Jesse Love and the No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Team Battle for Top-10 Result at Phoenix Raceway
Finish: 9th Start: 5th Points: 1st
“We had a solid race today with the No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet. We fought a tight balance all day long, but Danny (Stockman) and our team worked to adjust the handling each chance we had. Our pit crew did a great job by gaining positions each stop. Once we would go back racing though, our car would build tight causing me to lose a few spots. Overall, it was a solid day to gain stage points and leave here with a top-10 finish. We will keep working and try to carry the momentum to Las Vegas next week. I’m proud of the work our Richard Childress Racing team is showing so far this season, and I feel confident we will be able to race for more wins soon.” -Jesse Love
Unfortunate Early Ending for Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team at Phoenix Raceway
Finish: 37th Start: 10th Points: 4th
“I was right behind the No. 8 and just messed up. I misjudged the inside wall and that may be the dumbest move I’ve had happen to me in racing. I feel bad for everyone involved in the wreck. The No. 00 and No. 26 guys were just innocent bystanders. Obviously, that was 100% my fault and a misjudgment on my part. I was following the No. 8 really tight and trying to get a little air to the left side of the car. I didn’t realize he (No. 8) was that close to the wall. As soon as I went to get out of his (No. 8) view, it was already too late. I feel bad for everyone at Richard Childress Racing and ECR Engines. I always hate to wreck racecars, especially when it’s my fault. Sorry to the men and women back at the shop. They work so hard to build these Chevrolets. We might not always have the fastest cars every single week, but we always seem to outwork everyone. Today was an unfortunate ending for our Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet team, but we won’t stop working to be better together. We will rebuild for Las Vegas next week and try to have a good outcome there.” -Austin Hill
ALMIROLA VICTORIOUS IN PHOENIX IN THRILLING THREE-WIDE FINISH Florida native captures eighth career Xfinity Series win
AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 8, 2025) – By virtue of an overtime restart and finish, Aric Almirola used a daring, last-lap pass to take home the victory in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway. The triumph by Almirola is the eighth of his career and his first at Phoenix, also giving Toyota its first Xfinity Series win of the 2025 season.
Almirola started eighth on Saturday and was firmly in the lead mix all afternoon long, finishing second in both stages before crossing the line first at the checkered flag. In two Xfinity Series starts so far in 2025, Almirola has top-five finishes in both – today’s victory and a third-place result at Atlanta.
His Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray joined him inside the top-10 on Saturday. Jones, who placed inside the top-10 in both stages today, nearly snatched victory at the end and came home third in the three-wide finish at the line. For Gray, a sixth-place finish today marks his third top-10 in four starts so far this season.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend, with race coverage on the CW Network next Saturday, March 15, at 4:30 p.m. EST.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Phoenix Raceway Race 4 of 33 – 200 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, ARIC ALMIROLA 2nd, Alex Bowman* 3rd, BRANDON JONES 4th, Ryan Sieg* 5th, Justin Allgaier* 6th, TAYLOR GRAY 13th, WILLIAM SAWALICH 38th, DEAN THOMPSON *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 19 Younglife Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What was the feeling with that last caution and then to come home with the win at the end?
“Yeah, I felt like I was better than the No. 7 (Justin Allgaier). Earlier in the race, they had a great car. We had a great car. And it was just an awesome battle. And at the end there, we were running them down pretty fast, and the caution came out and I was like ‘Oh yeah! Now we have a chance!’ We went down into (turn) one (on the overtime restart) and he (Allgaier) just got loose under me and ran me into the marbles, and I was just thankful I got my tires clean coming back to (turns) three and four. That gave me an opportunity to get to the No. 17 (Alex Bowman). And yeah, we out drag-raced them to the start/finish line and it was exciting. I’m sure the fans got their money’s worth.”
How special is it to celebrate with your family again in victory lane?
“It’s so special. I’m having so much fun! This is such a blessing.”
What does this win mean for YoungLife and in honor of J.D. Gibbs?
“It’s special, it’s really special. This isn’t about me. This is about so many more people than just me. Just really, really proud and really thankful. Hopefully, J.D. (Gibbs, co-founder of Joe Gibbs Racing) is upstairs, smiling down on us.”
Do you race any differently if you or Alex Bowman were driving for points in this race?
“No. He (Bowman) finished second, right? Yeah, I mean I didn’t crash him. I thought it was fair. I didn’t go in there and put him fuel-cell deep. I got him loose and got some clean air on my nose when he slid off the bottom and then just throttled up and we raced to the start/finish line. We rubbed, right? But these cars will go back to the shop, the crews will tear them down and they’ll rebuild them. I didn’t knock his front clip off, didn’t overly damage either of our cars. Just have some wheel marks on our cars and we rubbed the fence a little bit coming to the checkered. I’m not going to loosen him up and then just wait to go back to throttle and let him drive off and then just beat me to the start/finish line without trying. So yeah, I don’t think I do anything different.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards/Pelonis Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was your day and take us through that battle at the finish.
“It was a very well-executed day. The whole day, I approached this race very differently than I have been, and it was basically to win at all the little things. So, I just kept telling my mind, ‘I want to win a restart today. I want to pass a car on a restart,’ and once I do that, I’m like, ‘okay, let’s go get the next car.’ It wasn’t about the end goal of trying to win the race, it was about executing on pit road, executing on the next restart, execute the passes. I think that kept my mind where I needed it to in the right direction. The No. 20 Menards/Pelonis pit crew was on fire, they killed it today and gave us really great track position. Restarts were really good. I had, what I thought was the opening to the win the race, but, not sure if it was excitement and on old tires. Probably a combination of all of it, but I asked a little too much (of the car) and couldn’t quite come off turn two with enough momentum. But, I knew in the end, that was going to be the deal. If I could launch good, it was going to go one of two ways there either. Have old tires, you’ll spin the heck out of them, and you get put in a bad situation or you go forward. I did a good job prepping the tires to go forward. The No. 19 (Almirola) and the No. 17 (Bowman) were racing hard, and I knew they were going to use each other up, so it was really close. This was good momentum. We haven’t started off the year great and it’s just a good overall day. Everybody’s head was in the game, everybody showed up to win the race and we’re in a stretch of races that are good for my driving style and for this organization (Joe Gibbs Racing). Looking forward to what’s to come and hopefully, get my No. 20 Toyota GR Supra into victory lane.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Describe your race today.
“Feel like we had to work on our car all day. Finally got it somewhat close there at the end and just kind of got stuck behind the No. 7 (Allgaier) after he got into the fence. Honestly, just got stuck in his way and couldn’t really go anywhere. Think we were definitely better than a sixth-place car but just got hung up in traffic. But, I can’t thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing enough for bringing a fast No. 54 Operation 300 GR Supra. Just, have to be a little bit better.”
DEAN THOMPSON No. 26 MCM Transportation Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
Were you just collected in that incident?
“It looks I was a missile (into the incident), but I think I got punted into it.”
Did you see the No. 21 hit the inside wall before he spun? “I saw a bunch of smoke (in front of me). I tried to hang a left (to avoid the incident), but I got moved.”
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.
Struggling with a free-handling No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, Eckes fell to 22nd, where he finished the incident-free opening stage. Crew chief Alex Yontz made the call for a slew of chassis adjustments, hoping to give the No. 16 more grip and better drive to start the second stage. Restarting 23rd, Eckes avoided a multi-car wreck and slowly worked his way up to 15th, where he finished the second stage. Even though the car had better drive during the Stage 2, Eckes still lacked overall grip. The team made more adjustments during the caution and started the final stage in 13th place. Eckes fell to 14th as the fifth caution of the day came out with 63 laps remaining. He radioed that the No. 16 “felt okay” and just needed a solid pit stop to refire well on the restart. The team did just that, helping the No. 16 gain three spots on pit road, while putting the final set of sticker tires on the car. Eckes restarted 11th with 46 laps remaining. An overtime-inducing caution allowed Eckes to make one final pit stop for 23-lap scuffs, a gamble that paid off, as he raced to eighth place to finish the race.
