Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Alex Bowman had the lead in the waning moments of Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But one errant move allowed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson to power past him for the win instead.

Though the disappointment of a missed opportunity to score his ninth NASCAR Cup Series victory was apparent, Bowman mustered a fair share of smiles on pit road after his first top-five finish of 2025.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Homestead

Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet continued to gain on Bowman’s No. 48 car as the laps ticked away, but Bowman’s prolonged slide against the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4 negated his momentum and allowed Larson to pounce past him with seven laps to go.

“I just tried to get too much there and hit the fence a couple times,” Bowman said. “Bent the right-front (suspension) and lost feel of where I was at with the right-front being bent and then really hit the fence and let the 5 by.

“So yeah, that’s on me. Just needed to do a better job there. I don’t know that we were gonna hold him off regardless, as much faster as he was than us, but certainly made it easier on him than I wanted to.”

The sting of a loss doesn’t negate what was a strong weekend for the No. 48 team at a track where Bowman has historically struggled. Bowman powered to the pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session to start first, led 43 laps and notched a race-best 3.68 average running position Sunday in addition to his top-five finish. His 43 laps led at Homestead are his most since September 2022, when he led 107 laps at Kansas Speedway.

“I think this performance all weekend … does a lot for a race team,” said Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice chairman. “I think we saw the momentum building with that team at the end of last year, and you just hope that they can build on that and carry that into the season. And I think they have, but you’ve got to get the results.

“And so I think today is an important day for them, and I think you’ll see that create quite a spark to hopefully get them on a run.”

MORE: Jeff Gordon on Hendrick’s fast start | Newfound positivity sparks top five for Bubba Wallace

Bowman had never led a lap at Homestead previously but owns three top 10s there in his past four starts, including Sunday’s personal best. He attributed his progress to a 2024 test at the 1.5-mile oval. The intent of those extra laps were to help Goodyear develop wet-weather tires, but Bowman left with more confidence riding the high line nearest the wall than he ever had previously.

“Honestly, I don’t think we were nearly as good as we were at the test, especially at running the wall,” he said Sunday. “I just couldn’t run the wall well all weekend really, which was what I could do really well at the test. So we’ve got to go back and do our homework and figure out why that was. But yeah, felt like our short-run speed was obviously really good with being able to drive up there and get the lead. (I) pressured Bubba (Wallace) into a mistake and then let myself get pressured into a mistake.

“Annoying, but I mean, Kyle’s the greatest race-car driver of our generation. If that’s the one guy that beat us this week, it’s certainly not the end of the world, but we need to go get some trophies for sure.”

The runner-up effort marks Bowman’s best of what’s been an impressive start to the season, his fifth top 10 in six races and fourth in a row. The Tucson, Arizona, native joked: “The internet says we’re just lucky, I’m sure,” but echoed Gordon’s observation of the improved performance by the end of 2024.

What Gordon also reiterated Sunday was his and the team’s belief in Bowman moving forward.

“I think what we’ve worked on the most is just making sure he knows he’s got the support behind him,” Gordon said. “I think they’ve been searching for a little bit more depth in the team. I think that if you compare them to the other Hendrick teams, Blake (Harris, crew chief) was one of the steps (forward), and then he’s been working on car chief and pit crew and just putting all the pieces together. …

“Alex and he have always been on the same page and have a lot of confidence in one another. But when a team has the confidence that the organization is behind their moves and supporting them and the sponsors are there for them … just be in a position to go capitalize when the day goes well. And I think that’s really what I’m seeing this year in them, but also what you saw today.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Larson proved himself the weekend’s most dominant driver at Homestead-Miami Speedway, winning two of the three national series races, capping off the extraordinary three-day performance with his 30th NASCAR Cup Series victory in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400.

