ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Saturday, March 1, 2025) – Dennis Hauger continued his strong first weekend in INDY NXT by Firestone, winning the pole for the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Saturday with a track-record lap for the INDYCAR development series.
Hauger turned a top lap of 1 minute, 3.8801 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global to earn the top spot in his series debut. The 45-lap race on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit starts at 10 a.m. ET Sunday, with live coverage on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
SEE: Qualifying Results
“The team did a great job getting a good car for qualifying,” Hauger said. “We did the job. I’ll take that. Overall, I think there was a bit more in there for me, but it’s the first race weekend. We’re getting up to speed. Happy overall.”
Hauger’s top lap in the first of two qualifying groups broke the INDY NXT track record of 1:04.5759 set by Nolan Siegel last year before he climbed to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Arrow McLaren. Hauger also led practice Friday and was second in the pre-qualifying session this morning.
A climb to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES also is Hauger’s goal. The Norwegian joins INDY NXT by Firestone this season after winning the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2021 and earning five wins and 13 podium finishes in FIA Formula 2 – the last official ladder step before Formula One – in the last three seasons.
2024 USF Pro 2000 champion Lochie Hughes locked out the front row for Andretti Global by qualifying second at 1:04.0209 for his series debut in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine.
Caio Collet, the top returning driver to the series this season, qualified third at 1:04.3851 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car. Fellow series veteran Myles Rowe will join Collet in the second row after qualifying fourth at 1:04.2053 in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports/Force Indy car.
Rookie Liam Sceats qualified fifth at 1:04.5451 in the No. 30 HMD Motorsports car. Jack William Miller will start sixth in the No. 40 Abel/Miller/Vinatieri Motorsports car after his best lap of 1:04.3300.
Toyota GAZOO Racing – Tyler Reddick NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
AUSTIN (March 1, 2025) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media after winning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Can you take us through your lap?
“Yeah, all in all it felt like it was hard for anybody in the field today to have a perfect lap. Certainly, it wasn’t that for me but hit the right areas that matter the most. Fortunately, put together a pretty good lap that was able to hold on there. Certainly, didn’t know the 9 (Chase Elliott) and some of the other cars, the capability of re-running a good time and what that was going to look like. All in all, we had a really good lap, and we were able to hang onto it throughout the whole session. “
How noticeable was the fall off of the new tire compound from your perspective?
“Yeah, it’s a lot more than I feel like we’ve had here in the past. Even last year’s tire was a good step to help that. Yeah, it really does go away, and it goes away quick. That will be a handful tomorrow. Qualifying is important, but one lap speed is not really going to be something that I feel like is going to matter much in the race. Obviously with the tire fall off and taking care of the tires starting upfront does help. You’re not having to push through the field to try to get to where you’re going to run for the day. We’re going to look back at just some of the things we did during practice. It felt like on our end, we were not where we wanted to be the first practice and starting off the second practice, I think around a lap and a half I said we’ve got to change a lot. And we made it a lot better. I’m proud of everybody on this Beast Camry. They worked really, really hard today to find some handling, find some speed. It’s nice to get poles, it’s nice to have good days but for us something that has been happening more times than not recently is having a day that starts off not well and being able to fight your way through it and make it better by the time the day ends. Those kinds of days have been fun. We’ve had a couple of those already this year for sure.”
Were you watching your mirrors at all when Bubba Wallace went out nearby you?
“I was but not in areas that would take away from my lap. I remember going into (turn) 1 and I’m like, ‘Dang, I wish he would’ve gapped himself a little bit more,’ because I felt like I was messing his lap up for sure. Talking to him after the fact, his focus was to go out and follow me and kind of see what I was going to do and try to mimic it. Certainly, he’s on the path to getting better at the road courses. He’s learning and if he keeps it up here soon, I’ll be having to try to battle him head-to-head for these poles. It’s been really nice to see his growth and him improve and embrace the way we have to do things and how we learn through our simulator program at Airspeed and in Salisbury. It’s just been nice to see those gains happen. Riley (Herbst) is going to go through the same process, and he’s going to learn and get better as well.”
Were you trying to be the ghost car for Riley Herbst or were you trying to improve your lap?
“I was trying to improve, yes. But, I mean, it kind of just worked out that way where I gave Riley (Herbst) a ghost car. I didn’t get to see how it really helped him or not. For myself, I felt like I left a little bit on the table, and I wanted to give it a shot at improving. Obviously, we didn’t, but I still think we learned some things from the re-run even though we didn’t go faster that can help us maybe tomorrow or the maybe the next road course qualifying session that we have.”
