Allmendinger reported early in the race that his Action Industries Chevy was building tight and the handling was worse in traffic. He drove up to eighth position before coming to pit road on lap 33 for a scheduled green flag pit stop. When the caution came out on lap 70, Allmendinger was in eighth place, telling crew chief, Trent Owens, the overall balance was not bad, but he was battling a brake shake. The team came to pit road for four fresh tires to give Allmendinger to run for stage points. Allmendinger restarted in sixth place for the second stage and continued battling handling issues. He reported he lost overall grip and the car was bouncing over to the right rear. The team made a left rear adjustment at the stage break to help Allmendinger with the handling of his Chevy going into the final stage. Allmendinger was happy with the adjustments and went on to battle inside the top 10, quiet in the radio, for the remainder of the race.
“I was able figure out enough lines to make speed and do different things where certain guys just rip the fence to keep the momentum up. We just didn’t quite have enough there in the longer run. In general, I was really happy there. We fought hard, lost a little bit in the second stage but Trent Owens and the team worked hard to get it back and be very competitive.” – AJ Allmendinger
Ty Dillon started Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway from the 34th position. Focused on moving forward, the team was able to move inside the top 25 by the end of stage 1. Continuing to run inside the top 25, Dillon and the team were making progress for a top-20 finish late in stage three before a tire vibration forced the team down pit road for an unscheduled stop. The untimely pit stop dropped Dillon off the lead lap and the team was scored with a 27th-place finish.
“We got better and better all day. We were probably going to run around 20th. I thought I had a tire going down and it was vibrating really bad with 15 to go. I didn’t think it would make it to the end, so I came down pit road and hurt our day, hurt our result. But we improved all race, so that’s the positive. We just need to improve our Saturday’s and we’ll be even stronger.” – Ty Dillon
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 23 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, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
Sam Mayer entered Saturday’s Xfinity race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with an opportunity to cash in on an additional $100,000 bonus, and he came within only a few car lengths of doing it. Because he was one of the top four full-time Xfinity finishers on March 15th in Las Vegas, Mayer was eligible for the Dash 4 Cash Bonus—and needed to finish ahead of the other three drivers (Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, and Austin Hill) to win it.
For the entire race on Saturday, the Audibel Ford was very much in contention for the big payday. Continuing his hot start to 2025, Mayer qualified 6th and kept the car in the mix, racing with the leaders throughout the event. He finished 5th in Stage One and 2nd in Stage Two, collecting 15 additional stage points. He also led 22 laps and proved he was a threat to win.
As Stage Three wore on, it appeared Cup Series star Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 132 laps, was the driver to beat. Still, the race within the race (for the Dash 4 Cash) was attainable for Mayer, who was running second to Larson in the closing laps but was ahead of the three cars he needed to beat. A caution with just eight laps remaining changed everything and forced the race to overtime.
After pitting for tires, Mayer chose the bottom lane on the restart, behind Larson. Contact with Larson on the restart altered both cars’ chances of winning. Allgaier took advantage and passed both, ultimately taking the checkered flag and the bonus, while Mayer charged to a second-place finish.
“To finish second is a good day,” said Mayer, who will again be eligible for the Dash 4 Cash bonus next week at Martinsville. “We had an amazing points day, but given the opportunity we had at the end, finishing second is quite the bummer.”
00 – Sheldon Creed
Sheldon Creed will be eligible for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus on March 29 at Martinsville, thanks to his strong 5th-place finish on Saturday. Creed started 9th at Homestead-Miami Speedway and quickly established himself as one of the stronger cars. Consistently, Creed turned fast laps and raced within the top ten. At the end of Stage One, the Road Ranger/Redcon1 Ford was 8th. As Creed continued to surge, he drove to a third-place finish in Stage Two, earning a combined total of 11 additional stage points.
In Stage Three, Creed continued to be aggressive. Riding the high line at the mile-and-a-half track, he battled Love for a top-5 position. The two swapped the spot during the closing laps. A late-race caution sent the race into overtime and set up a two-lap shootout to the finish. On the restart, Creed again battled Love. Creed gathered momentum on the high side of the banking and was able to beat Love for the fifth spot, securing the final Dash 4 Cash qualifying spot for Martinsville.
“We’re going to keep chipping away at it,” said Creed, who has finished second twice at Martinsville in his Xfinity career. “It’s going to be big for us. To go to Martinsville and have a shot against these four is going to be fun.”
Cup Series
41 – Cole Custer
Cole Custer donned the Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford for the first time this season, at a track where he earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity win back in 2017. He grabbed a 28th-place finish in the Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami on Sunday, in the first of two races this year that will see Autodesk adorn the hood of the No. 41 car.
