There’s nothing more frustrating than getting into your car, turning the key (or pressing the start button), and realizing it won’t start.
Whether you’re in a rush or just trying to get from point A to point B, dealing with a car that won’t start can quickly ruin your day. The good news? Many common starting issues can be diagnosed with a little patience and some basic troubleshooting.
If your car refuses to start, don’t panic just yet. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the most common reasons why your vehicle might not be starting and what you can do about it.
And if you find yourself stuck with a car that just won’t cooperate, professional auto repair Cincinnati services can help get you back on the road quickly.
Step 1: Check the Battery
A dead or weak battery is one of the most common reasons a car won’t start. If your car makes a clicking noise when you turn the key or if the dashboard lights flicker but the engine doesn’t turn over, your battery is likely the issue.
What to Do:
Try turning on your headlights. If they’re dim or don’t turn on at all, your battery might be dead.
Use jumper cables to jump-start your car. If it starts after a jump, your battery likely needs to be replaced or charged.
Check the battery terminals for corrosion. If you see white or greenish buildup, clean it off with a wire brush and baking soda solution.
Step 2: Listen for the Starter Motor
If your battery is fine but the car still won’t start, the issue could be the starter motor. The starter is responsible for cranking the engine, and if it fails, your car won’t start no matter how much power your battery has.
Signs of a Bad Starter:
A clicking sound when you turn the key.
The engine doesn’t turn over at all.
The dashboard lights come on, but nothing happens when you try to start the car.
What to Do:
Try tapping the starter motor with a wrench or hammer. Sometimes, this can temporarily get it working.
If tapping doesn’t work, the starter might need to be replaced.
Step 3: Check the Fuel System
Your car needs fuel to start and run, so if there’s an issue with fuel delivery, your engine won’t fire up.
What to Look For:
Is there fuel in the tank? It sounds obvious, but running out of gas happens more often than you’d think.
A clogged fuel filter can prevent fuel from reaching the engine.
A faulty fuel pump can also keep your car from starting.
What to Do:
If your car has a fuel pump priming sound when you turn the key to “ON,” listen for it. No sound could mean a fuel pump issue.
If your fuel filter hasn’t been replaced in a while, it may need to be changed.
Adding a fuel system cleaner to your gas tank can sometimes help clear minor blockages.
Step 4: Inspect the Ignition System
The ignition system is what sparks the fuel-air mixture in your engine. If there’s a problem with the ignition, your car won’t start.
Signs of Ignition Problems:
The engine cranks but doesn’t start.
There’s no spark reaching the spark plugs.
The check engine light may be on.
What to Do:
Check for loose or damaged spark plug wires.
Inspect the ignition coil for signs of wear or damage.
If you have a spare key, try using it. Sometimes, a faulty key fob or immobilizer system can prevent starting.
Step 5: Verify the Engine Sensors and Computer System
Modern cars rely on sensors and computers to function properly. A faulty sensor, such as a crankshaft position sensor, can prevent the engine from starting.
What to Do:
Use an OBD-II scanner to check for trouble codes.
If your car is frequently stalling or struggling to start, an issue with the engine control module (ECM) may be at fault.
Resetting the car’s computer by disconnecting the battery for a few minutes can sometimes resolve minor sensor-related issues.
Final Thoughts
If your car won’t start, working through these troubleshooting steps can help you identify the problem and possibly fix it yourself. However, if you’ve checked everything and your car still won’t cooperate, it’s best to seek professional help.
For expert diagnosis and repair, auto repair Cincinnati services can get to the root of the issue and ensure your car is running smoothly again. Don’t let a dead car battery or a failing starter ruin your day—get professional help when needed and keep your car in top shape!
Jesse Love roared out of the gates in style and commenced a new season of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition by winning the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15, amid an overtime shootout.
The 2023 ARCA Menards Series champion from Menlo Park, California, led three times for 30 of 126 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in ninth place and rallied from causing an early multi-car wreck on the fourth lap to preserve his No. 2 Whelen/Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry through the event’s first two stage periods.
After teammate Austin Hill dropped out in the closing laps due to a mechanical issue amid a dominant performance, Love challenged and assumed the lead for the first time within the final 25-lap mark. Despite enduring two restarts amid two multi-car wrecks, the latter of which that sent the event into overtime, Love, who was in defensive mode, maintained the top spot for the final 18 laps. He then managed to start the final lap just before another multi-car wreck on the frontstretch officially concluded the event, which handed the victory to the Californian as he won for the second time in his Xfinity career.
The starting lineup for the event was determined through the 2024 owner’s standings after on-track qualifying that was scheduled for Saturday was canceled due to inclement weather. As a result, Justin Allgaier, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, started on pole position and he shared the front row with rookie Taylor Gray.
Before the event, the following names that included Anthony Alfredo, Parker Retzlaff and Ryan Truex dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the 2025 Xfinity Series season commenced under green, Justin Allgaier, who opted to start on the outside lane, muscled his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet entry ahead through the first two turns as he had Chevrolet teammate Austin Hill drafting help. Through the backstretch, a majority of the field migrated to the outside lane that was led by Allgaier while Gray tried to challenge Allgaier for the top spot while leading the inside lane. As the field that was stacked in two-packed lanes returned to the frontstretch, Allgaier led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Allgaier and Gray dueled one another for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes. By the fifth lap mark, Hill, who had been drafting Allgaier early in the event, made his move beneath Allgaier through the frontstretch as he then moved his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet entry into the lead entering the first two turns. With Allgaier transitioning to the inside lane in front of Gray, Hill then blocked a charge by Sheldon Creed on the outside lane through the first two turns to maintain the top spot.
Then in the backstretch, the event’s first caution flew when Brandon Jones, who was the fourth competitor in line on the inside lane and was racing in the top-10 mark, got bumped by Jesse Love amid a brief stack-up and he clipped rookie Carson Kvapil before he hit the outside wall head-on. Jones’ incident triggered a multi-car wreck that involved rookies Daniel Dye and Connor Zilisch along with Harrison Burton, Garrett Smithley and Brennan Poole. In the process, Jones and Dye were both eliminated from further competition in the event.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 11 featured Hill and Allgaier dueling for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes as Hill had Creed drafting him while Allgaier was being drafted by rookie Christian Eckes. Through the backstretch, Creed drafted Hill clear of Allgaier and into the lead entering Turns 3 and 4. With Allgaier falling back to battling Gray for third place, Hill led the following ahead of Creed as rookies William Sawalich and Nick Sanchez along with Sam Mayer, Justin Bonsignore and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 10.
Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Hill retained the lead over Creed and two stacked rows of competitors that were led by Gray and Allgaier. By then, the top 14 competitors were separated by within one second of one another while the top 22 competitors were separated by two seconds. Shortly after, a majority of the field migrated to the outside lane that was led by Hill while Allgaier, who was flirting for eighth place, was the lead competitor on the inside lane.
Four laps later, Hill led a long line of competitors racing towards the outside wall as he was pursued by Creed, Gray, Sawalich, Sanchez, Bonsignore, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Love and Ryan Sieg respectively. Meanwhile, Allgaier had drifted back to 15th place after he received no drafting help from the inside lane.
Just then, the event’s second caution flew when Poole, who was multiple laps down after he was involved in the first carnage, had his hood blown up on his front windshield as he dropped debris entering the frontstretch. During the caution period, some led by Josh Williams and including Eckes, Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Love and Harrison Burton pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Hill remained on the track.
With five laps remaining in the first stage period, the field restarted under green. At the start, Hill and Gray, both of whom occupied the front row, battled dead even for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes through the tri-oval and the first two turns. Hill would use the momentum from the outside lane to muscle ahead as he then went into defensive mode to block both Gray and Creed through the backstretch. As the field began to fan out to three lanes, Hill led the following lap.
Over the next two laps, Hill led a long line of competitors toward the outside wall as Hill led Creed, Sanchez, Jeb Burton and Alfredo, respectively. In third place, Sanchez repeatedly gave Creed bumps in the rear bumper through the straightaways and corners, but they both remained in line behind Hill. Meanwhile, Leland Honeyman was trying to mount a charge as the lead competitor from the inside lane.
