron cruised to his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Zilisch settled in second ahead of Allgaier, Mayer and Jeb Burton while Ryan Sieg, Gray, Sanchez, Brandon Jones and Jesse Love were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the first stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron pitted their respective entries. Following the pit stops, Byron exited first ahead of Allgaier and Gray while Zilisch, Jones, Sanchez, Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Love and Creed followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Sawalich was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
Stage 2
The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Byron and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Byron utilized a strong launch from the inside lane to muscle ahead of Allgaier and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Byron led, Retzlaff encountered a mechanical issue with smoke coming out from his car, but he managed to pit without drawing a caution. Back at the front, Byron fended off Allgaier to lead by the Laps 55 and 60 marks. Behind Byron and Allgaier, Zilisch, Gray and Sanchez trailed in the top five while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Love, Jones and Eckes wer scored in the top 10.
Through the Lap 70 makr, Byron’s advantage stood to a second over Allgaier while Zilisch, Gray and Mayer continued to pursue in the top five. Byron proceeded to lead by more than two seconds over Allgaier at the Lap 80 mark while Zilisch, Gray and Mayer continued to trail in the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg, Love, Jones, Creed and Kvapil were racing in the top 10 while Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Austin Dillon, Hill and Eckes pursued in the top 15, respectively.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Byron notched his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the event. Allgaier, who trailed Byron by more than three seconds, followed suit in second ahead of Zilisch, Gray and Jones while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Love, Creed and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road ahead of Allgaier, Gray, Jones and Mayer while Love, Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Creed exited in the top 10. Following the pit stops, however, Bryon was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. Byron’s late misfortune allowed Allgaier to cycle into the lead.
Final Stage
With 102 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Allgaier and Gray occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the first two turns as both Gray and Allgaier dueled for the lead. Allgaier then muscled ahead through Turns 3 and 4 and he would lead the next lap over Gray while Mayer trailed in third place. With Zilisch and Ryan Sieg following suit in the top five, Allgaier would lead with 100 laps remaining.
Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Allgaier’s advantage stood to two seconds over teammate Zilisch, the latter of whom assumed the runner-up spot from Gray four laps earlier, while Mayer, Gray and Ryan Sieg pursued in the top five. Meanwhile, Byron, who restarted at the tail end of the lead lap field since the previous restart, was up to 15th place while Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Creed, Jones and Hill were racing in the top 10.
Fifteen laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two seconds over teammate Zilisch as Mayer, Gray and Ryan Sieg continued to trail in the top five. By then, Creed, who made an unscheduled pit stops earlier due to making contact with the wall, was mired in 26th place and scored a lap down.
Another 10 laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Zilisch. Meanwhile, Byron, who had methodically carved his way back into the top-10 mark, was racing in eighth place behind Kvapil while Mayer, Gray and Sammy Smith were in the top five. With Byron mired behind Kvapil in eighth place, Allgaier added another two seconds to his advantage as he led by six seconds over Zilisch with 60 laps remaining while the rest led the lead lap field trailed by double digits.
Shortly after, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Austin Dillon, Byron, Hill, and Briscoe pitted their respective entries. Gray, Sammy Smith, Alfredo and Eckes would pit a lap after most of the Cup regulars before top-five competitors Mayer and Ryan Sieg along with Kvapil pitted with 56 laps remaining. Allgaier would then surrender the lead to pit with 55 laps remaining before teammate Zilisch pitted a lap later.
Then amid the pit stops, the caution flew with 53 laps remaining due to debris detected on the frontstretch. The debris had come out of Gray’s car as the latter had a flat left-rear tire. By then, Jones, who was among several names who have yet to pit, was leading ahead of Poole, Thompson, Harrison Burton and Ryan Ellis while Allgaier was scored in eighth place.
During the caution period, some led by Jones, including those who have yet to pit, pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. In addition, multiple competitors took the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap, among which included Sammy smith, Byron, Sanchez, Ryan Sieg, Hill, Kvapil, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Eckes.
The start of the next restart with 46 laps remaining featured Allgaier muscling ahead from the inside lane and retaining the lead while teammate Zilisch and Thompson battled for second. As Allgaier led the following lap, Zilisch and Thompson fiercely battled for second place before the latter assumed the spot. Soon after, Harrison Burton, who was in fourth place, moved into third place and battled Thompson for the runner-up spot as both Zilisch and Jones joined the battle.
As the battle towards the front ensued, the caution then flew with 43 laps remaining when Mayer, who was racing within the top-15 mark, scraped the outside wall exiting the backstretch and dropped off the pace in the middle of Turn 3. Mayer’s late-race misfortune caused the field to scatter to avoid hitting him before Nick Leitz barely clipped his rear end while trying to enter pit road.