Larson seized upon a miscue by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, who put his pole-winning No. 48 Chevrolet in the outside retaining wall with six laps remaining Sunday. That contact allowed Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pass him for the race lead and jet off to a 1.205-second win — the 32-year-old Californian’s first Cup Series trophy of the year.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Homestead

“I knew me coming towards those guys, they were going to start moving around and making mistakes, and I felt like if I could just keep pressure on Alex, he may make a mistake, and he caught the wall there, and I got around him easier than I expected to,” Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, said. “Still had to work hard, though. My balance in clean air was really loose, just like those guys were. Hats off to the whole team.”

Bowman, who started first in the 37-car field, led 43 laps and was obviously disappointed even in a second-place outcome, coming so close to his first victory of the year.

“Guess I choked that one away, for sure,” Bowman said, revealing he actually hit the wall harder the lap before he was passed. “Just kind of burned myself up. Saw the 5 [Larson] coming, so I moved around a little bit.

“Man, I hate that for this Ally 48 group. They deserve better than that. Just a couple mistakes there. Felt like we were OK all day there.”

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace finished third, leading a season-high 56 laps in the No. 23 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe finished fourth in the No. 19 Toyota — the afternoon delivering season-best finishes for Larson, Bowman, Wallace and Briscoe.

JGR’s Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five finishing order and won Stage 2 — his 15 laps out front are the most on the year for him.

The day’s most dominant driver was Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, whose No. 12 Ford led a race-best 124 laps, only to suffer an engine failure with 60 laps remaining. A huge blast of smoke burst out of the car as it slowed abruptly onto the frontstretch from a top-five position.

MORE: Blaney sidelined at Homestead

He ended up 36th of the 37 cars, the 2023 season champion suffering his third straight DNF this year.

“I didn’t have any warning,” said Blaney, a runner-up in the previous two Homestead races. “When I got back to wide open down the front, that was all she wrote. Just stinks. Really fast Ford Mustang, led a lot of laps, lost a little bit of track position with stuff on pit road, but got back to third, and it was a great race between me, Bubba and Larson. I’m sure Denny was going to get back into it. It was going to be quite a battle in the last 60 laps or so.

“Just didn’t really work out for us. We’ll continue to keep fighting. I appreciate the 12 guys for giving me just a hot rod today, an incredibly, incredibly fast race car today. We’ll keep our head up. Just one of those things where it isn’t really going our way right now. But the good news is we’re bringing fast cars, and that’s all you can ask for.”

RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher rallied to a sixth-place finish, followed by Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, RFK’s Ryan Preece and Spire Motorsports’ Justin Haley.

WATCH: Larson describes “not typical Homestead” race | Gordon on Hendrick’s fast start

With the win, Larson moved into second place in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, 36 points behind Hendrick teammate and Daytona 500 winner William Byron. Bowman is now third in the championship, 39 points back. The fourth member of the team, Chase Elliott, finished 18th and is sixth in the standings — the promising start to the season a strong confidence-builder for all the drivers.

“Had to keep plugging away, proud of myself, proud of the team, just a lot of gritty hard work there today between damage on pit road, qualifying bad, bad restarts all that stuff,” said Larson. “Just super pumped. One of the coolest wins I think of my Cup career just because of all the heartbreak here, the heartbreak yesterday. Just kept my head down and kept digging.”

SHOP: Buy winner’s gear

The heartbreak Larson referred to was his 2-for-3 showing in his tripleheader sweep attempt. He won Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race and suffered a gut-wrenching near-miss in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race — an afternoon where he led the most laps only to get tapped from behind in an overtime restart and finish fourth.

Larson will attempt the three-race sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, hoping to equal the work of two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who is the only driver in history to win all three national series races on the same weekend — and he did it twice, accomplishing the feat at Bristol in 2010 and 2017.