During the final lap of the first stage period, Hill retained the lead over Creed, Sanchez and the field through the first two turns and the first half of the backstretch. Then through the backstretch, Creed tried to make a move beneath Hill, but the latter blocked the former while Sanchez also almost got sideways through the straightaway. In the process, Jeb Burton moved to the inside lane and he moved into third place.
With Creed being drafted by Burton, Sanchez then tried to make a move from the outside lane as the field fanned out entering the frontstretch. The runs, however, were not enough to dethrone Hill from the top spot as the latter captured the first stage victory on Lap 30. Creed settled in second place ahead of Sanchez, Jeb Burton and Alfredo while Honeyman, Allgaier, rookie Dean Thompson, Love and Gray were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hill pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Earlier, Eckes pitted his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet entry while pit road was closed to have his entry inspected for any damage. Eckes would make multiple trips to pit road to have his entry assessed and repaired.
The second stage period started on Lap 36 as Allgaier and Burton, both of whom were among five competitors who remained on the track during the first stage’s break period, occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Burton dueled in front of two-stacked lanes for a full lap as neither had an advantage over the another. Allgaier would lead the following lap, but he could not muscle ahead of Burton as Connor Zilisch was shuffled out of the draft through the backstretch.
During the next lap, Sammy Smith made a bold three-wide move beneath Burton and Allgaier. This resulted in Smith challenging teammate Allgaier for the top spot while Burton, who led two turns earlier, was shuffled back behind Smith. As Harrison Burton, Mayer, Jeb Burton and Hill were all up in the top six, JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith and Allgaier continued to duel at the Lap 40 mark.
Prior to the following lap, Smith would barely move up in front of Allgaier from the outside lane and Hill would shove Mayer out of the draft. Meanwhile, Jeb Burton muscled his No. 27 Golden Corral Chevrolet entry into the lead from the inside lane. Despite being placed in defensive mode towards the Lap 45 mark, Burton retained the lead before Hill rocketed back into the lead. Hill would proceed to launch ahead of Ryan Sieg, Sanchez, Zilisch, Ryan Truex and a three-wide stacked field through the frontstretch while Burton was trying to regain ground from inside the top 10.
At the Lap 50 mark, Hill led a long line of competitors racing on the inside lane as Ryan Sieg, Sanchez, Zilisch and Truex continued to follow suit respectively. Shortly after, Love mounted a charge while leading the outside lane in the backstretch. Sanchez, Sieg, and Hill, however, would transition up to the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4 to stall Love’s momentum, which resulted in Love settling in the inside lane while the leaders remained atop the outside lane. By then, a majority of the field also transitioned up the track as Hill continued to lead on Lap 53.
By Lap 55, the top 10 competitors were separated by under a second as Hill led Sieg, Sanchez, Jeb Burton and Allgaier, respectively, while Creed, Thompson, Gray, Alfredo and Sawalich followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Love, Hill’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, drifted back to 15th place.
Over the next three laps, Hill went into defensive mode as he transitioned between the outside and inside lanes to stall any momentum generated from within the pack through the corners and straightaways. Behind, Ryan Sieg and Sanchez remained in the top three, respectively, as Allgaier moved up to fourth place. Meanwhile, Jeb Burton, who was trying to draft his way to the front, settled in fifth.
Then with two laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew when Sanchez, who was racing in third place, got bumped and turned into the outside wall by Creed, who was being drafted by Allgaier, exiting the backstretch. Despite keeping his car straight to avoid being collided into by the field, Sanchez sustained a significant amount of right-side damage to his No. 48 Spiked Coolers Chevrolet entry and was eliminated from further contention.
Sanchez’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution as Hill notched his second Xfinity stage victory of the event. By then, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Allgaier, Thompson, Jeb Burton, Gray, Sawalich, Alfredo and Harrison Burton were scored in the top 10, respectively, as the event also reached its halfway mark.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hill returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill managed to beat Creed off of pit road first as they were followed by Gray, Allgaier, Sieg, Truex, Thompson, Sawalich, Love and Harrison Burton, respectively.
With 55 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Hill and Gray occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns before the field started to fan out to three lanes through the backstretch. After Gray received a slight advantage from the inside lane, Hill fought back from the outside lane and they remained dead even at the start/finish line to complete the following lap.
Then with 53 laps remaining, Creed, who had been drafting Hill, received drafting help from Ford teammate Sieg to duel with Hill and lead the next lap period in his No. 00 Friends of Jaclyn Ford Mustang entry. Not long after, Sieg took his shot to the front as he went beneath Creed and led a lap for himself. Sieg and Creed would both duel against one another over the next three laps before Hill, who had drafted Sieg clear of Creed, reassumed the lead as he led with 49 laps remaining.
With less than 45 laps remaining, Sieg and Hill battled for the lead as Allgaier, Creed, Jeb Burton, Love, Gray, Thompson, Harrison Burton and Truex followed suit ahead of Sawalich, Mayer, Blaine Perkins, Leland Honeyman, Justin Bonsignore and Zilisch. As the field continued to remain in two-wide formation and stacked up through every turn and corner, Sieg would receive a draft from Allgaier to muscle ahead of Hill and lead with 40 laps remaining.
Then with 39 laps remaining, a total of eight competitors, primarily Chevrolet competitors led by Allgaier and including Hill, peeled off the racetrack to pit under green. Hill then spent extra time in his pit stall as his car had a mechanical issue. The issue would drop Hill off of the lead lap category as his hopes of winning the Daytona opener for a fourth consecutive year were spoiled.
With Hill out of contention, another wave of competitors led by Sammy Smith pitted. Amid the pit stops, Garrett Smithley slid into Patrick Emerling’s pit box as the latter was trying to enter his, which resulted in the former having to swerve into his pit stall.
Back on the track, Sieg, who was among many who had yet to pit, retained the lead with 35 laps remaining as Creed, Jeb Burton, Gray and Love followed suit in the top five. By then, Allgaier, who endured a slow pit service during his green-flag pit stop, was lapped.
Sieg would then lead a wave of competitors to pit road under green with 34 laps remaining. By then, however, the caution flew when Kris Wright, who was trying to enter pit road, was unable to reduce his speed as he T-boned into the rear of Josh Bilicki, which got Bilicki’s car briefly airborne and sideways on pit road while Wright blew the hood up on his entry as he parked his damaged car on pit road. Meanwhile, Hill, who tried to limp his car around the track, took his car to the garage as he officially retired with his mechanical issue.
“It’s either a rear hub or gear or combination of both,” Hill said in the garage. “It’s such a bummer. We had such a fast Bennett Chevrolet. Everybody at [Richard Childress Racing] and ECR [Engines] have done a great job building this race car. We showed that we were the dominant team again. I was able to get the stage wins there. I just wish that we could’ve lost this race on our own terms and it not be from a mechanical failure. This one’s gonna sting for a little bit, but we have Atlanta next week.”
Following the caution period and various pit strategies, the race restarted under green flag conditions with 25 laps remaining as Creed and Love occupied the front row in front of Harrison Burton, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Gray. At the start, Creed and Love had respective drafting help from Mayer and Burton, respectively, through the first two turns. Love then received an extra push from Burton to shoot his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet entry out to the lead from the inside lane. He would then be placed in defensive mode through the frontstretch as he led the next lap.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Love maintained a steady lead over Burton, Creed, Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Gray, Ryan Ellis, Sawalich, Zilisch and Bonsignore while Josh Williams, Eckes, Jordan Anderson, Sammy Smith, Thompson, Jeb Burton, Allgaier, Alfredo, Kvapil and Greg Van Alst followed suit in the top 20, respectively. With the top-20 competitors separated by within one second, Burton side-drafted and dueled with Love for the lead from the inside lane. Burton, however, would be edged by Love during the following lap as the former remained in front of Sieg from the inside lane while Love was being drafted by Creed.
With 15 laps remaining, Love, who reassumed the lead from Creed two laps earlier and went back into defensive mode, was leading ahead of Creed, Zilisch, Mayer and Sammy Smith while Gray, Allgaier, Sawalich, Kvapil and Bonsignore were scored in the top 10. Love would then have two stacked rows of competitors trailing him through the corners and straightaways while Zilisch and Creed dueled fiercely in front of Mayer, Gray, Sammy Smith, Gray and Allgaier for the runner-up spot.