With the event restarting with 38 laps remaining, Allgaier muscled ahead of the field with the lead through the first two turns while Thompson, Creed and Burton battled for the runner-up spot. As Allgaier led the next lap, Creed moved up into second place while Thompson, Zilisch and Burton followed suit. Zilisch would move into third place and Love overtook Burton for fifth place while Allgaier proceeded to lead by a second with 30 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Ryan Ellis, who was in the top-20 mark, made contact with the Turn 4 wall and collided into Briscoe. Despite both racing straight, Briscoe pitted under green and dropped out of the lead lap category.
Down to the final 22 laps of the event, the caution flew when Carson Kvapil, who was racing in the top-five mark, spun off of Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Allgaier was leading by two seconds over Creed. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier remained on the track while the rest of the lead lap field pitted.
The start of the ensuing restart with 18 laps remaining did not last long after a tight-squeeze play within the top-10 mark triggered a multi-car wreck in Turn 1. Among those involved included Love, Jones, Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins, Ryan Sieg and Sanchez.
The start of the next restart with 12 laps remaining also did not last long due to Katherine Lege and JJ Yeley spinning and wrecking in Turn 1. Amid the on-track carnages between the two previous restarts, Allgaier maintained the lead over the field.
Down to the final six laps of the event, the event restarted under green as Allgaier retained the lead over the field that had fanned out through the frontstretch and the first two turns. Behind, Zilisch, who had a left-rear tire rub, battled Sanchez for the runner-up spot while Byron made his way into fourth place over Creed.
A lap later, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime when Jones, Kyle Sieg and Leland Honeyman wrecked in the backstretch. At the moment of caution, Allgaier was ruled the leader over a hard-charging Zilisch.
The start of overtime featured Allgaier receiving a push from Byron from the inside lane to rocket ahead of Zilisch through the first two turns. Allgaier would continue to maintain a slight advantage over Byron through the backstretch before the latter used the outside lane to rocket past the former. Despite both making contact, Byron muscled ahead and had both lanes to his control through the frontstretch.
Byron Wins
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained in the lead over Allgaier and Zilisch. As Byron led, Zilisch used the outside lane to overtake Allgaier from the outside lane as Allgaier started to lose ground due to having a tire deficit. While Sanchez proceeded to overtake Allgaier for third place and Zilisch maintained second place, none would have any last-lap charges for Byron as Byron cycled back to the frontstretch victorious and claimed the checkered flag under caution
With the victory, Byron notched his fifth career win in the Xfinity Series division, his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in November 2017 and his first driving for his Cup Series team, Hendrick Motorsports. The victory was also Byron’s first ever at his home track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the second consecutive season where the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry was piloted to an Xfinity victory at Charlotte.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I was somewhat confident [of getting back upfront],” Byron said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. He continued, saying, “I felt like if we got some yellows, it would be good, but man, it didn’t work out the way we thought it [would]. [I] Just had a lot of green-flag running and couldn’t really get back to the front. Man, it feels awesome to win. It’s my home track. Restart merchant there at the end. So, it’s fun to be back in Victory Lane. I feel like I haven’t won in a while, so just appreciate all these [No. 17] guys. It was a lot of fun.”
“Justin [Allgaier] got a good restart and I was able to push him and get clear of the [Zilisch] and had some clean air on the nose,” Byron added. “Just kind of a crazy end of the race. It was a fun race for me.”
Allgaier, who led a race-high 103 laps compared to Byron’s 71, fell back to fourth place amid the overtime shootout and his tire deficit. Amid his result and strong performance, Allgaier was left devastated over the final outcome and decision in not pitting earlier for fresher tires.
“I should have just come down pit road,” Allgaier said. “I thought there would be a lot of games played on pit road, and if [those on fresh tires] had to travel though a lot of traffic, we were going to maybe net OK. And all those cautions, one after the other, it was great because we were able to hold those guys off, but they really just hurt us because [the front-runners] were able to get a spot or two every restart. I’m heartbroken… My daughter, all she wanted for her birthday was a trophy, and I feel like I gave that away. That’s the hardest part.”
Zilisch, who returned from a one-race absence earlier this month due to recovering from a lower back injury sustained from a final-lap accident at Talladega Superspeedway in late April, settled in second place while Nick Sanchez came home in third place.
Meanwhile, Sammy Smith was initially scored in fifth place behind Allgaier. Smith, however, was demoted to 38th place, the tail end of the final running order, due to his entry failing to meet he minimum weight requirement. As a result of Smith’s disqualification, Dean Thompson was promoted to fifth place.
Josh Williams, Austin Hill, Ryan Ellis, Christian Eckes, and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 22 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 13th event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 72 points over Austin Hill, 93 over Sam Mayer, and 119 over Jesse Love.
