AUSTIN, TX (March 2, 2025) – Sam Mayer secured his best career finish and fourth-straight top-10 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), as he grabbed 3rd place in the Xfinity race on Saturday, while Sheldon Creed finished in 12th donning the Road Ranger sponsorship for the first time this season. On Sunday, Cole Custer finished 23rd in his first Cup race at COTA since the spring of 2022.
Xfinity Series
Mayer continued his string of strong runs at COTA as drove the No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang to a podium finish, marking his ninth career top-5 finish at road courses. His teammate, Creed, fought to salvage a 12th-place finish for Haas Factory Team after a spin just eight laps into the race forced him to the back of the field.
Mayer started eighth and remained in the top five throughout a relatively calm first stage, as he finished in fourth to earn himself seven crucial stage points. Following the spin, Creed gained six positions on the track before short-pitting the stage for tires and fuel which resulted in a 30th place finish.
Due to the strategy call in stage one, Creed was able to restart at the front of the field to begin the second stage after staying out under caution, while Mayer was shuffled back to 17th. Both Haas Factory Team Ford Mustangs raced there way into the top-10 before once again short-pitting with three laps to go at the end of stage two.
Mayer gradually picked off drivers to advance his position into the top-five across a caution-free final 20 laps, passing Carson Kvapil and Austin Hill to secure a top-three finish. A speeding penalty on the final stop sent Creed to the back, but he was the biggest mover in the final stage as he crossed the line in 12th.
“I think we were in every position on the track at some point today,” Mayer said. “We were keeping pace with those guys, and that’s exactly what we said we wanted to do. We got spun and got hit, but we fought through the adversity and I could not be more proud of our guys here today.”
Creed sits in fourth place in the Xfinity points standings while Mayer is right behind him in fifth heading into Phoenix next Saturday.
Cup Series
Despite starting at the back of the field, Custer was able to grind and drive his way up to 23rd place to match the best finish of his career in the Cup Series at COTA.
After a caution-free first stage, the 41 team used strategy to grab a 13th-place finish in the second stage, his best in a stage this season. Custer then hit pit road for four tires and fuel at the stage end, and restarted in the 28th position with 50 laps remaining.
He overcame a commitment-line violation penalty that dropped him to the back with 34 laps to go, when a caution reset the field. Custer then restarted 31st with 13 laps to go following the final yellow of the day, and gained eight spots over the wanning laps to secure a 23rd-place result.
“It was a lot of ups and downs, a hard-fought day for sure. Our guys did a great job rebounding throughout the day,” Custer said. “We brought a fairly fast Ford Mustang Dark Horse but we had a few hiccups during the day. We will just keep building from here.”
Custer is 33rd in the NASCAR Cup Series points through three races this season, as he looks forward to Phoenix next weekend.
Up Next Phoenix hosts the fourth race on the NASCAR Cup Series/Xfinity schedule next weekend. Race coverage for the Xfinity series is set for 5 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 for the Cup Series.
About Haas Factory Team The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.
Your truck’s transmission is one of the most critical components of the vehicle. If it fails, you’re looking at costly repairs and possibly even a complete replacement. But before it gets to that point, your truck will often give you warning signs that something isn’t right.
Catching transmission issues early can save you time, money, and significant headaches down the road. So, how can you tell if your truck’s transmission is in trouble? Here’s what to watch for.
Unusual Noises While Driving
If your truck starts making strange sounds, don’t ignore them. Transmission problems often produce distinctive noises that vary depending on the type of transmission your vehicle has.
Whining, grinding, clunking, or buzzing sounds can be early signs that your transmission needs attention. These issues, often caused by worn-out bearings, low fluid levels, or failing internal components, can be resolved with timely truck transmission repair. Addressing the problem early helps keep your truck running smoothly and prevents costly breakdowns.
Problems with Shifting Gears
A properly functioning transmission should shift smoothly, whether it’s manual or automatic. If your truck hesitates before moving after shifting into drive or reverse, that’s a warning sign. Slipping gears, hard shifting, or difficulty engaging gears can indicate internal wear.
If your truck refuses to go into gear or won’t move when you press the gas, you may be dealing with complete transmission failure. At this stage, repairs can be expensive, and replacement may be the only option. For professional Box Truck Repairs, it’s important to rely on a trusted service provider to diagnose and fix the issue efficiently.
Ignoring gear-shifting problems can quickly turn a minor issue into a costly breakdown. Transmission components work together, and when one starts to fail, others follow.
Signs of Transmission Fluid Issues
Transmission fluid is essential for keeping everything running smoothly, reducing friction, and preventing overheating. If you notice red or brown fluid pooling under your truck, that’s a major red flag.
Another concern is fluid that looks dark or has a burnt odour—this could mean overheating or contamination. Even if you don’t see a leak, a sudden drop in fluid levels could signal an internal problem, like a failing seal.
Regularly checking your transmission fluid can help prevent costly repairs. If you’re unsure how, have a professional inspect it for you.
Unexpected Vibrations or Shaking
Your truck should run smoothly, especially when shifting gears. If you start feeling unexpected shaking or vibrations, it could point to transmission trouble.
Jerking movements, shaking at certain speeds, or lurching forward unexpectedly could all signal worn-out components or slipping gears. While these symptoms might sometimes be caused by other mechanical issues, they’re often linked to transmission failure.
Burning Smell While Driving
A burning smell is never a good sign, especially when it’s coming from your transmission. Overheated transmission fluid loses its ability to lubricate properly, leading to excessive friction and wear.
Low fluid levels, contaminated fluid, or internal damage can all cause overheating. If you ever catch a burning smell while driving, pull over and check for leaks or unusual heat. Getting it inspected early can prevent extensive damage.
Check Engine Light and Transmission Warning Lights
While the check engine light can indicate a variety of issues, it’s often linked to transmission problems. Many modern trucks have sensors that detect transmission issues before they become major failures.
If your check engine light turns on, especially alongside other warning signs, don’t ignore it. A diagnostic scan can pinpoint the cause and help you prevent further damage.
Hesitation or Slipping When Accelerating
Does your truck feel sluggish when you press the accelerator? Transmission problems can cause hesitation or slipping, making it harder for your truck to gain speed.
You might notice high engine RPMs without a matching increase in speed, sudden losses of power, or difficulty climbing hills. These are all signs that your transmission isn’t engaging correctly.
Slipping transmissions only get worse over time, so addressing the problem early is crucial.
The Truck Won’t Move at All
If your truck refuses to go into gear or won’t move when you press the gas, you may be dealing with complete transmission failure. At this stage, repairs can be expensive, and replacement may be the only option.
Before reaching this point, spotting early signs like those mentioned above can help prevent a total breakdown.
How to Prevent Transmission Failure
Spotting issues early is key, but prevention is just as important. Follow these steps to keep your truck’s transmission in top condition:
Check and change your transmission fluid regularly – Dirty or low fluid can cause overheating and component wear.
