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
CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES THE THERMAL CLUB INDYCAR GRAND PRIX THE THERMAL CLUB THERMAL, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP MARCH 23, 2025
PATO O’WARD AND CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD SCORE DOUBLE PODIUM FOR CHEVR0LET Arrow McLaren Duo Continued Successful Weekend with Second and Third Place Finishes
Pole sitter Pato O’Ward driving his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, led 51 of 65 laps in today’s The Thermal Club Grand Prix for the NTT INDYCAR Series
o With an ambient high temperature of 94 degrees and track temperature in excess of 120 degrees, tire wear for both red and black tires was the determining factor for how the race played out in the final 10 laps of the race with the race winner saving a new set of reds for final stint
o O’Ward sits second in the standings after two races, 39 points behind race winner and points leader Alex Palou
Arrow McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet, who started alongside O’Ward finished third to give the team and Chevrolet a double podium in the second race of the season
o Lundgaard now sits fourth in the standings, 42 behind the leader
Chevrolet scored four of the top-nine
· Two-time series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet, was the biggest mover in today’s caution-free race driving through the field from 21st starting position to finish sixth
o Power gained 15 positions with performance behind the wheel and the fastest pit crew on pit lane
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, posted a solid top-10 finish in only his second race with the team
Next on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for Team Chevy is the Streets of Long Beach on April 11-13, 2025.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
David Malukas, No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Finished 18th:
“It was a toTwo-ugh race. We knew it was going to be tough going into it, and it was almost a little bit of a curse, making it to Q2 and using up our reds because to everybody’s [surprise], I guess, we didn’t expect it, but the Reds [alternate tires] ended up being the better tire by quite a big margin. And we only had one new Red set when everybody else had two, and everybody kind of filtered out from there on. So made it to P8 on the new Reds, and from there, it was just survival, holding on. We came out with a P18 in the end. So really rough race. We knew it was going to be tough. Definitely a weekend to forget and move on to Long Beach.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Finished 14th:
“It was honestly a really good race on our red tire runs. It was a bit of a bummer to lose the hybrid due to heat soak. But I don’t think we were the only one struggling with something like that. Just our prime tire run, we didn’t account for the balance being as badly shifted as it was, and we kind of missed the strategy just a little bit, but overall, it wasn’t a terrible day. Could have been worse.”
“We took a gamble and it didn’t work out for us. We had used our new reds in the start because we didn’t really quite know what the deg was going to be like, the deg profile. The blacks really kind of took a turn in the negative towards the end of the race and that was it. We didn’t really stand a fighting chance. But thanks for all of the fans hanging in there with us. Thanks to you guys for tuning in and hopefully it was somewhat of an entertainment. Long Beach is what’s coming up and hopefully we can have a repeat weekend, maybe even go one better. We have fought for the championship every single year, and that’s where I expect to be. The weekends like this is where every point does count. Every win does count for so much more and we just missed it by that, you definitely feel like you’ve left some points on the table where if we would’ve gone tomorrow, we maybe would’ve done something different. But, yeah, happy with the points day and we’re going to keep pushing. It’s a long, long, long season ahead and the ovals are a different beast as well. We need to be strong everywhere.”
“That was extremely frustrating. I think we had good race pace, but we ended up on the wrong strategy. We did one more stop than everyone else and couldn’t make up that time again. I’m frustrated and disappointed, and I don’t think that’s what this group deserves. I feel like I’ve said that every weekend now and we need to do something to stop feeling that way. Hopefully, we have a better one in Long Beach.”
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 3rd:
“I think the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet has done a very good job. The entire team has done a very good job all weekend. We just didn’t have it there. We gave it a shot and came up short, but having two cars on the podium is as well of a day we could’ve wished for coming into Thermal. It’s tough seeing this guy beat us every single event. We’ve got to find a way to stop him. Gotta thank the fans too for sticking in there. It’s a long race, it’s tough.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Finished 9th:
“Ultimately a strong weekend for the ECR Java House team, but still a bit disappointed with P9. We looked like we were on for a Top 5 but some things didn’t quite go our way. Despite that, super proud of all the effort this weekend and we will continue pushing forward in Long Beach.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Finished 12th:
“We finished P12 from starting P19. It was a good race for us even though we struggled this weekend finding the balance on the primary tire. The No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet crew did an amazing job getting the car in the window which allowed us move forward a bit. We’ll keep building on these results and there is more to come in the future.”
Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Finished 16th:
“At the start, we kind of just got boxed in and shoved off track there and we just kinda had to work forward from there on though. But honestly, we had a couple of good passes on track, a couple of good battles and worked our way forwards. We were really fast on reds and had good pits stops, which felt really good, but we just weren’t able to do anything crazy. I would say overall, happy with our pace on reds. We just keep stacking away points and keep getting better one race at a time.”
Sting Ray, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Finished 23rd:
“Not a super exciting day for us. Being in the race was very fun. Lots of chaos, which welcome to INDYCAR racing. But really surprised the way the tires worked out. I think that having a it be red tire race kind of hurt us quite a bit. Not our cleanest day. Made up a spot on track, so write it up to a good experience. Thanks to the Goodheart Freedom Service Dogs car and all the crew that worked hard this weekend. We made some improvements and learned a lot.”
Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Chevrolet, Finished 22nd:
“In the morning, the car felt pretty decent despite very few laps with it. Then, in the race, the first stint was mega. I came from the back towards the mid-pack and was battling with Scott Dixon. Honestly, at that stage, it felt really good and felt like we could challenge for the top 10. Then, again from that moment on, everything just started to fall apart. We came to pit, and we had a really slow pitstop. From then on, on Prime tires, I had zero grip. I don’t understand what was going on. And then at the end, to top it off, I had a hybrid issue. Overall, this is definitely a weekend to forget.”
Callum Ilott, No. 90 PREMA Chevrolet, Finished 26th:
“It was a shame about the contact on lap one. It was just a bit of a concertina, and way, way more damage than it should have been. It was quite costly. Unfortunately we had a bit of an issue in the pitstop with the with the fuel, which didn’t help. We had to do an extra pitstop to recoup that. But the positive was the pace and the car felt good. It’s a shame to have all those issues early on. We’ve got to work through these, there are some lessons for me and some lessons for the team, but the positive was that we had a top 10 pace-car and a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes and there’s been a lot of improvement.”
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 13th:
“Just a tough day for us on the No. 2 car. I had more potential, but I probably missed out on the tire game today, not utilizing the reds enough. That’s still a really strong effort from the team to try and make the most of it which I think we did with the 13th place. We can take those points and move forward. It’s a long season, so we had a tough weekend here, and we’ll try and get things turned around in Long Beach and get back towards the front.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 27th:
“Not the day we wanted for the XPEL Chevy. Tough weekend all around, really, but I was very confident going into today that we would have good race pace. I’m confident that we could have moved up through the field like Will (Power) and Josef (Newgarden) were able to do. Unfortunately, the issue we had with our MGU (motor generator unit) caused it to go into critical mode and we had to sit on pit lane for several laps while draining the battery and resetting everything. Very thankful that we got a solid finish to start the year at St. Pete. We’ll just go about climbing back out of this points hole.”
Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 6th:
“Yeah, that’s a big day considering it was full green. They didn’t get any lucky yellows or anything. That was pure pace there. The guys had a great strategy and we had great speed. I was really patient and methodical getting through the field. I think we’re all pretty disappointed with qualifying. I thought we certainly should’ve been in at least the top 10. That’s racing. That’s a good day. You look on those days and that’s the sort of thing that will help you win a championship there. We had an extra set of reds there. It helped, yes. Big time. It was kind of cool because at St. Pete, you didn’t have that luxury because the green was so soft, you couldn’t event use it in the race. But in this race, the (alternate) was the preferred tire. It was just, man, you had one lap to do it. Made a mistake starting the lap. The tire wasn’t quite in and I was disappointed with that because I’d been very fast in practice, running in the top six most of the time. But, you know, this is INDYCAR, anything can happen. Keep your head on and keep rolling.”
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, as we wrap-up Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix here at beautiful Thermal Club.
Joined now by Pato O’Ward, who led a race-high 51 laps today, his first runner-up finish since Nashville last year. 27th career podium finish. And his teammate Christian Lundgaard, his fourth career podium.
Pato, we’ll begin with you. Your thoughts on a podium and a second-place finish, although I’m sure you are a little disappointed not being on the top step today.
PATO O’WARD: No, it’s all very good points day for the team today. Obviously we were the car that had everything to lose because we were starting on pole. I think we led like 50-something laps.
THE MODERATOR: 51.
PATO O’WARD: 51 laps. It kind of sucks to lose it there in the end.
Yeah, we need to keep pushing. We obviously weren’t perfect. There is obviously something that we could have done better in order to give it more of a proper fight to the 10 car.
Yeah, great weekend all around. Great recovery. Looking forward to Long Beach.
THE MODERATOR: Christian, congratulations on the podium. First one since last May at the IMS road course. You share Pato’s thoughts on a good weekend for Arrow McLaren?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I think where we were in St. Pete to where we are now, I think it’s a clear step. The 7 car, we had a good weekend. We scored some points in St. Pete coming here. I think overall looking across the three cars, we’re more competitive. Leaving with two podiums, a first and second, qualifying, I think we can be very happy with the weekend.
He keeps beating us every time, so we need to stop that (smiling).
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Pato, on the radio quite a few times you were told that you were not able or not supposed to use hybrid. Can you explain why and if that had an impact on your race?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, for 50% of the race I couldn’t use the thing. Just overheats (smiling), so…
Obviously here it’s probably one of the most helpful areas where the hybrid is of good use because of those very stop-and-go corners and long straightaways.
In race trim, like, if you’re asking me if I would have won that race if I didn’t have those issues, the answer is still no (laughter.
Q. Christian, did you have the same issues with yours?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yes.
Q. Lap traffic an issue either at any point?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yes.
PATO O’WARD: I mean, I hate to whine about it, but it sucks to be the leader. All of our Chevy affiliate teams are worthless with helping when a Chevy leader is coming up on them. Honda seem to work as a team very, very well because Foster was doing everything in his power to keep me behind. Palou gets right behind him, and he just lets him cruise by.
I still think Palou would have gotten us sooner or later. Obviously that just makes it a bit more of an annoyance rather than a joy.
Q. When F1 teams go 1-2, is that any extra motivation, or are you aware of it? Does it change your mindset?
PATO O’WARD: Oh, we’re aware, man. We want to be doing what F1 is currently doing.
I think the fight here in INDYCAR is different, definitely different. I think McLaren right now are leading the way in their situation, and we’re still chasing. We’re still chasing to be the best, so…
We’ll get there.
Q. As far as how much further you have to go to catch, how much further do you feel like you are along now compared to a year ago?
PATO O’WARD: Definitely better. Definitely. I mean, to be fair, this probably was one of the tracks where I personally felt like we really didn’t have a fighting chance. We put two cars on the front row, and we got some hard work today.
Yeah, like Christian said, it just seems like every time someone is winning, it’s always Palou in the 10. He’s obviously figured it out. He’s got a great team behind him. We just need to keep pushing. There’s really not another way.
Q. Christian, probably one of the most exciting portions of the race was when you and Alex were battling for second place. How intense was that from your point of view?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I knew I lost that fight. He was out on the sticker set of alternates at the end of the race. I was on a sticker set of primes. I knew he was going to have the advantage.
I knew Pato was five seconds up the road, so I tried to make him lose as much time fairly as possible. We had some fun, but it didn’t really seem to bother him.
Q. When you race a guy like Alex Palou, do you have a lot of trust that he’s going to race you hard, but it’s going to be clean?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, yeah, it is clean. Don’t get me wrong, there is going to be a point when you’re racing someone that you think is clean isn’t.
But at this point it was, so that was good.
Q. Under these very hot circumstances, the conditions, how difficult was it totally for you? Any dehydration problems? Once Alex Palou passed you both, when he passed you, could you see or recognize some little secrets in the car, why he’s so dominant?
PATO O’WARD: Sticker set of red tires. That was the answer for losing the lead.
And I would say that I have forgotten what you asked first.
Oh, the heat. No, honestly the pace was super slow, the whole pace of the race. We were just kind of out there controlling it really because you’re just taking care of the tires. Physically for me really wasn’t an issue.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I agree. I agree, so… Simple.
Q. Did you feel like you did everything you could do today and just got beat by the strategy and what they were able to do?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah. I think the team did a phenomenal job in the pits. I mean, the car has been a joy to drive all weekend. In the race, as well.
We ran a red, black, black, black race. I think it should have been a red, red, black, black or any sort of combination with two reds and two blacks. I think we missed it on the 5 car. We can only see why we chose that, try not to make that mistake again.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I think the car that I had yesterday was potentially a little more preferred for me than today. I think we made some changes going into warm-up that felt nice in warm-up, but it was 40 degrees cooler. We carried those into the race. To me that didn’t really seem to be the preferred.
But I think in terms of strategy, I think we did what we could. I’m still a little doubtful why we went new stickers on the second stint instead of trying to do a little bit like Alex did, but it’s always easy to be smart after the fact.
I think we need to sit down and look at the facts and all the information that we have and come back in Long Beach and learn from those mistakes.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll let you go, Christian and Pato. Thank you.
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THERMAL, Calif. - MARCH 23: Alex Palou (C) sprays champagne in celebration of his victory in the NTT IndyCar Series Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix on March 23, 2025, in Thermal, California. Photo: Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment
With 13 laps to go to go at the Thermal Club, Alex Palou cut the lead to 3.5 seconds. Then, with 12 to go, he cut it to under two seconds. With 11 to go, he pulled up to the rear of Pato O’Ward.
Palou ran down into Turn 7 to overtake O’Ward for the lead with 10 laps to go and drove onto his second straight win to start the 2025 NTT INDYCAR Series season.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “We love this feeling obviously. I think everybody does. We never take anything for granted, at least they don’t, anybody in the team. They just keep on working and giving me better cars and all the tools that I need to try and win and fight for the races.
