Power Rankings: Berry blasts off after breakthrough win

Posted on March 18, 2025March 18, 2025 by Pat DeCola

Josh Berry hit the jackpot in Las Vegas, snapping Christopher Bell’s three-race win streak en route to his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory and 101st win in team history for the legendary Wood Brothers Racing.

NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and before the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Analysis: All good things must come to an end — including Bell’s win streak, which snaps at an impressive three races. Despite missing out on the top 10 in his attempt for four straight — but also making arguably the best split-second decision of the year so far — Bell remains the championship favorite. He’s also led in three straight Homestead races — on top of a pristine 8.8 average finish there across five Cup starts — winning in the fall of 2023. Toyota’s Vegas results were a bit befuddling, but look for Bell to potentially dominate once again this weekend.

Analysis: Bell’s wins may give him the overall edge, but Byron has been every bit as good and actually holds a healthy margin of points (29) over the No. 20 in the standings after just five races. Having a better average finish (8.0) than the guy who has won three of those five races (9.2) is also no small feat and he’s no slouch at Homestead, either. Byron has an excellent chance to capture win No. 2 this weekend, having won the last spring race at Miami in 2021 in dominant fashion and contending in each of the three fall races there since.

Analysis: For a good part of the race, Las Vegas appeared to be shaping up to fall right into the lap of Larson — now the track leader in laps led, with plenty of career still left to pad that stat — but late action cost him the win and forced him to settle for a top 10. Not a huge concern for him and the No. 5 crew; the next month of racing should be plenty kind to them, and as the likely favorite heading into Sunday, Larson should have another strong showing ahead of him at arguably his best track.

Analysis: Elliott is once again a top-20 machine to open the season, turning in five straight such finishes after remarkably hitting 16 in a row last year. That kind of consistency will certainly come in handy, but despite that, he has just one trip to Victory Lane since 2022. It feels like the No. 9 team is close, though, and a first win at Homestead — where Elliott averages a 9.8 finish — could be right around the corner.

Analysis: Reddick is a solid third in points, but thus far has just a pair of top 10s to show for his efforts, with Vegas (34 laps led but 24th-place result) being a frustrating one for him. Nothing that a trip to Homestead can’t fix, as Reddick — as you might have heard — is notorious for ripping the fence at the Florida track, where he’s the most recent winner. In four of his five races there, No. 45 has finished in the top four.

Analysis: It is obviously still extremely early, but Hamlin’s initial 2025 returns have him looking at a pace that would result in his worst average finish (15.6) since 2013. Considering he was runner-up last week, there truly aren’t any major concerns here, and the three-time Homestead winner could be having everyone saying, once again, “Is this the year?” by the end of the weekend.

Analysis: Along with his teammate Byron, Bowman is one of just two drivers with a top 10 in four of the season’s five races, and it’s not a stretch to say he could be rounding into a 2025 title contender with a win coming soon. One thing we’ll need to see more of is laps led (19 so far after just 67 all of last year). At Homestead, he’s yet to see the front of the field in nine starts.

Analysis: As frustrating as Sunday was for Blaney and the No. 12 group … did that not look like a championship-caliber team as the 2023 champ worked his way through the field multiple times and probably would’ve had a shot to contend for the win if his day didn’t end prematurely? Blaney will have plenty of motivation coming off that one, and very likely plenty of speed heading to Homestead, where he’ll be equally motivated to make up for a super frustrating end for him the last time we raced there.

Analysis: We’re onto you, Ross. You threw everybody off the scent with a P40 in Daytona, but don’t think we haven’t noticed your 9.0 average finish in the four races since. Your 14 laps led and top-five finish at Vegas — not to mention your resurgence late last season as a non-playoff driver — were a dead giveaway that you’re going to be a weekly contender again, and it’s hard to think the secret won’t get out this weekend at Homestead, where we know you like to run the wall and landed a runner-up just a few years ago.

Analysis: Honestly, at this point, it’s mostly just impressive how Logano can be one of the season’s best drivers (series-best — by far — 247 laps led) while having fewer top 10s (zero) than both Jimmie Johnson and Justin Allgaier, who each only ran the Daytona 500. Clearly just a fluke, Logano has plenty of speed in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford in his championship defense and the solid finishes are coming. Homestead may not go so well, however, as it was a better track for him in the Gen 6 car; he has just one top 10 there since 2019.