Christopher Bell, who leads the series with three victories this season, placed 29th after a Lap 70 spin and slight contact in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Josh Berry — last week’s first-time winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — ended up 17th, continuing after contact with Larson and Joey Logano led to a pit-road spin during the Stage 1 break.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

The NASCAR Cup Series resumes next weekend at Martinsville Speedway with Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Byron is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage at Homestead-Miami concluded without issue, confirming Larson as the race winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Ryan Blaney found late-race trouble in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, exiting with an engine issue at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Blaney was running third when his No. 12 Team Penske Ford began showing heavy smoke in the 208th of a scheduled 267 laps in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400. He emerged from his car on pit road as track workers tended to clean-up.

RELATED: Race Results| At-track photos: Homestead

Blaney had led a race-high 124 laps before being sidelined. The result is his third consecutive DNF (did not finish), following a crash last week at Las Vegas and another engine failure the previous week at Phoenix. According to NASCAR Insights, it’s the first time in his Cup Series career that Blaney has recorded three straight DNFs.

“I didn’t have any warning,” Blaney said. “It just laid over when I got back to wide-open down the front and that was all she wrote. It just stinks. We had a really fast Dent Wizard Ford Mustang. We led a lot of laps. We lost a little bit of track position there with some stuff on pit road, but got back to third and it was a great race between me and Bubba (Wallace) and (Kyle) Larson. I’m sure Denny (Hamlin) was gonna get back into it. It was gonna be a heck of a battle the last 60 laps or so, but it just didn’t really work out for us. We’ll continue to keep fighting.

“I appreciate the 12 guys for just giving me a hot rod. It was an incredibly, incredibly fast race car today. We’ll keep our heads up. It’s just one of those things where it’s not really going our way right now, but the good news is we’re bringing fast cars and that’s all you can ask for. We’ll keep on moving.”

Blaney started sixth in the 37-car field, but will be credited with a 36th-place finish. He entered the 400-mile event ranked seventh in the Cup Series standings through five races.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — If you had to guess who in the NASCAR Cup Series owns the best average finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a Next Gen car, you would probably guess Kyle Larson or Tyler Reddick.

Nope.

AJ Allmendinger is tied with Christopher Bell for the best average finish (5.3) at Homestead since 2022, the inaugural year of the Next Gen vehicle. Typically known as a road-course ace, Allmendinger has finished third, fifth and eighth in his last three Homestead starts.

“It’s kind of interesting,” Allmendinger told NASCAR.com after Saturday’s practice. “Like, I can look at all three years, and the cars have been different in the sense of how they drove, what their strengths and weaknesses were. … I always got better later in the race, and I think it cooled down. You didn’t have to run against the fence quite as much. So it’ll be interesting to see racing now in March and how that changes it.”

MORE: Homestead-Miami schedule | At-track photos: Homestead

Indeed, each of the past three Homestead races has fallen in autumn as opposed to this year’s spring date for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). But Allmendinger’s success at the 1.5-mile oval is not new, nor is it fair to attribute it to the sport’s transition to the Next Gen car. He’s been strong at the South Florida track dating back to his inaugural trip there in a stock car in 2008, finishing 11th for what was then Gillett Evernham Motorsports in its No. 10 Dodge, kicking off a streak of four straight top 15s at Homestead-Miami.

In total, Allmendinger has six top 10s in his 13 Homestead tries, with three top-five finishes as well.

“I’ve always had a good feel of it, you know?” said Allmendinger, driver of Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Chevrolet. “It’s a mile-and-a-half race track, but it doesn’t drive like (Las) Vegas or Charlotte, where you’re just like constantly in the throttle. You can slide the car a little bit, or you can move around, and you can get away with maybe being a little tighter sometimes, too, and things like that. But every year is different. I’ve had good cars, and that’s always helped. So, hopefully, we do the same this weekend. You’ve just got to constantly keep searching.”

Homestead-Miami, the largest true oval on the Cup calendar, provides drivers with a multitude of lane choices throughout its wide, progressively banked corners. Kyle Larson, the 2022 race winner at Homestead and 2021 Cup champion, is well-known for how well he utilizes the high side, planting his No. 5 Chevrolet centimeters from the SAFER barriers in the corners. But Homestead is not a one-lane-cures-all kind of track, either.