“It’s been incredible, an incredible weekend with lots of speed and perfect execution on pit stop, strategy. At the beginning starting on used reds, we didn’t know if they were going to make it five laps, 10 or 15.”
O’Ward, who led a race-high of 51 laps, finished runner-up. Christian Lundgaard rounded out the podium in third.
“No, it’s all very good points day for the team today,” O’Ward said. “Obviously we were the car that had everything to lose because we were starting on pole. I think we led like 50-something laps. It kind of sucks to lose it there in the end. Yeah, we need to keep pushing. We obviously weren’t perfect. There is obviously something that we could have done better in order to give it more of a proper fight to the 10 car. Yeah, great weekend all around. Great recovery. Looking forward to Long Beach.”
“Yeah, I think where we were in St. Pete to where we are now, I think it’s a clear step,” Lundgaard said. “The 7 car, we had a good weekend. We scored some points in St. Pete coming here. I think overall looking across the three cars, we’re more competitive. Leaving with two podiums, a first and second, qualifying, I think we can be very happy with the weekend.”
Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top five.
Will Power, Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood, Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon rounded out the top 10.
Race summary
O’Ward led the field to green at 3:23 p.m. ET. After three laps, he pulled out to a 2.5-second lead over Lundgaard. After five laps, he extended the lead out to four seconds. Lundgaard started the first cycle of pit stops from second on Lap 10 for new Firestone reds. O’Ward pit from the lead on Lap 17 for new Firestone blacks as Rossi pit from the lead a lap later for used Firestone reds. This cycled O’Ward back to the lead on Lap 19.
O’Ward picked up where he left off in the first run of the race by pulling out to a 3.5-second lead by Lap 25. Josef Newgarden and Dixon kicked off a second round of pit stops on Lap 26. Newgarden took new reds, while Dixon took used reds.
During this cycle, the broadcast feed went out and FOX switched over to NASCAR at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Our INDYCAR production truck has an electrical issue. We are working to get it fixed as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, we have NASCAR bonus coverage on FOX and FS1 until the INDYCAR truck is back online.
The third and final cycle of green flag stops commenced on Lap 45. O’Ward pit from the lead on Lap 49 for blacks. After a five-corner overtake battle with Lundgaard, Palou, on reds, cut bits and chunks out of O’Ward’s lead on the run to the finish.
What else happened
Coming to the green, Devlin DeFrancesco made contact with Scott McLaughlin in Turn 15 and turned him. He received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
Marcus Ericsson went off track and spun out on Lap 16.
Nuts and bolts
The race lasted one hour, 56 minutes and 23 seconds, at an average speed of 102.771 mph. There were five lead changes among three different drivers and zero cautions for the first time in 72 IndyCar races.
Palou leaves with a 39-point lead.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action on April 13 on the streets of Long Beach.
Alex Palou once again made the impossible possible, completing a late dash from a nine-second deficit to pass pole sitter Pato O’Ward and drive away to win The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix on Sunday, staying perfect in two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season.
Palou earned his 13th career victory in the No. 10 DHL Honda Chip Ganassi Racing car, beating O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to the finish by 10.1854 seconds. Christian Lundgaard finished third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet as the team captured two of the three podium positions for the first time since May 2023.
“What an amazing weekend,” said Palou, who started third. “We had a really fast car since practice, and everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing on the 10 car executed perfectly. We knew it was aggressive to start with the used reds (alternate tires), and we knew that we were looking toward the end of the race with that 10 car, and we did it.”
Two events into the 17-race season, Palou leads second-place O’Ward by 39 points in the championship standings.
“It’s tough seeing this guy beat us all every single event,” Lundgaard said. “We’ve got to find a way to stop him.”
Colton Herta finished fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global, while Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top five in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing.
Palou rallied from a nine-second deficit with 15 laps remaining in the 65-lap race, the first caution-free NTT INDYCAR SERIES event since October 2020. He selected the more grippy, faster Firestone Firehawk alternate compound tires during his last pit stop at the end of Lap 49. O’Ward made his final stop at the end of Lap 50, taking Firestone Firehawk primary compound tires.
Three-time and two-time reigning series champion Palou passed O’Ward for good on Lap 56, diving under his rival entering Turn 7 on the abrasive 17-turn, 3.067-mile natural terrain road course. Palou’s superior tire grip allowed him to rocket away from the field. His lead blossomed to three seconds on Lap 58, mushrooming to six seconds by Lap 61.
The winning move was set up by the Chip Ganassi Racing team’s decision to take alternate tires on Palou’s last stop. That helped him pass Lundgaard for second place on Lap 50 – one lap after Palou’s final stop – after a spirited joust over multiple corners.
Then Palou set sail for O’Ward and reeled him in with astonishing pace, pulling to within 4.9 seconds by Lap 52 and 1.3 seconds by Lap 53 as O’Ward coped with slower traffic and less grip from his tires.
“We took a gamble; it didn’t work out for us,” O’Ward said. “We had used our new reds (alternate tires) at the start because we didn’t really quite know what the deg (tire degradation) was going to be like. The blacks (primary tires) really kind of took a turn for the negative at the end of the race, and that was it. We didn’t stand a fighting chance.”
Palou became the first driver to win the first two races of the season since CGR teammate Scott Dixon opened 2020 with three consecutive victories en route to his sixth championship. Palou’s titles have come in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
NTT P1 Award winner O’Ward controlled most of the race from the pole. He led 51 of the first 55 laps, surrendering the top spot only during pit stops.
But O’Ward and 25 other drivers left Southern California empty-handed after another masterpiece of tactics and temerity by Palou and strategist Barry Wanser. In the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2, Palou and Wanser made the quick shift to alternate tires early in the race and then Palou executed flawless, blazing in and out laps surrounding his last pit stop to ensure victory.
The next race is the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 13 (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). A Spanish-language telecast will be available on FOX Deportes.
BRASELTON, Ga. (March 23, 2025) – Thomas Annunziata continued his strong start to the 2025 season, earning his second-straight CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series victory in the Mission Foods Road Atlanta SpeedTour at Road Atlanta. Annunziata started on the pole and led from flag to flag in his No. 90 Gazoo Racing/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry, spearheading a podium-sweeping 1-2-3 finish for Nitro Motorsports and leading a 1-2 finish for the new Toyota Camry.
Notes of Interest:
Thomas Annunziata earned the fourth win of his Trans Am career and his first victory at Road Atlanta.
Nitro Motorsports swept the Trans Am podium for the first time ever, with the team’s drivers Annunziata, Tyler Gonzalez, Julian DaCosta finishing 1-2-3.
Annunziata and Gonzalez both bettered their 2024 Road Atlanta results, with the two finishing second and third, respectively, last year.
Julian DaCosta earned his first-career Trans Am podium.
All three podium finishers are Young Gun Award contenders under the age of 21. Annunziata is 19, Gonzalez is 20 and DaCosta is 17, making the average age on the podium 18.6.