Listen for unusual sounds – Grinding, whining, or clunking noises could signal trouble.
Pay attention to gear shifts – Slipping, hesitation, or hard shifting are all warning signs.
Watch for fluid leaks – Even a small leak can lead to major damage over time.
Address problems early – Small transmission issues can quickly turn into expensive repairs if ignored.
Routine maintenance and quick action when problems arise can extend the life of your transmission and prevent costly failures.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Your truck’s transmission is too important to ignore. Catching issues early can mean the difference between a minor repair and a complete breakdown.
By paying attention to warning signs like unusual noises, shifting problems, or fluid leaks, you can avoid costly repairs and keep your truck running smoothly.
1. Christopher Bell: Bell held off William Byron in the final laps at Austin to win the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA. It was Bell’s second consecutive win this season as he tops the Power Rankings this week.
“That ‘echo’ you hear,” Bell said, “is me saying ‘win-win.'”
2. William Byron: Byron, last year’s winner at COTA, finished second this time around in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
“It was a tough day for two of our Hendrick brethren,” Byron said. “Chase Elliott was wrecked by Ross Chastain on the first lap, and Kyle Larson lost a wheel midway through the race. Losing a wheel is a huge mistake; Ross Chastain is also a huge mistake.”
3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 19th at COTA.
“Last week in Atlanta,” Blaney said, “I gave Carson Hocevar a piece of my mind. And I think he got the message, which was ‘Stay far away from me,’ because he qualified fourth, way ahead of me in 25th.”
4. Kyle Busch: Busch held the lead late at COTA, but couldn’t fight off Christopher Bell down the stretch and settled for a fifth-place finish.
“The No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet was perfect,” Busch said. “Rebel Bourbon is a perfect sponsor for me, because I’m not much of a rule-follower, and I get better with age. Also, I’ve been told by law enforcement that I drive like a drunk in public.”
5. Tyler Reddick: Reddick started on the pole at the Circuit Of The Americas and rolled to a third-place finish.
“Did I see Star Wars Storm Troopers on Michael Waltrip’s ‘Grid Walk?” Reddick said. “I’d honestly rather not have the force be with me if it means I’m ‘forced’ to watch the ‘Grid Walk.'”
6. Shane Van Gisbergen: New Zealand’s Van Gisbergen led 23 laps and finished sixth at COTA.
“I’ve really put New Zealand on the map for NASCAR fans,” Van Gisbergen said. “That’s because most of them didn’t know it existed until I came along.”
7. Chase Elliott: Elliott started third at COTA but found trouble on the first lap. He recovered and stormed back to finish fourth in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
“Ross Chastain made a poor decision and wrecked me in the first turn,” Elliott said. “I’ll want to have a talk with Ross in the near future. He should check his mailbox for an invitation; more importantly, Ross should check his rear-view mirror for retaliation.”
8. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished ninth at COTA.
“COTA’s road course was shortened from a 3.41-mile layout to a shorter 2.3-mile circuit,” Bowman said. “And speaking of ‘shortened,’ if Fox could do that to pre-race coverage, I think everyone would be happy. Heck, I think if Fox eliminated pre-race coverage, everyone would be much happier.”
9. Michael McDowell: McDowell finished 11th at COTA and is eighth in the points standings.
“What a race in Austin,” McDowell said. “If we learned anything at COTA, it’s that Shane Van Gisbergen is a left-foot braker.”
10. Bubba Wallace: Wallace started second and won Stage 1 on his way to a 20th-place finish in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
“How about that convocation from Riley Gaines,” Wallace said. “I haven’t heard language that divisive since the previous NASCAR race.”
A week after being awarded a caution-timed victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell earned a hard-fought raw victory in the fifth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, March 2.
The 2024 Coca-Cola 600 champion from Norman, Oklahoma, led twice for eight of 95 scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in 19th place. He maintained a consistent pace while keeping his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry intact through the first two stage periods. Bell aggressively charged to the front in the early laps of the final stage period as he moved into the runner-up spot. He then proceeded to gain ground on Kyle Busch for the lead.
Despite losing ground to Busch during a late green-flag pit stop cycle, where he pitted two laps after Busch but had fresher tires with less than 30 laps remaining, a late-race caution with 18 laps remaining presented an opportunity for Bell to take command.
During a 13-lap dash to the finish, Bell intimidated and stalked Busch, even making contact with the latter with six laps remaining entering the Esses. Then, he overtook him for good through the first turn with five laps remaining. Despite having both William Byron and Tyler Reddick challenging him over the final five laps, Bell did not miss his marks amid every turn. He also fended off the challenges from his fellow competitors to win for a second consecutive week and notch his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in Austin, Texas.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 1, Tyler Reddick captured his first Cup pole position of the 2025 season with a pole-winning lap at 88.095 mph in 98.076 seconds. Reddick was joined on the front row by teammate Bubba Wallace, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 87.894 mph in 98.30 seconds.
Prior to the event, Zane Smith dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford entry.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Tyler Reddick rocketed his No. 45 The Beast Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead of the field while teammate Bubba Wallace struggled to launch his No. 23 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE entry at the start. Wallace’s early issues forced the field to fan out as Chase Elliott and Carson Hocevar tried to make their moves to the front.
Entering the first turn, Elliott got hit by Ross Chastain, the latter of whom was trying to execute a bold dive bomb move beneath Kyle Larson, as Elliott spun his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet entry and caused a jam-up within the field. As the field scattered through the first turn, Reddick maintained the lead over teammate Wallace, Hocevar and the field through Turn 2 and the Esses.
Reddick would proceed to lead the field through COTA’s new National layout between Turns 6, 6A and 6B before he navigated his way through Turn 12. Behind, newcomer Connor Zilisch was off the pace due to a flat right-front tire on his No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet entry amid contact while Denny Hamlin had damage to the right-front fender of his No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE entry. As Hamlin continued to race on the track, Zilisch made an early pit stop as he dropped below the leaderboard. Amid the incidents, Reddick led the first lap over Wallace.
Over the next four laps, Reddick maintained a stable advantage over teammate Wallace while rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez were scored in the top five. Behind, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger were racing in the top 10 ahead of Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Hamlin, Chastain, Ryan Preece and rookie Riley Herbst, respectively.
Within the four-lap span, Ty Dillon got turned by Austin Cindric on the frontstretch on the third lap, but he managed to limp his No. 10 Sea Best Chevrolet entry away from the carnage scene without drawing a caution.
On the sixth lap, Wallace served a “stop-and-go” penalty off the course in Turn 13 for cutting COTA’s course in Turn 5. The penalty dropped Wallace from second to eighth on the track as van Gisbergen, Busch, Suarez and Larson moved up into the top five. By then, Reddick extended his advantage to more than a second over van Gisbergen while Busch, who went off the course exiting Turn 6B a few laps earlier, maintained third place.