Are you expecting dive bombs in turn 6A during the race and is that tire pack coming right at you?
“Oh no. It’s not that bad at all. If it was shaped like that, yeah, we’d be heading right towards it but you kind of come out of 6 and straight shot into 6A. It’s honestly kind of fun playing the game of how close you can get to the tire pack before you can hit it. Haven’t got it yet, so hopefully I don’t the rest of the weekend.”
How do you prepare for that turn and do you expect dive bombs during the race?
“We’ll see. I think today will be very telling of what that’s going to look like in the Xfinity race later. I think you just have to be ready for someone to make a move anywhere around this race track. Today there were sports cars racing a little bit earlier – the sports car challenge was out there a little earlier today. I didn’t get to catch a lot of that as we were going over some things for practice. This layout is fairly new. I don’t know if there’s a lot of races that have been done on it. I think everybody is going to be learning. The Xfinity cars are going to go out there and race, and the Cup guys are going to watch that and observe and see what that looks like and how that move looks. I think it’s definitely a place where it’s going to be really hard for the car on the outside to win. If you end up on the outside of (turn) 6A or B with the double left. We’ll see.”
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.
Tyler Reddick led a historic front-row sweep for 23XI Racing at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) by capturing the Busch Light Pole Award for the fifth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Saturday, March 1.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single qualifying round, where the entered competitors were split into two groups, Group A and Group B, after the event’s two practice sessions. The competitors in each group were given 20 minutes to post a qualifying lap. After the time trials, the driver posting the overall fastest lap time is awarded the pole position.
Reddick, who qualified in Group B, navigated his No. 45 The Beast Toyota Camry XSE entry around COTA’s new 17-turn layout to a pole-winning lap at 88.095 mph in 98.076 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over his 23XI Racing teammate, Bubba Wallace, as both performed their respective qualifying laps at the exact time while racing within reach of one another.
As a result, Reddick, a two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, notched his 10th NASCAR Cup Series career pole, his fourth on a road-course venue, his second at COTA and the first of the 2025 season for both himself and 23XI Racing. Ironically, Reddick achieved the Cup Series’ first pole at COTA in 2021 and he would capture his first race victory driving for 23XI Racing in 2023.
After being the 16th fastest during both of the event’s practice sessions earlier on Saturday, Reddick was pleased with the pace gained during his qualifying session which enabled him to claim the pole as he will lead the field to the start of Sunday’s main event.
“I think today, it threw [the team] for a loop,” Reddick said on Prime Video. “The pace was nowhere what we thought it was going to be. Everybody here on this No. 45 [team] and everyone here at 23XI [Racing] really had to go to work on our Toyota Camrys. We made massive improvements from practice 1 to practice 2. Obviously, we didn’t have the fire-off lap we were wanting and then, we’re gonna have to go out [to the track] and find it right away. Just really glad today went like it did. It’s gonna be a great track position for us tomorrow.”
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 01: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 The Beast Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 01, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images).
Reddick will share the front row with teammate Bubba Wallace, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 87.894 mph in 98.300 seconds. As a result, both of the latter two competitors notched the first front-row sweep for 23XI Racing for an upcoming Cup Series event.
The second-place starting spot marks Wallace’s current best of the 2025 season and his second top-three starting spot achieved after he started in third place during this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 due to winning the first Daytona Duel event in February. Compared to Reddick, the Mobile, Alabama native’s best result at COTA is 15th place, which occurred during the 2024 event. After sustaining DNFs during his first three trips in Austin between 2021 to 2023, Wallace will attempt to bid for his first road-course victory for Sunday’s main event.
Like Reddick, Wallace was also pleased with the pace gained in comparison to the event’s two practice sessions, where he ranged within the top-20 mark, to launch himself to a front-row starting spot.
“When we come to the road course races, I think everybody on the Toyota camp leans on Tyler [Reddick],” Wallace said. “He does a great job of giving us the right information to chase, sometimes. I was way out in left field in practice, so we made some big gains on our Mobil 1 Toyota. Now, tomorrow’s a different pace for me, the racing and being aggressive and staying up front. That’ll be the new challenge, but all in all, just continuing to get speed and getting more comfortable on these types of places, it’s what it’s all about. [It’s] All about the men and women at 23XI Racing.”