After setting a new track record and winning the pole in qualifying, Annunziata took the green flag and pulled ahead to an immediate lead. Behind him, second-place starter Julian DaCosta (No. 30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) and third-place starter Tyler Gonzalez (No. 10 Mobil 1/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) were side-by-side, drag racing through the esses before Gonzalez took over second place in Turn 7. The field was slowed by the conclusion of the first lap for a car in the wall, with racing resuming on lap five.
Annunziata led Gonzalez, DaCosta, three-time champion Rafa Matos (No. 57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro) and Boris Said Jr. (No. 60 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) across the line on the restart, and he and Gonzalez began to distance themselves from the rest of the top five. The two battled each other until lap 10, when the safety car was deployed for a caution period to clean up several on-track incidents, including one involving fifth-place Said Jr. and seventh-place Mike Skeen (No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage Chevrolet), which allowed Sam Corry (No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) to enter the top five.
The green flag waved once again on lap 15 and Gonzalez fought hard on Annunziata’s tail. On lap 17, Matos put two wheels off the racing surface, allowing Corry to pass him for the fourth position. By lap 20, Annunziata began to open up a lead over Gonzalez, gapping him by a second and a half. A long green-flag run ensued, and when racing was slowed on lap 30, Annunziata had a nearly four-second advantage over his teammate.
The restart on lap 33 was excellent for Gonzalez, but the double yellow was displayed on lap 34 for a car stuck in Turn 10. Gonzalez was able to do it again when racing resumed on lap 37, hanging tightly on Annunziata’s rear bumper. The following lap, he looked poised to challenge for the lead, but Gonzalez made his first mistake of the race, putting two wheels off the track and slightly slowing his progress. With two laps remaining, Gonzalez was unable make the pass, and Annunziata took the checkered flag. Annunziata was followed by Nitro Motorsports teammates Gonzalez, DaCosta, and Corry, with Silver Hare Racing’s Matos crossing the finish line fifth.
After the race, a post-race penalty for avoidable contact was assessed to Sam Corry, relegating him to the 14th position. With Matos promoted to fourth, Tristan McKee (No. 28 Spire Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) became the final car to finish in the top five.
“The race was good from start to finish,” said Annunziata on the podium. “I was a little worried there in the beginning. I didn’t have the greatest short-run pace, and I thought Gonzalez was going to have something for me there. We started to eke it out, and I felt really good. I mean, it’s an amazing way to introduce Toyota to the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, which is super, super cool. Thank you to everyone at Nitro Motorsports, Michael Brallier, Ronnie Otto, and Nick Tucker for giving me such an amazing opportunity and allowing me to drive these racecars. It’s the first time we’ve ever had a Nitro Motorsports 1-2-3 finish, which is super cool. That’s all down to having such a talented group of people behind us and talented drivers such as Tyler Gonzalez and Julian DaCosta. Congrats to them as well. Gonzalez kept me honest there at the end. I thought I was going to potentially lose it there. That was scary; I didn’t like that. Thank you to Chipoys and everyone here at Road Atlanta.”
CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series National Championship Top 10:
Thomas Annunziata, No. 90 Gazoo Racing/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry
Tyler Gonzalez, No. 10 Mobil 1/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry
Julian DaCosta, No. 30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
Rafa Matos, No. 57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro
Tristan McKee, No. 28 Spire Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro
Adrian Wlostowski, No. 3 CMI/Spot-On-Services/AMT Motorsports Ford Mustang
Mike Skeen, No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage Chevrolet Camaro
Caleb Bacon, No. 18 Bacon Development/Custom Homes Chevrolet Camaro
Edan Thornburrow, No. 15 Owosso Speedway Ford Mustang
Mia Lovell, No. 40 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
Barry Boes (No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) started the Pro/Am Challenge race first in class, but got held up on the first lap, allowing Keith Prociuk (Keith Prociuk, No. 9 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang) to take the lead, which he held for much of the event. Both Prociuk and Boes were hit by another competitor in the field late in the event, leading to a swap in position on lap 29, and fourth-place starter Jared Odrick (No. 00 Black Underwear Ford Mustang) overcame an early spin to fight his way back to the front of the class. In the final laps, the three competitors were running close together and swapping spots, while battling it out to the checkered flag. Prociuk ultimately crossed the finish line first, followed by Odrick and Boes.
After the race, a post-race penalty for avoidable contact was assessed to Odrick, relegating him fourth in class. Cale Phillips in the No. 99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang was awarded the final podium spot.
“That was a fantastic race,” said Prociuk. “All three of us have been fast all weekend long, so I knew it’d be between the three of us. Barry [Boes] just got me in qualifying by two tenths, but on the start, I think he just kind of got held up, so I got him on lap one. It was a hard race, all race long. Great racing with Jared [Odrick], really clean, really hard. I really appreciate it. Same thing with you, Barry. Thanks to HP Tuners. Thanks to Mike Cope, Travis Cope, Thomas Merrill; you guys are absolutely fantastic, I really appreciate it. I hope we can keep this up. Thanks, Trans Am, and thanks to all the officials and safety workers that keep us safe out there.”
TA2 Pro/Am Podium:
Keith Prociuk, No. 9 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang
Barry Boes, No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro
Cale Phillips, No. 99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang.
Omologato Watches Fastest Lap of the Race:
Thomas Annunziata, No. 90 Gazoo Racing/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry
THREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSES FINISH INSIDE TOP-FIVE AT HOMESTEAD Bubba Wallace earns season-best result of third position
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 23, 2025) – Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin earned top-five finishes Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, ending the day in third, fourth and fifth position, respectively. Tyler Reddick joined the trio inside the top-10 on Sunday, coming home eighth in his attempt to defend his Homestead win from last October.
Wallace led the second most laps on the day (56) and earned his best career finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in his seventh start. Briscoe also earned his career-best result at the Florida oval in his fifth start, as well as tying his best finish so far in the 2025 season. For Hamlin, he climbed his way from the 23rd starting position to capture the Stage 2 win and lead 15 laps.
The NASCAR Cup Series is off to Martinsville Speedway next Sunday, March 30.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Homestead-Miami Speedway Race 6 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson* 2nd, Alex Bowman* 3rd, BUBBA WALLACE 4th, CHASE BRISCOE 5th, DENNY HAMLIN 8th, TYLER REDDICK 15th, ERIK JONES 23rd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK 25th, TY GIBBS 29th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 33rd, RILEY HERBST *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What was the difference on that final restart and stint?
“Yeah, I need to look back (at it), but all-in-all, what a day. Finally got us a good finish! But we need to go back and look at if I burned my stuff up to start there (final stint). I thought I got into a rhythm early, but that was a longer run there so thought our capability fell away. I got into the fence there and that allowed him (Alex Bowman) to get beside me and then just capability from then on wasn’t there. Hate that I messed up, but I came over the radio and said ‘I haven’t been in many situations like that to give away a race so a lot to learn today. I can’t even hang my head over that finish. Proud of the effort in race six. We’ve had fast cars, just nothing to show for it (yet). But, here we are. Got our Columbia Sportswear Toyota Camry XSE a top-three finish, so a good day.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Classic Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How would you describe your race today?