“Another tough battle today. We fired off free and just struggled with lack of grip and drive. A good day on pit road helped us maximize what we had, and my crew chief, Alex [Yontz], made a good call to put scuffs on for overtime. We’ll take an eighth place and continue improving.” – Christian Eckes
After initially jumping to 12th during the opening three laps, Williams began to drop throughout the first stage. He struggled with the No. 11 Call811.com Chevy’s front turn and finished Stage 1 in 23rd. Under caution, Williams pitted for tires, fuel, air pressure, and wedge adjustments. Stage 2 didn’t see more than two consecutive laps of green-flag racing until the lap-72 restart, with Williams firing off in 14th. He finished Stage 2 in 20th and pitted for tires, fuel, and further adjustments during the break. The race restarted with 102 laps remaining and Williams in 19th. While running 20th on lap 146, a wreck brought out the caution, and the No. 11 Chevy pitted for its final scheduled stop for tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment. Williams fired off in 20th with 46 laps to go, and as the sun began setting, the No. 11 began coming into its own; Williams made it to 17th. A late spin forced overtime, and Williams pitted for 25-lap-old scuff tires and fuel. He restarted in the same spot he was running — 17th — and gained five spots en route to a 12th-place finish.
“I was really hoping the race was fixing to be over, but then the caution came out, and I was like, ‘Ahhh!’ Pretty happy with the way it ended up going, though.” – Josh Williams
Dye quickly made his way into the top 15 where he raced the majority of the first stage. He noted that the No. 10 bProAuto Chevrolet felt tight in the front but lacked grip in the rear. He finished the opening stage in 17th before pitting for wedge and track bar adjustments. Dye started the second stage in 19th and avoided an early wreck before driving up to 13th, where he finished the stint. Dye radioed that the rear felt much better but that he still needed the front to turn more. He pitted during the caution for tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment before starting the final stage from 11th place. Dye fell multiple spots as the No. 10 Chevy began trending tighter, but a timely caution with 63 laps remaining allowed Dye to pit for his final set of sticker tires and a track bar adjustment. He restarted 14th with 46 laps to go and maintained position before a late caution sent the field into overtime. The team made the call to stay out rather than pitting for scuff tires. Dye started 14th for the first overtime attempt but ultimately finished 19th, as those who pitted for scuffs had the advantage.
“We made some solid gains all day, despite being free and lacking grip. Unfortunately, we just made the wrong call at the end there to stay out and not put scuffs back on. We definitely had a better car than the finish shows, but we will keep pushing and move on to Vegas.” – Daniel Dye
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 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.
AVONDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 08: Aric Almirola, driver of the #19 Younglife Toyota, lifts the GOVX 200 trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway on March 08, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images).
Aric Almirola rallied from nearly getting shoved into the outside wall at the start of an overtime shootout. But, he persevered and pinned Alex Bowman against the outside wall with the finish line in sight to win the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 8.
The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led four times for 25 of 208 over-scheduled laps. He qualified in eighth place and motored his way to the front with a fast No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra entry. Ultimately, he spent nearly the entire event racing at the front, where he primarily dueled with the reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier and the pole-sitter Alex Bowman for the lead.
After settling in the runner-up spot following both of the event’s stage break periods and rallying from a late slow pit service that dropped him outside the top-five mark, Almirola was initially poised for a runner-up finish behind Allgaier when an opportunity struck as a late-race incident involving Nick Leitz sent the event into overtime.
During the event’s lone overtime attempt, Almirola dueled with Allgaier entering the first turn until the latter slipped up the track and made contact with the former. Despite nearly getting pinned into the outside wall, Almirola muscled into second place behind Bowman while Allgaier briefly lost his momentum and lost ground from his dominant lead. Then after spending the first two turns and the backstretch trying to narrow the gap back to Bowman on the final lap, Almirola made a move beneath Bowman through Turns 3 and 4. Amid getting sideways, Almirola then rubbed and pinned Bowman against the outside wall to stall the latter’s momentum. As a result, Almirola motored back ahead to claim the checkered flag first by a fender and capture his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2025 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Alex Bowman secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 131.984 mph in 27.276 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Sheldon Creed, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 131.584 mph in 27.359 seconds.
Prior to the event, rookie William Sawalich dropped to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment involving a fuel pump change made to his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry. Ryan Sieg and Matt DiBenedetto also dropped to the rear of the field due to a backup car and engine change, respectively.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Alex Bowman muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Sheldon Creed used the outside lane to barely retain second place as rookie Taylor Gray used the apron through the first two turns to muscle his way up to a tight four-car race for third place. Through the backstretch, Sammy Smith briefly got loose, but he kept his car racing straight despite getting pinned in three-wide action. As Zilisch, Gray, Aric Almirola and Jesse Love all moved up into the top six while overtaking Smith through the backstretch, Bowman proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry.
Over the next four laps and amid a series of on-track actions and jostling for positions, Bowman retained a reasonable advantage over Creed as Gray, Almirola and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five. Behind, Zilisch was in sixth place ahead of teammate Justin Allgaier, Love, rookie Nick Sanchez and Sam Mayer while Austin Hill, rookie Dean Thompson, Brandon Jones, rookie Daniel Dye and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 15.
Just past the first 10-scheduled laps, Bowman stretched his early advantage to more than a second over Almirola while third-place Creed trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Allgaier charged his way up to fourth place in front of teammate Sammy Smith as teammate Zilisch, Love, Gray, Sanchez and Jones were in the top 10. Amid the actions at the front, William Sawalich, who started at the rear of the field, was up to 21st place behind rookie Carson Kvapil while rookie Christian Eckes was also mired in the top-20 mark.
Through the first 20 laps, Bowman added another second to his advantage as he was now leading by more than two seconds over Almirola. By then, Allgaier had overtaken Creed for third place, where he trailed the lead by four seconds, while Zilisch had also overtaken teammate Sammy Smith for fifth place. As Bowman proceeded to lead the Lap 25 mark, Gray had fallen back to 11th place behind Mayer while Love was trailing Zilisch and Sammy Smith in seventh place. In addition, Austin Hill was in 12th place while Sawalich was in 17th place in front of Kvapil.
At the Lap 30 mark, Bowman stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Almirola as Allgaier, Creed and Zilisch continued to follow suit in the top five. Bowman would proceed to lead through Laps 35 and 40 as Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Love, Jones and Mayer trailed in the top 10.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Bowman captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Almirola followed suit in second place ahead of Allgaier, Zilisch and Creed while Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Brandon Jones, Love and Mayer were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bowman pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Almirola, who opted for a two-tire pit service, exited pit road ahead of Bowman, Jones, Creed, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Love, Austin Hill and Gray. Amid the pit stops, Zilisch endured a slow pit service after he both overshot and hit the pit wall on the driver’s left side while trying to enter his pit box.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Almirola and Bowman occupied the front row. At the front, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Almirola and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of a three-wide action that involved Jones, Creed and Sammy Smith. Almirola would then use the apron through the first two turns to muscle his No. 19 Younglife Toyota Supra entry ahead and clear Bowman entering the backstretch as Allgaier squeezed in between Creed and Jones to move up the leaderboard and into the top five. With the field fanning out, Almirola led the following lap as both Allgaier and Jones pursued Bowman for second place.
Not long after, the caution returned when Anthony Alfredo, who had pitted and was trying to roll his No. 42 Dude Wipes Chevrolet Camaro entry through pit road, came to a full stop towards the exit of pit road due to an axle issue. As Alfredo’s entry was taken to the garage, some including rookie Daniel Dye, Parker Retzlaff and Mason Massey pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.