Results:
1. William Byron, 71 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 2. Connor Zilisch, three laps led 3. Nick Sanchez 4. Justin Allgaier, 103 laps led 5. Sammy Smith 6. Dean Thompson 7. Josh Williams 8. Austin Hill 9. Ryan Ellis 10. Christian Eckes 11. Sheldon Creed 12. Sam Mayer 13. Jesse Love 14. Austin Dillon 15. Ryan Sieg 16. William Sawalich 17. Jeremy Clements 18. Carson Kvapil 19. Kris Wright 20. Brandon Jones, five laps led 21. Jeb Burton 22. Harrison Burton 23. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident 24. Chase Briscoe, one lap down 25. Blaine Perkins, one lap down 26. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down 27. Garrett Smithley, two laps down 28. Nick Leitz, two laps down 29. JJ Yeley, two laps down 30. CJ McLaughlin, two laps down 31. Taylor Gray, three laps down, 23 laps led 32. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident 33. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident 34. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident 35. Katherine Legge – OUT, Accident 36. Brad Perez, 23 laps down 37. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Suspension 38. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the Tennessee Lottery 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 31, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
THOMPSON MATCHES CAREER-BEST TO LEAD TOYOTA AT CHARLOTTE Thompson closes the gap on the provisional Playoff field with his fourth top-10 finish
CONCORD, NC (May 24, 2025) – Dean Thompson matched his career-best finish of sixth to lead Toyota at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday evening. Thompson ran in the top-15 most of the race before a great strategy call boosted Thompson up the running order.
The sixth-place run is a track-best result for Sam Hunt Racing and matches the California-native’s best result from Martinsville earlier this year. With the finish, Thompson is now just 42 points out of the Playoff field.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Charlotte Motor Speedway Race 13 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, William Bryon* 2nd, Connor Zilisch* 3rd, Nick Sanchez* 4th, Justin Allgaier* 5th, Sammy Smith* 6th, DEAN THOMPSON 16th, WILLIAM SAWALICH 20th, BRANDON JONES 24th, CHASE BRISCOE 31st, TAYLOR GRAY *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
You tied your career-best. Can you tell us about your run today?
“Yeah, my guys put together a really good Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra. I feel like this track really suits me well. We didn’t have a great practice or a great qualifying effort, but I knew we had good long run speed, so we kind of played into that. Just minded our p’s and q’s on the restarts and the long runs and just kind of played out really well for us in the end.”
Another top-10 run. Do you feel like you are gaining on it?
“Yeah, I feel like the team is really making good improvements on making the car faster. I’m just the lucky one that gets to drive it. I think we are making a lot of great improvements.”
Can you talk about your car on the long run versus all of the restarts there at the end?
“We had a really good long run Thompson Pipe Group Supra. We didn’t have a great practice or a great qualifying, but I knew our long run speed was significantly better than our short run speed. We just kind of played into that, minded our p’s and q’s and picked them off on restarts and the long runs. Ended up with a really good result. Glad we ran well. My team did a really good job. My crew chief (Kris Bowen) is way smarter than I am, because I wanted to pit and he didn’t, and we ended up with a pretty good result.”
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.
Chase Briscoe speeds to second Cup pole at Charlotte - Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Chase Briscoe captured the Busch Light Pole Award for the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a standard practice and qualifying procedure. The field was split into two 25-minute practice sessions apiece. After practice, they rejoined forces to participate in one single-lap qualifying session (impound). The groups and order were determined by metrics that included 70% based on previous race finish by owner and 30% based on owner points standings, with the best-scoring competitors placed in the second group.
Briscoe was the 23rd-fastest competitor during the event’s lone practice session on Saturday but clocked a lap at 182.852 mph in 29.532 seconds during qualifying. The lap was enough for him to claim the pole for NASCAR’s longest event on the schedule in Concord, North Carolina.
Briscoe, who is in his first season driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE entry for Joe Gibbs Racing, notched his second NASCAR Cup Series pole of the 2025 season. It was his first since this year’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February and the fourth of his career. The pole award was the third of the year for Joe Gibbs Racing and the fourth for the Toyota nameplate.
Briscoe, the 2024 Southern 500 champion from Mitchell, Indiana, is currently ranked in 12th place in the 2025 driver’s standings on the strength of five top-10 results through the first 12 scheduled events. With the 2025 Cup Series regular-season stretch nearing its halfway mark, Briscoe continues his pursuit of his first victory of the year that would enable him to make the Playoffs.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“The No. 19 car’s been really good here,” Briscoe said. “This is the first track I got to run a mile-and-a-half in this car. We came and did the Goodyear tire test [in March]. I was able to really learn things throughout today. I definitely felt confident coming into this weekend. We’ve had speed all year long. I just haven’t been able to perform good enough on Saturday on my end to put us in position. [I] Finally did that. Hopefully, I can do my job tomorrow now.”
Top-5
Kyle Larson, who is pulling the Memorial Day double-duty attempt by competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, and will start in second place for the latter event. Larson’s best lap occurred at 182.729 mph in 29.552 seconds. He will next return to Indianapolis, where he will start in 19th place for this year’s 109th running of the Indy 500 which will occur on Sunday, May 25, at 12:45 p.m. ET. Immediately after the event, Larson will fly back to Charlotte to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 which is scheduled to commence at 6 p.m. ET.