Custer started 24th after a solid qualifying effort on Saturday, and churned out strong laps in the opening stage despite an eventful start. The 41 team worked its way back up as Custer gained eight spots on pit road during the first cycle of pit stops but finished 33rd in the first stage.
Custer once again started picking off drivers as he started the second stage in 30th, and drove his car up to 26th on lap 140. He held on to a 28th-place result to end the second stage, where he ultimately ended up finishing in his first Cup start at Homestead since 2022.
“Overall, it was a very hard fought-day, and there are definitely things to take from it. We’ll keep working in the right direction to try and get us better at the next mile-and-a-half track we go to,” Custer said. “I’m looking forward to Martinsville as it’s a place where we’ve had some solid runs, so really excited for next weekend.”
Up Next: NASCAR heads to its first short track this season as Martinsville hosts the seventh points race on the NASCAR Cup Series/Xfinity schedule next weekend. Race coverage for the Xfinity series is set for 5 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 for the Cup Series.
About Haas Factory Team The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.
Chris Buescher 6th, Ryan Preece 9th, Brad Keselowski 26th
Homestead, FL (March 23, 2025) – It was “Miami nice” for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing’s Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece. Both brought home top-10 finishes at the mile-and-a-half speedway, elevating their positions in the standings. Buescher is now 9th, while Preece is 16th. Teammate and co-owner Brad Keselowski picked up 6 positions on the day, recording a 26th-place finish.
17 Chris Buescher Recap
A strong start to the 2025 season continued for Chris Buescher, as he led all Ford teams with a 6th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Following an 11th-place qualifying effort on Saturday, Buescher’s Kroger / Farm Rich Ford fired off fast. He quickly maneuvered his way up to eighth. After dropping a few spots on an extended long run, the No. 17 pit crew delivered a quick stop to cycle Buescher back out in seventh. He ultimately finished 13th in Stage One.
Improving the car for Stage Two, crew chief Scott Graves made adjustments to help the car turn better. These changes allowed Buescher to impressively ride inches from the wall. He worked his way up to 11th as the stage ended.
Like he has done all season, Buescher continued to chip away in the final stage. He battled on the track as his team helped him in the pits. During a super-fast late-race pit stop, the No. 17 team helped Buescher pick up three spots on pit road. Buescher capitalized, surging to a 6th-place finish – his fourth top-10 of the season.
“It was a pretty fun day,” said Buescher. “This was a pretty solid Homestead, given where we were last year (15th at Homestead). The team made some good adjustments, and we had a strong restart at the end, and we were able to hang on.”
60 Ryan Preece Recap
Ryan Preece continued his breakout 2025 campaign, notching his second consecutive top-10 finish. His 9th-place performance at Homestead-Miami Speedway came just one week after matching a career-best 3rd-place finish in Las Vegas.
Starting 31st on Sunday, there was work to be done. Undaunted, crew chief Derrick Finley addressed the team during pace laps, saying, “Expect to win, boys. Don’t think about it, expect it.” Motivated, Preece picked up 11 spots during Stage One. Again, Finley coached the team, saying, “We’ll keep plugging at it. One bite of the elephant at a time.”
The BuildSubmarines.com Ford continued surging toward the front in Stage Two, finishing 14th. “Nice job, bud. 14th. We’re almost done eating the elephant,” Finley continued. Before the restart to begin the final stage, the No. 60 team ripped off an ultra-fast 8.69-second pit stop that helped improve Preece’s track position. Preece continued to be aggressive and drove to a 9th-place finish.
“We were definitely pretty happy with how the car was,” said Preece. “I’m definitely pretty happy. This is something that I’m pretty proud of, and I feel like if we can just keep consistently doing it, we’ll be good.”
6 Brad Keselowski Recap
Anticipating few cautions, Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 team were set up for many long runs during Sunday’s race. Their calculations proved correct, as there were only four yellows for 27 laps.
Taking advantage of their long-run setup, which provided a consistent pace for them over a lengthy stretch, the Nexlizet Ford pitted several laps later than most. This allowed Keselowski to gain track position and move from 32nd to 26th in Stage One.
During Stage Two, Keselowski hoped to pick up time and positions by running up against the wall. But as he tried to ride the furthest outside groove—a fast but challenging line—the car wouldn’t turn well enough to make it work. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins made several adjustments, improving the car so that Keselowski could continue moving toward the front, getting as high as 18th before finishing 25th in the stage.
Bullins kept working on the car during Stage Three to help it turn. Keselowski ended the day 26th.