The start of the ensuing restart on Lap 61 featured Almirola launching ahead of Bowman and the field from the inside lane. As the field used the dogleg, Almirola retained the lead through the first two turns as Bowman, Jones and Sammy Smith went three-wide for the runner-up spot in front of Allgaier. Bowman would use the outside lane through the backstretch to muscle ahead back into second as Allgaier quickly followed suit in third place.
Then as Jones was getting pinned in between Mayer and Sammy Smith for fourth place, trouble ensued behind them as Hill bounced off the inside wall exiting the backstretch, veered back across the track and clipped Creed. Both Creed and Hill would then spin and hit the outside wall in Turn 3 as Hill got rammed head-on by rookie Dean Thompson. The carnage knocked the trio of Creed, Hill and Thompson out from further contention of the event.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 71, Almirola was pinned in between teammate Jones and Bowman in their bids for the lead through the dogleg. As Jones back out of the gas entering the first two turns, Almirola would duel with Bowman through the turns and the backstretch. As Almirola continued to duel with Bowman through Turns 3 and 4, he got close alongside Bowman and got loose, which allowed Bowman to muscle ahead and lead the next lap. This also allowed Allgaier to navigate his way into the runner-up spot before he rocketed past Bowman from the outside lane through the first two turns to assume the lead.
Despite Allgaier leading Lap 73, Almirola fought back and drew even with Allgaier entering the first two turns and back through the backstretch. As Bowman fended off Jones and Sammy Smith for third place, Allgaier would proceed to clear Almirola through the backstretch and prior to the Lap 75 mark. Almirola, however, would fight back in a side-by-side battle on Lap 77, but Allgaier would fend off Almirola’s challenge during the following lap. This also allowed Bowman to draw himself back into the picture as he gained ground on the two leaders.
On Lap 80, Allgaier was placed on extensive defense mode as he was trying to fend off both Almirola and Bowman with the lead. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones joined the battle while Sammy Smith trailed in fifth place by more than a second. As the on-track battles at the front continued, Almirola would muscle back ahead of Allgaier to reassume the lead on Lap 82. Allgaier would then pull off a crossover move beneath Almirola through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch as he reassumed the lead on Lap 83. With Almirola giving chase, Allgaier maintained the lead in his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry by within two-tenths of a second on Lap 85.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier fended off Almirola to capture his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Almirola, who got mired in lapped traffic in the closing laps, settled in second and he was followed by Bowman, Jones and Sammy Smith while Mayer, Love, Gray, Carson Kvapil and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Jones, Bowman, Almirola, Sammy Smith, Gray, Zilisch, Love, Mayer and Ryan Sieg, respectively. Amid the pit stops, a trio of names that included Mayer, Sawalich and Kris Wright were penalized for speeding on pit road.
With 101 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier, who restarted on the inside lane, rocketed away from the field and he would maintain a reasonable advantage entering the first two turns. Behind Allgaier, Bowman slipped out of the top-five mark after he went up the track in Turns 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Jones battled teammate Almirola for the runner-up spot while teammate Gray and Sammy Smith followed suit. Amid the battles, Allgaier led the following lap.
Down to the final 98 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Almirola as Jones, Gray, Sammy Smith and Bowman followed suit in the top six, respectively. Behind, Sanchez, Love and Zilisch battled fiercely for seventh place in front of Kvapil as Ryan Sieg, Christian Eckes, Parker Retzlaff, Daniel Dye and Jeb Burton were racing in the top 15.
With 85 laps remaining, Allgaier retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Almirola while Jones, Bowman and Gray pursued by within five seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith was back in sixth place while Love, Sanchez and Zilisch were scored in the top 10.
Fifteen laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Almirola while Jones trailed in third place by nearly four seconds. By then, Bowman followed suit in fourth place by more than six seconds while fifth-place Sammy Smith trailed by nine seconds. Over the ensuing laps, a heated battle for 12th place ensued between Eckes, Mayer, Retzlaff and Kvapil as Allgaier continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Almirola with 65 laps remaining.
Then with 59 laps remaining, the battle for the lead started to ignite as Almirola attempted to make a move to Allgaier’s right side through the first two turns. Allgaier would fend off the challenge and lead the following lap before Almirola then tried to draw even with Allgaier entering the backstretch. Both competitors would duel through the frontstretch with 57 laps remaining as Almirola managed to muscle ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Despite leading the next lap, Allgaier would muscle past both Almirola and the lapped competitor of Kyle Sieg entering the first two turns as he reassumed the lead with 55 laps remaining.
Then a lap later, the caution flew when Dawson Cram, who made contact with Sammy Smith entering Turn 3, blew a right-rear tire and collided against the Turn 1 outside wall. Despite sustaining right-rear damage to his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro entry, Sammy Smith managed to continue on the track in fifth place.
During the caution period, Allgaier led the front-runners to pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Bowman, Jones, Gray, Love and Sanchez while Almirola, who entered pit road in second place, exited in seventh place due to a slow pit service.
As the race restarted under green with 46 laps remaining, Allgaier rocketed away from the lead from the inside lane and he would retain the top spot through the first two turns as Bowman, Jones, Gray and Almirola battled for the runner-up spot. Then entering Turn 3, Jones, who was in third place, made contact with teammate Almirola that sent Jones’ No. 20 Menards Toyota Supra entry going wide. This resulted with Almirola and Gray going three-wide on Jones for third place as Allgaier fended off Bowman to lead the following lap.
With less than 40 laps remaining, Allgaier fended off Bowman and led the latter by two-tenths of a second while Almirola, who carved his way back up to third place, trailed by six-tenths of a second. Allgaier would slightly extend his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Bowman with 35 laps remaining as Almirola trailed in third place by more than a second. Meanwhile, Gray and Jones were racing in the top five while Love, Ryan Sieg, Sanchez, Sawalich and Mayer were mired in the top 10.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over both Bowman and Almirola as Jones and Gray trailed by within four seconds in the top five. As Love started to intimidate Gray for fifth place, Eckes fiercely battled Harrison Burton and Sammy Smith for 13th place as Allgaier maintained the lead by more than a second over both Bowman and Almirola with 20 laps remaining.
With 17 laps remaining, a tight battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Almirola and Bowman as Almirola, who was unable to clear Bowman a lap prior, was able to use the outside lane to muscle ahead with the spot. Bowman would then try to make a crossover move on Almirola to regain the spot, but he would fall short as Almirola ignited his late charge on Allgaier for the lead. By then, however, Allgaier’s advantage grew to more than two seconds with 15 laps remaining.
As the event reached its final 10-lap mark, Allgaier, who was posting fast lap times, continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Almirola while third-place Bowman trailed by more than three seconds. Two laps later, teammate Carson Kvapil limed his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro entry to pit road due to a mechanical issue, but the event remained under green as Allgaier, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, maintained a stable lead over Almirola.
Then with four laps remaining, the caution flew when Nick Leitz slipped sideways and collided against the outside wall just shy of the start/finish line after he lost a right-rear tire. The caution erased Allgaier’s one-second advantage over Almirola as the latter was driving as hard as he could to narrow the deficit between himself and the leader. Leitz’s incident also sent the event into overtime.
Prior to overtime, some including Kvapil, Eckes, Josh Williams, Brennan Poole, Jeremy Clements and Kyle Sieg pitted while the front-runners led by Allgaier remained on the track.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured the field diving through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Allgaier and Almirola dueled for the lead. Then in Turn 1, Allgaier, who was racing alongside Almirola in tight-quarters racing, rubbed fenders with Almirola, which resulted with both slipping towards the outside wall as Bowman threaded himself in between both and Jones to storm into the lead entering the backstretch. Amid the action, Bowman led Almirola and Jones exiting the backstretch while Allgaier dropped to fourth place.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bowman retained a steady lead over Almirola despite the latter gaining massive ground through the frontstretch. Almirola would then almost get beneath Bowman through the first two turns, but the latter fended off the challenge to lead through the backstretch. Then entering Turn 3, Almirola made his move beneath Bowman, who went wide, as both dueled through Turns 3 and 4. As Bowman started to gain a momentum from the outside lane approaching the finish line, Almirola, who got sideways, rubbed and pinned Bowman into the outside wall to stall his momentum. This allowed Almirola to storm back ahead as he claimed both the checkered flag and the victory by 0.045 seconds over Bowman.