William Byron, this year’s two-time Daytona 500 champion who is fresh off inking a new four-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports, missed out on the pole but will line up in third place with a qualifying lap at 182.642 mph in 29.566 seconds. He will be followed by Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger, respectively, in the top five.
John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell, the latter of whom is the reigning Charlotte Coca-Cola 600 champion, completed the top-10 starting grid.
Notably, the following names including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, rookie Riley Herbst, Bubba Wallace, Connor Zilisch, Brad Keselowski and Carson Hocevar will start 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 35th and 39th, respectively.
The lone competitor who did not post a qualifying lap at Charlotte was Ross Chastain. The Alva, Florida, native was involved in a single-car accident through Turns 3 and 4 and blew a left-rear tire. Chastain will take the green flag for Sunday’s event at the rear of the field.
With 40 competitors vying for 40 starting spots, all of the entered competitors made the event.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Chase Briscoe, 182.852 mph, 29.532 seconds
2. Kyle Larson, 182.729 mph, 29.552 seconds
3. William Byron, 182.642 mph, 29.566 seconds
4. Chris Buescher, 182.063 mph, 29.660 seconds
5. AJ Allmendinger, 181.916 mph, 29.684 seconds
6. John Hunter Nemechek, 181.665 mph, 29.725 seconds
Toyota GAZOO Racing – Christopher Bell NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CONCORD, NC (May 24, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Can you tell us about the spotter change?
“I was surprised as well. It was all Stevie’s (Reeves) decision. He made the decision on his own to quit, and that is all I’m going to say.”
Can you talk about on how 600 miles effects the drivers and the cars?
“It has definitely changed a lot over the last 10, whatever, years. It seems like the test of the machine has kind of gone away, where the cars are durable enough, they are making it 600 miles pretty easily now. The test on the drivers is going to be something that you talk about. I remember my first Coca-Cola 600 back in 2020 – it has changed a lot since then. That first 600, you take the green flag and everyone is kind of pacing themselves, being really respectful and minding their p’s and q’s, giving a lot of room, and you fast forward to the past couple of years and it has turned into a go right from the get-go. It has become really intense from the drop of the green flag. The evolution of the race ever since I’ve been in it has changed a lot. It is 600 miles, and it is difficult, and now especially since everyone is pushing harder and every position meaning more and the stages paying points – it’s become less riding around. It is just a really long grueling race.”
What do you think the difference will be with the spotter change?
“That is a really good question. I haven’t driven for Matt (Philpott) – I call him Philpott, so that caught me off guard. He doesn’t have a ton of spotting experience, so I’m going to be spending some time on the roof with him today during the Xfinity race, just to see what he’s seeing see how he calls it. We had a really good exercise this week doing an iRace, with him spotting me, and I felt like that was really good to learn his language and what he means when he says certain things. We went through a couple of different items. I wanted something a little bit different. The team wanted something a little bit different, so I thought the iRacing experience was really good, and hopefully, we get a little bit closer during the Xfinity race, but I’m sure it will be a period of time, through many races, before we are fully in sync.”
How challenging is it to be changing spotters in the middle of the season?
“Yeah, I’ve never done it before, so I don’t know how to really answer that, but I’ve been around (Matt) Philpott a lot as a mechanic. He was on the 11 (Denny Hamlin) car full time, and he was on my car a couple of times throughout the course of the years, so I have a relationship with him, I was able to listen to him on the feedback that we have online, but I don’t know how to answer that other than we will play it week-by-week and see how it goes.”
How did you end up choosing the spotter that you chose?
“Clearly, there is not a ton of options out there with everybody having jobs and continuing on through the season, so there weren’t a ton of guys out there. Nothing against (Matt) Philpott, but he wouldn’t have been high on the list with his experience level if we weren’t in this situation, but with that being said, he is trying to get into the spotter scene, and it made sense to go that direction. I think he did the Martin Truex car in the Daytona 500, so he had his foot in the door with our company, and yeah, it just made sense to give him a shot. I think it is important to say – he’s doing us a favor. We are not doing him a favor. He is doing us a favor by filling in.”
Can you say what you mean by trying to do different things?
“Whenever I said different things, I just meant (Matt) Philpott’s spotting style, not by Stevie’s (Reeves) spotting style. So, yeah, whenever we did the iRacing exercise, it was just his language style, his communication style is clearly different than what Stevie was doing, and how he was spotting for me, so there was a couple of things – just in that iRacing exercise to get ironed out before this weekend.”
Are you motivated to come back and get a win with the full 600 miles?
“Certainly, I have gotten annoyed by people calling it an asterisk win, so I would love to win this race as the Coca-Cola 600 and run the full 600 miles. I think we should be really competitive. The last couple of years this has been one of our best intermediate tracks, as far as the 20 group goes, so I really look forward to the challenge. I want to be a 600-mile winner and not get booed going into victory lane (laughter).”
What has been it like to have Denny Hamlin as a resource?