Up Next Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA): Sunday, March 30, 2025 @ 3:00pm ET on FS1
About RFK Racing RFK Racing, in its 38th season in 2025, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
The Ducati Panigale V4 2025 is a bike built for performance, power, and unmistakable Italian style. With its cutting-edge aerodynamics, MotoGP-inspired tech, and jaw-dropping 1103cc Desmosedici Stradale engine, this superbike doesn’t just perform—it dominates. But for many riders, the experience isn’t complete until the bike is uniquely theirs.
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Larson suffered some damage in the pits at Homestead when Josh Berry spun and clipped Larson, then Berry hit Joey Logano. The damage affected the aerodynamics in Larson’s No. 5 Chevy, but Larson and his team persevered, putting him in position to make a late pass for the lead, which he converted into his first win of the season.
“It’s good to get the monkey off my back,” Larson said. “As most drivers know, having a monkey on your back can be a real ‘drag’ aerodynamically.”
2. William Byron:
Byron is second in the Power Rankings after finishing 12th at Homestead as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman battled for the win.
“Sunday’s race was the ‘Straight Talk Wireless 400,'” Byron said. “If you’re looking for straight talk somewhere else, you surely won’t find it in NASCAR’s rule book, or their vague inspection procedures.”
3. Christopher Bell:
Bell survived a spin on lap 70, but fell a lap down and finished 29th at Homestead.
“Well,” Bell said, “I guess you can’t win ’em all. If you would have told me that a few weeks ago, I would have called you a liar.”
4. Ryan Blaney:
Blaney had the dominant car at Homestead, winning Stage 1 and leading 124 of 267 laps, but couldn’t cash in for the win, as a blown engine late in the race ended his day. He finished 36th.
“That’s two blown engines for me in the last three races,” Blaney said. “If there’s something that needs to be ‘blown up,’ it may be our engine department.”
5. Alex Bowman:
Bowman started on the pole and was seemingly on his way to victory when he skimmed the wall with six laps remaining but is second in this week’s Power Rankings. Kyle Larson pounced on the opportunity, snatched the lead from Bowman, and held on for the win.
“That mistake was totally on me,” Bowman said. “I’m the driver of the car sponsored by Ally, and, ironically, I was my own worst enemy.”
6. Chris Buescher:
Buescher finished sixth at Homestead, posting his fourth top-10 result of the year.
“My No. 17 Ford’s paint scheme featured Farm Rich mozzarella sticks,” Buescher said, “and that’s the closest to Italy most NASCAR fans will get.”
7. Denny Hamlin:
Hamlin started 23rd at Homestead and utilized an astute tire strategy to win Stage 2 and finished fifth in the Straight Talk Wireless 400.
“We debuted the Progressive Insurance sponsorship for the No. 11 Toyota at Homestead,” Hamlin said. “There are a lot of insurance companies out there we could have partnered with, but we decided to go with the ‘Flo’ and chose Progressive.”
8. Tyler Reddick:
Reddick finished eighth in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead.
“For competition’s sake,” Reddick said, “it was a good thing Ryan Blaney’s engine blew. He was just too good. Blaney’s car was on another planet. I don’t know what planet, but apparently, it was one way hotter than Earth.”
9. Bubba Wallace:
Wallace challenged for the win at Homestead, leading __ laps before eventually finishing third, posting his first top 5 of the season.
“I attributed my car’s speed to the Columbia ‘fish scale’ paint scheme,” Wallace said. “Understandably, my No. 23 Toyota didn’t ‘flounder.'”
10. Chase Elliott:
Elliott faded late and finished 18th at Homestead, and is 10th in the Power Rankings this week.
“There was really nothing about my race to be happy with,” Elliott said. “And I really gave the good people down at the Dawsonville Pool Room nothing to celebrate. That is, unless liver failure is something to celebrate.”
Kyle Larson capitalized on teammate Alex Bowman’s late-race skirmish with the outside wall, cruising to a NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, March 23.
The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led six times for 19 of 267 scheduled laps. In an event where he qualified 14th, he methodically worked his way to the front, notching a top-five result after the first stage period. Despite sustaining minimal left-side damage to his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry amid a pit road skirmish with Josh Berry and Joey Logano, Larson continued to race up front and claimed a runner-up result after the second stage period.
After spending a majority of the final stage period racing and jostling amongst his fellow competitors at the front, Larson would find himself racing in second place with 11 laps remaining as he attempted to track down Bowman for the lead. Then after Bowman scrubbed the outside wall entering the frontstretch with seven laps remaining, Larson seized the opportunity. He made his move for the top spot and he rocketed past Bowman to lead with six laps remaining. With clean air and Bowman unable to rebound, Larson both cruised and rim-rode his way around the Homestead circuit smoothly for six final laps. He claimed his first Cup Series victory of the 2025 season and his second in Miami.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, March 22, Alex Bowman notched his first Cup Series pole this season. His pole-winning lap at 168.845 mph in 31.982 seconds was his sixth career pole. Joining Bowman on the front row was Josh Berry, winner of last weekend’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Berry clocked in his best qualifying lap at 168.460 mph in 32.055 seconds.