Analysis: Well, how about that? It appears Wood Brothers has found its cornerstone driver, with Berry capitalizing on serious speed at Las Vegas to deliver the team its 101st win, at a 1.5-mile track, no less. There’s a reason Berry’s talent has long been raved about and we shouldn’t rule out another win for him in 2025 — in fact, after a near top 10 last fall at Homestead with Stewart-Haas Racing just weeks away from closing its doors, two-in-a-row may be on the table.

Analysis: Similarly to Chastain, Buescher’s overall average finish is hurt by one poor superspeedway result (30th at Atlanta) amid an otherwise strong four races — No. 17 is still holding a solid 13.0 across all five. Buescher is certainly on track to win this year, so why the dip in ranking? Because we shouldn’t expect the win to come this weekend — Buescher has never finished better than 13th in nine starts at Homestead.

Analysis: Wallace has had one of the more frustrating starts to 2025 of anyone, flashing plenty of speed but not much to show for it with one P9 at Atlanta but the remainder of his finishes all landing in the 20s. He’s led in each of the last three Homestead races — though only for a total of 13 laps — but overall it’s not an amazing track for him, with a 19.0 average finish and just one top 10 across six starts.

Analysis: And here’s “Logano Light” — McDowell has looked solid overall and the Vegas pole winner has found the front of the field, but he has been shut out of the top 10 so far for various reasons. He’s scored 21-plus points in four of the five races, though, to remain in the playoff picture and could have a strong chance to do so again this weekend. McDowell landed sixth on the results sheet the last time the series raced at Homestead in the spring.

Analysis: With three top-eight finishes heading into Vegas, there’s no need to write off “Rowdy” and his hot start, but Vegas was a tough one to swallow for the No. 8 bunch; they scored five or fewer points for the second time in five races. Busch has won two of the past 10 Homestead races, however, and has been quite good there overall after a tough learning curve to open his career at the 1.5-mile facility.

Analysis: Stenhouse is doing just enough to hang around, having no bad races yet (worst finish of 21st) but only one good race (P5 at Atlanta). A solid 23.2 points per race will keep him afloat for now, but it could be a struggle for him to hit that mark at Homestead. It’s not insurmountable, but it is notable that RSJ has never finished in the top 10 at Homestead despite racing there every year since 2012.

Analysis: After coming out strong with a pair of top 10s in the first two races, Nemechek is beginning to slip just a bit with no finish better than 14th since and no laps led overall just yet. It could all unravel at Homestead, too, where Nemechek has a rough 25.4 average finish and no finishes better than 19th — which came in 2020 with a different team and manufacturer.

Analysis: He’s got a ways to go, but Preece has improved his standings position each week since the Daytona 500 and has collected 30-plus points in back-to-back weeks to lift him. But wait, there’s more — like Berry, he turned in a solid performance at Homestead as SHR had one last gasp of performance last fall, earning his first career top 10 there. His second could come Sunday, in a better situation than he had a few months ago.

Analysis: After some undeniably down periods, there are glimmers of hope that Trackhouse Racing could be finding its way, as evidenced by Suárez’s near-win and ultimate runner-up run at Las Vegas. No. 99 hasn’t been “bad” at Homestead, with five of his eight starts landing him in the top 16, but he does have just one total top 10 there. If he’s for real, this could be a good proving ground for him.

Analysis: It seems to be a Team Penske phenomenon: Cindric continues to lead plenty of laps but Sunday’s P6 was just his second top 10 of the season, as he averages a result of just 17.2 so far. It’ll all even out eventually, though, and there’s a lot to like here for No. 2’s long-term 2025 outlook. Short-term could be a different story, though, as the veteran has no top-10 finishes at Homestead yet in his career.