“So, Denny (Hamlin) is just very unique in his driving style, and I’ve been around a lot of race car drivers throughout my career, but whenever you look at the data on how they drive the car, it is hard to pick out who is who, except for Denny. Denny, the way his throttle application, his decels [decelerates] through the corner – it is very unique and very identifiable, so I think, even before me, he has helped out certain guys in the company to become better at race tracks. There is no secret – his strength has been the short tracks – Martinsville, Richmond – those type of places. I think a lot of it is his driving style, and he has helped out a lot of guys, myself included. He has been a huge asset to Joe Gibbs Racing, and he’s a wealth of knowledge and is super smart and entuned to what is going on. Certainly, a guy that we benefit from being on our team.”
Do you have a favorite memory of Denny you can share?
“Well, this is a little bit selfish, but I go back to the 2022 Martinsville test in the middle of summer. Denny (Hamlin) was really fast in that Martinsville test, and I was really slow at that Martinsville test, and the 11 team had a really good package, and the 20 team was struggling and Denny was gracious to step into the 20 car and really turned our whole season around by that August day in Martinsville. From him stepping in the 20 car and giving his feedback to our team, it allowed us to come back to Martinsville in the fall of ’22 and win that race. That is one that I will cherish forever, and thankful that he took the change to get in my car and do that.”
How has Nashville changed over the last few years?
“Well, I think the biggest thing is just the car change. Nashville, with the old car, it really raced more like a short track with the way that you passed guys, and the way that you needed your car to drive. It really reminded me of a short track. Whenver we came back with the Next Gen car, it really started racing more like an intermediate track. I would say that is the biggest change from 2021 to now. I think since the Next Gen car has been around, it has been pretty consistent, the racing style has been similar – but it was a huge change from the Gen 6 to the Gen 7 car.”
How special and how tough is this weekend?
“It’s up there. The bucking bronco that you have ride between turns three and four, it gets your attention, and then being 600 miles is – it is just a very long race. I applaud NASCAR for, in general, going shorter for races. Like whenever I started in the series, and back even before that, there were a lot of 500-mile intermediate races, and those have kind of gone away, and most of our intermediate races are 400-mile. I think puts more of an emphasis on making this weekend even more special. With it being certainly the longest race of the year, but really being different than the other races. It is a very physical race track, and it is a very physical race, and normally it is really hot. We don’t have that aspect of it this weekend, it appears, but it is a tough one. This one and Darlington are really the tough races we have during the season.”
How is it only racing on this track once a year?
“I love that. I have been pushing my opinion going to every track once. I think it just helps make it more special. I think if every track had one date, we would see improvement in attendance, and I think it would make every race a little more special.”
How did you experience this race weekend before you were a Cup driver?
“Man, that is going way back. I’ve been racing on Memorial Day for a long time throughout the dirt tracks. Before that, whenever I was a kid, I do remember watching the Indianapolis 500 on TV. I honestly can’t remember outside of motorsports what it was. Memorial Day has just been such a huge motorsports day throughout my life, whether it was dirt track racing, competing in the Coca-Cola 600 or watching the events on TV as a kid.”
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.
Rookie Taylor Gray notched his second NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole position for the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a standard practice and qualifying procedure, where the field was split into two 25-minute practice sessions apiece before rejoining forces and participating in one single-lap qualifying session (impound). The groups and qualifying order were determined by metrics that included 70% based on previous race finish by owner and 30% based on owner points standings, with the best-scoring competitors placed in the second group.
During the qualifying session, Gray, who was the ninth-fastest competitor during the event’s lone practice session on Saturday, posted his best qualifying lap at 176.482 mph in 30.598 seconds. The lap was enough for the 25-year-old Rookie-of-the-Year candidate from Artesia, New Mexico, to claim the top-starting spot for an Xfinity event for the second time in his career.
With the pole, Gray, whose first career pole occurred at Homestead-Miami Speedway in late March, became the first competitor of this season to record a first two career poles in the same season. He also recorded the 197th Xfinity pole overall for Joe Gibbs Racing and the sixth for the organization at Charlotte.
“Starting [the] the front row, it makes your day easier, for sure,” Gray said. “I can’t thank everybody from Joe Gibbs Racing. They brought me a really fast Operation 300 GR Supra. [I] Was a little, maybe a tad concerned in practice, but I felt like we turned it around there, at least for one solid lap. [I] Can’t thank everybody enough. I feel like we’re as fast as Xfinity Mobile. [We’ll] Go see here in a few hours.”
Gray will share the front row with rookie Connor Zilisch, the latter of whom posted his best qualifying lap at 176.315 mph in 30.627 seconds. Saturday’s Xfinity event at Charlotte will mark Zilisch’s return to NASCAR competition following a one-race hiatus, where he was absent from competing at Texas Motor Speedway in early May due to recovering from a lower back injury sustained from a last-lap accident at Talladega Superspeedway in late April.