Amid Love’s defensive mode and transitioning between all lanes, Zilisch made his move beneath Love for the lead with 13 laps remaining, which the former would lead a lap for himself as he had teammates Sammy Smith, Allgaier and Kvapil all in line on the inside lane. Shortly after, Kvapil shoved teammate Allgaier out of the lead draft as Love retained the lead over Zilisch and Creed during the following lap.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Love kept Creed in front of him with the lead as Mayer and Gray followed suit. With all four remaining in single-line formation, the outside lane started to gain more advantage over the inside lane led by Zilisch as Sawalich and Bonsignore powered up to sixth place. Creed then darted back and forth behind Love before he went underneath the latter entering the frontstretch. With the leaders navigating past the lapped competitor of Poole, Creed and Love dueled for the top spot during the next lap period.
Then with eight laps remaining, the caution flew when Bonsignore, who was in eighth place, got turned by Allgaier as Allgaier tried to split in between Bonsignore and teammate Sammy Smith through the first two turns. Bonsignore then collided with the side of Sammy Smith’s No. 8 TMC Chevrolet entry as Smith went up the track and clipped Alfredo. The contact caused Alfredo to lose his left rear tire and Bonsignore rear-ending his No. 19 M3 Technology Toyota Supra entry back into the outside wall while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage. At the moment of caution, Love had maintained the lead over Creed, Mayer, Gray and Zilisch.
With the field restarting under green with three laps remaining, Love received a strong push from Gray to muscle ahead of Creed as the former two transitioned to the inside lane entering the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Creed would regain his momentum and shove Gray’s No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota Supra entry out of the draft as he closed back in on Love with drafting help from Zilisch. As Gray and Zilisch led two-stacked lanes, Love moved up the track to block an attempted move by Creed as he led the next lap.
Then through the backstretch with two laps remaining, the caution returned after Zilisch, who was mounting a charge from the middle lane before he got blocked by Creed, got bumped and turned by teammate Allgaier as he hit the outside wall head-on. As Allgaier skidded into the side of teammate Kvapil while trying to keep his car straight, Zilisch was hit by Sawalich while more names that included Eckes, Parker Retzlaff, Greg Van Alst and Ryan Ellis all wrecked in the backstretch. The carnage sent the field into overtime as Love maintained the lead.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Love transitioning from the outside to the inside lane as he barely moved in front of Mayer’s No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang entry with the lead entering the first two turns. With Love leading Mayer, Creed and Kvapil in tight formation on the inside lane, Gray tried to mount a charge from the outside lane. With the field fanning out and scattering through the backstretch, Love continued to lead through Turns 3 and 4 before Gray got to Love’s rear bumper entering the frontstretch.
Then as Love approached the start/finish line to take the white flag and start the final lap, a multi-car wreck ensued as Allgaier got turned sideways and clipped Josh Williams, where the latter shot up the track and clipped Jeb Burton before he hit the outside wall head-on. Amid the carnage, multiple names including Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman, Josh Bilicki, Jordan Anderson and Ryan Ellis were involved.
By then, NASCAR declared that Love had managed to start the final lap of the event before the caution was displayed. As a result, Love cycled back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag under caution as he emerged victorious for the first time at Daytona.
With the victory, Love notched his second career victory in the Xfinity Series division, all of which have occurred on superspeedway events, and his first since he notched his first career win at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2024. As an added bonus, Love notched the 98th Xfinity Series career victory and the 10th at Daytona in the series for Richard Childress Racing. In addition, he delivered the first Xfinity victory to his veteran crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. since the latter won at Auto Club Speedway with Austin Dillon in March 2016.
Having claimed the 2024 Xfinity Series’ Rookie-of-the-Year title, Love, who credited his spotter Brandon Benesch for navigating him with the moves to maintain the lead, including the final one in front of Mayer during the overtime attempt, sets his sights on contending the first ever Xfinity title for himself and the first for team owner Richard Childress in six years.
“I just listened to the guy up [at the spotter’s stand], Brandon Benesch,” Love said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I am so out of breath. Man, [I am] just so thankful to the good Lord above, for putting me in this position. So many people have helped me get to this point. We’re working on changing our culture here at [Richard Childress Racing]. We’re winners, we know we are. We all want to win a championship for Richard Childress. I’m ready to go get to Atlanta, I think, now. It’s awesome.”
“It takes me a little bit to get up front sometimes,” Love added. “I’m trying to play chess nowadays and not checkers at Daytona. Man, I’m lost for words. It’s Daytona. I always cry here when we do the national anthem. I’m starstruck. I love Florida. Thank everybody for coming out tonight. This place is super special to me and you guys are as good as Talladega fans now…We finally got a win for the Whelen car. That’s makes it even more special.”
As Love emerged victorious in first place, Sam Mayer settled in second place in his first event driving for the newly formed Haas Factory Team. Sheldon Creed, Mayer’s teammate, came home in third place while rookies Carson Kvapil and Taylor Gray finished in the top five.
Harrison Burton, Jordan Anderson, Dean Thompson, Jeremy Clements and Patrick Emerling completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Justin Allgaier, who was involved in the final lap multi-car melee mayhem, limped his damaged race car in 18th place while Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Leland Honeyman and Anthony Alfredo, all of whom were also involved and were unable to complete the final lap, finished 19th through 22nd, respectively. In addition, Sammy Smith, Justin Bonsignore, Connor Zilisch and William Sawalich settled in 24th, 25th, 27th and 28th, respectively, amid their respective late-race incidents while Hill was placed in 33rd place and with a DNF following his mechanical issue.
There were 24 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 39 laps. In addition, 18 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the first event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Sheldon Creed leads the regular-season standings by nine points over Jesse Love, 13 over rookie Dean Thompson, 14 over rookie Taylor Gray and 16 over teammate Sam Mayer.
Results:
1. Jesse Love, 30 laps led
2. Sam Mayer
3. Sheldon Creed, seven laps led
4. Carson Kvapil
5. Taylor Gray, one lap led
6. Harrison Burton, one lap led
7. Jordan Anderson
8. Dean Thompson
9. Jeremy Clements
10. Patrick Emerling
11. Matt DiBenedetto
12. Christian Eckes
13. Caesar Bacarella, four laps led
14. Josh Bilicki
15. Joey Gase
16. Jeb Burton, four laps led
17. Ryan Truex
18. Justin Allgaier, 11 laps led
19. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led
20. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
21. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident
22. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
23. Ryan Ellis, one lap down
24. Sammy Smith, one lap down, one lap led
25. Justin Bonsignore, three laps down
26. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Accident
27. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident, one lap led
28. William Sawalich – OUT, Accident
29. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
30. Brennan Poole, 20 laps down
31. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Electrical
32. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident
33. Austin Hill – OUT, Rear End, 56 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Power Steering
35. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Accident
36. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Rear End
37. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident
38. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
With the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, February 22, and air at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
GRAY, THOMPSON START THE SEASON WITH SOLID RUNS AT DAYTONA Dean Thompson earns first top-10 finish in just his third Xfinity Series start
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 14, 2025) – Toyota rookie drivers Taylor Gray (fifth) and Dean Thompson (eighth) kicked off the season with strong top-10 finishes in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Gray drove the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra to his third career top-five finish, while Thompson earned his first top-10 finish in his third start in the series. He also matched Sam Hunt Racing’s best ever finish in Daytona with his eighth-place run.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Daytona International Speedway Race 1 of 33 – 300 miles, 120 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Jesse Love* 2nd, Sam Mayer* 3rd, Sheldon Creed* 4th, Carson Kvapil* 5th, TAYLOR GRAY 8th, DEAN THOMPSON 17th, RYAN TRUEX 25th, JUSTIN BONSIGNORE 28th, WILLIAM SAWALICH 37th, BRANDON JONES *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Can you walk us through your lane choice on the final restart?