“I think with this car, you don’t have to be pinned against the wall,” Allmendinger said. “And I always say I need to be better at that. I’m always constantly trying to work. Am I ever gonna be Kyle Larson? God, no — or even close to that. So I think this track, at least in October, whenever we raced it with this car, it’s like I can move around and make speed. …

“I can watch the 5 just ripping up there, and it’s sometimes jealousy and sadness and then in awe of watching him do it.”

Allmendinger will roll off 10th in Sunday’s race after a better qualifying session than his 25th-place speed in practice indicated. And as he conceded, Allmendinger tends to run best at the end of a Homestead race rather than on the front end.

MORE: Where Allmendinger is projected to finish at Homestead

“We started off too tight there, and then we got it a little bit better on the front-end side of it,” Allmendinger said. “And then, as the run went on, kind of lost the rear a little bit. But I think it’s competitive. … I’m gonna keep working on it. I think we’re competitive, but we definitely need a little bit more improvement.”

Momentum may be on his side, too. Allmendinger wheeled the No. 16 Chevrolet to an eighth-place finish just one week ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his first top 10 of 2025.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

Sports fans and bettors have been focused on the NCAA Tournament since Thursday, but let’s not forget that the NASCAR Cup Series is visiting one of its best tracks, Homestead-Miami Speedway, for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Action Network’s NASCAR GOAT, Nick Giffen, is tied up with college basketball this weekend, meaning you’re stuck with me right now.

But fret not, Giffen’s NASCAR picks for Homestead-Miami will all be posted to the FREE Action Network app, so be sure to download and follow if you’re not already.

Now, back to business.

NASCAR Odds, Best Bet Picks for Homestead-Miami 
*Odds as of Sunday morning

Ryan Blaney (+650) to Win — ESPN Bet

Trying to beat Kyle Larson at Homestead-Miami isn’t exactly a fun strategy, but it’s the strategy I’m employing today, starting with Blaney.

While Larson is the rightful favorite for this race, Blaney has actually been the top performer over the past two races at Homestead.

The No. 12 car has the top driver rating, the most laps led, the top average running position and the third-most fast laps over the past two races in Miami.

Blaney qualified sixth for today’s race and had plenty of long-run speed in practice, making him a legit contender at +650 odds.

Tyler Reddick (+700) to Win — DraftKings

When it comes to “running the wall,” which means drivers running as close to the outside wall as possible to make the most speed as tires wear out, Reddick is right up there with Larson as the best in the Cup Series.

Reddick has parlayed his speed at Homestead to a win last year and the second-best driver rating in Miami since 2023.

And just like Blaney, Reddick was lightning quick in race trim during practice and should be in the mix when the checkered flag waves on Sunday afternoon.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Projections updated after Saturday’s practice and qualifying.

Josh Berry put the NASCAR world on notice last week at Las Vegas by showing top-tier speed and taking home a historic 101st win for Wood Brothers. The triumph also puts more pressure on Cup Series stars who have yet to visit Victory Lane.

Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) presents a great opportunity for the circuit’s best to challenge each other for a key win early in the season.

RELATED: Homestead-Miami schedule

The 1.5-mile track in Florida is essentially a neutral ground; no particular manufacturer or team truly dominates the speedway. For example, there have been nine winners over the last nine Homestead races. In a similar tune, Hendrick Motorsports has led 434 of 801 laps at Homestead in the Next Gen era, but the organization has one win in the last three races there. Even when you look back at the last time the Cup Series was at Homestead, we saw 33 lead changes, which set a new track record, and three different drivers led the final three laps, making a case that any of the top-rated drivers could earn a playoff bid.

To further the point of parity, in the last seven races on 1.5-mile tracks, there have been as many winners over that span. As for this season, there have already been 174 lead changes, which is only three off from the most ever through five weeks. Plus, nine different stage winners in the first five races set a new record.