Posted on March 17, 2025April 3, 2025 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Xfinity Series travels to Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the field looks to leave its mark in the Hard Rock Bet 300 on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Craftsman Truck Series

Here’s a look at the full entry list for Saturday’s event:

Posted on March 17, 2025April 4, 2025 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is back in action this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Baptist Health 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Xfinity Series

Here is a look at the drivers entered for Friday night in Homestead-Miami:

Posted on March 17, 2025March 17, 2025 by Staff Report

NASCAR heads to Florida for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI ENTRY LISTS: Xfinity Series | Craftsman Truck Series

See the full entry list for this weekend’s 267-lap event in Florida:

Posted on March 17, 2025March 18, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry is a NASCAR Cup Series winner. That’s an honor he once thought he’d never get to bear.

The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing driver fended off the field to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, the 1.5-mile oval that played a crucial role in Berry’s stock-car racing story throughout the past four years.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Vegas

Berry, 34, spent over a decade building his career as a Late Model Stock short-track racer for JR Motorsports around the Southeast, eventually earning the 2020 Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division 1 national championship. He made sporadic Xfinity Series starts for JRM from 2014-17, but racing a stock car in NASCAR’s highest ranks full-time seemed so far away for so long.

Then, an opportunity sprung for a part-time Xfinity schedule for JRM in 2021, in which he won twice — including a clutch substitute win at Las Vegas — finally propelling the Hendersonville, Tennessee, native onto the national NASCAR scene.

“Five years ago, I felt like I was going to be a career short-track racer,” Berry reflected Sunday. “I wanted to be Bubba Pollard. I wanted to be the greatest on the short tracks. And JR Motorsports gave me an opportunity to go drive an Xfinity car, and we won a race, and then we won another race, and then I get an opportunity in a Cup car and that goes well. And here I am now.”

Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Digital Media

His first opportunity to drive a Next Gen car in the Cup Series came at — you guessed it — Las Vegas, where he was tasked with driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in March 2023 when the series’ most popular driver, Chase Elliott, was sidelined by injury. The race didn’t go as he’d hoped, finishing 29th after qualifying 32nd.

“I flew home that night thinking that my career was over because of how I ran that day,” Berry said. “And it was a last-second, thrown-in-the-car (process). I had no preparation. And even thinking back to that day, they believed in me. And they gave me another week, right? And then we went and finished in the top 10. So just, it’s amazing the things that have to happen to get to this point.”

Indeed, just one week later, Berry hopped back into the No. 9 car and scored a top 10 at Phoenix Raceway. Two weeks after that, he finished second at Richmond Raceway in just his sixth career Cup start. That process and his quick adaptation to such a unique race car caught the eye of Jon Wood, now the team president of Wood Brothers Racing.

SHOP: Berry winner gear

“He drove in two or three different styles (of) race tracks, having never driven in a Next Gen car, and he ran competitively and finished well in two of the three,” Wood said. “I was sold from that point. And I didn’t know Josh from anybody. Like, I knew who he was, but I hadn’t been following him. And I didn’t want him to do well. Like, I was like, ‘Well, this isn’t supposed to be that easy. You’re not supposed to outrun us when you just hop in one of these things.’ So it stuck in my mind that week: This dude’s probably pretty good. But it never dawned on me that there would be an opportunity (to sign him).”

That changed once Berry left JRM’s Xfinity program after two full-time seasons from 2022-23 and its Chevrolet ties to go Cup racing in 2024 with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Fords. His rookie campaign in the No. 4 Ford featured notable highlights, like leading 32 laps at Iowa Speedway and 25 at Bristol Motor Speedway, both tracks shorter than 1 mile in length. But it also consisted of 10 DNFs in a tumultuous season for SHR, which shuttered its doors at the conclusion of 2024 for a full rebrand and sell-off of three of its four charters.

Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Digital Media

The good news for the Wood Brothers, though, is Berry was already in the Ford camp. As the team mulled plans for a new driver in 2025, Berry emerged as a top candidate. And five races into their new relationship, Berry has his first career Cup win in hand, has already tied his 2024 total of top-five finishes (two) and his two top 10s equate to half his 2024 total as well. Berry attributes the quick start to belief in Jon Wood, team co-owners Eddie and Len Wood as well as crew chief Miles Stanley — and also their belief in him.