“I just feel like the restart lanes kind of have a lot of diversity in terms of which one works, and which one didn’t. I felt like the top lane was the way to be at the time just with the 2 (Jesse Love) up there. I felt like he was the best car. Honestly, launched really well and gave him a good push. I just pushed him too far out there for him to be able to get clear of the bottom and kind of got myself in a little bit of a trap. Then, I was able to pick up some good help behind me in search for it there. I can’t thank all my Joe Gibbs Racing guys enough. They brought me a really fast Operation 300 GR Supra. I’d say it was probably as fast as Xfinity Mobile. Just got to keep going, keep working, building momentum. It’s a long year.”
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
What does it mean to finish with a clean race car and a top-10 finish to start your season?
“It means a lot. I’ve never finished Daytona before in three years of trucks. It’s always a really big emphasis for me for this race to start the year off right. You can really dig yourself in a hole wrecking early and then you’ve got to claw your way back. I’m glad we finished, got good points with our Thompson Pipe Group Toyota and finished in the top-10. It was a good effort by everyone at Sam Hunt Racing.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards/Swiffer Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
What happened out there?
“Yeah, it is unfortunate. It is way too early to be out of this race. There’s a lot of cars in line there and I had two teammates in front of me – and so I thought we were in a pretty good situation. The momentum kind of got choked up there in the bottom lane, and I avoided getting into our teammates, I was trying to pull that lane back a little bit. That’s not the place to get pushed, coming off of the corner – so I don’t know. I’ll go back. I’ll look at it. Always try to figure out how to get better at this craft, at this type of racing. But it looks to me right now there is nothing I could have done. That’s not how we wanted to begin our quest to go get a championship. I’ll get my guys rallied back around. I’m happy to be back at Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20, and have Menards and Swiffer on our race car this weekend. It was a big deal for me. There were a lot of people from Menards here, so pretty, pretty mad to be taken out here.”
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.
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen (No. 28 bestrepair.net Chevrolet) won the Ride the ‘Dente 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, leading the final ten laps to score his first career ARCA Menards Series victory in his second career series start. His only other previous ARCA Menards Series start was in the 2019 race at Daytona; he finished 29th due to a crash after 49 laps.
Queen’s victory is the seventh ARCA Menards Series victory for team owner Mark Webb’s Pinnacle Racing Group team. The organization has scored wins with Luke Fenhaus in 2023 and with Connor Mosack and Connor Zilisch in 2024.
Two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion William Sawalich (No. 18 Starkey Toyota) finished second in his first ARCA Menards Series start on a superspeedway. Sawalich led twice for 29 laps, the most of any driver in the race.
Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 A.L.L. Construction Chevrolet) finished third, his career best ARCA Menards Series finish.
Lavar Scott (No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) finished fourth, the second time in three starts at Daytona International Speedway that he has finished in the fourth position.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves (No. 82 Wendy’s Chevrolet) finished fifth in his first ARCA Menards Series start. Castroneves, in a team car to race winner Brenden Queen, rallied from involvement in two separate on-track incidents to battle for the lead late in the race before setting for fifth.
Kole Raz (No. 76 Cyclum Renewable Truck Stops Ford) finished sixth in his first career ARCA Menards Series start. Raz won the ARCA Menards Series West race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway last April.
A.J. Moyer (No. 88 River’s Edge Cottages & RV Park Chevrolet) earned his best career series finish in seventh. Moyer is the son of 1981 ARCA Menards Series champion Larry Moyer.
Andy Jankowiak (No. 73 KLAS Motorsports Ford) rallied from involvement in the first incident of the race to finish eighth. Jankowiak was able to race up into the top five late in the race despite damage to nearly every side of his racecar.
Ryan Roulette (No. 67 VFW Ford) earned his second career top-ten finish with his ninth-place finish. Roulette, who is an active member of the United States Air Force, recovered from mechanical issues that forced him to miss the drop of the green flag and left him a lap down by lap two. He received the free pass on the first caution at lap three.
Bryce Haugeberg (No. 06 North Dakota State University Toyota) finished tenth, his first top-ten finish since he finished tenth at Salem Speedway in 2022. All three of Haugeberg’s top-ten results are tenth-place finishes.
Queen unofficially leads the ARCA Menards Series championship point standings by three points over Sawalich and by six points over Kitzmiller and Scott who are tied for third.
There were seven caution flags for 33 laps, holding the average speed to 96.450 miles per hour.
There were six lead changes among six drivers; Sawalich led 29 laps, Lawless Alan (No. 20 AUTOParkit Toyota) led 26, Scott and Queen 10 each; Haugeberg 4, and Scott Melton (No. 68 Melton-McFadden Insurance Agency Ford) 1.
Queen’s margin of victory was 0.094 seconds.
The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, March 7, a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series West. The race will be televised live on FS1 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. The race will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide. Live timing and scoring data for all on-track activity is available at ARCARacing.com and up-to-the-minute updates are available by follow @ARCA_Racing on X (formerly known as Twitter).
About ARCA
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio, and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly and regional tour racing all across the country, the organization sanctions over 100 races per year in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, ASA STARS National Tour, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit www.arcaracing.com, or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).
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Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen etched his name as a first-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series division by winning a crash-filled, Ride the ‘Dente 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15.
Queen, the reigning CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion from Chesapeake, Virginia, led the final 10 of 80-scheduled laps in an event that was mired with seven caution periods as a majority of the field were swept up in on-track carnages. After he drafted Lavar Scott to a brief lead over William Sawalich through the backstretch with 10 laps remaining, Queen would then make his move on Scott and receive a draft from teammate Helio Castroneves to shoot himself into the lead through the frontstretch. With the lead in his possession, Queen would maintain the top spot for the remainder of the event and fend off a final-lap charge from Sawalich to commence his first full-time ARCA campaign by winning at the World Center of Racing.
The starting lineup for the event was determined by the 2024 ARCA Menards Series’ owner’s standings per the series’ rulebook. This was due to the event’s scheduled practice session for this past Thursday being canceled due to inclement weather.
Based on the rulebook, William Sawalich, driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry entry that finished in first place in the 2024 ARCA owner’s standings, was awarded the pole position. He shared the front row with Lawless Alan, driver of the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota Camry entry that finished in second place in the 2024 ARCA owner’s standings.
When the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season commenced under green, Sawalich and Alan dueled for the lead in front of two-packed lanes through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Alan received a draft from teammate Isabella Robusto to gain a slight advantage from the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4. With the field cycling back to the start/finish line, Alan led the first lap as both he and Robusto transitioned in front of Sawalich to the inside lane.
Over the next two laps, Alan led a four-car breakaway from the rest of the field from the lead. With teammate Robusto, Sawalich and Kole Raz following Alan in a single-line formation, Lavar Scott led the rest of the field from fifth place while Jake Finch and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen were trying to gain ground of Scott for position.
Then on the third lap, the event’s first caution flew when Cody Dennison, who was racing behind Scott and Jake Finch on the outside lane and inside the top-10 mark, got loose off of Turn 4 and pounded the outside wall hard. Dennison’s incident triggered a multi-car wreck that involved numerous names, among which included Thad Moffitt, Corey Day, Dale Quarterley, Sean Corr, Caleb Costner, Eric Caudell, Michael Maples, Andy Jankowiak, Willie Mullins, Ed Pompa, Tim Richmond, Katherine Legge, Nolan Wilson, Amber Balcaen and Helio Castroneves. The carnage was enough for the event to be placed in red flag period for more than six minutes.
When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under green flag conditions on the ninth lap, Alan, who restarted from the outside lane, quickly darted to the inside lane to regain a draft from teammate Robusto entering the first two turns. With Alan having drafting help from both Robusto and Sawalich through the first two turns, Raz received a draft from Queen from the backstretch to draw even with Alan and challenge for the lead. Amid the side-by-side battle, Alan surged ahead from the inside lane to lead the Lap 10 mark. He along with Robusto and Sawalich would surge ahead of the pack by the next lap while Scott challenged Raz for fourth place.
On Lap 11, the event’s second caution flew when Amber Balcaen, who was battling for a top-10 spot, slipped up the track in Turn 4 and clipped Garrett Mitchell (a.k.a: Cleetus McFarland). The contact sent both spinning as Kyle Steckly, who got sideways to avoid the carnage, spun to the bottom of the track and pounded the inside wall hard. Amid the carnage, AJ Moyer and Scott Melton weaved their way and escaped without sustaining any significant damage to their respective entries.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 17 featured Alan transitioning from the outside to the inside lane for a second time, where he regained the draft from teammate Robusto through the frontstretch. Both Alan and Robusto would then muscle away from the field through the first two turns and maintain their momentum through the backstretch. Behind, Sawalich lined up in third place while Raz and Scott dueled in front of two-packed lanes for fourth place.