Two laps later, van Gisbergen made a move beneath Reddick through the new National layout to muscle his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet entry into the lead. Reddick briefly attempted to pull a crossover move on van Gisbergen exiting Turn 6B, but he would settle back behind van Gisbergen in second place. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch started to close in on Reddick for the runner-up spot before he overtook Reddick for the runner-up spot in Turn 20.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, van Gisbergen was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while third-place Reddick trailed by more than a second. Behind, Suarez and Larson followed suit in the top five ahead of Hocevar, Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Wallace and Bowman while Briscoe, McDowell, Bell, Ty Gibbs, Blaney, Chastain, Joey Logano, Preece, Hamlin and Chris Buescher were mired in the top 20, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott was down in 29th place while Zilisch was mired in 36th place and trailing the lead by 71 seconds.
Five laps later, van Gisbergen stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over runner-up Busch while third-place Reddick trailed by more than three seconds. As Suarez and Larson continued to trail in the top five, Byron was being pressured by Allmendinger and Hocevar for sixth place while Bowman and Briscoe occupied the top 10 spots ahead of Wallace, McDowell, Bell, Ty Gibbs and Chastain.
Another lap later, the event’s first cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Bowman, McDowell, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst, Justin Haley and Josh Berry pitted their respective entries. More names that included Briscoe, Hocevar, Larson, Suarez, Byron, Bell, Ty Gibbs, Chastain, Preece, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, Cole Custer, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson would pit during the following lap as McDowell was penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon. Amid the pit stops, Jones and Zane Smith made contact on pit road.
Then with three laps remaining in the first stage period, the top four competitors that included van Gisbergen, Busch, Reddick and Allmendinger pitted their respective entries while Wallace, who had yet to pit, cycled into the lead. Following the pit stops, van Gisbergen managed to fend off Busch to exit pit road ahead of him, though Busch kept van Gisbergen within his sights.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Wallace captured both his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season and his first on a road-course venue. Joey Logano, who also has yet to pit, followed suit in second ahead of van Gisbergen, Busch and Elliott while Reddick, Larson, Suarez, Byron and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, Elliott made an early pit stop to continue to have his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet entry repaired for a broken toe link following his opening lap spin. Once pit road became accessible for the field, select names led by Wallace and Logano pitted their respective entries while the rest of the field led by van Gisbergen remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 25 as van Gisbergen and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Busch briefly launched ahead from the outside lane and through the uphill climb to the first turn before van Gisbergen used the inside lane to motor his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet entry back up front.
As the field fanned out, bumped and jostled for spots, van Gisbergen led Reddick, Busch, Larson, Suarez, Byron and Allmendinger through the Esses and the National layout. With the field continuing to jostle from Turns 12 to 20, Busch would reassume the runner-up spot from Reddick in Turn 20 as van Gisbergen led the following lap.
Shortly after, however, Busch used the frontstretch and a strong left-hand move into Turn 1 to overtake van Gisbergen and assume the lead in his No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet entry. With van Gisbergen just fending off Reddick for the runner-up spot through the Esses, Busch maintained the lead through the Esses, the National layout and Turn 12 while a majority of the field followed suit in single-line formation. Busch would extend his advantage to more than a second over van Gisbergen as he led Lap 27 while Allmendinger and Suarez battled for fifth place in front of Briscoe, Larson and Bell.
Just past the Lap 30 mark, Busch continued to lead by more than a second over van Gisbergen while third-place Reddick trailed by more than two seconds. Then on Lap 34, van Gisbergen tracked and reassumed the lead from Busch through Turns 6A and 6B. Despite losing the lead, Busch would continue to stalk van Gisbergen within close distance, but the latter led the following lap. By then, Allmendinger was up to third place as Byron, Suarez, Briscoe, Bell, Reddick, Bowman and Buescher were scored in the top 10 mark. Meanwhile, Larson, who was racing in the top 10 earlier, was mired back in 19th place after he was penalized for cutting the course in Turn 3.
At the Lap 40 mark, van Gisbergen continued to lead by more than a second over Busch while third-place Allmendinger followed suit by more than a second. Behind, Byron and Bell raced in the top five ahead of Briscoe, Suarez, Reddick, Bowman and Buescher while Preece, Hocevar, Chastain, Zilisch, Blaney, Larson, Hamlin, Justin Haley, McDowell and Ty Gibbs followed suit in the top 20, respectively.
During the Lap 40 mark, select names that included Keselowski and Austin Dillon pitted their respective entries under green while Hamlin was penalized for track violations from Turn 5. A bevy of names that included Reddick, Suarez, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Haley, Austin Cindric, John Hunter Nemechek, Hocevar, Byron, Bowman, Bell, Briscoe, Logano, Larson and Zilisch would all pit through Lap 42 laps while Dillon was penalized for cutting the course.
Then on Lap 43, the top three competitors that included van Gisbergen, Busch and Allmendinger pitted their respective entries while Preece, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead. Meanwhile, disaster struck for Larson as the right-front wheel detached from the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry as he exited Turn 6B. With the wheel rolling off the course in Turn 12, the event remained under green flag conditions as both Busch and van Gisbergen made contact upon exiting pit road. Meanwhile, Larson was assessed a two-lap penalty for the detached wheel.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 45, Preece, who came into Circuit of the Americas strapped in 30th place in the driver’s standings, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Blaney followed suit in second place ahead of McDowell, Busch and van Gisbergen while Allmendinger, Wallace, Byron, Bell and Hamlin were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, some led by Preece and Blaney pitted their respective entries while the rest led by McDowell, Busch and van Gisbergen remained on the track.
With 46 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as McDowell and Busch occupied the front row in front of van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Byron and Bell. At the start, both McDowell and Busch dueled in front of the field through the uphill climb to Turn 1 until McDowell, who elected not to pit during the second stage’s conclusion, barely managed to fend off Busch through the first two turns and the Esses.
Busch, however, would gain the upper hand and the preferred lane entering Turn 6A to storm back into the lead. Busch would proceed to lead through Turn 12 as Allmendinger made his way into the runner-up spot. Behind, van Gisbergen was trying to overtake McDowell entering Turn 15 while Bell, Byron, Briscoe, Reddick, Suarez and Hocevar all followed suit in the top 10.
As the field jumbled up and jostled for spots from Turns 15 to 20, trouble ensued when Suarez, who was in eighth place, hit the curb in Turn 19 and spun his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet entry in front of Reddick. As Suarez spun off the course, he was hit hard on the right-front side by teammate Connor Zilisch as Zilisch backed his No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet entry against the tire barriers in the gravel trap.
The carnage ended both Trackhouse Racing competitors with wrecked race cars and concluded Zilisch’s Cup debut. The incident drew a full-course caution as Busch had maintained the lead over Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Bell and McDowell, respectively.
When the event restarted under green flag conditions with 41 laps remaining, Bell, who restarted in fifth place, made a bold three-wide move beneath van Gisbergen and McDowell as he tried to gain spots through the uphill climb to Turn 1. With Allmendinger briefly getting shoved off the track, Bell squeezed his way out of a jam in between Allmendinger, Byron and Briscoe to move into the runner-up spot as Busch ran away with the lead entering the Esses.