Prior to the event, Erik Jones dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota entry.
When the green flag waved pole-sitter Alex Bowman rocketed his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet entry ahead from the inside lane. The field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch while jostling for spots. Bowman proceeded to lead Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Blaney through Turns 3 and 4. With the field returning to the frontstretch and still jostling for early spots, Bowman led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Bowman maintained a steady advantage over a three-car battle for the runner-up spot that involved Blaney, Berry and Gragson. Behind, Chase Briscoe moved into fifth place. William Byron, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger followed suit in the top 10, respectively.
Then on the eighth lap, Blaney, who had spent the last handful of laps stalking Bowman, made his move. He went beneath Bowman for the top spot through Turns 3 and 4. Both drivers dueled through the frontstretch. Then, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead entering the first two turns. As Blaney proceeded to lead the Lap 10 mark, Berry joined the battle. He overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot. By then, Briscoe also started to reel in on Gragson for fourth place.
Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Blaney stretched his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Berry. Bowman, Briscoe and Gragson followed suit in the top five. Behind, Byron, Cindric, Allmendinger, Wallace and Joey Logano were racing in the top 10 ahead of Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Zane Smith, Tyler Reddick and Carson Hocevar. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch were mired in the top 20 ahead of Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell, respectively.
Ten laps later, Blaney continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by nearly four seconds over Bowman. Behind, Briscoe, who overtook Berry for third place, four laps earlier, retained the spots. Gragson was racing in fifth place while Byron, Cindric, Allmendinger, Wallace and Logano continued to follow suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin, who qualified in 23rd place, was strapped in 24th place behind Kyle Busch. In addition, Ross Chastain had fallen to 27th place, Erik Jones was mired in 29th place behind Todd Gilliland and Brad Keselowski, who qualified in 32nd place, was racing in 32nd place in front of rookie Shane van Gisbergen.
On Lap 31, a first cycle of green flag pit stops commenced. A bevy of names including Byron, Austin Cindric, Logano, Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Gragson, Reddick and Bell pitted their respective entries. Amid the pit stops, the leader, Blaney, pitted by Lap 34 along with other drivers including Bowman, Wallace and Berry. By Lap 35, a total of 14 competitors had not yet pitted. Zane Smith, who was among those yet to pit, was leading ahead of Larson, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon, who had also not yet pitted. Meanwhile, Blaney, who had made a pit stop, trailed in 12th place by less than 16 seconds.
By Lap 40, Larson, who assumed the lead from Zane Smith on Lap 37, pitted under green as Blaney cycled back into the lead. By then, Hamlin and Zane Smith, the latter of whom would encounter a pit road penalty, had also pitted. Meanwhile, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who has yet to pit, continued to race on the track in third place and Bowman cycled back into the runner-up spot. Byron and Gragson were racing in the top five. Once Stenhouse pitted before Lap 45, the event’s first green flag pit sequence concluded. The entire field had made at least one pit service.
Just past the Lap 50 mark, Blaney was out in front by more than seven seconds over Bowman while third-place Byron trailed by 13 seconds. Behind, Gragson and Briscoe were racing in the top five while Logano, Allmendinger, Cindric, Wallace and Chris Buescher trailed in the top 10 ahead of Buescher, Reddick, Carson Hocevar, Bell and Justin Haley, respectively.
Ten laps later, Blaney stabilized his large advantage to more than seven seconds over Bowman while Byron, Gragson and Briscoe continued to pursue in the top-five mark. Blaney would proceed to lead by more than nine seconds over Bowman at the Lap 70 mark while the rest of the lead lap field trailed by double digits.
Shortly after, the event’s first caution flew when Bell, who was racing in the top-15 mark, slipped sideways and spun his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE entry below the track entering the frontstretch. The incident occurred as Bell was racing towards the outside wall entering the frontstretch as he also made minor contact with the inside wall.
During the event’s first caution period, the lead lap field led by Blaney returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited first ahead of Bowman, Byron, Gragson, Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Larson, Wallace, Allmendinger and Reddick, respectively.
With five laps remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Gragson, who restarted behind Blaney on the second row, stumbled to launch, which caused the field to fan out entering the first two turns. Amid Gragson’s issues, Bowman fended off Blaney for the lead as Gragson went up the track and barely forced Wallace up the track and into the outside wall. With all competitors maintaining race pace and the event restarting under green, Blaney then executed a bold move to slide up in front of Bowman and assume the lead, where he led the following lap.