During the following lap, the caution would quickly return as a vicious multi-car wreck ensued in Turn 2. The carnage started when Balcaen, who was racing towards the rear of the field and trying to rally from her previous incident, got sideways through the first two turns and spun as she had smoke coming out of the left side of her entry. During her spin, she was clipped by Mitchell, the latter of whom collided with Takuma Koga against the outside wall, before she was hit by an oncoming Becca Monopoli, who in turn was hit by Craig Bracken.
Amid the carnage, Bracken took a vicious hit into the inside wall on the driver’s left side before his damaged car shot back to the right and collided into the damaged car of Monopoli. In the process, Bracken proceeded to hit the inside SAFER barriers head-on before he came to a rest. Amid the carnage, all competitors, including Bracken and Monopoli, emerged from their wrecked race cars, though Bracken would be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The start of the ensuing restart on Lap 24 did not last long due to an incident that involved Brayton Laster entering the first turn. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Alan pitted for service while the rest led by Bryce Haugeberg remained on the track.
As the field restarted under green on Lap 30, Haugeberg and Queen dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three-packed lanes through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Queen began to surge ahead with drafting help from the middle lane and Haugeberg remained on the inside lane while Sawalich was trying to charge from the outside lane. Queen then got shoved out of the lead and the middle lane by Scott Melton as the latter dueled with Sawalich entering Turn 3. With Alan surging his way back towards the front and drafting Melton, the latter led the next lap ahead of Sawalich. Melton and Sawalich would continue to duel for the lead in front of Alan, Robusto and two-stacked lanes during the following lap before Sawalich surged ahead from the outside lane.
On Lap 34, the event’s fifth caution flew when Melton, who earlier lost the lead and was mired as the third car in line on the inside lane, got sideways while being drafted by Alan in Turn 1. As the lead group scattered to avoid Melton, the latter, who was trying to straighten his car through the degree banking turn, clipped Castroneves and sent him up towards the outside wall and back down to the apron hard.
With the field restarting under green for a one-lap dash before the event’s halfway period on Lap 40, Sawalich briefly rocketed ahead of Scott and the field exiting the frontstretch before he navigated his way through the first two turns. Sawalich would then receive drafting help from Raz through the backstretch to remain in the lead as Scott tried to mount a charge entering Turns 3 and 4. As the field fanned out entering the frontstretch, Scott, who was racing from the outside lane, used the momentum and a draft from Robusto to lead the event’s halfway mark on Lap 40 over Sawalich.
Scott would proceed to transition from the outside lane to the inside lane during the following lap as he had Sawalich drafting him. By then, Robusto was the lead competitor from the outside lane as she was in line ahead of Jeff Scofield, Alan and Jake Finch while Scott, who remained on the inside lane, led the next lap.
Then with 36 laps remaining, the caution returned when Robusto, who was racing in the top five and leading the outside lane, received a bump from Scofield that sent her No. 55 Venturini Motorsports Toyota entry into the backstretch’s outside wall. She then veered back across the track and collided into both Scofield and Corey Day while Scofield veered back to the right and was hit by Alan, which left the pole winner with significant damage to his No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota entry and knocked him out of contention.
Down to the final 30 laps, the field restarted under green. At the start, Sawalich transitioned from the outside to the inside lane to lead Scott, Finch and the field through the first two turns. Sawalich continued to lead a long line of competitors racing in the inside lane from the backstretch and back to the frontstretch. With Sawalich leading the next lap, Scott and Finch continued to occupy the top-three spots while Tim Richmond and Queen were in the top five.
With 25 laps remaining, the top-10 competitors racing in the lead group were lined up in single-line formation as Sawalich maintained the lead ahead of Scott, Finch, Richmond and Queen. Behind, Jason Kitzmiller occupied sixth place as he was pursued by Bryce Haugeberg, Castroneves, Andy Jankowiak and Ryan Roulette. Sawalich would continue to lead with 20 laps remaining as the top-10 competitors were separated within one second of one another.
Shortly after, the field started to fan out to two-packed lanes as Raz and Moyer joined the lead pack. With names that included Castroneves, Richmond and Raz migrating to gain a run from the outside lane, Sawalich maintained the lead from the inside lane while Finch, Scott, Queen and Kitzmiller were in the top five. Richmond, who was slipping towards the back of the lead group, would then draw a late caution with 17 laps remaining when he got loose in Turn 4 and spun towards the infield. At the same time, Finch, who was in second place, got sideways off the front nose of Scott as the former spun and backed his No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Toyota entry into the inside wall.
Down to the final 12 laps, the field led by Sawalich and Scott restarted under green. During the start, Sawalich rocketed ahead with the lead as Scott transitioned to the inside lane behind Sawalich entering the first two turns. The latter would maintain the lead in front of Scott and Queen while Castroneves made his way into fourth place in front of Jankowiak and Kitzmiller. Moyer would also carve his way towards the top-six mark and Castroneves would settle behind Queen while Sawalich led Scott with 10 laps remaining.
Then through the backstretch, Scott made a move to the outside lane and received a draft from Chevrolet teammates Queen and Castroneves to rocket past Sawalich with the lead. After Scott led through Turns 3 and 4, Queen would then duel with Scott and lead the following lap as he was drafted by teammate Castroneves. Queen would proceed to muscle his No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet entry ahead of the field as Castroneves and Scott led a side-by-side charge in front of the stacked field through the backstretch.
With five laps remaining, Queen maintained the lead in front of Castroneves, Scott, Jankowiak and Sawalich as Kitzmiller, AJ Moyer, Raz, Haugeberg and Ryan Roulette, all of whom were racing within one second of one another, trailed in the top 10 and amid two stacks of pack racing. Jankowiak then tried to mount a charge from the outside lane, but he could not gain enough draft to get close to Queen and Castroneves. Jankowiak would then get shoved out of the draft amid a three-wide action over the next lap as Kitzmiller and Raz tried to overtake him. Amid the action, Queen and Castroneves maintained the top-two spots ahead of Scott, Sawalich and Moyer.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Queen remained in the lead ahead of Castroneves, Sawalich, Kitzmiller, Scott and Moyer. Through the first two turns, Sawalich received drafting help from Kitzmiller to rocket past Castroneves. With Castroneves losing ground, Sawalich drove right to Queen’s rear bumper as Scott tried to mount a charge with drafting help from Raz. With Sawalich and the rest of the competitors in the lead group unable to gain a last-corner momentum through Turns 3 and 4, Queen maintained the top spot entering the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for the victory.
With the victory, Queen, who is driving the No. 28 Chevrolet entry for Pinnacle Racing Group on a full-time basis and for the series’ championship, notched his first ARCA career win in his second series start. His lone previous start in the ARCA division occurred at Daytona in 2019, where he finished in 29th place while driving for Vizion Motorsports. As a result, Queen, who competed in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events with TRICON Garage in 2024, joined Corey Heim and Greg Van Alst as competitors to claim a first career ARCA victory at Daytona over the previous five seasons.
As added bonuses, Queen recorded the 21st ARCA victory at Daytona for the Chevrolet nameplate and the first Daytona victory for Pinnacle Racing Group, a team that achieved six ARCA victories between Connor Zilisch and Connor Mosack in 2024.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Oh my Lord! Bean nation, baby!” Queen, who celebrated with the American flag on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “We brought the mullet to the ARCA Series, baby. I’m just a late model guy that worked hard to get this shot. I didn’t think [Daytona] would be where the first win came, but we’re going to take it. This [Pinnacle Racing] group right here, they deserve this, baby. I knew I had tough shoes to fill taking over from [Connor] Zilisch, but I hope this makes [the team] happy that they signed me and I hope that this is the first of many. We’re going to the Waffle House and we’re going to party it up with some chocolate milk.”