Chase Elliott, winner of the inaugural COTA event in 2021, leaped his way to being the third-fastest competitor on the final qualifying chart with his best lap occurring at 87.842 mph in 98.358 seconds. Carson Hocevar, who is coming off a career-best second-place result from Atlanta Motor Speedway, qualified in fourth place with his best lap occurring at 87.758 mph in 98.453 seconds while Daniel Suarez, who was the fastest competitor during Group A, claimed the fifth-starting spot with his best lap occurring at 87.732 mph in 98.482 seconds.
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-10 starting spots.
The following names that include Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones and Austin Cindric qualified 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 32nd and 36th, respectively.
Notably, Connor Zilisch qualified in 14th place for his Cup Series debut. In addition, rookie Riley Herbst, who was initially the fastest qualifier until he was penalized for cutting the course, will start in 31st place after he made a second qualifying attempt.
With 37 competitors vying for 37 starting spots, all of the competitors made the main event.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Tyler Reddick, 88.095 mph, 98.076 seconds
2. Bubba Wallace, 87.894 mph, 98.30 seconds
3. Chase Elliott, 87.842 mph, 98.358 seconds
4. Carson Hocevar, 87.758 mph, 98.453 seconds
5. Daniel Suarez, 87.732 mph, 98.482 seconds
6. Shane van Gisbergen, 87.699 mph, 98.519 seconds
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - FEBRUARY 28: Rinus VeeKay, driver of the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda during first practice for the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding on Feb. 28, 2025, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Photo: Travis Hinkle/IMS Photo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A little more than two weeks ago, Rinus VeeKay didn’t have a ride for the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. While he was in talks since October of 2024, he grew worried as time passed with no deal in place.
“I mean, seasons approaching, you’re getting closer,” he said. “You got some demons in your head, you know?”
Friday, he arrived at the Mahaffey Theater sporting a grey Dale Coyne Racing shirt, “just going into it head first.”
“The engineers and I, you know, they do what I what I ask and what I need from the car they give me,” he said. “So I think it’s a very straightforward way of engineering. You know, it’s very simple and very effective.”
So what are the goals for a driver who’s in the midst of a four-year winless drought in the NTT INDYCAR Series? It’s hard to say, because he doesn’t know what to expect from his new team.
“I think nobody really knows what to expect,” he said. “You can really work off what they did last year with nine drivers. But I think for this weekend, we can, we have legitimate shots at top 10. I think for the championship, a safe goal, a realistic goal, I think is top 16 is a great job for them as a team, but it might change. It might go to towards the top 10 or top 12 in a championship.”
VeeKay got off to a rough start with Dale Coyne Racing. In Sebring testing on February 17, he clocked in 23rd out of 27. Furthermore, he timed in 25th in first practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Friday.
He ended second practice, however, second fastest.
Toyota GAZOO Racing – Christopher Bell NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
AUSTIN (March 1, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Are there concerns for any potential trouble spots on this circuit?
“I don’t know. I think the trouble spots are always going to be turn 1 on the restarts. But with the new restart zone that they implemented it seemed like that helped that out a lot. As a racer I want it to be a little bit more straight forward and a little bit less trouble spots. We don’t know how 6B and 6A are going to race yet. I think that could be like – it kind of reminds me of that section at Chicago – maybe (turn) 5 where it’s really tight back through there and we saw a bunch of pile ups and the track can get blocked. So maybe that could happen. But turn 1, with it being the biggest brake zone I think that’s going to be the biggest area for issues. It seems like that got cleaned up a lot with the updated restart zone. I’m a fan of that and hopefully it allows more of the best cars to race for the win.”
Have you walked the track yet and what do you think about turn 6A?
“I have. It’s just awkward. It’s a very awkward corner with how you’re coming off of turn 6 the right hander in the esses. The whole car is like pushing you out track left and then you don’t really have a ton of visuals getting into (turn) 6A there expect now they have a big, old tire pack which is good because that gives us a reference of where the apex is. I don’t know. I think it is a pretty high intense braking zone, but the thing is your car is automatically trying to take you track left, so I don’t know how big of a passing zone it’s going to be. We’ll find out after the Xfinity race though. I’m excited for the challenge and trying to learn a new section of the track. I think it’s good to always shake it up.”
Did you do simulator work to get ready for the changes?
“There was. The simulator changed about 15 times since we started just because we didn’t know what the course was going to look like, what the visuals were. I had run plenty of laps there with nothing marking the track and you just kind of ran through the gravel, and then the last time that I ran through there in the simulator we had the tire pack in place. The hardest thing is just getting the site line. It’s weird because there’s no elevation change there but it’s a very blind corner. There’s not a lot to reference off of where your car is positioned on track. It’s going to take some acclimation for sure.”