“From the minute that I sat with everyone at this table and thought about this opportunity, it just felt right,” Berry said alongside Jon and Eddie Wood and Stanley. “It just felt like the right fit for me. But our performance at the start of the season has 100% exceeded my expectations. And I think that it just goes back to just trusting your instincts as a driver, that if you’re in a good situation and surrounded by good people and have fast race cars that you can do amazing things.”

Through Wood Brothers Racing’s alliance with Team Penske, Berry is also engrained with Penske’s trio of racers, which includes defending and three-time Cup champ Joey Logano, 2023 title winner Ryan Blaney and 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric. Cindric, who maintains close relationships with many on the No. 21 team, was sure to visit Victory Lane and offer his congratulations — and explain why this win shouldn’t be such a surprise.

“He’s done each step of the way right and obviously had the car today and got the job done. It’s really that simple,” Cindric said. “It’s cool to see, and cool to see the guys in the shop that are excited; the Wood Brothers and everybody. So yeah, if I can’t win one of these and my other two guys can’t, he’s the guy. It’s a cool group because there’s a lot of first-time winners.”

The response to Berry’s victory has been overwhelmingly positive, including congratulatory messages from his 2024 crew chief Rodney Childers and JRM co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller. But that warm reception was even extended by his current competitors like Chase Briscoe and William Byron. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver, who led 10 laps in Sunday’s Vegas race and finished fourth, overlapped with Berry while the duo ran Late Model Stocks together for JRM. But their relationship predates even that.

“We grew up all the way back to iRacing days racing each other,” Byron said. “So, good for him. Happy for them. He’s definitely been a contender.”

MORE: Berry on signing: ‘Feels like a great fit’

Berry also left a positive impact on Hendrick Motorsports. In addition to the five races he filled in for Elliott, Berry also subbed for an injured Alex Bowman in three races in 2023. Team president Jeff Andrews continues to hold Berry in high regard despite his departure elsewhere.

“Josh is just a solid guy,” Andrews told NASCAR.com. “We go back to a few years ago here when he filled in for us, and I can remember having a conversation with him when we needed him to drive this 9 car and just a solid guy, works hard. Obviously a great short-track background that spoke for itself. And Hendrick Motorsports, from our perspective, we couldn’t be more proud to see where Josh has ended up and win today. Very, very deserving. Just a good guy, a good race-car driver who works hard and has made his way up through the sport.

“To win on a mile-and-a-half track like this, I know it’s got to feel great for him, a great sense of accomplishment, and good for the sport. Congratulations to the Wood Brothers as well.”

Berry captured his first Xfinity Series win on the Martinsville Speedway half-mile back in 2021. But Vegas has played a special role in his career too. Now, it will forever hold a significant place in the story of his career as the site of his first NASCAR Cup Series win.

“Obviously, with my experience on the short tracks, you’d think that that’s where you’re going to win,” Berry said. “But if anything, I’ve learned in this sport you never know what day can be your day, and you just have to put your head down and be there to capitalize. And Miles and this whole 21 team brought a great race car, and we found ourselves in position.”

Posted on March 17, 2025March 17, 2025 by Staff Report

NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series teams will participate in a Goodyear tire test this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway in advance of Memorial Day weekend events there this May.

Three Cup Series teams will test Tuesday and Wednesday at the 1.5-mile track, with a trio of Xfinity Series teams joining the Tuesday portion of the test session.

The Goodyear test comes in advance of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25, when the 66th edition of NASCAR’s longest event will kick off Amazon Prime’s five-race broadcast schedule. That weekend will also feature races for the Xfinity Series on Saturday, May 24, and both the Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series on Friday, May 23.

As is customary, one team from each of NASCAR’s manufacturers will participate in Goodyear testing. Teams and drivers scheduled to test are:

Cup Series

Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Xfinity Series

Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford
Aric Almirola, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Posted on March 16, 2025March 17, 2025 by Dustin Albino

LAS VEGAS — Since starting a Cup Series team, Trackhouse Racing has always excelled at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 didn’t start swiftly for any of the Trackhouse teams. Shane van Gisbergen had multiple flat tires and called it a day after completing 195 laps. Neither Ross Chastain nor Daniel Suárez earned points in the first stage.