Austin Hill, William Byron and Brandon Jones will start in the top five, respectively. Rookie William Sawalich, Ryan Sieg, Sheldon Creed, Chase Briscoe and Justin Allgaier completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively.
Notably, the following names that included Sam Mayer, rookie Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, rookie Christian Eckes, rookie Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love, Austin Dillon, Jeremy Clements, rookie Dean Thompson, rookie Daniel Dye, Harrison Burton, Josh Williams and Katherine Legge qualified 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th and 32nd, respectively.
With 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Carson Ware and Dawson Cram were the two competitors who failed to qualify for the event.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Taylor Gray, 176.482 mph, 30.598 seconds
2. Connor Zilisch, 176.315 mph, 30.627 seconds
3. Austin Hill, 176.194 mph, 30.648 seconds
4. William Byron, 176.171 mph, 30.652 seconds
5. Brandon Jones, 175.610 mph, 30.750 seconds
6. William Sawalich, 175.182 mph, 30.852 seconds
7. Ryan Sieg, 175.029 mph, 30.852 seconds
8. Sheldon Creed, 175.029 mph, 30.852 seconds
9. Chase Briscoe, 174.865 mph, 30.881 seconds
10. Justin Allgaier, 174.859 mph, 30.882 seconds
11. Sam Mayer, 174.650 mph, 30.919 seconds
12. Carson Kvapil, 174.644 mph, 30.920 seconds
13. Sammy Smith, 174.469 mph, 30.951 seconds
14. Jeb Burton, 174.452 mph, 30.954 seconds
15. Christian Eckes, 174.362 mph, 30.970 seconds
16. Matt DiBenedetto, 174.306 mph, 30.980 seconds
17. Anthony Alfredo, 174.289 mph, 30.983 seconds
18. Nick Sanchez, 173.969 mph, 31.040 seconds
19. Jesse Love, 173.533 mph, 31.118 seconds
20. Austin Dillon, 173.177 mph, 31.182 seconds
21. Blaine Perkins, 172.916 mph, 31.229 seconds
22. Jeremy Clements, 172.811 mph, 31.248 seconds
23. Dean Thompson, 172.518 mph, 31.301 seconds
24. Daniel Dye, 172.062 mph, 31.384 seconds
25. Harrison Burton, 171.832 mph, 31.426 seconds
26. Brennan Poole, 171.581 mph, 31.472 seconds
27. Josh Williams, 171.114 mph, 31.558 seconds
28. Kyle Sieg, 170.919 mph, 31.594 seconds
29. JJ Yeley, 170.762 mph, 31.623 seconds
30. Ryan Ellis, 170.519 mph, 31.668 seconds
31. Leland Honeyman, 170.519 mph, 31.668 seconds
32. Katherine Legge, 170.304 mph, 31.708 seconds
33. Kris Wright, 170.052 mph, 31.755 seconds
34. Parker Retzlaff, 169.545 mph, 31.850 seconds
35. Garrett Smithley, 169.004 mph, 31.952 seconds
36. Brad Perez, 168.998 mph, 31.953 seconds
37. Nick Leitz, 165.812 mph, 32.567 seconds
38. CJ McLaughlin, 162.950 mph, 33.139 seconds
The 2025 BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, May 24, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Toyota GAZOO Racing – Jimmie Johnson NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CONCORD, NC (May 24, 2025) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Jimmie Johnson was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Can you talk about what 700 starts means to you?
“I just saw Cliff Daniels, and he said – 700 starts, I guess your old. And I said – you are right, and you’ve been here for a lot of those, so you are old too (laughter). It’s wild how my first start just coincidentally comes the same place as my 700th start. It means a ton to me. I’m a numbers guy, and to have these numbers play out – literally on their own, is really special. Excited.”
Are you looking to continue to step up your program as an independent team with the addition of Knighthead Capital?
“Our desire to be our own independent team is quite high. It started with Maury (Gallagher), and it’s where we need to be as an organization. Not only to be competitive here, but if we choose to expand in other forms of motorsports, the infrastructure – we need to be an independent, stand-alone team. We certainly took a look at the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) alliance at one point, it did make a lot of sense for us then, but it is always a ever changing landscape – I don’t want to rule out and say there can’t be a relationship at some point in the future, but one of our core values has been being independent on our own, and that is what has attracted Toyota and has helped build this relationship. It is not an easy road to hoe, but for them, it does make sense to have another organization at someday will be independent and operating at the highest of levels. It is hard to be concise with it, but it has been one of our core values and we’ve been trying to see that through. It started with Maury, and with the added resources from Knighthead Capital and the long term and runway that we are so aligned with Tom Wagner, it just helps us to plan for the future and make incremental steps in that direction, and spend in the right direction, knowing we have a long runway to achieve that.”
How difficult is it for you to be patient?