“Yeah, it was for sure a chaotic day for us with the brake issues and tire vibrations. Had three or four bad pit stops, so just had to keep coming from behind, kind of all day long but this is honestly what needed. Our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE just needed a solid finish and a good day when we were up front – I say without anything happening to us but we had a lot happen to us, but we were able to overcome it. Hopefully, we can take this and build on it. We’ve had speed to run in the top-five all year, just haven’t been able to show it. Have a lot of good race tracks for myself and the team coming up so looking forward to it.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What’s your takeaway from today’s race?
“Yeah, a solid day, just needed a little bit more speed at the end. We would have runs there where I thought we had a top-three car and we had runs where it would end there and it’d be fringe top-five. Overall, great job by Chris (Gayle, crew chief) and the whole Progressive Toyota Camry XSE team to bring me a car where we could battle back and obviously, win Stage 2 there, and at least contend. Certainly a lot better, just need to work on the little stuff and be slightly better to run the kind of speed it takes to win.”
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.
NASCAR CUP SERIES HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT MARCH 23, 2025
Larson Puts Chevrolet in Victory Lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 1st – Kyle Larson 2nd – Alex Bowman 7th – AJ Allmendinger 10th – Justin Haley
For the first time this season and 30th time in his career, Kyle Larson earned a trip to victory lane in NASCAR’s premier series – driving his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet to the win in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Taking the green flag for the series’ sixth points-paying race of the season, Larson drove his Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet to a pair of top-10 stage finishes, going on to lead 19 laps en route to the triumph and an early ticket into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Chevrolet is the first manufacturer to capture a tripleheader sweep this season, with Larson also capturing the win in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, and fellow Team Chevy driver, Justin Allgaier, and the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team earning back-to-back trips to victory lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The victory – Chevrolet’s second of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season – is the Bowtie brand’s eighth victory in the division at Homestead-Miami Speedway to make it a three-way tie on the all-time wins leaderboard among its manufacturer competitors. Among those triumphs includes now two wins in four races in the Next Gen era at the 1.5-mile Florida oval, each earned by Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team.
In six points-paying races, Larson is the second different Chevrolet driver to collect a victory and an early ticket into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs – joining reigning DAYTONA 500 champion and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.
Runner-up finisher, Alex Bowman, and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team put on a stout Saturday performance with the 31-year-old Tucson, Arizona, native becoming the third different driver to earn Chevrolet a pole position in NASCAR’s top division this season. The qualifying effort extended Chevrolet’s pole-winning feats to three-straight, with the Bowtie brand now leading its manufacturer competitors in pole triumphs with six points-paying races complete.
The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team showed early speed, with Larson climbing his way up to a fourth-place finish in Stage One. Pitting during the stage break for the team’s second scheduled stop of the race, calamity ensued in the race off pit road between Josh Berry and Joey Logano, ultimately puncturing a hole in the left-side rocker of the No. 5 Chevrolet. Despite the damage, Larson remained a contender throughout much of the remainder of the race before taking the checkered flag for the first time this season.
Among the five drivers who collected points in both stages of the 400-mile race included a trio of Hendrick Motorsports drivers: Kyle Larson (4th; 2nd), Williams Byron (6th; 4th) and Alex Bowman (2nd; 6th). Despite facing a pit road speeding penalty with under 60 laps to go, Byron will maintain the points lead for the fifth consecutive week as the series heads to the seventh points-paying race of the season at Martinsville Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger continued his mile-and-a-half momentum by piloting his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to back-to-back top-10 finishes – taking the checkered flag in the seventh position. Completing the Team Chevy top-10 included Spire Motorsports’ Justin Haley, who collected the No. 7 Chevrolet team’s first top-10 finish of the season.
Chevrolet’s all-time NASCAR Cup Series statistics at Homestead-Miami Speedway:
Wins: 8 Poles: 7 Top-Fives: 54 Top-10s: 112
Chevrolet’s season statistics with six NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 2 Poles: 3 Top-Fives: 13 Top-10s: 29
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Martinsville Speedway with the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, March 30, at 3 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO PUT IT ON THE BOARDS AND MAKE IT SO PERFECT THAT LAST RUN?
“It was far from perfect. I gave up a spot and a half, almost two spots, by hitting the wall too many times. I knew I wasn’t going to get the best restart there, and I knew I wasn’t good on the short runs. I just thought if I could hold off the 11 and the 45 behind me, I could get to running the top. And the 19 too, but then I got in the wall, and I let him by. I just had to keep plugging away with what I know and what’s good for me.
Just proud of myself, proud of the team. Just a lot of gritty, hard work by the team today. Damage on pit road, qualifying bad, bad restarts, all that stuff. So just super pumped and one of the coolest wins in my Cup career because of all the heartbreak I have had here, the heartbreak yesterday, and to just keep my head down and keep digging feels really good.”
AS YOU GET THE LEAD THERE WITH ABOUT 10 TO GO, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? NO CAUTION RIGHT NOW?
“Oh yeah, that is what I am thinking every time I am in the lead, especially here at Homestead. So yeah, just crazy. I knew with me coming toward those guys, they were going to start moving around and making mistakes. I felt like if I could just keep pressure on Alex (Bowman), that he would make a mistake. He caught the wall there and I got by him easier than I expected to. Still had to work hard though. My balance, once I got in clean air, was really loose, ust like those guys were.
Hats off to the whole team — HENDRICKCARS.COM, Chevrolet, Prime, Valvoline, the whole Hendrick Engine Shop and everybody at the Hendrick Automotive Group.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 7th
“I can 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.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
You possibly hit the wall off of turn four, but that final stretch, where do you feel like Kyle Larson (race winner) was a little bit better?
“The No. 5 (Kyle Larson) was way better than us on the long runs all day and he showed up there at the end. I just tried to push a little too hard and kind of hung it in the fence there, so that’s on me. I just didn’t do a good enough job, but congratulations to Kyle Larson and the No. 5 team on getting the win.”
How would you assess the performance, overall, of this No. 48 team?