With the victory, Almirola recorded his eighth career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his first at Phoenix, his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in November 2024 and his fourth since returning to Joe Gibbs Racing as a part-time competitor at the start of the 2024 season. Almirola’s Phoenix victory was also the first of the 2025 series campaign for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate. It was also the second for crew chief Seth Chavka and the first for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 entry since Denny Hamlin won at Darlington Raceway in September 2023.
*Today’s spring Xfinity event marked the second consecutive race where an Xfinity event at the desert state featured a final-lap pass for the race victory after Riley Herbst overtook the champion Justin Allgaier on the final lap to win at Phoenix this past November.
AVONDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 08: Aric Almirola, driver of the #19 Younglife Toyota, crosses the finish line ahead of Alex Bowman, driver of the #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Brandon Jones, driver of the #20 Menards/Pelonis Toyota, to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway on March 08, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images).
“I just knew I needed to get from [Turn 3] to [the finish line] first,” Almirola said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. He went on to say, “I knew I was gonna use [Bowman] up a little bit, but [I’m] trying to win the race. I feel like [the move] was warranted. He added, “I didn’t think I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up and I knew it was gonna be a drag race to the start/finish line.
“Just so proud of all the guys on this team. Thank you so much to Coach [Joe Gibbs] and what a blessing this is. It is so much fun to come and drive these race cars. Every single time I get in, I feel like I got an opportunity to win. I didn’t know what I was doing two weeks before Daytona. I was planning on just helping at [Joe Gibbs Racing] and volunteering at church, and I got a phone call to come run some races.
“What an opportunity. So proud of Seth and all the guys on this team, everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing that’s building these race cars. [I’m] Just having fun. This is so awesome to get to do this with my family. I’m just having a blast.”
After being edged by 0.045 seconds to Almirola, Bowman, who was left with a damaged race car at the event’s conclusion, wasted no time pulling alongside Almirola to express his displeasure. Overall, Bowman, who led 50 laps compared to Almirola’s 25, recorded his second runner-up result of his Xfinity career as this marked his lone series’ start in 2025.
“I would’ve hoped that [Almirola] would’ve given me a lane on exit [into Turn 4], but he just exited like I wasn’t there,” Bowman said. “[Almirola] was better than us, for sure, but [I] just tried to capitalize on that restart, trying to win the race and got shoved in the fence.
“The race car’s destroyed…I don’t know if [Almirola] had me aero-loose going into [Turn] 1 or if I just got loose myself, but I about spun out back there and figured my best bet was going to the outside there, trying to get off the corner and yeah, there was no lane there anymore. Bummer, but you’ll have that in big-time auto racing.”
Perhaps, there was no competitor more disappointed like Bowman than Justin Allgaier. Overall, Allgaier led a race-high 130 laps and won the second stage period. Following his slip-up during the overtime shootout, however, he settled in fifth place. Amid the disappointment, the reigning Xfinity Series champion took away the positives from a strong on-track performance as he looks ahead to next weekend’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to reclaim the victory that slipped out of his grasp at Phoenix.
“I don’t think you could do anything differently,” Allgaier said. “[I’m] Really just proud of our team. Everybody on this BRANDT Professional Agricultural Chevrolet did a great job. To unload with the speed we had and to race the way that we did, I was really proud.
Great pit stops on pit road. I’d like to have that one back. I got down in there [into Turn 1]. [The on-track safety crew] blew the rubber across the racetrack, all the marble as well when we were going under caution, right in front of us. I knew I had a bunch on the tires and you’re trying to get it off there. We got down in [Turn 1]. Honestly, hats off to Aric [Almirola] because I thought I gave the race away for him and myself, but he was able to get back up there. Just really disappointed in the finish. We’ll go back, decipher this one and go to [Las] Vegas. Hopefully, it gets a little bit better.”
Brandon Jones, who is riding a three-year winless drought, came home in third place after he missed the victory by a tenth of a second while Ryan Sieg, who started at the rear of the field in a backup car, edged Allgaier to finish in fourth place.
Rookie Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, rookie Christian Eckes, Jesse Love and rookie Nick Sanchez completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Parker Retzlaff, Josh Williams, rookie William Sawalich, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton finished in the top 15 while rookie Connor Zilisch ended up in 16th place.
There were 14 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 46 laps. In addition, 21 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the fourth event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Jesse Love leads the regular-season standings by two points over Justin Allgaier, 13 over Sam Mayer, 20 over Austin Hill and 22 over Sammy Smith.
Race Results:
1. Aric Almirola, 25 laps led 2. Alex Bowman, 50 laps led, Stage 1 winner 3. Brandon Jones 4. Ryan Sieg 5. Justin Allgaier, 130 laps led, Stage 2 winner 6. Taylor Gray 7. Sam Mayer 8. Christian Eckes 9. Jesse Love 10. Nick Sanchez 11. Parker Retzlaff 12. Josh Williams 13. William Sawalich 14. Sammy Smith 15. Jeb Burton 16. Connor Zilisch, two laps led 17. Brennan Poole 18. Kyle Sieg 19. Daniel Dye 20. Harrison Burton 21. Jeremy Clements 22. Mason Massey, one lap down 23. Josh Bilicki, two laps down 24. Blaine Perkins, two laps down 25. Kris Wright, two laps down 26. Carson Kvapil, two laps down 27. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps down 28. Joey Gase, three laps down 29. Garrett Smithley, four laps down 30. Nick Leitz, four laps down 31. Greg Van Alst, seven laps down 32. Anthony Alfredo, 15 laps down 33. Ryan Ellis, 22 laps down 34. Thomas Annunziata, 23 laps down 35. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident 36. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident 37. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident 38. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for The LiUNA! The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 15, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Qualifying result is Brown’s 51st career No. 1 qualifier
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 8, 2025) – In a rain-shortened qualifying for the 2025 NHRA Gatornationals, Antron Brown claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot as he begins his defense of the NHRA Top Fuel title. The four-time world champion posted a blistering 3.685 elapsed time during the Friday night qualifying session, and with the rainout on Saturday, it confirmed him as the No. 1 seed for Sunday.
Brown’s Toyota teammates, Shawn Langdon (third), Doug Kalitta (fourth) and Steve Torrence (fifth) joined him inside the top half of the Top Fuel ladder for tomorrow’s eliminations. Justin Ashley (14th) will face Langdon in Round One tomorrow. Due to the inclement weather, the Top Fuel All-Star Callout has been postponed.
In Funny Car, Ron Capps led the GR Supra Funny Car contingent, earning the No. 3 seed for tomorrow’s eliminations. Like Brown, Capps laid down a swift time in the Friday night session with a 3.857 elapsed time as he goes for his fifth career Gatornationals win. In his debut with DC Motorsports, Bobby Bode earned the No. 6 seed for tomorrow, where he’ll face his Toyota teammate in Round One, the 11th seed J.R. Todd.
Tomorrow’s eliminations from Gainesville Raceway begin at 9:30 a.m. EST with live TV coverage beginning at 7 p.m. EST on FS1.
Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Gainesville Raceway NHRA Gatornationals Race 1 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
Name
Car
Qualifying Position
First Round Opponent
Antron Brown
Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
1st
K. Baldwin
Shawn Langdon
Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
3rd
J. Ashley
Doug Kalitta
Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
4th
I. Zetterstrom
Steve Torrence
CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
5th
D. Foley
Justin Ashley
SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
14th
S. Langdon
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
Name
Car
Qualifying Position
First Round Opponent
Jack Beckman*
Peak Chevrolet Funny Car
1st*
B. Alexander
Ron Capps
Carlyle Tools Toyota GR Supra Funny Car
3rd
J. Smith
Bobby Bode
DC Motorsports Toyota GR Supra Funny Car
6th
J. Todd
J.R. Todd
DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car
11th
B. Bode
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports
TF Qualifying Result: 1st
How does it feel getting the first No. 1 qualifier of the season?
“Yeah, so that’s something we’ve been shooting for, for a while – to be a No. 1 qualifier. We used to do it quite often, but the competition got so steep and tough where we qualified the way we race. And now, we’ve picked up the pace and picked up the tone. We went out to the PRO Shootout this year and felt really good to be the No. 1 qualifier there and run a low 3.60 and then a low-to-mid 3.60 (in the race). And then to come out here, and have the same pace, and be the No. 1 qualifier is where we need to be. A bummer we weren’t able to do the All-Star Callout (today). We feel bad for the fans, but you can’t control Mother Nature. With that being said, we’ll get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is our first race day and it starts at 9:30 a.m. EST, so we’ll be up fresh and early in the morning so we can get ready to get after it. I’m really pumped to start the season off as we had a good offseason. My mind’s really right, the team’s right. Everybody’s right and we’re ready to go out here and see what we can do.”
RON CAPPS, Carlyle Tools Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports
FC Qualifying Result: 3rd
What confidence does this qualifying result give you and the team?
“Yeah, part of what makes this NHRA Funny Car division tough is (pause) — unpredictable situations like we have (here). We lose two qualifying runs. Thankfully, Guido (Dean Antonelli, crew chief) had the data that we learned in Bradenton (PRO Superstar Shootout). You know, what’s cool in looking down the pit area, is our Toyota GR Supra in the Carlyle Tools green color. The fans, they weren’t sure what to take with me in a green car (laughs). It’s been fun, the fans are loving it and we’re having a great time. But this is the reason why I love Guido; I love our team. We’re adapting. We had a night run, which was last minute. We got down to No. 3. Going to wake up Sunday morning, after daylight’s savings, and have a really early start in another unpredictable situation where we don’t know what the temperatures will be. So, that’s what I love about Guido and having him as our crew chief.”
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.
AVONDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 08: William Byron, driver of the #24 Z by HP Chevrolet, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 08, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images).
William Byron was left both stunned and elated as he snatched the Busch Light Pole Award for the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 8.
A standard practice and qualifying procedure determined the event’s starting lineup. The entire field hit the track for a 45-minute practice session followed by a single-lap qualifying session (impound).
Byron posted the sixth-fastest lap overall at 132.120 mph in 27.248 seconds during the qualifying session and was the last competitor to qualify. He posted a pole-winning lap at 133.680 mph in 26.930 seconds. Byron’s single-qualifying lap was enough to knock Joey Logano off of the top of the leaderboard and claim the pole position for Sunday’s main event in the desert state.
With the pole, Byron, this year’s two-time Daytona 500 champion and a Hendrick Motorsports driver from Charlotte, North Carolina, notched his 14th NASCAR Cup Series career pole. It was his first of the 2025 season and his second at Phoenix. Byron’s first Cup Series pole at Phoenix was in November 2023 as he was competing for the series’ championship. After winning the spring Phoenix event in March 2023 he strives to double down on his win column at Phoenix and in the 2025 season.
“I did not hit my marks,” Byron said on Prime Video. He continued, “I was sideways, I just carried a ton of entry speed. I missed the middle of the corner and just coming off the dogleg, I was so loose. I was just gonna try to commit to the exits and see how much I could get out of the exits, even though I missed the center.”
“Just a fast car,” Byron added. “Thanks to my whole team. They’ve been bringing great cars and we’ve been doing a really good job executing. [I] Definitely want to go out there and have a great day tomorrow. I feel like our car was really good on race trim…I just committed to it and the grip was there.”
Byron will share the front row with Joey Logano, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 133.195 mph in 27.028 seconds. Logano, the reigning three-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, is a four-time winner at Phoenix, the venue where he claimed his last two titles and where he won the 2020 Phoenix spring race event.
Carson Hocevar achieved his second top-four starting spot of the 2025 season by qualifying in third place with a qualifying lap at 133.121 mph in 27.043 seconds. He will start ahead of Josh Berry and Erik Jones. Ironically, both Berry and Jones achieved their second top-four starting spots for the main Sunday’s main event at Phoenix.
Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Justin Haley, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin will start in the top 10, respectively. Christopher Bell, winner of the previous two Cup events at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas, respectively, will start in 11th place.
The following drivers, including Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, rookie Riley Herbst, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs qualified 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th, respectively.
Notably, Katherine Legge will be the first female driver to compete in a Cup Series event in seven years and will round out the starting grid in 37th place.
With 37 competitors vying for 37 starting spots, all competitors made the main event.
Hitting the track as the final driver to lay down a lap in the NASCAR Cup Series’ qualifying session at Phoenix Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron laid down a monster lap of 26.930 seconds – knocking the series’ reigning champion, Joey Logano, off the top of the leaderboard to earn the pole position for tomorrow’s Shriners Children’s 500.
The pole – Chevrolet’s first of the 2025 season and 754th all-time in the division – came after the 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native drove his No. 24 Chevrolet to the only qualifying lap in the 26-second bracket among the 37-driver field.
Byron extended Chevrolet’s pole-winning record at Phoenix Raceway to 22 all-time in NASCAR’s top division, with now 16 of those feats coming alongside Hendrick Motorsports.
Chevrolet drivers will take five of the top-10 starting positions for tomorrow’s 312-mile race. Joining Byron includes all three Spire Motorsports entries, with Carson Hocevar in third, Michael McDowell in seventh and Justin Haley in eighth, as well as Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, in sixth.
Chevrolet’s all-time NASCAR Cup Series statistics at Phoenix Raceway:
Wins: 27 Poles: 22 Top-Fives: 125 Top-10s: 244
Chevrolet’s season statistics with four NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 1 Poles: 1 Top-Fives: 7 Top-10s: 13
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Pole Win Quotes:
William, we spoke before the practice session kind of about the option tires and what you thought about it. Now that you have a bunch of laps in practice and qualifying, what do you make of them and how did they fall off for you?
“Honestly, I thought the tire was great. You know, I think it fell off some with heat and just kind of starting to slide around. But I felt like the tire felt good as soon as we bolted it on.
Obviously, more grip to fire off, so more pace on the short run. And then, you know, honestly, the progression throughout the run was exactly what you would want to see. So, I just had more grip, and then I felt personally like our car was pretty good on that tire.
We have a little bit of work to do on the yellow, but I don’t see any problems with the red. I think that it’s going to put on and promote a good race and probably a lot of variation between the tires.”
Some guys have come in here and they indicate that they kind of knew what their race strategy was, as far as the tires. Are you pretty aware of what your plan is or do you guys not really discuss a plan until you saw what they did today?
“Yeah, I have really no idea what the plan is, per se.
I think that we have a general sense of kind of when we would put on the reds, but you have to have, you know, some of those in reserve for the end. So, yeah, I just know that there’s probably going to be some varying strategies because the guys in the back of the field will be able to do something different. So, I anticipate everyone kind of being on different stuff, but probably your top-10 guys will be on the same.”
Does being on the pole in some ways dictate your strategy? Because if you were a little further back, maybe you would just say, okay, I have a win. Let me just try to earn a couple playoff points early…
“Yeah, maybe. I wish I knew a little bit more about the strategy. I try to stay a little bit removed just because I feel like it overwhelms my brain. So, just honestly for me, I think when we’re up front, we’re just going to probably do the same thing that the other guys in the top-five that we’re racing with.