Then on Lap 76, Larson, who was trying to race his way into the top five, slid up the track and almost made contact with Briscoe entering Turns 3 and 4. With Larson managing to keep his car racing straight, he was locked in a battle with Briscoe as Byron and Allmendinger joined the battle. Meanwhile, Blaney maintained the lead in front of Bowman as Cindric joined the battle for third place.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Blaney notched his second Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Bowman followed in second place ahead of Briscoe, Larson and Cindric while Byron, Allmendinger, Berry, Gragson and Joey Logano were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Blaney returned to pit road for service while Carson Hocevar remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman exited pit road first ahead of Blaney while Byron, Cindric, Allmendinger, Gragson, Larson, Hamlin, Wallace and Buescher followed suit, respectively. Amid the pit stops, trouble ensued as both Berry and Logano spun backwards. The incident occurred after both were exiting their respective stalls before Berry made contact with Larson that bounced Berry into the path of Logano and sent the latter two spinning as both blocked Justin Haley from exiting his pit stall. Both would proceed to return to their respective pit stalls backwards for repairs.
The second stage period started on Lap 88 as Hocevar and Bowan occupied the front row. At the start, Bowman and Hocevar briefly dueled for the lead entering the first two turns before Bowman, who had four fresher tires than Hocevar, used the outside lane to launch ahead and reassume the lead. Hocevar then slipped up the track and lost a bevy of spots on his worn tires, which caused the field to scramble as teammate Byron and Blaney muscled into second and third. As the field fanned out, Bowman led the following lap. By then, Hamlin and Gragson were in the top five while Hocevar retained sixth place.
At the Lap 100 mark, Blaney, who reassumed the lead from Bowman on Lap 94, was leading ahead of Denny Hamlin, the latter of whom overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot. By then, Byron and Bubba Wallace were in the top five while Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Gragson and Allmendinger followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick trailed in the top 15 ahead of Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell, respectively.
Fifteen laps later, Blaney extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Hamlin while Bowman, Byron and Wallace continued to race in the top five. Another two laps later,
Fifteen laps later, 12 by nearly three seconds over 11 with 48, 24 and 23 racing in top five. Another two laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced with various pit strategies being ensued amongst the field. Once Hamlin pitted on Lap 125, Larson cycled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry into the lead. By then, Suarez spun his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet entry after he locked up his front tires while entering pit road he managed to continue without drawing a caution.
Just past the Lap 130 mark, Blaney, who reassumed lead after Larson, Berry and Logano pitted amid the pit cycle, was leading by two seconds over Byron while Wallace, Bowman and Austin Cindric trailed in the top five. Blaney would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Byron at the Lap 140 mark and he would stabilize his advantage by Lap 150.
Then on Lap 162, Hamlin assumed the lead from Blaney through the frontstretch as the leaders were mired in a bevy of lapped traffic. Despite encountering the lapped traffic that caused the leaders to weave through the slower traffic, Hamlin fended off Larson and Blaney to maintain the top spot.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Hamlin, who inked a new multi-race partnership with Progressive Insurance earlier this week, cycled his way to his first Cup stage victory of the year. Larson followed suit in second ahead of Blaney, Byron and Wallace while Bowman, Cindric, Elliott, Hocevar and Reddick were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, the field pitted and Larson exited pit road first ahead of Hamlin, Byron, Wallace, Bowman, Cindric, Elliott, Reddick, Blaney and Briscoe, respectively.
With 94 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Larson and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as Larson used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Hamlin. Larson would proceed to lead the following lap and lead with 90 laps remaining. By then, Wallace moved into second place before the latter assumed the lead from Larson exiting the frontstretch with 91 laps remaining.
Down to the final 85 laps of the event, Wallace was leading over Larson, with Hamlin, Blaney and Bowman pursuing in the top five. Meanwhile, Byron, Reddick, Cindric, Allmendinger and Buescher trailed in the top 10.
Ten laps later, Larson started to close in on Wallace for the lead, though the latter maintained a reasonable advantage. Amid Larson’s charge, Wallace led with 70 laps remaining as both Larson and Blaney were closing in.
Then with 60 laps remaining, the caution flew when third-place Blaney, who led a race-high 124 laps, blew an engine amid a heap of smoke through the frontstretch and retired on pit road. During the caution period, the field pitted and Wallace exited pit road first ahead of Larson, Hamlin, Bowman, Reddick, Cindric, Buescher, Briscoe, Byron and Gragson, respectively. Not long after, Byron was sent to the tail end of the field due to being too fast on pit road.