William Sawalich, the reigning two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion who led a race-high 29 laps from pole position, settled in second place to commence his part-time campaign in the ARCA division this season. Sawalich is scheduled to compete as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
“I definitely didn’t anticipate [the event] being that long,” Sawalich said. “That was a pretty long time in the car. I just wish we had a little bit more there. [I’m] Just learning all I could.”
Jason Kitzmiller and Lavar Scott finished third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Castroneves ended up in fifth place in his ARCA debut and just before he was involved in a post-race wreck with sixth-place finisher Kole Raz.
AJ Moyer, Jankowiak, Roulette and Bryce Haugeberg completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured seven cautions for 33 laps. Overall, only 13 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
1. Brenden Queen
2. William Sawalich
3. Jason Kitzmiller
4. Lavar Scott
5. Helio Castroneves
6. Kole Raz
7. AJ Moyer
8. Andy Jankowiak
9. Ryan Roulette
10. Bryce Haugeberg
11. Hunter Deshautelle
12. Jason White
13. Ed Pompa
14. Jeff Scofield, three laps down
15. Jake Finch, five laps down
16. Alex Cubb, six laps down
17. Tim Richmond – OUT, Mechanical
18. Lawless Alan, 28 laps down
19. Tim Viens, 29 laps down
20. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Mechanical
21. Isabella Robusto – OUT, Mechanical
22. Corey Day – OUT, Accident
23. Scott Melton – OUT, Mechanical
24. Brayton Laster – OUT, Accident
25. Takuma Koga – OUT, Accident
26. Becca Monopoli – OUT, Accident
27. Craig Bracken – OUT, Accident
28. Nolan Wilson – OUT, Mechanical
29. Amber Balcaen – OUT, Accident
30. Garrett Mitchell – OUT, Accident
31. Michael Maples – OUT, Accident
32. Kyle Steckly – OUT, Accident
33. Dale Quarterley – OUT, Accident
34. Cody Dennison – OUT, Accident
35. Willie Mullins – OUT, Accident
36. Sean Corr – OUT, Accident
37. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident
38. Caleb Costner – OUT, Accident
39. Katherine Legge – OUT, Accident
40. Eric Caudell – OUT, Accident
With the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is Phoenix Raceway for the General Tire 150. The event is scheduled to occur on March 7 and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
Layne Riggs | Chandler Smith Daytona International Speedway NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Report Fresh From Florida 250 Overview Date: February 14th, 2025 Event: Race 1 of 25 Series: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Location: Daytona International Speedway (2.5-miles) Length of Race: 100 Laps over two hours, nine minutes, seven seconds
FRM Finish:
● Layne Riggs (Started 27th, Finished 13th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps) ● Chandler Smith (Started 6th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
Layne Riggs Key Takeaways
Layne Riggs made his return to the Daytona International Speedway on Friday night, this time in the newly minted No. 34 Ford F-150.
Riggs finished 11th in Stage One and 14th in Stage Two. Riggs earned the fastest lap with a speed of 190.630 and a lap time of 47.212.
Riggs struggled with pit road penalties, having to go to the tail of the field twice for a crew member over the wall too soon and speeding on pit road. Riggs drafted his way back to the front, working with his teammate, Chandler Smith, to control the race.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST LAP? “I don’t quite know. I need to watch the replay, but me and the 15, which he was about I’d say two or three in front of me, we went down into three and right when we went down into three and loaded into the corner and both spun just out of nowhere. I don’t know if someone was pushing me and then he had a flat tire, or if it was ironic or what, but this is my first speedway race I’ve finished. I got wrecked coming to the checkered, but it was a great day for Front Row Motorsports, Love’s RV STOPS, Ford Performance. Me and Chandler Smith worked really well together and a lot of the ThorSport guys did a really good job of doing a great speedway strategy and sticking together as a team. I’m excited to come back. That was a lot of fun.”
CHANDLER GOT DAMAGE AND YOU WERE PUSHING HIM. DID THAT RUIN YOUR PLAN DOWN THE STRETCH? “Yeah, it really did. His nose was pretty caved in and I was pushing him for all I was worth and we were just getting freight trained on the top. I finally had to kind of shuck him to the bottom. I hated to do that. I wished he was good enough, but luckily he got back in line and ended up having a pretty solid finish. I’ve never really been a fan of speedway races, but I was smiling behind the helmet all night.”
Chandler Smith’s Key Takeaways
Chandler Smith qualified 6th in his Front Row Motorsports (FRM) debut on Friday night at the Daytona International Speedway.
Smith finished fourth in both Stage One & Two, earning valuable stage points. Smith led a total of 34 laps in the event, drafting with other Fords and his teammate to get to the front of the field.
Smith was credited with a sixth-place finish after a post-race inspection disqualification of a fellow competitor. This is Smith’s first top-10 finish with FRM and 36th Top-10 finish of his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series career.
“Overall, it was a really solid day. Our No. 38 Long John Silver Ford F-150 was super fast. I worked with Layne (Riggs) really well and felt like FRM, for the most part, controlled the entire race just in the two-car operation which says a lot about what we got going on in our organization right now. Looking forward to the next few superspeedway races and working with my teammate and also looking forward to getting to a mile-and-a-half and see where we’re at.”
ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.
For Sunday’s Daytona 500, two generations and the current leadership group of Wood Brothers Racing will serve as Honorary Starters. Brothers Eddie and Len, second-generation members of the team and Jon, Keven and Jordan Wood, the third generation and the other half of the team’s leadership were all given the honor of being named Honorary Starters. Eddie was chosen to be the one to wave the green flag for the 67thrunning of the Daytona 500, a race the team has won five times.
The team’s current entry, the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang has shown great speed in this year’s preliminary events with new driver Josh Berry behind the wheel, has the team’s fans optimistic about the team’s chances for Sunday’s race.
Much of the attention surrounding the 75-year festivities naturally will turn to the team’s past successes. Many of the stories from the past are interesting tales, but they also illustrate how the fundamentals of the sport haven’t changed as much as it might seem.
Take the Woods’ first Daytona 500 win in 1963, with Tiny Lund driving the No. 21 Ford in place of Marvin Panch, who was burned in a sports car crash before the 500. Lund received a Carnegie Hero Medal for his bravery in helping pull Panch from the burning Maserati.
Many casual observers of the sport look at that win as a triumph due to a successful fuel mileage strategy as the Woods made just four stops in that race compared to five for most of their competitors, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, as Lund was the frontrunner for most of the day. Not unlike most races presently, quick work by the pit crew played a role in the victory. When it came to the “money stop” in ’63, the Woods crushed their main competitors. According to the time-keeper on the ABC broadcast of the race, the Woods bested Ned Jarrett’s crew by nine seconds and Fred Lorenzen’s by eleven. In their post-race summary, the ABC analysts credited the Woods with orchestrating a “perfectly planned race.”
While that win did get – and still gets – lots of attention, the rest of the story of that 1963 race-winning car is not as well known. That car, a replica of which is on display at Daytona International Speedway this week, went on to have a strong season. Lund drove it five more times, scoring four top-five finishes, the best being a 2nd at Martinsville Speedway. Panch was back behind the wheel for twelve races, with a win at North Wilkesboro, runner-up finishes at Darlington and Martinsville, and 3rd place finishes at Atlanta, Daytona in July, Bridgehampton, Charlotte and Riverside. All of his finishes were 9th place or better, with nine of them in the top-five.
Team founder Glenn Wood drove it three times, with a win and a 3rd place finish at Bowman Gray Stadium, and a 15th at Randleman after blowing an engine. Dave MacDonald added a runner-up at Riverside. When the season was over, the Woods had earned a trophy that many casual race observers don’t know about – the car owner’s championship for the 1963 season.
Other Daytona 500 wins by the No. 21 team also bear similarities to today’s races. David Pearson’s 1976 win over Richard Petty as the leaders wrecked heading to the checkered flag, something that is no longer considered unique.The Woods’ most recent 500 win, with Trevor Bayne in 2011, saw the rookie Bayne, like Lund decades before, quickly master the technique of tandem drafting on the track’s freshly laid asphalt. He was able to convince veterans, most notably Jeff Gordon, to work with him in the draft, and the rest is history, a big part of 75 years’ worth for the Wood Brothers.