Busch would proceed to lead through the National layout and Turn 12 as the field behind fanned out and jostled for late spots. Despite Bell closing in for a bid for the lead, Busch would lead the following lap as Briscoe, Byron and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was mired back in seventh place behind McDowell while Chastain, Hocevar and Reddick followed suit in the top 10, respectively.
With less than 40 laps remaining, Busch led by nearly half a second over a hard-charging Bell while Byron battled and overtook Briscoe for third place. Allmendinger followed suit in close pursuit in fifth place while van Gisbergen gained a spot to sixth place. Meanwhile, Bowman proceeded from spinning in Turn 12 without drawing a caution as McDowell began to slip out of the top-10 mark amid his worn tires.
Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Busch retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Bell while third-place Byron trailed by three seconds. Behind, Briscoe and Allmendinger were scored in the top five ahead of van Gisbergen, Chastain, Reddick, Haley and Gragson while Blaney, Hocevar, Logano, Keselowski, Preece, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Elliott and Wallace were mired in the top 20 ahead of Hamlin, Gilliland, Herbst, Cindric and Zane Smith. Meanwhile, Bowman was in 30th place, McDowell dropped back to 34th place after he pitted under green two laps earlier and Larson was strapped in 35th place while a lap down.
Five laps later, Bell started to close in on Busch for the lead, where the latter was leading the former by seven-tenths of a second, as Elliott pitted under green. Behind, Byron trailed in third place by more than two seconds while Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Briscoe, the trio of whom were fiercely battling amongst one another, were racing in fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, with Reddick scored in sixth.
Another two laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops ensued as Wallace and Zane Smith pitted their respective entries as Busch extended his lead to more than a second over Bell. More names that included Byron, Briscoe, Chastain, Reddick, Buescher, Briscoe and Chastain would pit during the next lap before the leader Busch pitted with 27 laps remaining. As Busch pitted, Bell remained on the track and led the following lap while Haley, Preece, Logano, Gragson and Gibbs all joined Busch on pit road.
With 26 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet entry under green from the runner-up spot. The leader Bell would then pit his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE entry during the next lap as van Gisbergen cycled into the lead. By then, Blaney was in second place while Busch trailed in third place by more than 20 seconds. Once Bell exited pit road, he had fallen to sixth place and was separated by two cars to Busch. Busch would proceed to move up into second place with 24 laps remaining as Blaney pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry.
Then with 22 laps remaining, van Gisbergen, who was initially leading by more than 17 seconds over Busch, pitted under green from the lead. As Busch cycled back into the lead, van Gisbergen exited pit road in eighth place behind Briscoe and Gilliland despite having the freshest tires over the field. Meanwhile, Busch was leading by more than two seconds over Byron while third-place Bell trailed by more than five seconds.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Busch stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Byron as Bell continued to trail in third place by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Allmendinger and Reddick trailed in the top five and by more than 10 seconds while van Gisbergen was mired in seventh place behind Briscoe. Chastain, Haley and Bowman followed suit in the top 10, respectively while Blaney, Buescher, Preece, Elliott and Wallace cycled into the top 15.
Two laps later, a full-course caution flew when Denny Hamlin collided with Austin Dillon which sent both spinning in Turn 6A and Dillon getting stuck in the gravel trap. During the caution period, some including Briscoe, Buescher, Preece, Elliott, Wallace, Herbst, Hocevar, Keselowski, McDowell, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Hamlin and the Dillon brothers pitted while the rest led by Busch remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green with 13 laps remaining, Busch and Byron dueled in front of the field through the uphill climb to Turn 1 until Busch rocketed ahead and retained the top spot entering the Esses. Bell would overtake Byron for the runner-up spot prior to entering the Esses as Allmendinger, Reddick and van Gisbergen followed suit in the top six.
As a stack-up that involved Gibbs getting spun by teammate Briscoe ensued in Turn 6A, the event remained under green flag conditions as Busch maintained a steady lead over Bell through Turns 6B and 12. While van Gisbergen, Reddick and Gragson bumped and battled fiercely for fifth place, Busch led the following lap as he continued to be pursued by a hard-charging Bell.
With 10 laps remaining, Busch retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Bell while Byron trailed in third place by more than a second. Behind, Allmendinger and Reddick were in the top five ahead of Gragson, Haley, Logano and Chastain while van Gisbergen dropped to 10th place. Mired in the pack, Larson spun in Turn 20, but the event remained under green as Busch continued to fend off Bell through every turn and corner with the top spot.
A lap later, Bell attempted to make a move beneath Busch for the lead in Turn 1, but his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE entry went wide as he quickly snapped back to the right and just avoided hitting Busch. This drew Bell into a battle with Byron for the runner-up spot while Busch slightly stretched his advantage through the Esses.
As Bell tried to regain his ground through the National layouts and from Turns 12 to 20, Busch maintained the lead by seventh-tenths of a second with eight laps remaining. Over the next lap, Busch pulled a bold block on Bell entering Turn 1 and fended off Bell’s charge through the Esses, the National layout and from Turns 12 to 15 to maintain the lead. This allowed Byron to close in on the top two leaders as Busch led the following lap.
Then entering the Esses, Bell nearly got alongside Busch, but both made contact as Bell’s left-front fender hit Busch’s right-rear fender. Amid the contact, both kept their respective cars racing straight as Busch retained the lead. Busch would continue to lead from the National layout through Turn 15 before Bell got alongside Busch and rubbed him. Busch, however, pulled back ahead through Turns 16 to 19 before Bell made a move beneath Busch and pulled ahead to lead with five laps remaining.
As Bell cleared Busch to lead in Turn 1, Byron proceeded to overtake Busch for the runner-up spot entering the Esses as Reddick joined the battle. Through Turn 6A, Bell nearly got into the wall, which allowed Byron to close in for the lead. By then, Reddick started to challenge Busch for third place while Byron got to Bell’s rear bumper in Turn 12. Amid the four-car battle from Turns 12 to 19, Bell started to pull away from Byron while Reddick overtook Busch for third place. Meanwhile, Gragson muscled up to fifth place while Bell led the following lap.
Over the next two laps, Bell stabilized a reasonable advantage over Byron and Reddick while Busch started to lose ground in fourth place as he trailed by more than three seconds. Amid Byron’s efforts to gain ground through the turns, Bell maintained the top spot while Reddick could also not navigate his way through both Bell and Byron.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained in the lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron and by seven-tenths of a second over Reddick. Bell would proceed to maintain the top spot through the Esses and the National layout before he got through Turn 12. From Turns 12 to 20, Byron used the turns to try and execute any crossover and bump-and-run move on Bell in his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet entry, but he could not get to Bell’s rear bumper for contact.