When the race restarted under green with 50 laps remaining, a three-wide action for the lead ensued between Larson, Wallace and Bowman going through the first two turns as Hamlin also tried to join the battle. Wallace would then muscle his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead entering the backstretch while Bowman, Larson and Hamlin engaged in a three-wide battle for second place. As the field behind jostled and fanned out for late spots, Wallace retained the lead for the following lap.
With 40 laps remaining, Wallace retained the lead by a second over Bowman while Larson, Briscoe and Hamlin trailed in the top five. Despite Bowman’s effort in slowly closing in on Wallace for the lead, Wallace retained the lead by six-tenths of a second with 35 laps remaining.
Then with 33 laps remaining, Bowman side-drafted Wallace entering the backstretch and dueled with him before he slid up in Turns 3 and 4 and assumed the lead with 32 laps remaining. Bowman would slightly grow his lead to half a second over Wallace with 30 laps remaining as Briscoe, Larson and Hamlin followed suit in the top five.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Bowman increased his lead to a second over Wallace. As Briscoe, Larson and Hamlin continued to race in the top five, Buescher, Allmendinger, Reddick, Austin Dillon and Ryan Preece were in the top 10 while Gragson, Logano, Berry and Byron were mired in 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th, respectively.
Five laps later, Bowman stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Wallace while third-place Briscoe trailed by more than a second. In addition, fourth-place Larson trailed by under two seconds while fifth-place Hamlin trailed by more than five seconds.
Then during the following lap, Larson overtook Briscoe for third place entering the first two turns. Larson would then overtake Wallace for the runner-up spot through the backstretch with 11 laps remaining. As Larson then commenced his charge on teammate Bowman, the latter retained the lead by a second.
With seven to go, Larson, who spent the previous three laps shaving off Bowman’s steady advantage while rim-riding towards the outside wall, capitalized on teammate Bowman scrubbing the outside wall entering the frontstretch to make his move beneath Bowman and assume the lead, where he led with six laps remaining. Larson would proceed to lead by four-tenths of a second over Bowman with five laps remaining while third-place Wallace trailed by more than two seconds.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained in the lead by more than a second over teammate Bowman. With Bowman unable to rally from his late-race scrape into the wall and narrow the gap back between himself and the leader, Larson, who kept rim-riding towards the outside wall, was able to smoothly cycle his way around the Homestead circuit for a final time before he cruised back to the frontstretch and claim his first checkered flag of the 2025 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Larson, who became the fourth different winner through the first six races of the 2025 season, notched his 30th Cup Series career victory in his 372nd series start and became the 30th competitor overall to reach 30 victories in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition, Larson achieved his second Cup victory at Homestead in four seasons and his 24th driving the No. 5 Chevrolet entry for Hendrick Motorsports.
Larson’s Cup victory on Sunday served as a bittersweet moment as the Californian had commenced this weekend by attempting to win all three of NASCAR’s top national touring series events at Homestead. Despite winning the Truck Series event on Friday, his shot of the triple-header sweep was evaporated after he lost Saturday’s Xfinity event during an overtime attempt. Nonetheless, Larson, who earned his Cup victory amid a late-race charge, was still left jubilant on the frontstretch as he celebrated on the frontstretch with his son, Owen.
Photo by Kapil Chaudhari for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[My last run] was far from perfect,” Larson said on FS1. “I gave up a spot and a half, almost two spots there by getting the wall too many times. I knew I wasn’t going to get the best restart there.” He continued, “I knew I wasn’t good on the short runs and just thought if I could hold off [Hamlin] and [Reddick] behind me, I could get ringing the top, and [Briscoe] too.
“And then, I got in the wall and let him by, but just had to keep plugging away what I know and what’s good for me. Proud of myself, proud of the team. A lot of gritty hard work there today between [the] damage on pit road, qualifying bad, bad restart, all that stuff. Just super pumped. [This is] One of the coolest wins I think in my Cup career just because of all the heartbreak I’ve had here, the heartbreak yesterday and to just keep my head down and keep digging feels really good.”
“I felt like if I could just keep pressure on Alex [Bowman], I would hope that he made a mistake,” Larson added. “He caught the wall there and I got by him easier than I expected to. [I] Still had to work hard, though. My balance, once I got in clean air, was really loose just like those guys were
Meanwhile, Bowman, who led 43 laps from pole position and was searching for his first victory of the year, settled in second place for his first top-five result of the 2025 season. Amid the disappointment of having a victory slip from his grasp due to his late-race contact with the wall, Bowman has finished in the top nine in all but one of his current six races this season.
“I guess I choked that one away, for sure,” Bowman said, “just burnt my stuff up. [I] Saw [Larson] coming, so [I] moved around a little bit. Not when [Larson] passed me, but the time before that, I hit [the wall] pretty hard with the right front and ended up just bending something enough that I lost a lot of right front feel.