“Yeah, it was a good day for the No. 48 Ally Unrivaled League Chevy team. We have some work to do, for sure. But overall, it was a really good weekend for us at a racetrack that hasn’t been very good to us in the past.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 20th
It was an up-and-down day for the No. 71 Delaware Life Chevy team. We made a lot of adjustments throughout the race. We got our Chevy good at one point, and then on that last run, it just got really tight again. It was unfortunate, but we’re figuring it out. We’re making little gains at a time. We had a couple good runs that we felt like we were moving forward and doing the right things, and then a couple where we didn’t. We have to go back and look at it all; keep making the gains. I’m proud of the No. 7 team. Justin Haley and Rodney Childers did a great job and got a top-10 finish there, so that’s awesome. Good notes to look at and we’ll keep plugging away.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk 400 Sunday, March 23, 2025 — Homestead-Miami Speedway
Ford Unofficial Finishing Results:
6th – Chris Buescher 9th – Ryan Preece 11th – Zane Smith 14th – Joey Logano 16th – Noah Gragson 17th – Josh Berry 19th – Austin Cindric 26th – Brad Keselowski 28th – Cole Custer 30th – Todd Gilliand 34th – Cody Ware 36th – Ryan Blaney
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was good. I feel like it was one of my best Homestead races and without the speeding penalty it could have been a really awesome points day. I thought we had a lot of versatility in our Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang and I thought that was important for keeping track position and gaining track position. I thought my guys did a really solid job on pit road today. A lot of the right pieces to execute, but I just dropped the ball on my end on the speed. A hundredth of a mile an hour, so that stings, so we have little bit to clean up but I’m proud of the total effort by everybody today.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Kroger/Farm Rich Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We used this Kroger/Farm Rich Ford Mustang up today, but it was a pretty fun day. We made some progress on it, but we still have some tweaks to be better. We’ll work on that, but this was a pretty solid Homestead given where we were the last go-round. The team made some good adjustments and we had a strong restart and was able to hang on. I wish we could have gotten one more. We were definitely faster than the 11, but we were kind of stuck in one lane and it’s the lane he wanted to run too. I just couldn’t find a lane to get by, but, overall, it’s good to be that fast down here. I’m excited.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Obviously, the incident on pit road kind of set us back, but our car was pretty decent. 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 would have liked to been a little bit better.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Aaron’s Rent to Own Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I obviously knew our car had some speed in it, but we were going into today with me wishing it just drove a little bit better to manage throughout a run, and I feel like we more than accomplished that. The gains we made overnight were great. I was looking for more of a front end and we really accomplished that, and with that it kind of gave me the opportunity to run the bottom when a lot of people were up top. They would go bottom to try to block and I was still able to maintain up there and never really had to use the fence into one and two. I had that mistake on my end, but fortunately it was early in the race and was able to battle back from it. I knew our car was good enough to, but you just never know how these are gonna play out, especially when you lose track position. I was just really proud of the effort.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – SECOND STRAIGHT TOP 10 TODAY. “I felt like it went pretty well today. We made an adjustment there and lost a bunch of track position, but we were definitely pretty happy with how the car was and put it back to where it was and drove forward. 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.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT DID YOU FEEL INSIDE THE CAR? “I didn’t have any warning. It just laid over when I got back to wide-open down the front and that was all she wrote. It just stinks. We had a really fast Dent Wizard Ford Mustang. We led a lot of laps. We lost a little bit of track position there with some stuff on pit road, but got back to third and it was a great race between me and Bubba and Larson. I’m sure Denny was gonna get back into it. It was gonna be a heck of a battle the last 60 laps or so, but it just didn’t really work out for us. We’ll continue to keep fighting. I appreciate the 12 guys for just giving me a hot rod. It was an incredibly, incredibly fast race car today. We’ll keep our heads up. It’s just one of those things where it’s not really going our way right now, but the good news is we’re bringing fast cars and that’s all you can ask for. We’ll keep on moving.”
Felix Rosenqvist finishes fifth, Marcus Armstrong finishes seventh
First dual top-10 result for MSR since Mid-Ohio 2022
Both MSR cars started in top 10 for second consecutive race
Thermal, Calif. – (23 March 2025) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) put together one of its strongest NTT INDYCAR SERIES weekends of the last few seasons, putting both of its cars in the top 10 for the first time since 2022 in claiming fifth and seventh in Sunday’s Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) fought back after losing some early positions and earned a season-best fifth-place finish to lead the MSR results. The Swede was joined in the top 10 by teammate Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM / Root Insurance Honda), whose seventh-place result marked his first top 10 since joining the Ohio-based team in the offseason.
The race results were buoyed by another solid qualifying session as both cars (Armstrong, 7th; Rosenqvist, 9th) started in the top 10. The qualifying result saw Rosenqvist start 10th or better for the fifth consecutive race, dating back to the end of the 2024 season and is the first time that MSR has started an INDYCAR SERIES season with back-to-back double top-10 qualifiers.
The team stayed true to its strategy on a very warm day in Thermal, California where the 17-turn, 3.067-mile circuit made tire choices a key component of the plan. Both MSR Hondas started on the harder black-walled Firestone tires and Armstrong ran well, but Rosenqvist dropped five spots on the opening stint before using the softer, grippier red sidewalled shoes for the rest of the 95-lap race.
Rosenqvist made the added grip pay off as the veteran battled back into the top 10 and was in sixth after the completion of the final round of pit stops. Both MSR cars showed late-race speed as well, with Rosenqvist climbing into the top five with less than five laps to go. Armstrong ran in the top 10 all day long as well and vaulted to seventh with two passes in the waning laps. The strong finishes were the third and fourth top-10 placings of the season and were the 39th and 40th in MSR team history.
The team will have a few weeks to plan for continued success as the INDYCAR SERIES season resumes with an April 13 trip to Southern California for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is the oldest street-course event on the schedule.
Felix Rosenqvist: “It was a weird one, we really struggled on the blacks in the first stint. Luckily we got off them pretty quick cause we struggled and then we just did the whole race on reds. We were the opposite on reds, we were really good, one of the strongest cars I think. We capitalized on that and picked up a few cars in the end and ended P5. I would say that’s a pretty good day from P9. It was a game of patience, kind of just going a little bit slower than you want to, to be quick at the end. It was a game of chess.”
Marcus Armstrong: “It was a long race, so I really struggled on used alternates. I wasn’t happy with the balance of the car, but we slowly made adjustments through the race and then put some new reds on at the end and we were pretty rapid. It’s a shame that the used tire runs were so tricky, but I’m glad that we made up some ground at the end and finished where we started.”
Justin Allgaier spoiled Kyle Larson’s bid for a triple-header weekend sweep at Homestead-Miami Speedway and cashed in on a big payday by notching a thrilling overtime victory in the Hard Rock Bet 300 on Saturday, March 22.
The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion led five times for 21 of 201 over-scheduled laps. He started in fourth place and raced upfront in the early stages, leading 20 of the first 45 laps. He claimed a top-six result following the first stage period. Then, after being sent to the rear of the field due to driving through too many pit stalls during the stage break period, Allgaier would rally to finish eighth following the second stage period, and he would proceed to march back up into the top five throughout the final stage period.
Then, while racing in fourth place with eight laps remaining, an opportunity presented itself to Allgaier when pole-sitter Taylor Gray spun through the frontstretch and placed a hold on Kyle Larson’s double-digit advantage and the road to a second victory of the weekend. After pitting and restarting in the top five, Allgaier pushed Hill ahead of Larson for the lead before Allgaier challenged Hill for the top spot during the penultimate lap. After drag-racing with Hill through the frontstretch to start the final lap, Allgaier muscled ahead of Hill with the lead. He then fended off the field through a final circuit to snatch his second consecutive victory in recent weeks and notch the first Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2025 campaign.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, rookie Taylor Gray notched his first Xfinity career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 163.320 mph in 33.064 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Connor Zilisch, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 162.930 mph in 33.143 seconds.