And yeah, it’s going to open the door for, you know, a 20th place guy — like (Daniel) Suarez did at Richmond, basically, where he had not a great race going and put on the reds and capitalized, and I think there was a caution or something. But yeah, I don’t know. I think it could change things a bit, but for me, I’m just focused on having the best car we can get on both tires.”
William, you hear a lot about how important the first pit stall is in winning the pole at Phoenix. Is that pit stall even more important this time around with the option tires or is it more or less the same?
“No, I don’t think it really matters as much as it used to since they changed the line. Like I had the number one stall in the fall and I think it’s not as much of an advantage. So, no, I think this place has a lot room on pit road too.
So, there’s a lot of places you can have a good pit stall. So, no, I think this place matters a lot less on pit stall selection than a lot of other places. Like if you go to, you know, an SMI track that they have a pretty narrow pit road, the way that the dog leg is, it’s way more important there.”
Kyle Busch was just in here moments ago and he said he wished that there were more option tires available. Obviously, two stickers for tomorrow. Do you have that same feeling?
“Yeah, like I think that’s my consensus on the strategy is it’s going to be pretty straightforward because there’s only two sets. So, I personally would like to see us just go to the red and eliminate the yellow, and then just have red tires because I feel like they fall off more and you’ll see more like what you had at Martinsville in the fall. So, yeah, I don’t really love the fact that we’re alternating, but I mean it’s going to create an interesting race for sure.”
Kyle Busch was in here a few minutes ago and he talked about respect in NASCAR and how last week’s finish was a win for the sport. I’m curious, from your perspective being involved, what is the importance of having a clean finish of a race?
“It all depends on who you’re racing, you know, and that’s what people ask me throughout the week like — oh, what’s going through your head and all this stuff. And it’s like, me and (Christopher) Bell have always raced really well. I have a lot of respect for he and Adam and their team and what they do. I think that when you’re racing the same guys every week, you learn kind of their tendencies and you always have a memory of what happens on the racetrack. And yeah, so I think it is very situational, but I think that there needs to be a greater level of respect in general throughout the field. And still race hard because this car requires you to race hard and there is contact. So, yeah so to me, it’s all about who you’re racing.”
Do you think with the higher temperatures tomorrow and Xfinity rubber on the track, will that impact significantly or at all the tire wear?
“I mean, it’ll be worse. It’ll be worse than today, but I think this place is just starting to age and we’ve had hotter races than this weekend for sure. Like the last few, we’ve had some 90 degree races, so it’s not going to be as bad as that. But I think this track is starting to get some really good age to it. It is still difficult to pass because there is no banking to lean on, especially in (turns) one and two. So if you want to be aggressive, it’s hard to be, but you’re seeing the apron start to become a bigger deal and I just think the racetrack is starting to lose grip. So you’ll have more wear because of that.”
About General Motors
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500 Qualifying (Phoenix Raceway) Saturday, March 8, 2025
LOGANO QUALIFIES 2ND AT PHOENIX, WILL START ON FRONT ROW FOR SUNDAY’S CUP SERIES RACE AT PHOENIX
Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – Joey Logano 4th – Josh Berry 12th – Ryan Blaney 13th – Chris Buescher 14th – Austin Cindric 20th – Brad Keselowski 23rd – Cole Custer 26th – Zane Smith 27th – Todd Gilliland 28th – Ryan Preece 33rd – Noah Gragson 35th – Cody Ware
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang was the highest qualifying Ford driver, posting the second quickest lap Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway. Josh Berry joins Logano in the top-five, qualifying fourth.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 2nd)
“The last car. I told Paul (Wolfe) just a second ago that it was going to really suck if the last car beat us and that is what happened. Obviously a real fast lap we ran there and overall it is a really good starting spot. We will tune her in a little bit. We have a little bit of work to do in race trim but I don’t think we are that bad by any means. We started second and won last time, so we will just have to go do it again.”
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE TIRES, WHAT DID YOU GUYS FIGURE OUT ABOUT THE TIRES IN PRACTICE EARLIER? “I figured out that we have a lot to look at tonight. I am not quite sure yet. We have some homework to do, so we are going to go back and look at some traces and see what we can come up with for tomorrow.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 4th)
“I felt pretty good in race trim. We didn’t have the fire off speed exactly like we wanted but I was pretty happy with the car and how it drove. Obviously the guys did a really good job getting it ready for qualifying and it drove really well in qualifying. To be able to qualify that high and start up front is a really good start to the weekend for us.”
NASCAR CUP SERIES PHOENIX RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MARCH 8, 2025
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Phoenix Raceway.
Media Availability Quotes:
I saw you and Noah Gragson were kind of talking on Twitter a little bit. Is there any history there? What’s that all about?
“(Laughs) There’s no history there. Noah (Gragson) likes to have a lot of fun and give people a hard time, so I like giving it back to him.
Before I sent one tweet back to him yesterday, I told him I was sending one. He says — well, I got one in the chamber ready to send back. So, you know, I don’t know. He seems like he has a ton of free time on his hands, so I’m sure he’s always looking for ways to spice things up.
No, we’re friends, but it’s definitely fun. I think, you know, he’s obviously got a lot of energy and excitement around him. And so, yeah, I like to give it back to him a little bit.”
Weekends like this, where there’s two tire options, are you behind as a single car team?
“Definitely doesn’t help. You know, I think we get one data point on each set. I think, you know, I’m like Chris (Buescher).. I’d like to just have one option, preferably the softer option. But, you know, I get what having two does. And like Chris said, being able to have a test session where if it is a disaster with that one, then you have the other option to run. But, you know, I do like that we’re going a direction of softer tires and tires that wear out. So hopefully, you know, we can continue to build on that.
You know, I think we saw at the All-Star race that, the softer option was by far dominant, even on the long run with a track that doesn’t wear it out. So I assume, you know, here at Phoenix will probably be really similar to that. I think at Richmond, you get a lot of tire wear in general, and so the softer tire wore out and there was different strategies to be had. I think here, you’re probably going to save them for the last two runs if you want a good finish. But it does open the option up with, you know, different strategies to keep you on the lead lap, depending on kind of where you’re running; what you’re doing or trying to get some stage points or whatever. So, you know, it’s just something that, for us, we haven’t ran that well here at Phoenix. And so Mike (Kelley, crew chief) and I had been talking about trying to watch what some of these leaders do on green flag pit stops with that other option tire. If you’ve got somebody that pits and puts the options on versus the proms and is trying to get a stage win, now all of a sudden they’re running quite a bit faster. So we might have to react if we are in the position of trying to stay on the lead lap or something like that.
So, you know, hopefully we’re not in that position. But if that is the case, it could switch people’s strategies up quite a bit throughout the race, just depending on kind of reacting to what other teams do. But I think if you’re going to win the race, I would assume you’ve got to keep them both for the last stage.”
Kind of an off topic question for you.. with some of the bigger tracks that are coming up on the schedule, like next week at Las Vegas, and then you’ve got Homestead and Darlington. What does it take to run the wall at those particular racetracks?
“Yeah, I mean I think you’ve got to have a good car capable of doing it. And then, you know, there’s definitely an art to it, as well. I think it’s interesting… I feel like a lot more people can run closer to the wall now with this race car. You know, you can — I wouldn’t say bounce it off the fence, but you can touch the fence and kind of get away with it. Obviously the toe links are kind of sensitive, but we enter on the wall so close now that it’s not like you’re sliding up to it. You know, and then it’s odd — downshifting at some of those racetracks and running the wall like at Homestead, right? Like that’s something that we never did. And, you know, used to with the old cars, you had to keep your momentum up and you had to enter with speed.
You had to have a lot of speed up there, not shifting. And now it’s like, you can just kind of go in there, you know, use some brake and downshift. And so I feel like it’s gotten more people more comfortable, you know, running the wall and it’s the preferred lane.