“Therapy (laughter). It has not been easy. Being patient is not in my DNA, and it has been part of my journey as an owner to understand how patient you truly need to be. It’s not so much for decisions to be made, but for those decisions to be made is one aspect and then you have to paper it. That takes a while, and then you have to implement, and then work through and ideate. It is a process, and I’m fortunately surrounded by a lot of experience that has helped me. We are moving at a good rate, especially for the decisions we’ve made. Last year, I don’t think Toyota or ourselves expected it to be that difficult. We made a lot of changes at the midpoint of last year, and have slowly been gaining momentum and moving in the right direction.”
What separates Charlotte Motor Speedway and the 600-mile weekend from any other race weekend and makes it something that all drivers want to win?
“I think it is the culmination of this weekend from the patriotic point of view, to a race fun, race enthusiast, race love, NASCAR lover point of view. You have this collision of Monaco, Indy, Charlotte – Coke 600. Memorial Day weekend – the effort that NASCAR puts in to honor our fallen. There are just so many elements that make this weekend so special.”
What makes Charlotte Motor Speedway and this race specifically so unique?
“I love endurance events and this is our marathon. As a kid watching this before I was ever back here racing, I was always so intrigued by a 600-mile race. Cars back then had a tough time making it. The drivers did as well. It is a long event. I think it is a little harder on the party animal fans in the infield to go the extra 100 miles (laughter). It is just an incredible weekend with a ton of pride and prestige. You are also honoring. You leave here after winning the 600 weekend at this very difficult track. You hold your head high.”
So, to clarify, this is not your last race?
“No. (laughter). That’s hilarious. That was just great editing. Proud of our digital department. They did a great job (laughter).”
How has the challenge been and what have you learned about yourself running these races on a part-time basis?
“From a driving standpoint, it is halfway through the race before I stop thinking and I just react and drive, and that is a tough thing, qualifying and have to go race. That part works against me when I come in – especially at a place like Charlotte. Not being in the car all of the time has its consequences. For me, to come in and have a chance to represent Carvana, have a chance to drive for our team, add another data point – work with up-and-coming crew members, work with up-and-coming over the wall members, there is an element here that really works for us. Last year, I ran nine – it was a little too much on the organization. This year, I’m at two – maybe we do a few more, so as we plan for next year, as long as it doesn’t take away from our full time cars, we hope to run an unchartered vehicle and have me in it, and use that to develop talent, and also help develop partnerships and such. It is part of our plan. We don’t have ’26 picked yet, but rest assured, there is more than 700 starts. I’m jumping up and down asking for more races than two.”
What does your relationship look like with Chad Knaus now compared to previous?
“It has been really – it has changed quite a bit for sure. Of course, when Rick (Hendrick) broke us up, the year or two that followed and competing against each other – it is not the easiest transition to go through, but having time to through the Garage 56 program, and just how close our families are, we’ve really been able to continue to grow our friendship and relationship. Our two years abroad haven’t helped that – I haven’t seen much of the Knauses in general, which is a bummer, but we are on our way back once school finishes up for our kids, and we are really looking forward to being around and seeing so many familiar faces, including his. It is nice – I really enjoy it now, the time I spend with him and not being as laser focused on performance, we can be a little more relaxed and share more laughs and such. I cherish all of the time I get with him.”
What goes into Mexico planning?
“The logistics have certainly been a challenge. It is just trying to work collectively through the garage area and NASCAR to make the most efficient and safest decisions that we can for everyone. I’m really excited to have an international points race. Mexico City – I’ve been there a handful of times on vacation and truly enjoy it. I had a great, amazing, safe experience, and I’m excited for our teams to go down there and compete. I hope it really helps generate more interest and popularity in and around our sport. I think international growth is a big market for us, and I think any international interest also influences national interest and continues to help global America or global companies pay closer attention. We are not trying to be anyone else. We are NASCAR, and I’m really proud of the product we’ve put on track, and from living abroad, I have seen first-hand how much interest there is in our sport. People are so curious about it. Our Netflix show has shown people just how serious and competitive this championship is, so I’m excited to go. I know logistically it has been a challenge, and I have high hopes for the show we will put on and the fan interest that it will drum up and continue to grow our sport.”
20 years ago, you made a pass on the final laps to win here, what do you remember most about that race?
“It is funny. The thing from that race I remember most is I was coming down pit lane and he had gotten out of his car, and as I was driving by to go to victory lane, he kicked the door (laughter), and in my head I always remember him booting the door of his car. But I do remember chasing him down and trying to get by him on the inside. I got a couple of wins this way. That last lap through (turns) three and four, it is so tough to give up the bottom lane. If the trailing driver can get to the right rear corner, the way the side draft works out, you are going to be in the lead at the start finish line. I got Bobby (Labonte) that way. I got (Matt) Kenseth that way. Carl Edwards got me that way, so as I was playing the cat-and-mouse game, I knew I couldn’t make the bottom work, and I wanted to keep showing him my line choice, and then we went into (turn) three, and he took the bottom, and I was like okay – here we go, because he had been running higher before that, so it really worked out well.”
With the improvements the team has made this year, what do you feel like the next steps are for the team?