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About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services. The company does that through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough EVs along with embedded software that defines exceptional digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, Ford is pursuing mobility solutions through Ford Next, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 177,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at corporate.ford.com.
About Ford Performance Ford Performance is based in Dearborn, Mich. It is responsible for Ford’s performance vehicle development and major racing operations globally, including NASCAR, IMSA, SRO British GT, FIA World Rally Championship, Supercars Championship, World of Outlaws, Ultra4, SCORE-International, FIA Rally-Raid, Formula Drift, NHRA, Rebelle Rally, Thailand Super Series and our latest commitment in Formula 1 with RedBull Ford Powertrains. Ford Performance also maintains a constantly evolving fleet of electric performance demonstrators to showcase the limits of electrification technology. In addition, the organization also oversees the development of Ford’s racing engines, as well as the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts. For more information regarding Ford racing’s activities, please visit Performance.Ford.com or follow @FordPerformance on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.
About Wood Brothers Racing Founded in 1950 by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood in Stuart, Virginia, Wood Brothers Racing holds a special place in NASCAR history as the sport’s longest-running team. Over eight decades, the team has earned 100 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, along with 120 poles, and remains proud of its longstanding relationship with Ford Motor Company, fielding only Ford products since its inception. Glenn’s brother, Leonard Wood, played a key role in shaping modern racing by developing the techniques behind today’s pit stops. With a rich legacy rooted in innovation and tradition, Wood Brothers Racing continues to honor its heritage while adapting for the future as it competes in NASCAR’s premier series with Josh Berry.
The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier was awarded the pole for the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15.
The event’s qualifying format was originally scheduled to consist of two rounds. Each round would be comprised of a single-lap session for each of the 41 entered competitors. After the first qualifying round, the top 10 fastest qualifiers would transfer to the final single-lap round and contend for the pole position.
Due to inclement weather, however, the event’s qualifying session which was initially reduced to a single round, was canceled. As a result, the event’s starting lineup was determined based on the owner points ranking of each entry.
This format awarded Allgaier the pole position as he piloted the No. 7 JR Motorsports (JRM) Chevrolet entry to both the 2024 Xfinity driver’s and owner’s championships.
The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to mark Allgaier’s 15th campaign in the series as a full-time competitor and 10th driving for JRM. Having recorded one championship and 25 victories through 471 current starts in the Xfinity circuit, the Riverton, Illinois, veteran notched his first elusive victory at Daytona in August 2023. Through 14 previous starts in the Daytona opener, however, Allgaier’s best result is a runner-up finish in 2019 as he strives to commence a new Xfinity season by winning the opener for the first time in his illustrious career.
Saturday’s Xfinity event at Daytona will mark the first of two NASCAR national touring series events for Allgaier. He is scheduled to compete in Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 with JR Motorsports as the team competes in a Cup Series event for the first time.
With Allgaier starting in the pole position, Taylor Gray, an incoming rookie candidate for this year’s Xfinity Series season, will start in second place and on the front row. Gray, a 19-year-old native of Artesia New Mexico, will pilot the No. 54 Toyota Supra entry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). The entry that is racing with owner points transferred from JGR’s No. 20 team that finished in second place in the 2024 owner’s standings. He was the fastest competitor for the event’s lone practice session that occurred on Friday, February 14.
This past season, Gray campaigned in the Craftsman Truck Series on a full-time basis with TRICON Garage, where he made the Playoffs and finished sixth in the final standings. He also made his first 13 Xfinity starts with JGR this past season as he strives to make his presence well-known throughout this season.
Christian Eckes, another incoming Xfinity rookie competitor for Kaulig Racing, will start in third place and he will share the second row with Austin Hill, the reigning three-time consecutive Daytona opener winner and driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet entry for Richard Childress Racing. For this season, Hill will attempt to become the first competitor to win the Xfinity opener at Daytona for a fourth consecutive time since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment from 2008 to 2011.
Rookie William Sawalich, who is piloting the No. 18 JGR Toyota Supra entry for his first full-time Xfinity campaign, will line up in fifth place next to Sheldon Creed, who will be driving for the Haas Factory Team, on the third row. Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love and rookie Carson Kvapil will occupy the remaining top-10 starting spots.
Notably, the following names that include Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg and Justin Bonsignore will start in the top 15, respectively. In addition, rookie Connor Zilisch, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Matt DiBenedetto, Harrison Burton and Ryan Truex will start 20th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 27th, 30th, 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Lastly, Jordan Anderson will round out the starting grid in 38th place.
With 41 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, CJ McLaughlin, Carson Ware and JJ Yeley were the three competitors who failed to qualify.
Starting lineup:
1. Justin Allgaier
2. Taylor Gray
3. Christian Eckes
4. Austin Hill
5. William Sawalich
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Brandon Jones
8. Sam Mayer
9. Jesse Love
10. Carson Kvapil
11. Nick Sanchez
12. Daniel Dye
13. Sammy Smith
14. Ryan Sieg
15. Justin Bonsignore
16. Greg Van Alst
17. Kris Wright
18. Brennan Poole
19. Dean Thompson
20. Connor Zilisch
21. Josh Williams
22. Jeb Burton
23. Kyle Sieg
24. Ryan Ellis
25. Jeremy Clements
26. Blaine Perkins
27. Anthony Alfredo
28. Parker Retzlaff
29. Josh Bilicki
30. Matt DiBenedetto
31. Garrett Smithley
32. Harrison Burton
33. Ryan Truex
34. Leland Honeyman
35. Patrick Emerling
36. Caesar Bacarella
37. Joey Gase
38. Jordan Anderson
The 2025 United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, February 15, and commence a new season of Xfinity Series competition. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 14: Matt Mills, driver of the #42 J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2025 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
NIECE MOTORSPORTS NCTS RACE RECAP: DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY Event: Fresh From Florida 250 (100 laps / 250 miles) Round: 1 of 25 (Regular Season Opener) Track: Daytona International Speedway Location: Daytona Beach, Florida Date & Time: Friday, February 14th | 7:30 PM ET
No. 42 J.F. Electric / Utilitra Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Matt Mills | Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett
Key Takeaway: Matt Mills and the No. 42 J.F. Electric team were hindered by a tire rub on the right rear of the truck. After starting 24th, Mills’ bided his time early, hoping to avoid any on-track incidents. Midway through stage two, the tire came apart, forcing a green flag pit stop which placed him two laps behind the leaders. The crew continued to work on the truck throughout the race, but were shown in 29th-place at the checkered.
Matt Mills’ Post-Race Thoughts: “I hate how tonight ended up for our guys. They had been working their tails off on this truck all winter long, and to have our race basically over before halfway is a shame. I’m not sure what was causing our issues on the right rear, but we’ll take a close look at it once it gets back to the shop. We had a large group of supporters from J.F. Electric join us at the race tonight, and I was really hoping to have a great run for them. We’ll move forward and head to Atlanta with another shot at opening our year on a high note.”
About J.F. Electric: J.F. Electric is an electrical contractor that provides engineering expertise, backed by construction and installation know-how in a diverse range of service offerings, from utilities and commercial projects, to industrial and telecommunications customers. When having a long family history in an industry, a company not only builds on its knowledge and experience, it takes pride in cultivating a solid understanding of client needs, all the while nurturing strong relationships with its employees. Evolving through five generations of the Fowler family, J.F. Electric has matured into a well-managed and thoughtfully diversified electrical contractor which is poised to continue its growth and expansion into the future.
About Utilitra: Utilitra is a woman-owned firm specializing in utility and technology solutions with a diverse team of specialized professionals. Utilitra is committed to solving their client’s unique challenges, whether one expert or a team of experts is needed. By adapting to the needs of their respective industries, Utilitra has built a range of services for their utility and technology partners.
Key Takeaway: Bayley Currey and the No. 44 team had a shot at winning Daytona, but ultimately would have their hopes dashed late in the race. Currey played it smart early on in the race, hovering around the middle of the pack and staying out of trouble. When the laps wound down, however, the truck came to life. Currey appeared to make a race-winning move as he took the lead with three laps to go, but was shuffled out of line and collected in a last lap crash.