Prior to the event, Josh Williams dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change after Ty Dillon qualified in Williams’ entry as Williams was battling illness. Brandon Jones also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry. Kyle Sieg would also start at the rear of the field due to an at-track inspection penalty.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Taylor Gray muscled ahead with the lead from the inside lane entering the first two turns. As Gray proceeded to lead through the backstretch, Connor Zilisch battled and fended off rookie Nick Sanchez for second place before rookie Christian Eckes, Sanchez, Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer all fanned out and battled for third place in front of Ryan Sieg entering Turns 3 and 4. Amid the battles, Gray led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Gray maintained a steady lead over a hard-charging Allgaier while Sam Mayer, Zilisch and Justin Bonsignore were racing in the top five. By then, rookie Carson Kvapil served a drive-through penalty through pit road due to a start violation while Kyle Larson, who started in 17th place, carved his way up into the top-10 mark.
Then on the sixth lap, Allgaier dueled and overtook Gray for the lead through the frontstretch and entering the first turn. Two laps later, Gray would challenge Allgaier to reclaim the lead entering the backstretch, but Allgaier fended off Gray’s attempt through the backstretch. With Allgaier leading by three-tenths of a second over Gray at the Lap 10 mark, Mayer continued to race in third place while Larson was up into fourth place ahead of Zilisch.
On Lap 15, Eckes, who was running eighth, had smoke billowing underneath his No. 16 Campers Inn Chevrolet Camaro entry entering the backstretch. Despite Eckes’ quick action in pulling his entry below the track, the event’s first caution flew. At the time of caution, Allgaier was leading Mayer, Larson, Gray, and Sheldon Creed while Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Austin Hill, Sanchez, and Harrison Burton were in the top 10.
During the caution period, some including Myatt Snider and those racing at the rear of the field pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.
The start of the following restart period on Lap 23 featured Allgaier fending off Larson as the field fanned out exiting the frontstretch and entering the first two turns. The field continued to fan out through the backstretch as Allgaier proceeded to lead the following lap over Larson and Mayer. With Zilisch and Ryan Sieg racing for fourth, Mayer then tried to make his move beneath Larson and Allgaier for the lead entering Turn 3, but he slid up entering the turn. This allowed Larson to get underneath and duel with Allgaier to lead at the Lap 25 mark while Mayer slipped to third place. After dueling with Allgaier, Larson muscled his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead with the lead. In the process, Mayer slid in front of Allgaier through the first two turns to take second place.
Then on Lap 29, the caution returned due to Kris Wright spinning from the top to the bottom in Turn 4. During the caution period, some including Corey Heim, Myatt Snider, Mason Maggio and Kyle Sieg pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on track.
With the event restarting on Lap 33, Larson muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the first two turns. Larson would proceed to fend off Allgaier through the backstretch before he dueled with him through the frontstretch and before the ensuing lap.
On Lap 34, Larson muscled ahead of Allgaier entering the backstretch and he used the outside wall to fend off Allgaier before the frontstretch to lead the next lap. As Larson and Allgaier continued to battle, Mayer closed in from third place while Hill and Creed trailed in the top five. By Lap 37, Kyle Sieg, who pitted during the previous caution, muscled up to fifth place while Larson led by half a second over Allgaier.
Then on Lap 36, trouble ensued as Justin Bonsignore, who was racing in the top 15, slipped sideways while trying to race underneath teammate Gray and Harrison Burton before he spun from the top to the bottom of the track in Turn 4. With the caution flying, Bonsignore managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra entry. During the caution period, some including Ryan Sieg, Harrison Burton, Sammy Smith and Kvapil pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.
With the event restarting with four laps remaining in the first stage period, Larson rocketed ahead from the inside lane ahead of Allgaier and Mayer while the field fanned out entering the first two turns. Larson would proceed to lead through the backstretch before Allgaier made another run beneath Larson and dueled with him through the frontstretch. As they dueled, Leland Honeyman, Mayer and Kyle Sieg joined the battle. For the following lap, however, Larson used the outside lane to muscle back ahead. Allgaier would try to close in entering Turn 3, but he slid up and it allowed both Mayer and Sieg to close in on Larson for the lead.
With two laps remaining in the first stage period, Kyle Sieg made a move beneath Mayer and Larson through the first two turns to assume lead. Sieg would proceed to pull away over the next lap and Sammy Smith, who pitted, assumed second from Larson while Allgaier and Mayer pursued.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Sammy Smith overtook Kyle Sieg exiting backstretch and muscled away to claim his first stage victory of the 2025 campaign. Kyle Sieg finished second ahead of Ryan Sieg, Larson and Mayer while Allgaier, Leland Honeyman, Creed, Love and Austin Hill were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the first stage break, a majority of the field led by Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Harrison Burton and including Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Kris Wright, Parker Retzlaff and Bonsignore remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Sammy Smith exited first ahead of Larson, Allgaier, Love, Mayer, Sanchez, Hill, Zilisch, Kyle Sieg and Honeyman, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for driving through too many pit stalls before entering his.
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Harrison Burton and Kvapil occupied the front row. At the start, the field scattered and fanned out. Kvapil dueled and muscled ahead of Burton to assume the lead entering the backstretch. With Kvapil leading, Love and Larson navigated into the top three before drawing even with Kvapil through the frontstretch. Both Love and Larson used the inside lane and fresh tires to storm ahead. They were followed by Mayer while Kvapil slipped to fourth in front of Sammy Smith and Hill. Back at the front, Love muscled ahead to lead the Lap 55 mark.
On Lap 58, Mayer overtook Love entering the first two turns. Mayer proceeded to lead by half a second over Love by Lap 60 before Larson overtook the latter for second. Behind, Hill and Sammy Smith were in the top five ahead of Zilisch, Bonsignore, Creed, Kvapil and Sanchez. Behind, Harrison Burton, Gray, Kyle Sieg, Retzlaff and Brandon Jones were racing in the top 15. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who was trying to rally from his pit road penalty, was mired back in 22nd place.
By Lap 65, Mayer continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Larson. Love trailed by more than two seconds in third. At the time when Mayer was leading, Hill and Zilisch trailed in the top five. Mayer led by three-tenths of a second over Larson on Lap 70 and by a tenth of a second at Lap 75. Larson continued to gain more ground on Mayer. As Larson attempted to gain runs through the turns, Mayer used the straightaways and muscle ahead with a reasonable gap.
Just past the Lap 80 mark and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Larson, who spent the last several laps trimming Mayer’s lead, got underneath Mayer through the backstretch on Lap 80. Larson then used the inside through Turns 3 and 4 to move into the lead in front of Mayer. Despite approaching more lapped traffic, Larson retained the lead by seven-tenths over Mayer. Creed, Hill and Zilisch completed the top five.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Larson captured the stage victory over Mayer. Creed, Hill, Zilisch, Sanchez, Love, Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones would settle in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit road first. Hill, Mayer, Zilisch, Love, Creed, Jones, Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Sanchez followed in the top 10.