What’s your confidence that you can get some more wins this season?
“I feel good about it. Honestly, the win last week doesn’t really change my outlook on the season just because I didn’t have that one planned on winning. I don’t think anybody on this 20 group expected to win a speedway race this year. It’s a goal and you want to try and obviously do it, but we didn’t have that one circled as a potential win. So, that’s good. We’re just starting the season out with what we expect to be good race tracks for us. Going into a really good stretch. Hopefully we are competitive and see where we stack up. Obviously, it would be amazing to win again early on in the season, but we don’t really know where we’re at. We’ll get a good feel of where we’re at this race and the next two and then re-evaluate and see what we need to improve on.”
Is the tire barrier as big of a threat as it looks like in turn 6A?
“I’m assuming you’re talking about 6A. That’s the last tire barrier that we have left. Yes, I went around there in the pace car yesterday. You’re coming off of turn 6 and whenever you leave turn 6, you’re basically center punching this tire barrier and so you have to awkwardly make the car want to get back right to get your angle right for 6A to get around the tire pack. I think the start of the Xfinity race is going to be exciting to see everyone try and navigate that corner for the first time. It’s going to become less and less of a talking point as the drivers get acclimated to it and get used to it. But certainly, those first couple restarts are going to be interesting to see how everybody defends and attacks. We’re going to learn a lot by watching the Xfinity race.”
Do you have any early insight on the Playoff committee you’re apart of and how are you hoping to contribute?
“Number one, I’m honored and privileged to be a part of that, and I think it’s really cool that NASCAR, and the industry respects me enough to have me be a part of it so that’s awesome. I’m grateful that I get to help out with that. The goal for the whole thing is to help bring more legitimacy to the championship. I think everybody has believed that the champions of the new age are held to – it feels different than like what Jimmie (Johnson) did and the guys back in the day. The whole goal is to make the drivers feel like that championship is a big deal, the biggest deal of our life. So, hopefully we can get a format that provides a lot of entertainment, a lot of excitement and some amazing finishes to the championship race while upping the legitimacy of the NASCAR Cup Series championship, and I’m assuming it would bleed down to the other series as well.”
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.
INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, March 1, 2025) — Four-time Indianapolis 500 starter Lee Kunzman, a model of perseverance in motorsports, died Feb. 27. He was 80.
Kunzman overcame serious injuries during his career to start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 1972, 1973, 1977 and 1979. His best finish was seventh, in 1973 and 1977. His best qualifying spot was 11th, for his final start in 1979.
His best finish during his INDYCAR SERIES career was second in 1979 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, falling just short in a thrilling late-race duel with winner Johnny Rutherford.
After his driving career, Kunzman served as team manager for Hemelgarn Racing, which won the “500” in 1996 and the INDYCAR SERIES championship in 2000 with driver Buddy Lazier. The Hemelgarn team also finished second at Indianapolis in 1998 and 2000, with Lazier driving.
Iowa native Kunzman’s greatest success as a driver came in United States Auto Club competition. He earned 30 career USAC national feature victories, 16 in Midget and 14 in Sprint Car. Kunzman set the stage for a short-track career that culminated in his induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2006 by winning his very first USAC start, at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa.
He gained attention in 1967 by earning Little 500 Rookie of the Year honors at Anderson (Indiana) Speedway, but Kunzman’s breakout year in USAC came in 1969. He earned eight USAC National Midget victories, including the Astro Grand Prix on the indoor dirt oval built inside the Astrodome in Houston.
Kunzman also earned another major USAC National Midget win in 1970, capturing the Night Before the 500 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. But seven days later, he suffered severe burns on 40 percent of his body and multiple fractures when the throttle stuck on his sprint car and he endured a violent crash in a USAC race at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri.
Despite a two-month stay in the hospital after the accident, Kunzman returned to drive in April 1971, winning his first race back in the cockpit, a USAC National Midget feature at Tri-County Speedway in Ohio.
The return started a very successful era for Kunzman, who finished fifth, third, and second, respectively, in the USAC National Sprint Car standings from 1971-73.
His INDYCAR SERIES career also started to flourish at that time, as he finished third in late 1973 at Texas World Speedway. But misfortune struck again, as Kunzman suffered severe head injuries and paralysis on the left side of his body after crashing in an INDYCAR SERIES tire test at Ontario (California) Motor Speedway in December 1973. The injuries forced him to miss the entire 1974 season.