As the race progressed, Chastain and Suárez powered through the field. It was a two-tire call by Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen on Lap 146 that gave the No. 1 Chevrolet a strong track position. In a 15-lap stretch to the end of the second stage, Chastain held on to third, tallying eight stage points. Suárez wasn’t far behind in seventh.

During the final stage, the two Trackhouse teammates had different strategies. When a caution flew on Lap 195 for a pileup on the backstretch, Suárez stayed on the track. Chastain pitted, believing the No. 1 car was on the cusp of making it to the finish on fuel.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Noah Gragson blew a right-front tire on Lap 242, interrupting a cycle of green-flag pit stops. Suárez was in second behind Joey Logano when the caution waved. But when the No. 22 team lost 19 spots on pit road, Suarez was the new leader with Josh Berry on the front row.

Chastain lined up behind Suárez for the restart, shoving the No. 99 car to the race lead. It wasn’t enough, however, as Berry passed Suárez for the lead on Lap 252 and went on to score his elusive first Cup victory.

“I was fully committed to him and happy to do it,” Chastain said of the restart. “We stayed connected well. It was aggressive, but it got him the lead and he bottomed out too hard with his car and it let [Berry] get inside of him a couple of laps into that run. Bummer because he had a better car than we did and had a shot to win and it just slipped away from us.”

Suárez took the checkered flag in second, snapping a three-race skid of finishing 23rd or worse, including a pair of DNFs. It’s his best result since the 2024 playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, Chastain chalked up another top-five finish in Sin City, which is statistically his best venue on the circuit. He entered the event with five top-10 finishes, including four top fives in six starts with the No. 1 team.

Las Vegas is just the fourth time in team history that Trackhouse put multiple entries inside the top five. It’s the first time since the swansong race at Auto Club Speedway in 2023.

“It was good. Definitely very important,” Suárez said of his runner-up finish. “Especially with the 99. I think [Chastain] has had a couple decent results this year, but the 99 has been running very well lately and we’ve been getting wrecked for one reason or another.

“It sucks to be that close. Sometimes, I feel like third feels better than second. We did everything in our power at the end. We just needed to be a little bit better in the short run.”

By scoring 39 points, Suárez leaped 10 spots in the regular-season standings, now ranking 19th. The 40 points earned by Chastain were the fifth-most points tallied during the race and Chastain bumped up six positions in the standings.

“It’s huge,” Chastain noted of Trackhouse’s performance. “The last thing I said to [Suárez] was it’s pretty cool to be talking about finishing second and fifth and legitimately running up there. It’s so frustrating because I saw how close Daniel was. Daniel had the better Trackhouse car today and for him to be so close, it’s a bummer.”

Posted on March 16, 2025March 17, 2025 by Dustin Albino

LAS VEGAS — It was deja vu for Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For the second consecutive Cup Series race, it appeared to be boiling down to a fuel-mileage sprint to the finish.

When a caution flew on Lap 195 for a multicar pileup on the backstretch, Kyle Larson led a host of other frontrunners down pit road, including Hendrick teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott, along with Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric and Ross Chastain. Had the race stayed green to the finish after the restart, it would have been borderline whether the teams that stayed out could stretch their fuel tanks to the finish.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“They were gambling that way unless they really thought they could make it and had way better mileage than we expected,” Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet, told NASCAR.com. “We showed all of them not making it.”

Early in the run, both Chastain and Cindric jumped the Hendrick duo of Larson and Byron to seize track position. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin both pitted under green, handing the lead to Joey Logano. Noah Gragson had a tire go down with 25 laps remaining, allowing the field to reset after a long run on tires. Daniel Suárez and Josh Berry cycled to the front row.

This was a familiar sight for Larson’s No. 5 team. Joey Logano won in October of 2024 at Las Vegas by gambling on fuel mileage.

“It was the same thing as the fall, just in the fall your crystal ball would have told you we would have cautions and we didn’t and today we did,” Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 car, said. “That is literally the difference.

“That was the fuel window for us. You pit, now you can make it on fuel and the others guaranteed can’t. In the fall, I stayed at that yellow, knew I couldn’t make it on fuel, so I had to pit under green and spent all winter long beating myself up knowing that if I would have stayed out, we were going to be with the guys that ended up making it on fuel. In the fall, we could have had a top-three finish, and today, it went the exact opposite.”