With 104 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Larson and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Larson continued flexing his restart muscles by muscling away entering the first two turns. Larson would proceed to lead over Mayer and Love while Hill dropped to fourth place. Amid the on-track pressure, Larson led the following lap. Despite pressure from Mayer, Larson continued to lead with 100 laps left. By then, all four Dash 4 Cash competitors were racing in the top six as Mayer, Love, Hill and Allgaier were racing second, third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than a second over Mayer while Love, Hill and Allgaier were racing in the top five. Behind, Nick Sanchez occupied sixth place ahead of Creed, Gray, Zilisch and Jones while Sammy Smith, Bonsignore, Harrison Burton, rookie Daniel Dye, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Williams, Kvapil, Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo and rookie 2Dean Thompson occupied the top-20 spots.
Fifteen laps later, Larson extended his lead to three seconds over Mayer while Hill, Allgaier and Love were in the top five. Two laps earlier, Bonsignore pitted due to sustaining a flat right-front and right-side damage to his entry. Another 15 laps later, Larson continued to increase his advantage as he was leading by five seconds over Mayer as Hill, Allgaier and Creed were in the top five. Earlier, Allgaier scraped the wall exiting the backstretch, but he continued under race pace and without drawing a caution.
Shortly after, green flag pit stops commenced as Sammy Smith pitted his No. 8 Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet Camaro entry. More names including Gray, Kvapil, Jones, Creed, Love, Mayer and Hill would pit over the next five laps before Larson pitted from the lead with 54 laps remaining. Allgaier would also follow Larson to pit for service. With nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Larson cycled back into the lead after Connor Zilisch pitted with 52 laps remaining. Larson proceeded to lead by four seconds over Mayer with 50 laps remaining. Behind, Hill, Love and Allgaier were in the top five.
With 40 laps remaining, Larson retained the lead by three seconds over Mayer. Hill, Allgaier and Love trailed by double digits in the top-five mark. As the laps dwindled, Creed, Jones, Sanchez, Gray and Kvapil were mired in the top 10. Larson led by five seconds over Mayer with 35 laps remaining. Fifteen laps later, Larson extended his lead to 11 seconds over Mayer. Hill continued to race in third place despite trailing by 19 seconds while Allgaier, Creed and Love trailed by within 30 seconds. Shortly after, Sammy Smith made an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat right front to his entry. Amid Smith’s late-race issue, the race remained green.
Entering the final 10 laps of the event, Larson, who weaved through a bevy of lapped traffic earlier, was leading by 14 seconds over Mayer. Behind, Hill and Allgaier trailed by within 24 seconds, Creed trailed by 32 seconds and Love followed suit in sixth place by 34 seconds.
Then with eight laps remaining, the caution flew when Taylor Gray made contact with the outside wall and spun his No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota Supra entry through the frontstretch. The caution all but erased Larson’s large advantage over the field as only five competitors were scored on the lead lap. During the caution period, the leaders pitted and Larson easily exited first ahead of Mayer, Hill, Allgaier and Creed.
With the event restarting in overtime, Larson nearly got sideways after he got in the rear by Mayer. With Larson also stumbling to launch, Hill rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane. He was pursued by Allgaier while Larson was trying to fend off Mayer, Creed and Love for third place through the first two turns. Then in the backstretch, Allgaier drew even with Hill. They dueled before Allgaier started to emerge ahead through Turns 3 and 4 and the backstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill held a narrow lead over Allgaier through the frontstretch before Allgaier used the inside lane to power his No. 7 TradeMark Nitrogen/BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Hill with the lead. As Allgaier drove away through the backstretch, Mayer challenged Hill for the runner-up spot as Larson pursued in fourth. With his challengers unable to mount a final charge through the final turn, Allgaier would stabilize his advantage and cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he streaked across the checkered flag in first place for an upset Xfinity victory in Miami.
With the victory, Allgaier became the first repeat winner in the 2025 Xfinity Series season. He also notched his 27th career win in the Xfinity circuit and his second in a row after winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. The victory was his first at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was also the fifth of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate and the third of the year for JR Motorsports.
As an added bonus, Allgaier cashed in on the first Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000 by both winning the race and finishing ahead of his program rivals Sam Mayer, Austin Hill and Jesse Love.
“[It’s] Just a testament [of] this team,” Allgaier said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I always say God is good and today’s one of those days where it wasn’t our day. We got behind and we were able to persevere and get this TradeMark Nitrogen/BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet in Victory Lane. It’s special, but I told you yesterday if there’s anywhere I could win, it would be here because I just feel like this place has gotten me so many times.
“Crew chief] Jim Pohlman told me right there at the end [that] we got a shot at it and we did. I was actually bummed t see the caution come out [with eight laps remaining] and it worked out in our favor. I’m bummed that I, maybe, got the triple from Kyle [Larson] because I think he’s going to have a great shot at it tomorrow, but we were in the right place at the right time. I’m really proud of this race team.”
Sam Mayer, who led 22 laps, finished in second place for the second time in 2025 and Austin Hill came home in third place. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 132 laps and was pursuing a historic triple-header sweep in Homestead, ended up in fourth place while Sheldon Creed finished in fifth place.
As a result, Allgaier will square off against Hill, Mayer and Creed for the second Dash 4 Cash bonus next Saturday, March 29, at Martinsville Speedway.
Jesse Love, who received the free pass prior to overtime, finished in sixth place while Brandon Jones, Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye and Carson Kvapil completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, the following names that include Harrison Burton, Connor Zilisch, Jeb Burton, Justin Bonsignore, Josh Williams, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, rookie William Sawalich and Jeremy Clements finished 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 26th, respectively.
There were 19 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 31 laps. In addition, 11 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the sixth event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 29 points over Sam Mayer, 31 over Jesse Love, 47 over Austin Hill, 62 over Sheldon Creed, and 65 over Sammy Smith.
Race Results:
1. Justin Allgaier, 21 laps led 2. Sam Mayer, 22 laps led 3. Austin Hill, two laps led 4. Kyle Larson, 132 laps led, Stage 2 winner 5. Sheldon Creed 6. Jesse Love, four laps led 7. Brandon Jones 8. Nick Sanchez 9. Daniel Dye 10. Carson Kvapil, one lap led 11. Harrison Burton, six laps led 12. Connor Zilisch, one lap down, two laps led 13. Dean Thompson, one lap down 14. Brennan Poole, one lap down 15. Jeb Burton, one lap down 16. Justin Bonsignore, one lap down 17. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down 18. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down 19. Josh Williams, one lap down 20. Ryan Ellis, one lap down 21. Sammy Smith, two laps down, three laps led, Stage 1 winner 22. Ryan Sieg, two laps down 23. Taylor Gray, two laps down, seven laps led 24. William Sawalich, two laps down 25. Blaine Perkins, two laps down 26. Jeremy Clements, two laps down 27. Kyle Sieg, three laps down, one lap led 28. Brad Perez, three laps down 29. Joey Gase, three laps down 30. Myatt Snider, three laps down 31. Garrett Smithley, four laps down 32. Kris Wright, four laps down 33. Patrick Emerling, four laps down 34. Leland Honeyman, five laps down 35. Mason Maggio, five laps down 36. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Electrical 37. Corey Heim – OUT, Electrical 38. Christian Eckes – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, for the US Marine Corps 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 29, and air at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