The persistent Kunzman returned to the cockpit in March 1975 for the INDYCAR SERIES 500-mile race at Ontario Motor Speedway, finishing an inspiring fourth at the site of his accident 15 months prior.
Toyota GAZOO Racing – John Hunter Nemechek NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
AUSTIN (March 1, 2025) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver John Hunter Nemechek was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Do you expect the early success you’ve had in superspeedway racing will carry over into other tracks?
“I sure hope so. I think that the first two races for us this year were about survival and putting ourselves in good spots to have good finishes and have shots to contend for a win. I think that for us, coming into COTA there’s a lot of unknowns. I feel like last year, we really struggled at road courses. That’s probably one of the areas that we lacked speed the most and the cars didn’t drive very well, didn’t have very much speed. It just wasn’t very good for us. But, with the changes over the offseason there’s a lot of new personnel and a lot of new ideas. Different cars I would say. Hopefully, faster race cars than we had last year. I’m looking forward to seeing where we stack up as far as the road course program goes and how much improvement and gains we’ve made over the offseason. To answer your question, I hope that we’re able to carry that speed over and have another a solid top 10 run and be able to have speed in our LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota Camry XSEs but that’s still to be determined. These next three weeks are race tracks that are circled to figure out how far we’ve come in improvements at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB over the offseason car build-wise, process-wise, personnel – and we’ll see where we stack up with all of the changes.”
How do you feel as a driver coming into this season?
“Man, 2024 was probably one of the most trying years of my personal and professional life. A lot happened in 2024. I had to overcome a lot both personally and racing side. I won’t get into too many details. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Let’s put it that way. 2024 was definitely a year that I learned a lot of lessons, a lot of valuable lessons. But, yeah, a lot affected racing on Sundays and that shouldn’t have been that way, but in the end you overcome that. You learn and you grow as a person. I feel like being 27 now, at times you’ve got to grow up really fast, you’ve got to mature. You’ve got to learn the good, the bad and the ugly and how to overcome certain things. I feel like coming in to 2025, I feel like I’m a completely different person when it comes to that. My mindset has shifted and personality a little bit. There’s a lot of things that have changed for me in the matter of the last let’s say three or four months. I feel good about 2025. I feel like I’m in a really good place. I’m excited for this year. I’m excited for all of the changes that LEGACY has made over the offseason. Yeah, that stat is not one to be proud of that’s for sure. All in all, all we can do is go onward and upward. Can’t get much worse than last year.”
Are there any trouble spots that you’re concerned about on the track this weekend?
“Man, (turn) 6A is going to interesting for sure with how tight it is. When you’re coming off the high speed esses I think it’s going to be really hard to pass through there. I think you’re going to throw a late dive bomb if you’re going to try and pass through there. Then the asphalt being so old compared to the new asphalt and being super slick. We just got done with the track walk and it’s a significant difference on the section from 6A to 6B. I think it’s going to be really hard to pass through there. I think your angles are going to be really difficult with how tight it is. It reminds me in a different way, but similarities to turn 4 at Chicago – the little short shoot there that’s really tight. You didn’t really see a lot of passing happen there and if you did it was more or less being out-braked getting into turn 4 rather than through there. I think it’s going to be really hard to pass through 6A, 6B. A lot of guys I guess thought it was going to be an improved passing zone, but I think time will tell. I think that this race is going to come down to track position and really having your car tuned up and executing on restarts and putting yourself in good spots.”
How important is it to have Jimmie Johnson being so devoted to the race team?
“I think for any company that’s super important to have someone that is involved that wants to take the team or company to the next level and wants to succeed. I haven’t found anything other than free throws with Shaq that Jimmie (Johnson) absolutely sucks at. He’s pretty good at about everything so I’m hoping that transfers over to the ownership side as well. Jimmie has been great to me over the last year. He’s helped me through a lot of different situations. He’s been someone that I can rely on and ask those hard or tough questions and get a straight answer. He’s been a great boss so far, a great mentor. I’ve always kind of looked up to Jimmie through my childhood, growing around the race track and seeing what he wants to do and the vision he has behind LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. For myself, of deciding to go Cup racing last year with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, some of that decision that was involved with that was that this was going to be growing LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and the vision that Jimmie had kind of sold me on that. So, I’m looking forward to kind of seeing where we stack up here with the changes that were made over the offseason. I know that Jimmie is definitely excited as well and pushing everyone to be better every single day. I think that’s a huge testament to who he is and just how humble he is and how he wants this place to run and how he wants this place to succeed. I think with him moving back and being involved, and talking to myself and Erik (Jones) almost every day. Being able to shoot each other notes and having him here in person more I think is going to be even more beneficial as we move forward here. So, I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time with Jimmie as the year goes on.”