“And then, I pulled [the car] off the wall too far right there and hung it in the fence pretty bad. I hate that for this Ally No. 48 group. They deserve better than that and just a couple of mistakes there. [I] Felt like we were OK all day. That last run was probably the best we were, but hats off to Ally and [crew chief] Blake [Harris] and everybody for supporting this No. 48 team. Hate it for Mr. [Rick] Hendrick, congrats to Kyle and we’ll go try to get another one this week.”
Bubba Wallace, who led 56 laps, came home in third place for his first top-five finish of the 2025 season while Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin notched their second top-five finishes of the year by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Chris Buescher, AJ Allmendinger, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece and Justin Haley completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, William Byron, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and rookie Riley Herbst finished 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd, 26th, 29th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd, respectively. In addition, Ryan Blaney settled in 36th place with his second consecutive DNF in recent weeks due to an engine failure.
There were 27 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 25 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the sixth event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 36 points over teammate Kyle Larson, 39 over teammate Alex Bowman, 55 over Tyler Reddick, 58 over Christopher Bell and 63 over teammate Chase Elliott.
Race Results:
1. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led 2. Alex Bowman, 43 laps led 3. Bubba Wallace, 56 laps led 4. Chase Briscoe 5. Denny Hamlin, 15 laps led, Stage 2 winner 6. Chris Buescher 7. AJ Allmendinger 8. Tyler Reddick 9. Ryan Preece 10. Justin Haley 11. Zane Smith, three laps led 12. William Byron, one lap led 13. Austin Dillon 14. Joey Logano 15. Erik Jones 16. Noah Gragson 17. Josh Berry, two laps led 18. Chase Elliott 19. Austin Cindric 20. Michael McDowell 21. Kyle Busch 22. Daniel Suarez 23. John Hunter Nemechek 24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 25. Ty Gibbs 26. Brad Keselowski, one lap down 27. Ty Dillon, one lap down 28. Cole Custer, one lap down 29. Christopher Bell, one lap down 30. Todd Gilliland, one lap down 31. Ross Chastain, one lap down 32. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down 33. Riley Herbst, two laps down 34. Cody Ware, two laps down 35. JJ Yeley, four laps down 36. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Engine, 124 laps led, Stage 1 winner 37. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Engine, four laps led
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, for the Cook Out 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 30, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
No. 16 Team Capitalizes to Earn Second Consecutive Top 10 Finish in 2025 Season
Lexington, N.C. (March 23, 2025) – After earning a hard fought seventh place finish on Sunday, Allmendinger extended his longest active top 10 finish streak at Homestead-Miami Speedway and now holds the best average finish in the Next-Gen era at the track.
“I thought we had a really solid weekend at Homestead,” said Allmendinger. “We needed a little bit more to go contend in the top five but overall, we had really good speed. I thought Trent [Owens] made some great adjustments after the second stage when we were struggling there just getting too loose. I’m proud to have another good run at Homestead; we had great stops from our pit crew; they were on it all day. It’s really nice to put two top 10s together in a row after the disappointment we had at the start off the year. To come to these races, execute, earn stage points and finish well is really good for us to build momentum.”
In addition to earning their best finish of the season, Allmendinger and the No. 16 team earned their best qualifying effort of 10th this weekend.
“It was a great weekend for us,” said No. 16 crew chief, Trent Owens. “Obviously, AJ’s [Allmendinger] track record here is good, so we had big shoes to fill. He fought hard all day. We got off a little bit there in the middle of the race stage but got it back at the end. It feels really good to see our 16-car come away with two top 10s two weeks in a row. That gives us a little bit of a momentum boost going to Martinsville next week, which isn’t one of our best tracks. I’m really proud of the team, everyone back home and AJ for driving hard, as always. We’ll keep pushing hard to continue improving.”
Capitalizing after last week’s eighth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kaulig Racing’s Technical Director, Mike Cook, notes the team’s improvements.
“AJ [Allmendinger] picked up where he left off in Las Vegas,” said Cook. “He was a top 10 car all day there. He qualified well here this weekend and pretty much stayed in the top 10 all day. We will continue to improve as a company and those top 10s will turn into top fives and those top fives will turn into wins.”
Looking at the schedule ahead, Cook continued, “Homestead is one of AJ’s best tracks so we were looking forward to it but that doesn’t mean we can go run well at the tracks coming up, we have them all circled. Really, really good points day for the No. 16 today which is exactly what we needed after the bad luck we had in Daytona and COTA. I’m really proud of all of our guys and all the hard work they’ve put in to get these finishes.”
