Kyle Larson made positive everybody knew that Homestead was his home over the weekend, even whereas encountering a little bit of frustration as he ‘solely’ managed to win two of the three races on the monitor. His teammate Alex Bowman was left to stew over a missed alternative whereas a number of drivers had their races derailed by contact … on pit highway. After which there’s Ryan Blaney, whose engine as soon as once more failed him in spectacular vogue.
This is a take a look at the most important winners and losers from the NASCAR Cup race at Homestead:
WINNER: Hendrick to the highest
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Picture by: Chris Graythen – Getty Photographs
Hendrick Motorsports is asserting themselves because the group to beat early in 2025, which ought to shock nobody when contemplating the historical past of this powerhouse group. HMS started the yr by successful the Daytona 500 with William Byron, however on Sunday, they earned a 1-2 end with Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. Even after moving into the wall and shedding the win to his teammate, Homestead was an enormous weekend for Bowman (which he wanted) as put collectively a really robust effort on each Saturday and Sunday. Within the championship standings, Hendrick drivers now occupy the highest three positions in factors with a fourth not far behind. And now we head to Martinsville the place one yr in the past, Hendrick completely dominated the occasion en path to a 1-2-3 end.
LOSER: Larson’s pursuit of the weekend sweep
Watch: Kyle Larson calls Homestead end a ‘bummer’ after extra time restart
Appears unusual to say Larson as a ‘loser’ after this weekend, however to be clear, that is extra about his purpose of changing into simply the second driver to ever full the weekend sweep. Kyle Busch did it at Bristol Motor Speedway in each 2010 and 2017, however nobody else has ever been in a position to obtain the identical feat. Larson gained Friday’s Truck race regardless of triggering the ultimate warning by spinning out. He quickly charged again by the sphere with relative ease, snatching the lead away with two laps to go. On Sunday, he made one other late cost (minus the spin) and claimed victory over Bowman. All he wanted was the Xfinity win and paradoxically, that was his most dominant displaying of the final three days regardless of failing to seize the checkered flag ultimately. And maybe that is what made it so irritating for the HMS driver. Larson had lapped as much as fifth place and led his closest competitors by a shocking 16 seconds, however a late warning and subsequent restart denied him what was so near being the right weekend. Larson was in management, however an unhelpful shove from Sam Mayer brought on him to spin the tires, permitting the skin line to surge forward.
WINNER: Allmendinger’s Homestead heroics proceed
AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Picture by: James Gilbert / Getty Photographs
A.J. Allmendinger is thought for his highway course racing prowess, however he is no slouch at Homestead-Miami Speedway both. He now has one of the best common end there of any driver within the Cup Sequence for the reason that introduction of the present technology of automotive. A.J. now has 4 straight top-ten finishes at Homestead with Kaulig Racing [3rd in 2022; 5th in 2023; 10th in 2024; 7th in 2025] which is wildly spectacular for the gear he is in. The veteran driver was a continuing presence among the many frontrunners and continues to remind us that he is excess of only a highway course ringer.
LOSER: Trackhouse flounders in Miami after starring in Vegas
Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Picture by: Chris Graythen – Getty Photographs
Trackhouse Racing Staff has had a curler coaster begin to the season, which has included a number of wrecked race automobiles. They did handle to carry dwelling a double top-five end at Las Vegas, but it surely seems that it was one step ahead and two steps backwards as they struggled to hold that momentum into Homestead. There wasn’t a scratch on any of their race automobiles, however the prime qualifier was Ross Chastain in twenty fifth and the highest finisher was Daniel Suarez in twenty second. Chastain positioned thirty first and Shane van Gisbergen thirty second, each one lap down in a dismal day for the group. In 2022, they got here only one place shy of successful the Cup Sequence championship, however that will not occur with showings like Homestead.
WINNER: Bubba Wallace places all of it collectively
Watch: Bubba Wallace talks ‘actually good’ third-place end from Homestead
The driving force of the No. 23 Toyota is presently going through an 85-race winless streak and whereas he simply missed out on the win at Homestead, it was nonetheless a stellar displaying for the 23XI group. Wallace led 56 laps and in contrast to earlier races the place he had successful tempo, it did not all collapse ultimately. Between pit highway errors and on-track incidents, one thing all the time appeared to go incorrect once they had successful tempo, however that wasn’t the case on Sunday. Sure, each the Hendrick drivers handed him inside the closing 30 laps, however he nonetheless managed a third-place end and was even cracking jokes together with his group as they raced to the end line. He actually wanted that, and it looks as if Wallace and new crew chief Charles Denike are undoubtedly clicking early within the 2025 season.
LOSER: Three consecutive DNFs for Blaney
Ryan Blaney, Staff Penske Ford
Picture by: Malcolm Hope – Icon Sportswire through Getty Photographs
Ryan Blaney now has three consecutive DNFs after the primary six races of the yr, and two of them had been utterly out of his arms. At each Phoenix and Homestead, there was a catastrophic engine failure on the No. 12 Ford Mustang — one thing hardly ever seen in fashionable NASCAR with a large white plume of smoke billowing out from the again of his automotive. The engine failure was particularly powerful at Homestead as he had led essentially the most laps of anybody and was in a superb place to probably win the race earlier than the problem left him with a Thirty sixth-place end.
WINNER: Firefighting crews
For a second, it wasn’t clear if the race weekend would even occur attributable to grass fires that had been getting uncomfortably near the race monitor. Nonetheless, the native firefighting crews had been on prime of it and in a position to hold the hearth from impacting the monitor or any construction within the surrounding space, even utilizing the speedway’s pond water to fight the flames.
LOSER: (Not) filter
Joey Logano, Staff Penske Ford; Josh Berry, Wooden Brothers Racing Ford; Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet; Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet; Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Picture by: Chris Graythen – Getty Photographs
Whereas Vegas was the week of free wheels on pit highway, Homestead was all about collisions on pit highway. There have been a number of notable moments the place drivers had been being cleared out or into their pit field once they should not have been or they merely simply ran out of room within the tight pit lane. Chase Elliott pushed Ryan Blaney into the wall at one level, who was then doored by Chase Briscoe moments later. The Staff Penske duo of Austin Cindric and Joey Logano practically collided at pit exit, however the largest incident occurred when Josh Berry and Logano each left their stalls and shortly ran out of area. Berry slammed into the aspect of the eventual race winner [Larson], leaving a gap within the No. 5’s rocker panel as Logano slammed into him as properly. Each of the Ford drivers went spinning utterly round, severely hindering their efforts for the remainder of the day. The reigning champion [Logano] remains to be with no top-ten end after six races this yr.
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