What’s it been like getting to work with your new crew chief Travis Mack to start the season?
“At first, I didn’t know how to take Travis (Mack, crew chief). Have you seen the movie Up? You know the dog that has a collar on and it’s like squirrel, squirrel. Just random thoughts that pop into his head. I kind of relate to Travis that way. Just super full of energy, great guy, down to earth, not afraid to speak his mind. I feel like it’s good for me. It’s pushing me to be better and focus on the things that we feel like we need to focus on at times. Hopefully, he doesn’t get offended by my Up comment, but it’s been really great being able to work with him and the whole 42 group. There’s only two guys, one mechanic and my PR guy, Colby, that is the same from last year on the 42 team. Literally everyone else is new to the 42 team. Some have been at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB just in different roles. I feel like everything has gone well over the offseason. I feel like the communication standpoint has gone well. I feel like kind of everyone is gelling and working together. We’re all working and pushing to achieve the same goal. All of us want it and you can definitely see that in our team. We were able to move some spots around and implement some better procedures and processes and things of that sort. I feel like working with Travis has been really good so far. I’m looking forward to continuing – we’re technically only three races in with the Clash. I feel like we’ve kind of hit it off. I feel like we’ve been able to communicate well. Our debriefs have been really good as far as sitting down and figuring out what each other need differently on the radio and figuring how to communicate better to make the cars go faster. At the end of the day, Travis and I can have a great relationship, or we can have a love hate relationship, right? We’re going to push each other to be better every single day. We both have that same mentality, so I feel like it’s good for us.”
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.
Connor Zilisch powers his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to the pole position for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Photo Credit: NASCAR at COTA/Harold Hinson Photography
AUSTIN, Texas (Feb. 28, 2025) – The rapid rise of Connor Zilisch continued Friday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Less than six months after winning his NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) debut at Watkins Glen, and just two days before he makes his first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) start, the 18-year-old captured the pole for Saturday’s Focused Health 250 NXS race (1:30 p.m. CT, TV: CW, Radio: PRN, SiriusXM) on the National Course with a lap time of 97.262 seconds at 88.832 miles per hour.
The Mooresville, N.C. native paced a stellar qualifying performance by JR Motorsports, which earned four of the top five qualifying positions. NCS full-time driver Ross Chastain, driving for JR Motorsports, will join Zilisch on the front row. Teammates Justin Allgaier took fourth and Carson Kvapil was fifth.
NCS regular William Byron, driving a Hendrick Motorsports entry, was the only driver to break through the JR Motorsports stranglehold by qualifying third.
“I think we’re going to have a really good car here,” Zilisch told media after qualifying. “It’s fun to have Ross here to push me to my limits. I’ve just got to go out and do my job. At the end of the day, it’s executing that’s going to win the race.”
After posting the fastest lap in Friday’s practice, the young hot shoe backed up his performance by outpacing the field by 0.184 seconds on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile circuit in qualifying.
“It’s a really good start to the weekend. It’s been a really rough start to the year, so getting some momentum is much-needed,” said Zilisch, who makes his NCS debut with Trackhouse Racing with practice and qualifying Saturday. “Tomorrow’s going to be a little tougher… first time in a Cup car, the people around me, the noise. I’m just going to have to keep doing my thing. I’m excited to see what the Cup car is like tomorrow, but it’s going to be tough to stay calm.”
With a strong showing in EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NCS qualifying Saturday, Zilisch is looking to become the youngest driver to make a NCS start since Joey Logano in 2008.
IMSA’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (IMSA), making its debut at the NASCAR at COTA weekend, also had qualifying Friday and will have a pair of races Saturday at 8:40 a.m. and 5 p.m. The top five in IMSA qualifying are as follows:
P3 class: Oscar Tunjo, Valentino Catalano, Jonathan Woolridge, Brian Thienes, Mirco Schultis.
GTDX class: Jake Walker, Adam Adelson, Matias Perez Companc, AJ Muss, Samantha Tan.
GSX class: Kiko Porto, Ian Porter, Steven Clemons, Chris Waltz, Patrick Wilmot.
Earlier in the day Friday, Trackhouse Racing teammates Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen joined Speedway Motorsports’ Senior VP of Operations and Development Steve Swift to host media on a tour of COTA’s new 2.4-mile National Course layout. The drivers pointed out the challenges presented by the new cut through from turns 6A to 6B, which cuts about a mile off of the Full Course layout that they’ve run the past four years.