Bell fended off Byron for a final time in Turn 20 and was able to muscle through the frontstretch with the top spot and claim the checkered flag by four-tenths of a second over Byron while Reddick followed suit in third place by half a second.
With the victory, Bell, winner of last weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, notched his 11th career win in NASCAR’s premier series and his third on a road-course event. The Oklahoma native previously won the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in February 2021 and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October 2022.
In addition, Bell, who achieved back-to-back Cup victories for the first time in his career, became the fifth competitor overall to win a Cup event at Circuit of the Americas and he posted the second straight victory of the 2025 campaign for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate. Bell’s 2025 victory was redemption from the previous season, where he rallied from making contact with Kyle Busch to finish a close second place behind Byron.
As an added bonus, Bell recorded the 191st Cup Series career victory for Toyota. With the victory, Toyota is tied with Plymouth for the fourth-most Cup victories all-time among manufacturers.
Photo by Mitchell Pavel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“That was almost a déjà vu of last year,” Bell said on the frontstretch on FOX. “I had the track position that time. Man, these road course races, they’re just so much fun. Whenever Kyle [Busch] was leading, I was just trying to be so cautious. Obviously, we know what happened last year. I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to pass him clean and he was just doing such a good job at running his race. He could get off the corners just good enough that I couldn’t get inside of him. There, I started peaking a nose and he bobbled, allowed me to get out front. Whatever I did, I’m like, ‘OK, just don’t beat yourself.’ Those were about the five or six-sloppiest laps I’ve ever run.”
“Just super proud for everyone on this DeWalt No. 20 team,” Bell added. “We didn’t count last week. Last week was a speedway. We didn’t have that one circled, but we definitely had this one circled. I’m ready to keep adding to [the win column].”
William Byron, the reigning winner at COTA, settled in second place while pole-sitter Tyler Reddick rallied to finish in third place. Chase Elliott made a late recovery from his opening lap spin to finish in fourth place while Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 42 laps, ended up in fifth place.
The second and fifth-place results left both Byron and Busch pleased with the results but disappointed over not being able to fend off Bell’s late-race charge to the front and eventual win. The runner-up result marked Byron’s second top-two result in the 2025 Cup Series season while Busch, who was trying to snap a 59-race winless drought, collected his first top-five result of this season.
“It was really close,” Byron said. “I felt like the battle between [Bell] and Kyle [Busch], I was just sitting there, waiting for one of them to bobble or slide their tires. Bell got by him and I felt like once he got clear, his car was super loose. It gave me a couple of shots at him. I just could never get beside him. We’ve always raced really well together, so I didn’t want to move him blatantly and all that kind of stuff. Sucks to be so damn close, right? You can be on the bumper of the guy coming to the line. That sucks, but a lot of races ahead and hopefully, we can just keep bringing this speed. It’s a good start to our road course program. Still a little bit of work to do. It’s been a good start to the year so far.”
“The contact we made with [Bell] between [Turns] 2 and 3 bent the right rear and it was completely a different race car after that,” Busch added. “[I] Hate it for all the guys and everybody with Rowdy Nation and [Richard Childress Racing]. We got the grit. We’re from Welcome [North Carolina] and we’re going to outwork anybody there is to work. The [No. 8] guys did a phenomenal job with the race car that we brought to the race track unloading. Just not the way I wanted it and just being able to make as many adjustments as we did in practice and qualifying and then there in the race having a really good race car.
“Wish we had a little bit more there at the end. I’ll give Christopher credit, though, where credit’s due. He ran me really hard and I was a complete butthead, but he did a great job working me over and just doing it the right way and being able to get by. [I] Wish it was us [winning].”
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who led 23 laps, came home in sixth place while Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and Todd Gilliland finished in the top 10.
Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar, Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski ended up in the top 15 while rookie Riley Herbst, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece finished 17th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 30th, 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs, who spun in the closing laps, plummeted to 34th place, the final competitor scored on the lead lap.
There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 15 laps. In addition, 34 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the third event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by two points over Ryan Blaney, five over Tyler Reddick, 21 over both Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott, and 22 over Bubba Wallace.
Results:
1. Christopher Bell, eight laps led
2. William Byron, one lap led
3. Tyler Reddick, nine laps led
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kyle Busch, 42 laps led
6. Shane van Gisbergen, 23 laps led
7. Chris Buescher
8. Noah Gragson
9. Alex Bowman
10. Todd Gilliland
11. Michael McDowell, three laps led
12. Ross Chastain
13. Carson Hocevar
14. Chase Briscoe
15. Brad Keselowski
16. Justin Haley
17. Riley Herbst
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19. Ryan Blaney
20. Bubba Wallace, four laps led, Stage 1 winner
21. Denny Hamlin
22. John Hunter Nemechek
23. Cole Custer
24. Joey Logano
25. Austin Cindric
26. Josh Berry
27. Erik Jones
28. Ty Dillon
29. Zane Smith
30. AJ Allmendinger, two laps led
31. Cody Ware
32. Kyle Larson
33. Ryan Preece, three laps led, Stage 2 winner
34. Ty Gibbs
35. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident
36. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident
37. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the Shriners Children’s 500. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 9, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet Team Forced to End Day Early After Contact at Circuit of The Americas
Finish: 35th Start: 27th Points: 28th
“We had an up and down day at the Circuit of The Americas with our No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet. We played strategy and pitted early in both stages for better track position at the start of the next. Our car handled well, and we were just trying to be patient until the end. With 18 laps to go, we were running inside the top-20, and the No. 11 locked up his front tires and wiped us out. My team did a great job trying to make the repairs, but the damage in the rear was too much to fix and we had to go to the garage. Bummed for our Richard Childress Racing team. I felt like we had a top-15 car, and it sucks we didn’t get to show it today. On to Phoenix next week.” -Austin Dillon
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet Team Lead the Most Laps En Route to a Top-Five Performance at Circuit of The Americas
Finish: 5th Start: 8th Points: 9th
“We had a really good No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet to be able to push that hard at the end. I just wish that we had equal tires to the No. 20. I don’t know if that was all the difference. I know he was really fast and had a good racecar. I feel like equal tires might have been able to help me hold on a little bit better to him. But even before that last yellow flag, I felt like the gap I had on the field was far enough out front that I could run the clean lines – the lines that I wanted – to preserve and take care of the tires. Once we had the yellow though, it was just defensive mode. You are in a complete and utter beat the heck out of the tires mode at that point, and I just didn’t have it over the No. 20. Hate that the contact that we made between Turns 2 and 3 ruined our racecar too. It bent the right-rear toe link and knocked everything out of it. I didn’t have anything there at the end to compete with those guys. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the No. 8 guys did a great job adjusting the car through practice, qualifying and into the race, and giving me a piece to go out, do that well, and get the Rebel Chevrolet up front. Appreciate everyone at RCR and ECR Engines for a really good piece this weekend. If we can keep getting top-fives and running inside the top-five, the wins will be right there.” -Kyle Busch
Date: March 2, 2025 Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 3 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas (2.4-mile, 20-turn road course) Format: 95 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/25 laps/50 laps)
Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 1 Winner: Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Preece of RFK Racing (Ford)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 37th, Finished 31st / Running, completed 95 of 95 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (37th with 10 points)
Race Notes:
● Christopher Bell won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix to score his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his first at COTA. His margin of victory over second-place William Byron was .433 of a second. ● There were four caution periods for a total of 15 laps. ● All but three of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● Byron leaves COTA as the new championship leader with a two-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.