Allmendinger suffered a blown engine while running eighth in the Daytona 500 and finished 41st, then a tire issue took Allmendinger from forth to 30th in the final laps at COTA. Even with the two catastrophic finishes, Allmendinger finds himself 20th in driver points, just four points from 16th, the final playoff spot.
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.
RICK WARE RACING Straight Talk Wireless 400 Date: March 23, 2025 Event: Straight Talk Wireless 400 (Round 6 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval) Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/85 laps/102 laps)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford) Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 36th, Finished 34th / Running, completed 265 of 267 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (37th with 27 points)
Race Notes:
● Kyle Larson won the Straight Talk Wireless 400 to score his 30th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Homestead. His margin of victory over second-place Alex Bowman was 1.205 seconds.
● There were four caution periods for a total of 27 laps. ● Twenty-five of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● William Byron remains the championship leader after Homestead with a 36-point advantage over second-place Larson.
Sound Bites:
“The 34th-place finish definitely doesn’t show what we had there at the end. Once we got the car dialed in after Stage 1, I’d say we had a top-20, top-25 car there, for sure. Just could never get our laps back. But Billy (Plourde, crew chief) and the crew did a great job working on the car, making it better, getting it where it needed to be. Unfortunately, we were just fighting from our back foot at that point, but it gives me a little bit of confidence and hope, knowing we’re getting these cars better. Looking forward to re-racking and going to Martinsville.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Jacob Construction Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, March 30 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Josh Berry and the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse battled back from an incident on pit road to finish 17th in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Berry started Sunday’s 400 miler from the outside pole and raced in the top five and the top 10 throughout the first 80-lap Stage, finishing that segment of the race in eighth place and earning three Stage points. The pit stop during the Stage break saw Berry collide with other cars on pit road and wind up facing in the wrong direction.
After repairs to the DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse he returned to the race in 33rd place, but was able to steadily move forward, breaking back into the top 20 at Lap 110. The team’s strategy of running long almost paid off, but a spin on pit road by Daniel Suarez did not bring out the caution flag that the No. 21 team needed. Berry cycled into the lead at Lap 127 then made his green-flag pit stop.
Back on the track in 28th place he worked his way to 15th by the time the second Stage ended at Lap 165. The DEX Imaging team was unable to significantly advance its position in the third and final segment of the race, and Berry took the checkered flag in 17th place.
“Obviously, the incident on pit road kind of set us back, but our car was pretty decent,” Berry told reporters after the race. “It just wasn’t quite the same after that, but I thought we did a good job of making the most of it. It could have been a lot worse, but obviously we would have liked to have been a little bit better.”
Berry’s finish allowed him to move up one spot in the driver points standings to 12th place heading into next week’s Cook Out 400 at the Wood Brothers’ home track, Martinsville Speedway.
About DEX Imaging DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES: Reducing Operating Costs Reducing Paper Consumption Increasing Productivity
DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.
About Wood Brothers Racing Founded in 1950 by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood in Stuart, Virginia, Wood Brothers Racing holds a special place in NASCAR history as the sport’s longest-running team. Over eight decades, the team has earned 101 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, along with 120 poles, and remains proud of its longstanding relationship with Ford Motor Company, fielding only Ford products since its inception. Glenn’s brother, Leonard Wood, played a key role in shaping modern racing by developing the techniques behind today’s pit stops. With a rich legacy rooted in innovation and tradition, Wood Brothers Racing continues to honor its heritage while adapting for the future as it competes in NASCAR’s premier series with Josh Berry.
Strong Effort for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet Team Results in 13th-Place Finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Finish: 13th Start: 30th Points: 28th
“We had a solid day with our Bass Pro Shop/Winchester Chevrolet. Our team made a lot of adjustments overnight, which helped a ton, especially at the start of the race. We started deep in the field, but were able to pick cars off early. The balance fired off a little loose. Richard (Boswell, crew chief) made a call to pit halfway through Stage 1 to get tires and work on our car. Our pit crew pulled off clean, fast stops, and gained us track position all day. We consistently ran inside the top-15 for the majority of the race and drove up to seventh towards the end. In the final stretch, I just couldn’t run the wall like I needed to and lost some spots. Finishing 13th after the last couple of weeks feels like a win. Our cars have been fast this year and I’m proud of the work everyone at RCR is putting in.” -Austin Dillon
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Bank OZK Chevrolet Team Showcase Perseverance at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Finish: 21st Start: 22nd Points: 17th
“Certainly wasn’t the day we were looking for with our Bank OZK Chevrolet. We definitely missed the setup. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the guys kept working on it with every stop and we were way better at the end. Appreciate the effort they put into it. We never gave up. We’ll keep working on it.” -Kyle Busch