Tickets:
Tickets for children ages 12 and under start at just $10 for the March 2 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NCS race and free for the March 1 NXS Focused Health 250 and IMSA-sanctioned VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. For individual tickets, weekend packages and camping, fans can visit NASCARatCOTA.com.
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Rookie Connor Zilisch scored his first NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position of the 2025 season for the fifth annual running of the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, on Friday, February 28.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single qualifying round, where the entered competitors were split into two groups, Group A and Group B, after the event’s practice session. The competitors in each group were given 20 minutes to post a qualifying lap. After the time trials, the driver posting the overall fastest lap time is awarded the pole position.
Zilisch, who qualified in Group A, wheeled his No. 88 WeatherTech/JR Motorsports (JRM) Chevrolet Camaro entry to a pole-winning lap at 88.832 mph in 97.262 seconds, which was enough to outduel his JRM teammate Ross Chastain.
With the pole, Zilisch, an 18-year-old prodigy from Charlotte, North Carolina, achieved his second Xfinity Series career pole in his seventh series start for Saturday’s main event at COTA. His first pole and first win occurred at Watkins Glen International in August 2024 in his series debut. Ironically, Zilisch notched his first Craftsman Truck Series pole at COTA a year ago and rallied from overshooting the first turn on the opening lap followed by spinning and cutting the course to finish in fourth place.
Currently, Zilisch is ranked in 32nd place in the 2025 Xfinity driver’s standings after recording back-to-back DNFS at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Amid the difficult start, the Charlotte native set aside the spotlight beaming on him at a track where he was deemed the favorite to win and shifted his focus to posting a strong result and contending for a victory.
This weekend is also a big one for Zilisch in his Cup Series debut with Trackhouse Racing in the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet entry at COTA on Sunday, March 2.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 28: Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, poses with the pole award winner $2,000.00 check during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 at Circuit of The Americas on February 28, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images).
“I don’t think there’s a target on my back,” Zilisch said on the CW Network. “I feel like we’re just gonna go out there tomorrow and execute our race and do what we know to do. We’ve got a really fast WeatherTech Chevrolet. We’re excited for the race tomorrow. Looking to make the most out of it. Hopefully, it’ll be a fun battle between [me and teammate Ross Chastain], have a good, clean race and hopefully get through Turn 1 tomorrow.”
Zilisch will share the front row with Ross Chastain, a former Cup Series race winner at COTA who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 88.664 mph in 97.446 seconds. Chastain, a 32-year-old veteran from Alva, Florida, will make his first of five scheduled Xfinity starts in JRM’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry on Saturday.
William Byron, this year’s two-time Daytona 500 champion is making his first of two Xfinity starts in 2025 He will line up in third place after he posted his best qualifying lap at 87.951 mph in 98.236 seconds. Byron, like Zilisch, is a Charlotte native and will pilot the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for Hendrick Motorsports, a team that won last year’s Xfinity event at COTA with Kyle Larson.
Justin Allgaier and rookie Carson Kvapil, who are teammates with Zilisch and Chastain at JRM, completed the top-five starting grid. Corey Heim, rookie Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst and rookie Christian Eckes will start in the top 10, respectively.
Drivers Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed and rookie Daniel Dye qualified in the top 15, respectively. Sammy Smith, Anthony Alfredo, Blaine Perkins, rookie Nick Sanchez and Austin Green will start in the top 20. Josh Williams, rookie William Sawalich, Carson Hocevar, Sage Karam, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Jeremy Clements and Ryan Sieg. They will start in 21st, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, 31st, 35th and 38th, respectively.
Notably, Baltazar Leguizamon will make his series debut on Saturday in the No. 35 entry for Joey Gase Motorsport and will start 37th. He will become the first Argentinian to compete in an Xfinity event.
With 41 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Parker Retzlaff, Brad Perez and Thomas Annunziata were the trio who failed the qualify for the main event.
Juncadella, Edgar, Keating drive No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to first FIA WEC victory
LUSAIL, Qatar (March 1, 2025) – TF Sport delivered the first FIA World Endurance Championship victory for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R as Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating won the Qatar 1812Km on Friday to open the season.
The trio drove the No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to a remarkable victory as they came from 13th in class at the start to win by less than a half-second. It’s the second win in as many 2025 races for the Corvette GT3 racecar as it also won the GTD class of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the hands of customer team AWA.