So it kind of is something that we all, you know, just had to do, right? There’s still guys that are better at it than others, you know, and you can tell which cars are handling better inches away from the wall. And, you know, I think it’s fun and this car’s fun running up there. But I don’t think it just, to me, it just gets the wheel out of it… turning the wheel less, and your car has more rear grip because anytime you turn the wheel with these cars, with all the caster that we have, it takes rear grip away from the car. With our old cars, I felt like we ran up there because we gained a lot of side force and that kind of aero balance tightened your car up. And this, I feel like it’s more of, just gets the wheel out of it and, you know, gives you more rear traction.”
To that point, who do you think in the Cup Series is the best at running the wall right now?
“I mean, I would put (Kyle) Larson,(Tyler) Reddick and (Christopher) Bell probably at the top. You know, I think they were some of the best in the old cars, so I feel like it’s made it easier for them.
You know, it’s not like it made it more difficult. I felt like it’s brought people that weren’t as great at it into being able to do it a little easier. So I would say those three are probably still the best.”
A lot of buzz around Kyle and Christopher getting ready for the High Limit kickoff Thursday in Las Vegas. What are your plans to get back out on the dirt track?
“Yeah, I was just actually talking to my dad about that. He’s going to be working on our NOS Energy Drink sprint car over the next few weeks. I plan on running Talladega, the 360 races there, and then heading over towards Texas for the High Limit races there. So that’ll be kind of the kickoff to my sprint car racing for the season. And then we’ll kind of see after that… I don’t have a set schedule. I think if it was up to my dad, we would race every weekend, but just logistically trying to do everything. It’s normally just kind of dad and I when we go racing. So try not to overwhelm him, even though he’s ready for it (laughs).
This kind of piggybacks off an earlier question, but what do you think separates the good cars at Phoenix from the really great cars at Phoenix?
“Yeah, I mean, at Phoenix, obviously you see teams and cars that are always at the front here. And it seems like no matter what, those cars are it.
So for us, you know, we have struggled really bad here at Phoenix over the last two, three years… and in both races. You know, we’ve had some bright spots. So we’ve kind of revamped our program for this weekend to try and, you know, get our car to be a good car.
I don’t think it’ll be a great car yet. I think we kind of got to build a foundation. You know, it seems like to me, anytime you get to a racetrack where you’re shifting a lot, I think that kind of brings the Fords into play a little bit on the short-tracks. And then, you know, obviously the Penske cars are by far elite here. And then I think it’s kind of a mixed bag of which cars are better after that. So you got to have a car that can get into the corner with some stability and not be too loose in, and then obviously your front tires work right dead center of the corner. You know, trying to get that balance right is very difficult here at Phoenix. And then with both ends being so different, if you can have that in both ends, then you’re pretty elite, and I think you see that throughout both races here. I think the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) and No. 22 (Joey Logano) are definitely by far the best.”
So you were talking about the High Limit kickoff at Las Vegas, but I’m curious, (Kyle) Larson has said that having Christopher Bell run in that series just elevates the awareness of dirt car racing. And I’m curious, I saw him speak to you, I think we were at Daytona at Media Day, and he was giddy. ‘Giddy’ the word that Larson used. And you told him you were racing Texas and he just, you know, he’s like — I want to go, you know, you could just kind of see it in him. How much has that opened the floodgate for Christopher Bell? I mean, we’ve watched him win the last two races. How much do you think that that has helped his mental psyche and, you know, just making him more comfortable on the track?
“Yeah, I think, you know — I look back at my Cup career and, you know, I was asked to quit racing sprint cars when I switched to Cup my rookie season in 2013. I mean, I was in the Xfinity Series. I was racing 30 to 40 times a year in sprint cars, as well as racing the Nationwide Series at the time.
And so, you know, for me, I was super bummed and it kind of made you resent racing NASCAR a little bit, right? And I was like that until, you know, really 2016 that I didn’t get back in a sprint car for those years. And so, you know, I could see that in Christopher, as well. And like you said, that’s the most excited I’ve seen him be was DAYTONA 500 media day when we were talking about him racing sprint cars again.
So it’s cool to see. I think, obviously he owes a lot to Ty Gibbs for that. You know, Ty’s just as excited as Christopher is being teammates with him at the Chili Bowl and him talking about him running sprint cars now. And so, yeah, obviously I think for me, it just puts you in a better headspace coming into the races.
And, you know, obviously I think you put Christopher in a better headspace with as fast as they are already and you’re already seeing those results.”
With these more normal tracks coming up, like Las Vegas and Homestead, is this the time where you’re really about to see what your team has with these more normal tracks coming up?
“Yeah, for sure. I think for us at Hyak Motorsports, I think we knew with the schedule layout that we needed to really capitalize on those first couple of races for us to gain the points that we needed, and we did that. You know, we left Atlanta eighth in points. We knew going into COTA, we didn’t get a lot of time. We got in that first lap wreck at Watkins Glen on the backstretch there, so we didn’t get time on that new tire and we really struggled at COTA with that. So, you know, for us to kind of get out of COTA with an 18th place finish was, I was pretty excited about that for as bad as I felt like we were running. We know that Phoenix is going to be a big test for us, to kind of see where our short-track program is.
But then, yeah, we’re excited to get to the mile-and-a-half racetracks. I think we’re closer as a team; our balance of the race car and speed is better on the mile-and-a-halves than we are at the short-tracks right now. So it’ll be nice to run Phoenix for us; kind of get a baseline and see where we are. And then, you know, jump to those mile-and-a-halves and kind of get back on the horse of getting good finishes and running closer to the front.
And, you know, hopefully we do that this weekend at Phoenix as well, but we do know that this has been a struggle for us. So it’ll be nice to get that short-track package; get a run on it, kind of reevaluate as we go back to the mile-and-a-halves. And yeah, I mean, you got to be good at all racetracks, so we’re just trying to elevate our game at all of them.”
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix 1 Media Availability | Saturday, March 8, 2025
Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse met with media members at Phoenix Raceway ahead of on-track action Saturday afternoon. Buescher and the NASCAR Cup Series will practice and qualify Saturday for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500.
WE HEARD PEOPLE SPEAK YESTERDAY ABOUT RACING PHOENIX IN THE SPRING IS A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT THAN WHEN YOU GUYS COME BACK HERE. IS THAT KIND OF THE WAY THAT YOU LOOK AT IT AS WELL?
“Yeah I’d say that’s pretty accurate. You know, one thing, we run these races so far apart so it does go through temperature changes and track changes and intensity changes just on where it is during the season when we close out here. So yeah it’s accurate. The races do seem to play out quite differently year to year. That’s something that we try and understand. Everybody, for the most part, everybody knows it or admits it, I guess. But it just doesn’t 100% make sense. I don’t know what it is, if it’s just the track sitting through the winter or what, but the races do seem to typically play out a decent amount differently.
QUESTION INAUDIBLE: “It’s not a plug-and-play no. (t certainly is the same track still and we take a lot of what we learn and try and use it for championship weekend but it requires tuning and it requires our teams going through a lot of their notes and what they have seen as typical offsets from the spring race to a borderline winter race, right? So it’s definitely something that we have to plan for and there is something that everyone has built in or tries to understand as best as possible.”
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO RUN THE WALL AND WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST AT IN THE CUP SERIES?
“This racetrack has not been going quite as wide over the last couple of races. It just keeps inching back down. I guess my theory, which could be a hundred percent wrong, is just that I don’t know if it was PJ1 or resin or what that was sprayed last. It just seems to steadily be wearing out or going away. I haven’t messed with it in several years now. With that, I think that you get in these races and everybody thinks the shortest distance around it is going to play out and there’s plenty of grip at this racetrack still, even as it’s aging. But you slide up the groove and find yourself not where you wanted to be and discover, oh, there’s a little bit of grip out here still. Then that just becomes the line for a while until it just starts to steadily move up. Some of it’s based on tire wear and what we fight. Trying to keep that smaller radius running the bottom of one and two, where it’s coming off the top, you can just kind of straighten out the wheel and be able to put power down easier. It’s wearing out. We haven’t been able to see it make quite the benefit from behind the wheel as we had in a couple of races back where we were sailing it up right against the fence. Now it will come in at points and it will be better for some people, but it’s not dominant. I think that’s a good thing. I think that makes the lanes stay more even here, which I do think is creating better racing here.”