Bayley Currey’s Post-Race Thoughts: “[This is] a great way to start off the season. Just got out front a little too far there. I’ve been in a handful of these speedway races and have never led one of them, so I’ll just chalk that up to inexperience. I left the bottom open and got stuck in the middle, and got ran to the back there. I really appreciate everyone on this Niece Motorsports No. 44 Chevrolet. The Masked Owl Technologies, Detroit Quality Staffing, Precision Vehicle Logistics, AutoVentive Silverado was really good tonight. We bided our time and rode around in the back there in the beginning and just wanted to be there in the end. That’s what we did, but it didn’t go our way tonight.”
About Masked Owl Technologies: Masked Owl Technologies (MOT) is an industrial solutions integrator specializing in developing customized automation and controls processes. They take a consulting-based approach to identify the root cause of system challenges and incorporate tested, emerging technology into industrial solutions that mitigate risk and solve complex problems, the first time.
About DQS Solutions & Staffing: Guided by a mission to achieve excellence and adaptability, DQS partners with clients to create custom solutions that address unique business challenges. Recognized as Michigan’s fastest-growing company and #22 in the nation on the Inc. 5000 list, DQS drives industry growth while giving back through its nonprofit, Foundation for Pops, and partnerships like the River Rouge School District.
No. 45 AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Kaden Honeycutt | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
Key Takeaway: What appeared to be a strong first outing in Daytona proved to be a disappointing end to Kaden Honeycutt’s night. After qualifying eighth, Honeycutt powered his No. 45 Silverado to the front of the pack at the start of the race. On lap three, Honeycutt took the lead of the race, but spun in turn four, resulting in hard contact with the inside wall. Honeycutt was credited with a 35th-place finish.
Kaden Honeycutt’s Post-Race Thoughts: “Well, obviously, I turned myself sideways and crashed. I had seen the replay, and I don’t know. I was on the bottom and sort of drifted up, but it snapped. It felt like I got turned, but at the same time, I don’t think I did. I don’t know, it’s just a combination of everything – me being so inexperienced at this. I’ve never ran Daytona, and just never felt that before. I just absolutely hate it. I hate it for everyone at Niece, Precision, AutoVentive, Venture Foods, DQS; everyone that supports us. It’s not great, obviously, but we have 24 races to go that are not like this, and we’ll make our own destiny and try to come back from this deficit. It definitely sucks, but we can do it. I know we can. Just hate it for everyone that works so hard.” About AutoVentive: AutoVentive is an industry-leading Software as a Service (SaaS) applications developer providing customized solutions to the automotive logistics industry. The company is part of Liberty Hill Equity Partners, LLC, a Cincinnati-based private equity firm.
About Precision Vehicle Logistics: Precision Vehicle Logistics is a customer-focused group of professionals committed to service excellence in finished vehicle logistics. Precision offers a unique combination of talented experience, industry-leading software and systems, and a network of partners and resources to deliver customized solutions to the world’s leading automakers.
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is a professional auto racing team founded by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2025, the team celebrates its 10th consecutive season competing in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) where it fields the Nos. 41, 42, 44 and 45. Since its founding in 2016, Niece Motorsports has garnered nine wins, 50+ top-fives, 100+ top-10s, 190+ top-15 finishes and made five playoff appearances. At its 80,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Salisbury, NC, Niece Motorsports is a trusted build shop for the Chevrolet Silverados of multiple NCTS teams as well as a customizable fabrication shop for any manufacturing needs.
Follow the Team: To keep up to date with the latest team news, visit niecemotorsports.com or connect on Facebook and Instagram (@NieceMotorsports) as well as X (@NieceMotorsport).
HEIM, RUGGIERO DELIVER IN SEASON-OPENING TRUCK SERIES RACE AT DAYTONA Ruggiero led late, earns third-place finish in Truck Series debut
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 14, 2025) – Corey Heim (second) and Gio Ruggiero (third) began the new NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season with strong finishes in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Friday evening. The duo, both Toyota Development Drivers, ran up front for most of the final stage with their TRICON Garage teammates Tanner Gray and William Sawalich before a last lap incident ended the battle for the win just short of the finish line.
For Heim, it is his second straight runner-up finish at Daytona, while Ruggiero delivered with a third-place run in his series debut. Sawalich finished 10th in his first Daytona race. The fellow Toyota Development Driver will compete in both the ARCA and Xfinity Series races on Saturday as well.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) Daytona International Speedway Race 1 of 23 – 250 Miles, 100 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Parker Kligerman* 2nd, COREY HEIM 3rd, GIO RUGGERIO 4th, Ty Majeski* 5th, Grant Enfinger* 10th, WILLIAM SAWALICH 12th, TIMMY HILL 23rd, TANNER GRAY 24th, STEWART FRIESEN 29th, TONI BREIDINGER *non-Toyota driver
Corey Heim was declared the race winner after the 75 failed tech.
Can you talk about the interesting nature of this victory?
“Well, it is my first time having this kind of scenario happening either way, so certainly glad to be on the right side of it. It sucks for Parker (Kligerman) and those guys. It seemed like they put themselves in a position at the right time to win the race, but obviously, there is another level to it after the race. Grateful to be in the spot to take advantage of that. Huge props to everyone at TRICON Garage, Toyota, Safelite – first win under the Toyota GAZOO Racing banner, so that is cool. We will move to Atlanta and try to get another one.”
What more could you have done there?
“I think just being a little farther up, position wise. I think I was fifth, probably, second in line in the middle when that wreck unfolded on the backstretch and I kind of weaseled my way through there and had a shot at it, and that is really all that you can ask for. But I think Parker (Kligerman) was the leader before all of that happened – and of course that is going to put you in a good position. Hats off to him – he did a great job all night. Huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Toyota – our Safelite Tundra TRD Pro was great all night, and came home with another second-place finish, second year in a row. I can’t complain. It is better than being wrecked, so we will move forward.”
Can you describe the chaos and what kind of decision making goes on in those last couple of laps?
“Yeah, for the most part, I was just trying to hang on to it. I feel like on the older tires our Tundra was free there at the end. I really had no rear tire left. The pushes felt more dramatic. I feel like the 17 (Gio Ruggiero) did a great job there at the end to kind of put ourselves in position. Middle of three-wide, old tires – and you are just hanging on there for dear life, so I didn’t feel like I could maximize our gap out there in front and push the lane, just because I was holding on the whole time. Huge props to all of my teammates at TRICON Garage – the organization itself. Everyone did a great job. Thank you also to Toyota and Safelite for all of their support – they are the reason that I am here. Looking forward to Atlanta, another speedway – hopefully we can be one better.”
You’ve been giving so much praise to Gio Ruggiero tonight and how well he did out there. I know you were bummed over the radio after this race, but your team reminded you it was a great points day, and the future is ahead. How would you summarize it?
“Yeah, no doubt. Nothing short of crazy there the last 20 laps. Honestly, pretty impressed with everyone that we kept it straight for as long as we did. They piled it up a little bit on the last lap. Compared to last year, it was such a big upgrade as far as the quality of racing. I was definitely out of control there at the end, being three-wide middle and old tires, being free. Hats off to Gio (Ruggiero) and Tanner (Gray). William (Sawalich) was up there with us at the end, and everybody did a really good job at TRICON Garage. Toyota as well, our Tundra TRD Pro was good all night. I feel like we put ourselves in good position. Scott Zipadelli (crew chief) did a great job on the box. We will take the Safelite Tundra to Atlanta and try to get one better.”
How does it feel to get a top-5 in your first Truck Series start at Daytona?
“It feels good. Was looking for more there. But it’s Daytona and everybody is trying to win. I had a blast tonight. These TRICON Garage Tundras are so fast. The whole team performed really well. Everything is pretty new for me doing live pit stops and all but I’m looking forward to the season and looking forward to Atlanta.”
What did you learn tonight?
“This is my first time on a superspeedway in anything, so it was a lot of stuff for me to take in tonight. Drafting in the pack, side drafting and leading the pack as well so I definitely learned a lot for Atlanta.”
Can you describe the last few laps?
“Stuff happens quick here. I was leading that pack for a couple laps, and I think five or six to go is when I lost the lead there. I knew it was coming, and I knew they were going to have lines forming up and that it was going to get crazy. I’m just glad we could hang on and have a strong finish and a good truck there for the end.”
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.