Sound Bites:
“Just never got the car quite where we wanted it to be. Felt like we made good gains throughout the race, but we started so far out of the box that by the time we started getting our Arby’s Ford Mustang dialed in, it was too much to overcome. But I’m definitely proud of the effort. We picked up about two or three seconds from where we were yesterday in practice and qualifying, and that’s a testament to how hard these guys are working. We’ll just move on and get ready for Phoenix.”– Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Shriners Hospital 500k on Sunday, March 9 at Phoenix Raceway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Sunday, March 2, 2025
Ford Finishing Order:
7th – Chris Buescher 8th – Noah Gragson 10th – Todd Gilliland 15th – Brad Keselowski 19th – Ryan Blaney 23rd – Cole Custer 24th – Joey Logano 25th – Austin Cindric 26th – Josh Berry 29th – Zane Smith 31st – Cody Ware 33rd – Ryan Preece
CHRIS BUESCHER No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “This 17 team battled really hard to get our Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse up to P7 here. We are happy with that. It was a really hard day; a lot of ups and downs. We never got ourselves into the track position that we wanted to. We want to be better. It was a good day but I just feel like we are not quite competitive enough to win here at COTA. We have been very close at all of the other road courses – we feel like we have a chance to win at the others. We need to make a couple more tweaks to our Mustang here at this place. A good showing for this new course. We stayed out of the melee, for the most part, and I am proud of everyone on this Fastenal team. They did a good job today.”
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was not looking good after that first run. We were really, really bad. We kept our heads up and never quit. This Rush Trucks Centers team did just an awesome job of wrenching on this Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We persevered and didn’t let that early adversity get us down. It was a lot of hard work throughout the day but I am super proud of everyone’s efforts. It just matters what that scoreboard says at the end of the day, not what it took to get there. We brought it home in one piece and in the top-10.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We knew it would look different here today. We started 10th and finished 10th but we battled all day. We were OK at the beginning but we got stuck behind the [number] 9 literally in turn one. That is how it goes sometimes. I am just really proud of the fight in our team. We fought through a lot. We got a little lucky with the caution there at the end but overall we just kept fighting through everything. That brought home a top-10 finish for our Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse and we can be proud of what got us that result .”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Haas Brothers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was a lot of ups and downs. A hard fought day for sure. Our guys did a great job rebounding throughout the day. We brought a fairly fast Ford Mustang Dark Horse but we had a few hiccups throughout the day. I feel like, to come back and get a solid result at the end of the day, wasn’t a bad thing. We will just keep building from here.”
BELL SCORES SECOND STRAIGHT CUP SERIES WIN IN EXCITING COTA FINISH Ends NASCAR’s Longest Streak Without Back-to-Back Winners
AUSTIN (March 2, 2025) – Christopher Bell won his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Sunday. Bell battled for the win coming down the stretch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE and made the race-winning pass with five laps to go en route to victory lane. It marks his second straight victory after also scoring the Cup Series win last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Tyler Reddick started on the pole and led twice for nine laps (of 95) early in the race and was in the mix in the final laps before crossing the finish line in third place, marking his fifth top-10 result at COTA. 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace won the first stage, marking his first career stage win at a road course.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Circuit of the Americas Race 3 of 36 – 228 miles, 95 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL 2nd, William Byron* 3rd, TYLER REDDICK 4th, Chase Elliott* 5th, Kyle Busch* 14th, CHASE BRISCOE 17th, RILEY HERBST 20th, BUBBA WALLACE 21st, DENNY HAMLIN 22nd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK 27th, ERIK JONES 34th, TY GIBBS *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What was the difference this year in terms of getting it done and getting the victory today?
“That was almost a deja vu of last year. I had the track position that time. Man, these road course races are just so much fun. Whenever Kyle (Busch) was leading, I was just trying to be so cautious. Obviously, we know what happened last year. I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to pass him clean. He was just doing such a good job at running his race, and he could get off the corners just good enough that I couldn’t get inside of him. But there I started peeking a nose, and he bobbled and allowed me to get out front. Whenever I did, I’m, like, ‘Okay, just don’t beat yourself.’ Those were about the five or six sloppiest laps I’ve ever run. Just so happy for these guys right here. They’ve been on me hard about winning with them. Just super proud for everyone on this DeWalt No. 20 team. We didn’t count last week. Last week was a speedway. We didn’t have that one circled. We definitely had this one circled. I’m ready to keep adding to it.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Can you talk about the great effort you made coming down the stretch today?
“Yeah, we really did in our Beast Toyota Camry. I don’t know, I thought we were okay in the first stage and just got caught off guard out there by the 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) and a couple others. Stage 2 and the first half of stage 3 there unfortunately we just – I wouldn’t say we really lost the handle, we just lost the pace on our Beast Toyota Camry. I didn’t really know how the rest of the race was going to unfold for it to hang on there at the end and the drive back up to the front was good. Just wish the last restart there — I lost some track position just getting jumped on by cars on different tire strategies and just lost ground there. I think if I could’ve survived that we probably would’ve had a much better shot out there sooner than we did. All in all, a good recovery for our team and any time we come to a place like this we want to win but a solid day.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT MARCH 2, 2025
Byron Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Finish at Circuit of The Americas
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 2nd – William Byron 4th – Chase Elliott 5th – Kyle Busch 6th – Shane van Gisbergen 9th – Alex Bowman
In an all-out battle all the way to the checkered flag, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron led Chevrolet to the checkered-flag at Circuit of The Americas – scoring a runner-up result in his No. 24 Chevrolet.
Byron led a strong contingency of Chevrolet drivers to the finish of the NASCAR Cup Series’ third points-paying race of the season, with drivers from three different Chevrolet organizations earning top-10 results. Among those finishers includes Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, who sustained damage in a turn one, lap one, incident. Continuing to fight all race long, a late-race pit strategy gave Elliott a fresh set of tires to drive his way to a fourth-place finish.
Trackhouse Racing’s Connor Zilisch’s NASCAR Cup Series debut ended early after sustaining damage during an incident in the final stage. The 18-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina, native had an early setback after enduring damage on the opening lap, but later rallied to a strong performance in Stage Two – driving his No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet from outside the top-30 to the 14th position.
Showing speed across the Chevrolet camp right out of the gate at Circuit of The Americas, drivers from five different Chevrolet organizations collectively took 10 of the top-11 positions on the final speed chart following Saturday’s two rounds of practice for NASCAR’s top division. Reciprocating the speed in qualifying, Chevrolet drivers took seven of the top-10 starting positions for today’s 95-lap event – led by Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott (third) and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar (fourth).