OBVIOUSLY, THE OPTION TIRE IS GOING TO BE IN PLAY HERE. HOW DO YOU SEE THAT PLAYING OUT? WE SAW IT IN RICHMOND LAST YEAR. HOW DO YOU SEE THAT IMPACTING THINGS THIS WEEKEND?
“Until we get on track with it I don’t have the best answer, but a lot of study has gone into this. Realizing that North Wilkesboro, when we did this the first go-round, the surface was just new and we ended up running the whole race on reds, right? That was probably not the best read for it, but then Richmond, a track that has a rather abrasive surface, and we did see big movers when they would bolt on reds at certain times during the race, and then have more fall off with them. We have a lot of notes from that race that we have applied towards this one in trying to take into account that the surface is different here, but it’s on our minds. We’ll have one set of each one for practice coming up here, so we’re gonna be paying attention to others. It’s gonna create more work for our teams as they try and decide or figure out what other teams are running, just to make sure that we have that data right. If you just look at timing and scoring, you don’t know if it was a red tire versus a yellow. I don’t know what the official names are, that’s the only way I can keep up is red versus yellow. But for us it’s just a matter of keeping up with who’s on what so that we can understand where their speed is, whether that’s fire off, fall off, and try and compare it to what we’re going to do and we’ll obviously know what tires we’re on at any point during the run. We’re balancing that out across our three cars this go. So obviously we have some more data for our organization, which is exciting for us and we feel like it will be beneficial throughout the year, but it’s going to give us more notes to lean on after this practice here today and be more prepared for tomorrow. It’s certainly not going to be a race where you can put the reds on and just run this thing out. We’ve had some rather long runs here and that’s been our strong suit for RFK. So with this option tire, if it’s got some fire-off speed and if we can make that last longer than competition, then maybe it works out great for us. Or if it kind of falls off the same for everybody, then maybe we lose some of what we had. We’re not staying still though. We know what our cars did good last time here and what we need them to do better. So we are working on that and trying to make it be better on both tires.”
YOU’RE TRYING TO ACCUMULATE DATA AND NOTES FOR NOVEMBER, HOW MUCH DOES IT COMPLICATE THE FACT THAT YOU’RE RUNNING TWO DIFFERENT TIRES THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, it’s going to make this weekend busier. I don’t know, it’s so far away. I don’t know what the plan is, I guess, in my mind, and I don’t think I’m making this up, but I think the idea is to try and run if the option tire is good and holds on and has good fall off and good racing, it’s my understanding is to try and run that tire as the only tire when we come back. I guess that’s what I thought I heard. I don’t, you are probably way more up to date in here than I am on that. But that is correct? I’m not making that up? Good, good. I would usually blame it on early morning, but it’s like one o’clock. For us, we’re obviously going to take everything that we can figure out. We know there’s an offset when we bolt on that red tire versus yellow based on Richmond based on North Wilkesboro. We’ll base that off today and we’ll kind of find out what that means for us and if we get to a place where we’re happy on the reds and we come out of this race, and we get that information that this is what we’re going to try and run, and we like this then yeah, it’s only three sets through the weekend that we got to run on the reds. But that’ll make those notes all that more important as we come back and get ready for the championship weekend.”
HOW WAS IT RACING IN FRONT OF MORE OF LIKE A HOMETOWN CROWD LAST WEEKEND AT COTA AND COMING OFF YOUR SUCCESS LAST WEEK, WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE HERE AT PHOENIX?
“I’m fortunate enough, I guess, to get two home tracks in a sense, which is kind of a stretch when you consider they’re four and a half, five hours apart. From where I live in the Carolinas now, I think I have five or six of our races that are all closer than that. So it internally makes me laugh a little bit, but going back home and seeing that home crowd is always fun. Whether it’s intros or walking around the facility there and seeing old friends that are there for that race, it’s even more so when we go up to Texas Motor Speedway. It always is just a good time. It creates a little bit more chaos and it makes it a little busier, but all for the right reasons. For us, road racing has been pretty notably strong for RFK, for ourselves on the 17 team, and for whatever reason COTA has been our worst road course. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the first one of the season and we’re just trying to knock the rust off or what, but practicing and qualifying were just kind of mediocre. Qualifying wasn’t good and had a lot of work to do during the race. The team stepped up and did a good job and were able to really roll through and get a solid finish out of it and kind of just give us that little bit of a kick in the rear that we needed leaving there because it was a tough first day in Austin. It’s obviously a different time of year as well. You think about the way this schedule is played out at the beginning of the season, it’s hard to get a read on where the entire garage is at as far as what this year is going to look like from speed, from who is strong at ovals. We don’t even know right now. Kind of leading into the second part of your question, as we head into Phoenix, this is kind of our first traditional style race for the year. So we’re hoping to get a lot out of this. We’re hoping that everything is really good right off the truck so that we can use this as kind of our baseline to set the tone for the first quarter of the season. The largest goal for our team is to make sure that we fire off this season on a high note and somewhere in these first eight races are able to find victory lane. I feel like that’s what we’ve been missing. So that’s our goal for Phoenix. We finished second here in the spring race last year. So we were very strong. Bell was in another world that race, so still had a lot of work to do to win it but certainly looking at that, we were strong here in the fall and in the last couple of years at a racetrack that — I don’t know if anybody from the tracks in here — but I hated this place. I hated this place so much for so much of my career and it’s been nice to say that I don’t feel that way about it. Talking for real, I don’t hate coming to Phoenix any longer. The last several years now have been really, really good and it makes me excited to come back here and see what we can do.”
IT FEELS LIKE GOODYEAR HAS RECEIVED A LOT OF THE PRESSURE TO FIX A LOT OF THE RACING ISSUES AND THEY’VE BEEN WILLING TO TAKE RISKS. THEY BROUGHT A SOFTER TIRE TO COTA, THEY’RE BRINGING THE TWO OPTIONS TODAY. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A DRIVER, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT GOODYEAR FOR THEM BEING ABLE TO GO OUT AND RISK THE NEW TIRE COMPOUNDS?
“I think it’s fantastic for our sport. We appreciate the willingness from them to do it and I think we’ve seen it starting to play out and pay off in some big ways. Obviously I’m not in their shoes and I understand it’s definitely tricky to be making a race tire for the best racing possible and production tires to put on your passenger vehicle. From a racing side of it alone and forgetting the rest, we’ve been able to get to the point where we’ve had some big fall-off races. We’ve been pulling strategy back into these things where you feel like you can decide if you want to stay out and take a risk on a tire that maybe only has five laps on it, but it is making a difference. We went through a period of time where you could run tires just as long as you could run a tank of fuel out, and that’s showing up to make better racing. The tire last week from COTA was essentially the same tire as Watkins Glen and the fall off that we’ve seen there. And maybe I’m a little bit biased to that one, but you know what, it worked at COTA too. We had some strategies that we hadn’t seen in a while. I think the Richmond race last year with the two tires, I don’t know that I love running two different option tires in a weekend, but I do understand the end goal of trying to use it as a real-world test. Because when you come here, and I’ve been a part of these many times throughout my career, you come here with six cars after a race or just somewhere in the winter, and you try and test something and see what works, it doesn’t relate. There’s just not enough cars, not enough heat, not enough rubber in the track. It just doesn’t give you the real world answers that you need. So this is a way to get those answers during a race weekend. It does create some excitement and some unknowns, but it also gives us answers on what we can do as a sport and what Goodyear is able to pull off so that we can have better racing as we head into the next short track or the next time we come to Phoenix or whatever it may be.”