“I think it has been more about execution. We have taken steps forward in performance. When I look at the Texas race, Erik (Jones) had a shot to win it, and he was recovering from two penalties on pit lane. John Hunter (Nemechek) had a penalty that day as well, and I think, still finished in the top-10. Execution is really one of our more immediate ways to show improvement, and not making mistakes, but there is always the journey to find more speed. I think the steps we’ve made to have the ability to reflect back on the changes we’ve made helps us lean further into those decisions, and it is really about detail, and it is really about processes. It is just such a different form of racing than when I was in the car, but we have certainly moved forward. One area that I think we are eager to sort is our short track performance. We were able to have a little front side speed at North Wilkesboro, but as more short tracks are on the schedule ahead, we need some more help there. I think our superspeedway stuff has been strong. I think our mile-and-a-half stuff is moving in the right direction, but short track stuff we need to work on.”
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.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MAY 24, 2025
Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Jockey x Folds of Honor Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
Historically, or at least the last few years, your competitors have kind of voiced their displeasure about your driving and stuff. But in recent weeks, it feels like you’ve gotten a lot of flowers from them complimenting you for kind of, you know, being able to take a car that maybe doesn’t have a lot of speed and finishing well. What is it like kind of being on the other end of that when you’re getting some praise and everything, or kind of just how you’re working and running well with a car that maybe shouldn’t be finishing where it is?
“Well, I can’t drive a slow car fast, so I’ve got fast cars when you see us go forward. As far as what other people say, no real thoughts there. We get out of these race cars, and you saw it with Joey (Logano) last week — he gets out and he sprays all this stuff, and then he watches it, and he’s like, oh, whoops. Most of the time, we don’t really take accountability for what we say, good or bad. So yeah, I see some of it, I do… but yeah, as far as the car goes, I can only go forward when it’s handling right. You see that in anything. The truck race last night, go backwards when the balance is off, and go forward when the balance is right. You see that same thing in the Cup car. We go forward when we get it right.”
You were teammates with Kurt Busch for a year. He’s now in the Hall of Fame. What did he mean to your career over that year and since then?
“Yeah, he was really motivating for me when I came into the No. 42 car. I had trained with him and been around him for a couple of years, but I wasn’t in competitive or equal cars. I was in different Cup cars, so definitely, when I finally got in it, he’s like – all right, you ready to go?
I just remember a lot of our conversations, and then as we got to racing, you know, that was a year after COVID and still some out-of-office stuff that would happen out of the shop, meetings and stuff. And he was just really busy, so we were definitely in two different places. I see what he was up against now with the workload and just the demands on our schedule. When you start winning races, it all goes up.
And then there was a lot of things I could ask him about and he’s like — well, I made that mistake, you know, 18 years ago or something. He’d had some story from way back in the day. It makes more sense now as I kind of step through my career and all these weekends, and then I see or I experience similar things that I see that happen to him. We had some good conversations that year and the years before that. He was nothing but good to me.”
Ross, you mentioned not being able to drive a slow car fast. Are these cars so heavily engineered now that a lot of what makes them go fast is sort of out of the driver’s hands?
“No, I don’t think it’s changed. I think that when Donnie, Cale, Bobby and Richard and all these — I’m saying their first names like I should say their last names, but those guys 50 years ago were racing and 70 years ago were racing, their cars had to be handling good to go fast.
It’s a physical automobile. It’s built. I mean, it’s no different than a human running a track race or a horse running a horse race. A car running a car race has to be better if it wants to go faster than the next one. It’s happened since the second car was built. The faster car went faster, and it still is the same thing here. So I don’t think it’s changed. I think that the drivers are more honest. The teams are more honest of how the car has to be right now. Back in the day, the driver was, I think, regarded as the hero if he won. I think you see that some these days, but not as much. It’s more people kind of point to the car because that’s where the truth is. I can, with one adjustment or one pound of air or one different right rear spring or something, I can go from a really confident driver on track to a not confident, and then I can go right back to being confident and fast if we make the right change.
I don’t think it’s changed. I think it’s the same. It’s always been since the second car was ever built.”
I saw you Thursday night at the Earnhardt premiere. After the show, what were your thoughts on what you saw in the first episode, and have you seen all four of them now?
“No, that’s the only one. I haven’t watched anything else. So, yeah, that was neat. And hearing some of the Earnhardt family in the room talk — Dale and Kelley were on camera, but some of them were off, and hearing them just standing around and listening to them talk and tell stories was cool. We were talking some old races. We were talking some current races. So that was what was cool for me, was just some of them that I know and that I’ve met over the years. Some are fans of me, some aren’t, so that was funny to watch them kind of banter, give each other a hard time about calling each other out of who wasn’t a fan of mine and who was.
So, yeah, a lot of that footage I hadn’t seen. I’ve looked at a bunch of old tape, but some of that was brand new to me. Yeah, it started the story, so I’m excited for the next three episodes.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