Chevrolet’s all-time NASCAR Cup Series statistics at Circuit of The Americas:
Wins: 3 Poles: 3 Top-Fives: 17 Top-10s: 27
Chevrolet’s season statistics with three NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 1 Poles: 0 Top-Fives: 7 Top-10s: 13
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Phoenix Raceway with the Shriners Children’s 500 on Sunday, March 9, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
How much more could you have pushed your car?
“No, that was it on pushing the car. We had a really good No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevy to be able to push that hard. I just wish that maybe we had equal tires to the No. 20 (Christopher Bell). I don’t know if that was all the difference. I know he was really fast and he had a good racecar. I feel like that might have been able to help hold me on a little bit better to him, but even that last yellow flag that we had, I felt like the gap that I had to the field, I was far enough out front that I could run the clean lines, the lines that I wanted, to preserve the tires and take care of them as much as I could to see if he could get there. But once we had that yellow, then it was just defensive mode. You’re in complete and utter just beat the heck out of the tires at that point, and I just didn’t have it over the No. 20. Hate it that the contact that we made between two and three ruined our racecar too. It bent the right-rear toe link and knocked everything out of it. I just didn’t have anything there at the end to compete with those guys. That doesn’t go for what our Chevy was today. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the guys did a great job adjusting it through practice, qualifying and into the race, and giving me a piece to go out there and do that well, and to get this Rebel Chevrolet up front like we did. Appreciate Zone, Cheddar’s, Lucas Oil, Chevrolet and everyone at RCR and ECR for a really good piece this weekend. If we can keep getting top-fives and running in the top-five, the wins will be right there.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 4th
You really had to work for it. How much more did you car give you there at the end?
“Yeah, it was just a crazy day, really. I got run over, I felt like, there in the first corner. I’m curious to see it. I still haven’t seen it to know whether or not I did something wrong. I’m happy to own it, if I did. I just felt like it was the first corner of the first lap, and it’s just a bummer to get behind and then we had damage. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys did a great job fixing it and getting it that close. We got behind on a restart there and just had to play major catchup there. Alan made a great call there at the end to put tires on it. We were rolling up through there really good at the end. Obviously when you have a good car like that, I would have liked to have been in the fight with those guys, but it was a great recovery from where we were at during the end of the second stage.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
How close was that and what else did you need to do at the end there?
“Yeah, it was really close. I feel like the battle between he (Bell) and (Kyle) Busch — I was just sitting there waiting for one of them to bobble or slide their tires. Bell got by him and I felt like once he got by him and clear, his car was super loose and it kind of gave me a couple of shots at him. I just couldn’t ever get beside him. We have always raced really well together, so I didn’t want to move him blatantly. We were just sliding there a ton at the end. We came a long way this weekend and I am really proud of that. We were pretty far off to start, but got ourselves pretty raceable and in a position to win. Just sucks to be so close. You are on the bumper of the guy coming to the line and that sucks. A lot of races ahead and hopefully we can just keep bringing this speed. It’s a good start to our road course program. Still a little work to do, but thanks to Raptor, Chevrolet, Axalta, Liberty University, and all of our partners. Been a good start to the year so far.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 11th
“Definitely an up and down day for us in our No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet. We had decent speed. We got some track position early on and we were trying to work a strategy, but unfortunately had a pit road violation there that put us to the back. Track position is so important. We tried rallying back. We fought hard all day and we had a pretty good car. It’s something to build on. We were hoping to get back into the top-10, but just ran out of laps there. Really proud of the effort. Scored some points again and got some Stage points. Not ideal because we are going for wins, but we are getting closer. We are just going to keep grinding.”
Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage.
Finished: 37th
Not the start of the race that you wanted or the end, but in the middle stages, you had a lot of speed. What are your takeaways from today?
“Yeah, we had a really fast No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet. I’ve had so much fun preparing for this event. That second stage, driving from outside the top-30 to 14th, was a lot of fun. I was passing a lot of guys that I used to watch on TV growing up. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to come back and do this again. I had an absolute blast driving through the field, and I wish it didn’t end early.”
Zilisch on the accident that ended his Cup Series debut early in the final stage:
“All I saw was a cloud of smoke, and by the time I saw him (Daniel Suarez), it was way too late to do anything. I saw him spinning off to the left and I thought he was going to keep going in that direction or stay there. I guess he flipped back right and he started coming towards me. Really unfortunate way to end my Cup Series debut. We were one of the top-five fastest cars in the second stage there. I went from outside the top-30 to 14th, and I felt really good about our Chevy. We made a lot of gains from practice and qualifying. It’s just an unfortunate way to end it.”
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage.
Finished: 36th
“I just hit the curb, hit the ground and then it spun me out. When you have low air pressure, that’s very easy to do because the car is lower to the ground. I wish I could say it was a big mistake, but it wasn’t. It was just maybe a tire width too far to the left, and I hit the curb and I spun out.”
Was this an encouraging run for your team today?
“It was a good day for the No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet team. We were a top-five, top-10 car, for sure. I thought we were going to be a little bit better than that, but we have to continue to work and learn from today.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
Returning 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge Champion David Williams Picks Up Where He Left Off with a Type 992 Masters Class Victory Friday and P3 Finish Saturday in the No. 237 Quality Brand Group Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Tillman Schmid Finishes Fourth in Pro-Am Saturday in the No. 277 Monoflo International Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in His Porsche Sprint Challenge Type 992 Debut
Shaun McKaigue Rebounds from Qualifying Incident to Finish Both Masters Class Sprint Races in the No. 234 Cobot Intelligence Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Tom Kerr Secures Porsche Sprint Challenge Career-Best Finish Saturday at Sebring in the No. 74 Got Veins? Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
SEBRING, Florida (March 2, 2025) – TPC Racing and returning champion driver David Williams were quick to renew their winning ways in this weekend’s season-opening USA Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway where Williams scored a Type 992 Masters Class victory Friday in his No. 237 Quality Brand Group/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. After winning the Master Class pole earlier on Friday, Williams jumped from his outside row two starting position into third place overall at the start and defended both his Masters lead and the top three overall podium position straight to the checkered flag.
Williams backed up Friday’s win in the first race of the year with a third-place Masters showing in Saturday’s final sprint. The weekend’s convincing performance was nearly identical to the showing TPC Racing and Williams put in at Sebring at the 2023 Sprint Challenge opener. After a second-place finish in what was then known as the “Am” class in that weekend’s first race, Williams gave TPC Racing its first career Porsche Sprint Challenger race win and a springboard to that year’s championship with a victory in the next day’s final sprint. Williams went on to win three more races in the 2023 season, and he and TPC Racing respectively secured that year’s 992 Am driver and team championships.