Berry and Suárez battled for the lead after the final restart. Byron was elated with his positioning for the reset, but he couldn’t clear Chastain and dropped to fifth. When the checkered flag flew, the No. 24 car was fourth. Larson dropped to ninth in the finishing order.

“It sucks, but I felt like our car was good,” Byron said. “If it was a normal race playing out, I think it was a race between us, the 5 and 45. We struggled to maneuver in traffic too much, and that’s what caught us out there once the strategy flipped.”

Neither crew chief would have done anything differently, believing their strategy was the right call. The late caution fell at an untimely period.

“You don’t know how to play it — and it’s tough,” Fugle said. “It’s the way it is. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. With a couple things going differently, I think we would have a shot at the win. We will take a fourth with a good car and a lot to learn on and a lot to improve on to be better.”

Even scarier for the competition come the playoffs is that Larson felt better about the No. 5 car during this race — leading a race-high 61 laps — than he has in recent races in Sin City. Larson had won two of the previous three Vegas races entering this weekend. This is the first spring Las Vegas race that Hendrick did not win since 2020.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

“What I take away from (today) is my car was good,” Larson said. “I think we were a little bit better than normal here, and we are pretty good here normally. I thought we had a stand-out car, especially out in the lead. The cautions and the flow of the race and the strategies changed and I wasn’t as good in traffic as I was earlier in the race. I also didn’t do as good of a job as I could on restarts, too. Proud of the race car. It’s just how it goes sometimes.”

All four Hendrick Motorsports cars sit inside the top six in the championship standings ahead of next Sunday’s Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on March 16, 2025March 17, 2025 by John Crane

A litany of pit-road penalties, passes and late-race pushes resulted in Josh Berry prevailing over Daniel Suárez to capture the NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first intermediate track on the 2025 schedule.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Several drivers put together a momentum-shifting showing, while others took a turn for the worse at the Nevada track ahead of next Sunday’s Cup Series contest at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

THREE UP ⬆️

1. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford

Started: 12th

Finished: 3rd

What happened: Solid starting position to begin Sunday’s Las Vegas race didn’t immediately bear fruit on the points front, with Preece finishing 19th and 11th in Stages 1 and 2, respectively … not to mention a speeding penalty on pit road on Lap 33. A gradual grind through the final stage, in addition to a late-race battle between Ross Chastain and William Byron on Lap 254, allowed Preece to clinch the top-five result, tying his career-best Cup finish (Talladega spring, 2019). The finish also acted as Preece’s first top-five on a 1.5-mile track.

What’s next: Homestead-Miami is next on deck for Preece, where the 34-year-old Connecticut native has one career top 10, which came during the 2024 running at the track (10th).

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

2. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Started: 18th

Finished: 8th

What happened: Something about 1.5-mile tracks has suited Allmendinger of late, with the 43-year-old pilot seizing his third consecutive top-10 finish on such a circuit, the best streak of his career. Solid positioning and speed did the trick, and while Allmendinger was unable to capitalize with enough speed during the waning laps to perhaps sneak into Victory Lane, the No. 16 pilot did collect stage points following a sixth-place result during the opening stage. A win might not have been in the cards, but the Kaulig crew will certainly take the points at this juncture of the season.

What’s next: Momentum could very well translate from one side of the country to the other for Allmendinger and the No. 16 crew. In 13 career Cup starts at Homestead-Miami, Allmendinger has tallied three top fives and six top 10s, including three consecutive top-eight results dating back to the 2022 season.

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

3. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 6th

Finished: 7th

What happened: Through the early going, it looked as if Bowman was going to contend for the race win. After all, the No. 48 challenged Austin Cindric for the race lead on Lap 68 and eventually finished Stage 1 in second. Trouble began on Lap 90 for Bowman and Co. as the driver was forced to the pits on Lap 90 due to a vibration issue and additionally penalized for a pit-road speeding penalty on Lap 115. Late-race action, though, opened a window of opportunity for Bowman to work his way back to the front, and that he did.