One thing we should expect, though, is for the eventual winner to show speed early. The driver who led the most laps has won six of the last seven Miami races, and six of the last nine winners started the race inside the top five.

As to who we should expect to be in the mix for the win and battle up front? A few big names who haven’t won yet come to mind.

FANTASY: Set your lineup | Make 36 for 36 pick

DRIVERS TO WATCH

TYLER REDDICK: Starting with the most recent Homestead winner, it’s no secret Reddick is a speed demon when it comes to ripping the fence around Miami, as proven by how he won there in the fall last year. He has four top-four finishes in five career Cup starts there and has been on the cusp of winning a few times this year.

RYAN BLANEY: It’s felt like there hasn’t been a week where the No. 12 Ford hasn’t shown speed to win. Blaney has been unlucky recently with two early exits at Phoenix and Vegas, but at Homestead, he’s finished second there in the last two races and is the only driver with more than one runner-up finish there without a win.

KYLE LARSON: Larson has logged 1,286 laps led on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car, which nearly doubles Christopher Bell’s total in second place (614). He also has 12 stage wins on intermediate tracks since 2022 … no other driver has more than five.

DENNY HAMLIN: Hamlin has been consistently good at Miami throughout his career, owning three wins and 13 top 10s over 20 starts there. However, his last win on a 1.5-mile track came in the 2023 Kansas spring race.

CHASE ELLIOTT: This year’s Clash winner has yet to finish out of the top 20 in the first four points-paying races, something to keep an eye on as he went the first 19 races last year with top 20 finish. Elliott also led 81 laps at Miami last year to finish fifth, his best finish in the last four races there.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE STRAIGHT TALK WIRELESS 400 

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.

FinishCar NumberDriver
124William Byron
25Kyle Larson
320Christopher Bell
49Chase Elliott
512Ryan Blaney
611Denny Hamlin
745Tyler Reddick
848Alex Bowman
923Bubba Wallace
1016AJ Allmendinger
1117Chris Buescher
1221Josh Berry
1322Joey Logano
1477Carson Hocevar
1599Daniel Suárez
164Noah Gragson
172Austin Cindric
181Ross Chastain
196Brad Keselowski
208Kyle Busch
2154Ty Gibbs
2219Chase Briscoe
2360Ryan Preece
2471Michael McDowell
253Austin Dillon
2642John Hunter Nemechek
2747Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2843Erik Jones
297Justin Haley
3038Zane Smith
3141Cole Custer
3234Todd Gilliland
3310Ty Dillon
3435Riley Herbst
3588Shane van Gisbergen
3651Cody Ware
3744J.J. Yeley
Posted on by Adam Fenwick

HICKORY, N.C. — A new chapter of Earnhardt family history was written Saturday evening at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway.

Wyatt Miller, the 13-year-old grandson of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, captured his first Limited Late Model victory at the historic, 0.363-mile oval.

Miller is the son of L.W. Miller and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, Dale Earnhardt’s daughter and sister to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Wyatt Miller
Wyatt Miller (73) races alongside Zach Bruenger Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Photo: Gardner Street Photography/Hickory Motor Speedway)

Making just his second start in a Limited Late Model at Hickory, Wyatt Miller started from the pole and led early during the 40-lap feature before giving up the race lead to outside polesitter Zach Bruenger.

Bruenger led the race until Lap 32, when the engine in his car went up in flames coming out of Turn 4.

Miller inherited the race lead and held off a spirited challenge from Aiden King on the final lap. The sequence included contact to the rear of Miller’s car coming out of Turn 4, but Miller held on to collect his first trophy at the track known as the “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.”

“We had a really good car,” Miller said in Victory Lane. “I was catching Zach, and then he blew up.

“I think Aiden tried to rattle my cage, but it didn’t work.”

The Limited Late Model class at Hickory is not a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series points-paying division.

The Earnhardt family has a long and extensive history at Hickory. Ralph Earnhardt, father of Dale Earnhardt, won five track championships at the facility during the 1950s.