Williams took last season off to focus on his successful business at the Quality Brand Group but clearly demonstrated he didn’t lose a bit of his competitive edge in his Sebring return. He left Sebring with an early-season lead in the Masters championship driver standings, 109 – 108, one point ahead of his nearest challenger.
Another strong showing in Porsche GT3 Cup competition at Sebring came from race-debuting Type 992 competitor Tillman Schmid in the No. 277 Monoflo International/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Shaking off a retirement in Friday’s opening race after a contact incident, Schmid battled in the top 10 overall from the start of Saturday’s finale. Despite a caution-plagued race, that ended under waving yellow and checkered flags after the fourth incident of the race, Schmid gained valuable experience ibn battling with both the Pro-Am and Masters class leaders to cross the finish line ninth overall and fourth in Pro-Am.
Also rebounding over the weekend was veteran TPC Racing driver Shaun McKaigue in his No. 234 Cobot Intelligence/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. After turning his fastest lap of the session, McKaigue had a minor contact incident in Friday’s qualifying session that relegated him to the back of the nearly 40-car starting field in both of the weekend’s 35 minute + 1 lap races. Passing more than 10 cars, McKaigue recorded his best finish in Saturday’s finale with a 15th place showing in a Masters class field of 25 entries.
The weekend’s breakout performance came from resurgent TPC Racing driver Tom Kerr who raced to a career-best sixth-place Masters finish in Saturday’s Porsche Sprint Challenge Cayman race in his No. 74 Got Veins?/TPC Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Kerr shook off a string of mechanical issues at Sebring last year to record several strong finishes later in 2024, but his result on Saturday topped his best finish last year of seventh at Road America.
Next up for TPC Racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America is Rounds 3 and 4 of both the GT3 Cup and Cayman series at Sonoma Raceway, April 4 – 6.
Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations: “The season-opening weekend for us went really well. It was a nice refresh on the 2024 calendar year for TPC Racing. Coming out of the gate winning and then a third-place finish in Masters again for David earned some solid points to open the year. It’s great momentum to take forward. Tillman did an amazing job, finishing ninth overall and fourth in the Pro-Am class in his first major race in a 992 Porsche GT3. It was incredible work by him. The improvement has been tremendous. Shaun drove clean and consistent. He stayed out of trouble in his first race weekend in a 992. All of the yellows in Race 2 didn’t help us much, but we’ll take the third-place finish for David and solid results for Shaun and Tillman and go from there. The GT4 race was just great work by Tom Kerr. It was like having a new driver the way he performed. You can’t ask more than that. His improvement has just been tremendous. And as always, the TPC Racing team did an awesome racing job this week. We’re revamped the team internally, and the guys are working so well together. The team is really bonding and molding and it’s showing in the results. I just can’t say enough about how great the TPC Racing Team guys are.”
David Williams, Driver No. 237 Quality Brand Group/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “It was awesome to win the season-opening race again. The track was pretty good for being as hot as it was. The GT3 Cup field is so tight. You’re talking a field separated by just tenths of a second in qualifying. I did get a good race start and had some good coaching with Mike Skeen. The car was setup great, so it was just head down and stay in it. It worked out well. We had a couple of restarts, but I didn’t think I had enough for them, but the two guys in front of me were in another class and I was leading Masters from third overall. The focus was more like ‘stay with them, stay with them, stay with them,’ and it worked out well. The Saturday race start wasn’t great for me. I gave up a position. These guys are really aggressive. When the race was green, my car was really good. I was making time on them, my car was staying strong, and I think the other guys felt their car was running back. Unfortunately, the race ended under another caution, and we didn’t have a chance to continue the charge. Overall, we had two podiums, and I’ll take it, but in the second race I could have been a little stronger. I’m excited for the season. I have a lot of experience at Sebring, but we’re going to some places like Sonoma I’ve not been to and Road Atlanta, where I haven’t been in a decade. So, it will be fun to get back to some of those old tracks. It’s a good group of guys in Porsche Sprint Challenge Masters with a really good, competitive field which I’m excited about. I need that good strong racing, and I think we’re going to get it.”
Tillman Schmid, Driver, No. 277 Monoflo International/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “I ended up P4 In class on Saturday. It was fun to be out here with Porsche Sprint Challenge again, but to be in the top series for the GT3 Cup cars for the first time. It’s a stout field. There’s a lot of really fast Masters guys, too, so it’s fun to dice it up with them. It was good to bounce back after the first race when we got caught up in a contact incident. It was a little bit frustrating to not finish, it was one of those racing deals. I probably squeezed a little too hard there too, but I’m learning the new race craft around a new car. I was really happy with the Saturday race result. I just went out and executed a clean race, which is what we want to do every week, and we’ll build on that. Next, we head to Sonoma in the first week of April and I am really looking forward to it. It’s a home track and I’ve got friends and family there. It will be a fun one.”
Shaun McKaigue, Driver, No. 234 Cobot Intelligence/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “I’m really happy with the progress we made, setting up the car and learning how to drive the car. I was happy with my first qualifying lap, but unfortunately, an incident curtailed qualifying for us. After that I wound up starting at the back and getting to watch all the melee. Overall, however, it was positive. We didn’t have a great finish in the race, but the car is in one piece, we did turn a nice qualifying time, and I’m happy about all of it. I’m really enthusiastic about the car. It’s a great car. It’s going to take a lot to get it to the next level, but I feel way more confident now than I did at the beginning of this weekend. Compared to the 997 and 991 generations I am familiar with, it’s a bigger, badder beast!”
Tom Kerr, Driver, No. 74 Got Veins?/TPC Racing Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport: “We were able to qualify really well, and with Mike Skeen coaching me and in my ear all of the time, it really helps a lot. There is nothing like having a pro guy coaching you along. The TPC Racing team had a good setup on the car, and I raced a little more aggressive than I was last year because I felt more confident. The number one thing is we had some practice with this car, so I was able to get some coaching and practice before a race rather than during a race, which was the case last year. So, that meant a lot to me. We had a great group battling in Saturday’s race, but about 20 minutes into the race the tires got very greasy. I could put a couple car lengths on everybody, see where I was faster, then I would slide in the next corner and they would close the gap. It’s hot. We’re in Florida. The tires had a lot to do with me being stuck with the group of guys. I was turning faster lap times than all the guys behind me, but they were closing the gap as I slid. But that’s racing and we brought it home in both races for some good finishes to start the year.”
About TPC Racing: TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sports cars. TPC Racing specializes in R&D and sales of high-performance modifications for Porsche sports cars and race cars, offering a wide range of vehicle upgrades. Best known for a line of forced induction solutions for the Porsche 911, Cayman and Boxster, a long-time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled TPC Racing to become experts in Porsche service, tuning, and racing. In 2000, TPC Racing began entering races under its own banner, scoring an SGS-class Championship in 2004 in the Grand-American Rolex Series and was a class winner in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and captured the 2013 and 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA Gold Cup Championships. More information can be found at www.TPCRacing.com.