The victory was the first in the FIA WEC and in a Corvette for both Juncadella and Edgar, and it was the eighth in the championship for Keating – including four in a Corvette.
TF Sport won its eighth race in FIA WEC competition and for the first time since the 2022 Six Hours of Fuji.
The three drivers and the No. 33 TF Sport team worked their magic in the race’s opening half. Keating drove from 13th at the start to sixth in a little more than three hours in his first WEC race since winning the 2023 GTE Am title in a Corvette.
Keating completed his required driving time and handed off to Edgar for his first laps in FIA WEC competition. The progression up the order continued through a double-stint as the race went into darkness and the Corvette up into third place.
Juncadella drove a double-stint of his own and moved the Corvette into the class lead for the first time just past the halfway point. Another stellar run by Edgar kept the No. 33 Z06 GT3.R in the thick of it heading into a climatic final hour.
Juncadella got back in the Corvette with a little under 90 minutes to go and made his last pit stop for fuel and left-side tires to counter a full-service stop with four fresh tires for the second-place No. 59 McLaren. The two cars ran nose-to-tail for the final 30 minutes as Juncadella withstood the immense pressure holding off his pursuer and navigating the faster traffic.
Things didn’t work out as well for the No. 81 entry. Tom Van Rompuy began the race ninth in class and steadily moved toward the front and inside the top-five in his opening stint. Disaster struck with a mechanical issue shortly after Van Rompuy’s first pit stop in the form of a broken alternator pulley shaft that forced the retirement of the No. 81 less than an hour into the race.
TF Sport and the rest of the FIA WEC field moves on to its next race at the Imola Circuit in Italy on Sunday, April 20.
JESSICA DANE, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to TF Sport on its thrilling first victory with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Winning at Qatar with the No. 33 Corvette continues the strong start to 2025 for our Corvette GT3 program following on our results at Daytona. Thanks go to Dani, Jonny, Ben, the TF Sport team and our Corvette Racing engineering group for delivering this landmark victory in the FIA WEC.”
TOM FERRIER, TF SPORT OWNER: “There’s no denying that it was a big move for us to join GM and Corvette. We knew it was going to be a challenge the first year, and it was to start with. We gathered momentum as the year went on. Bahrain ended fantastically with a second and third, which was really exciting. We went to Daytona this year and everyone saw the reliability and how much it had improved on the Corvette and that gave us a bit of confidence. We had a great Prologue, struggled a bit earlier this week but knew we had a good car for the race. We executed perfectly today. I’m sad for the 81 but absolutely over the moon for GM, Corvette Racing and ourselves. It’s a huge result for us.”
TF SPORT POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “For the whole stint, for sure that was a lot of pressure in the last 30 minutes. At beginning I didn’t think I could hold (the No. 59) off. I just focused on hitting my marks. I could see where he was stronger in places. There were a couple of places where he could have gone for it and I think he was unsure. So it was good to keep him behind. At some point I was thinking we were going to finish second but I was focused on myself, my driving and not making mistakes. I don’t recall ever being in this situation where an unexpected win comes up and the last 40 minutes I have to defend for it. And here we are!”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Going to bed last night, I didn’t expect that we would end up here. To be honest I was hoping for top-eight or top-six… just a clean race and some points. In the Prologue we were happy with the car but in Free Practice and qualifying we seemed to struggle. A few small changes we made really helped the car today. We still weren’t the fastest but we were good enough, the strategy was amazing, the pit stop and everything… nobody made mistakes. It was just a very good race all around, and I’m very happy to win my first WEC race.”
(On early run): “Those first two stints went quite well. A couple of small changes we made for the race seemed to have helped. Ben felt much more confident, and I was happier with the car than where it was in practice so that was nice. I lost a little track position with a drive-through but then managed to overtake a couple of cars on track. Until I got out of the car, I didn’t know where we were. It was a nice surprise to see we were third.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I couldn’t have imagined this. Even if you look at the way the race unfolded, we didn’t have the speed to win it. We had to let others take themselves out of contention, and we’ll take it any way we can get it! We ran a clean race and a hard race. We did everything we could to stay up front. The last 30 minutes of Dani staying in front of the McLaren was just epic. To start 13th and end up in first place after 10 hours of hard racing is not easy. And it’s great to have Keating Chevrolet in Victory Lane!”
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We started the race quite well. I was able to drive from ninth to fourth. We had a strong car and were climbing up the order. When I came into the box and started my second stint, shortly after that we had a technical issue and had to retire the car. The team did a really, really good job. I hope to come back stronger at the next race at Imola.”
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