Dale Earnhardt also scored wins at Hickory during his career, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed at the track during his formative years.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — No dice on a Dash 4 Cash grand prize or a race victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but Sam Mayer continued his hot start to the 2025 Xfinity Series with a runner-up result in the Sunshine State.

Aside from wrecking out in February at Atlanta, Mayer has finished seventh or better in the first six races of this year’s campaign.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“We’re executing really, really well,” Mayer told NASCAR.com. “Huge shoutout to these Haas Factory boys. They brought a really fast Ford Mustang. It’s a great day being bummed out with P2. Anytime that you finish in the top five and you’re kicking yourself, it’s obviously a good day.”

Mayer was one of the few drivers who could compete in the same zip code as Kyle Larson in the first 194 laps as Friday evening’s Truck Series winner returned to Homestead a day later to lead 132 laps before falling short to Justin Allgaier on an overtime restart.

The No. 41 driver grabbed 15 stage points on the day and only trailed Larson in laps led with 22.

A Taylor Gray spin with six laps to go bunched the field back up for a Lap 199 restart. Only Larson, Allgaier, Mayer, Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed were on the lead lap at the time and were the five battling it out when the green flag waved.

Mayer opted to fall behind Larson on the inside for the restart, and contact between the two in the restart zone ultimately took them both out of contention for the victory. With it went Larson’s bid for a rare weekend tripleheader sweep.

“I haven’t mistimed a restart like that in a long time,” Mayer said. “That’s why I’m so bummed out is because I know that for one, I ruined [Larson’s] race because obviously he’s going for the sweep and I took that away from him just by a silly mistake. I was trying to get everything I could get. But it’s obviously a bummer for both of us and if I ever do get the chance to talk to him, I would. If I would have timed it maybe even a half a second better, it would have been pretty good. I think we would have won the race because I think we were six-tenths a lap faster than him on the short run and if I could have got to his right rear one time it would’ve been game over for him. So screwed myself, screwed him. Did everything but screw the 7 (Allgaier) and 21 (Hill), man. Just can’t be letting those points go like that.”

Homestead is arguably Mayer’s best track on the NASCAR circuit now with four top 10s in four starts, including a victory in 2023.

“For one, it’s good cars. Like when you have really good cars and you’re able to drive it up against the wall, the sky’s the limit,” Mayer said. “You see that with Larson. He’s able to take a really good car and rip the fence and clear us by 10 seconds. So we’ve got to get better. Obviously, we’re decent enough to hang out, but hanging out is not my type of race. We’re gonna continue to get better. But this place is probably my favorite on the schedule so that plays the hand into it as well.”

Mayer will once again be in play for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash award next Saturday at Martinsville Speedway (5 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He’ll battle it out with Homestead Dash 4 Cash winner Allgaier, Hill and Haas Factory teammate Sheldon Creed, who completed the top five on Saturday.

“We hold ourselves to that standard,” Mayer said. “We want to go out there and win every race and win every stage and get all the points for ourselves. We’re just a little bit off, but today was the first day in the right direction I think. I’m really excited to keep it going with these boys. We worked really hard during the offseason and into the season as well to get better, and we’re just gonna keep it rolling.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — With eight laps to go, Kyle Larson was in his own zip code at Homestead-Miami Speedway, 16 seconds ahead of second-place runner Sam Mayer in the late stages of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

A caution changed everything — as did the overtime restart that followed.

Ultimately, Larson was relegated to a fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Hard Rock Bet 300 after an overambitious push from Mayer stymied Larson’s momentum on the re-fire, ending any hopes of Larson’s bid to sweep the weekend’s Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series events at Homestead.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Homestead

Taylor Gray spun exiting Turn 4 on Lap 193, necessitating the yellow flag at a time when just five cars were on the lead lap — Larson, Mayer, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed. After pit stops, Larson maintained his advantage in the lead, but erased was his half-lap lead over Mayer.