What’s next: Homestead-Miami has been a roller coaster of sorts for the 31-year-old Arizona native. Dating back to 2019, Bowman has alternated a top-10 result with a non-top 10, with his seventh-place finish in October of 2024 being his best finish in nine career Cup tries. Trends dictate he’s bound to finish outside the top 10 this time around, but after a Las Vegas in-race rebound, don’t discount him from breaking the mold.

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

THREE DOWN ⬇️

1. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Started: 4th

Finished: 33rd

What happened: A trendy pick to win at his hometown Las Vegas, Busch unfortunately was mired with one troubling issue after another. A lost right-rear tire — and subsequent skid into the backstretch wall on Lap 113 — began such conundrums. A two-lap penalty and garage time to fix the damage was next, and when the No. 8 returned to the track, Busch was penalized for entering too fast on pit road. The last salt to enter the wound came on Lap 242, where Busch bounced off the wall in Turn 2. A possible venue for a long-awaited race victory was not in the cards.

What’s next: There’s potentially good news for Busch and the No. 8 camp entering Homestead-Miami, where the two-time Cup Series champion has two victories, five top fives, 11 top 10s and 470 laps led in 20 career Cup starts. The bulk of this production came before the introduction of the Next Gen car, but experience matters, and Busch certainly has enough of it in his back pocket.

Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media

2. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Started: 15th

Finished: 25th

What happened: Luck seemed to be on Hamlin’s side entering Sunday’s Vegas Cup race, and that was without even mentioning a slew of slot successes at the local casinos. A 15th-place starting position wasn’t anything superb, but for a talented driver like Hamlin — with 14 career Las Vegas top 10s — it seemed more than manageable. And while Hamlin rebounded from an early pit-road penalty to contend inside the top 10, the No. 11 was unable to make it stick, with the Toyota pilot pitting from fourth on Lap 232 and unable to make up the ground thereafter.

What’s next: Homestead-Miami has been collectively kind to Hamlin over the years, with the Florida native amassing three wins, six top fives, 13 top 10s, 449 laps led and six career pole positions at the track. Outside of a 30th-place finish there in 2023, Hamlin has finished 12th or better in 11 consecutive Miami Cup races. That’ll play.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

3. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Started: 5th

Finished: 27th

What happened: A fifth-place starting position was a swell start for the No. 43, and while Jones contended three-wide for the lead halfway through the race, the driver couldn’t make the speed stick. The culprit came on Lap 158 when the No. 43 got loose and dropped to ninth, with another spin during a Lap 195 incident putting a final damper on Jones’ day.

What’s next: Homestead-Miami has been a tricky track for Jones as the 28-year-old Michigan native has only one career top 10 at the facility in eight career Cup tries. Jones has finished 21st or worse in four of the last five Homestead-Miami contests dating back to 2020.

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Posted on March 16, 2025March 16, 2025 by Staff Report

Christopher Bell fell short of netting a fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing 12th.

Entering Sunday’s race, Bell dropped to the rear of the field after the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team elected to change a throttle body ahead of the event.

RELATED: Official race results | At-track photos

In Stage 1, Bell worked his way to a 10th-place result to a net a point but it was downhill from there.

Climbing as high as second, Bell had a handful of issues on pit road. Stopping for service under yellow, Bell’s crew didn’t get the left front wheel tight before the 30-year-old drove away. Crew chief Adam Stevens quickly caught it, instructing Bell to pull into the No. 19 pit box to tighten the wheel. The No. 20 team got hit with a penalty for pitting outside of the box, an infraction much less severe than if the wheel fell off on track.

With Bell mired in traffic the rest of the race, he wasn’t able to muster that same Stage 1 pace to get back to the front.

“It was a grind today for sure,” Bell said. “I don’t really know how I feel yet, but we certainly didn’t do what we did the last couple of weeks and that was just have a nice clean race. I think the Interstate Camry was definitely capable of competing for the win when we were at our best, but just going to the back and to the front and to the back and to the front, we just didn’t get a handle on the balance, because it changes so much from being back there.”

Bell will look to make it four wins in five races next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where he won in 2023 to make the Championship 4.