Preparing for the ensuing two-lap shootout, Larson opted to lead from the inside lane and Mayer chose to follow suit. Hill leapt from third to the front row while Allgaier took the outside of Row 2. Approaching the restart zone, Larson waited a beat to return to full song; Mayer, behind him, did not.

“Lagged back and just slammed the [expletive] out of me and had my rear tires off the ground,” Larson said.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Larson said he likely would have tried the same move Mayer made if in his position, but the shove to Larson’s bumper was too hard, forcing Larson’s rear tires to spin and lose traction as he tried to correct his No. 17 Chevrolet down the frontstretch.

“He was playing games on that last restart, which he was all day whenever he was leading,” Mayer, the Haas Factory Team driver, said. “But that’s what you do at this level, and I just wasn’t ready for him to not go and yeah, just mistimed it, unfortunately. Got him squirrely, choked our entire lane up, let all those guys get going on the outside.”

Indeed, Hill instead scurried to the lead with Allgaier hot in pursuit — and one circuit later, Allgaier surged ahead of Hill for the victory on the final lap in Turns 1 and 2.

Larson’s pursuit of a tripleheader weekend sweep will have to wait until the April 13 weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The feat has been accomplished just twice before, both times by Kyle Busch at Bristol. The sting of missing out on his opportunity Saturday was obvious.

“Disappointed, probably like I have been here probably seven, eight times or more,” Larson said. “I wish it would have stayed green. For some reason, nobody can keep it straight at the end of the races that I’m leading. But yeah, I thought we’d still have a good shot to win. I think had I gotten a normal launch on the frontstretch, I would have been fine. But yeah, he just ran right into the back of me.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — In one of the most dramatic finishes of the season, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier took the lead on the final lap of overtime and held off his former teammate Sam Mayer for the win — the ultimate “Dash 4 Cash” in the Hard Rock Bet 300 Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

For much of the day, it looked like 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson would answer his win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Friday night. He led 132 of the 201 laps and held a 16-second advantage on the field when a caution flag flew with eight laps remaining, bunching up the field for that final overtime restart.

Larson chose the bottom lane for the restart, with second-place Mayer opting to pull his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford directly behind Larson’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet instead of on the front row alongside him. Just as the green flag flew for that final two laps, Mayer’s car hit the rear of Larson’s and knocked Larson’s Chevrolet out of shape.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Homestead

As that happened, the outside line of Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Allgaier zoomed forward with Hill taking the race lead. A lap later, Allgaier caught Hill and got around him for the victory — his first top five in 16 Homestead races and the second straight win for the reigning series champion

Hill finished third after Mayer passed him as well on the last lap.

“Just a testament to this team,” the 39-year-old Allgaier said. “Honestly, it was looking like it was one those days that wasn’t our day. We got behind but were able to persevere and to get this Chevrolet to Victory Lane is special.

“I just feel like this place has gotten me so many times.”

“I was actually bummed to see the caution flag come out but it worked out in my favor,” Allgaier added. “I’m bummed I maybe got the [weekend] triple from Kyle [Larson] because I think he’s going to have a great shot at [winning] it tomorrow. But we were at the right place at the right time and I’m really proud of this race team.”

The final caution flag came for a spin by polesitter Taylor Gray of Joe Gibbs Racing. At the time, only five drivers were on the lead lap.

The last series of pit stops proved pivotal to those pursuing Larson. Twelve cars came out on the lead lap, eager to see what they could do in the closing sprint toward the checkered.

Larson, who won the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night, looked well on his way to try and join Kyle Busch as the only drivers in NASCAR history to sweep three national series race wins in one weekend. In fact, he showed up in South Florida for the NASCAR weekend fresh off a sprint car win earlier in the week.

The outcome was understandably a huge disappointment for Larson, the frustration evident on his face as he climbed out of his Hendrick Chevrolet on pit road after the race.

“I’ve lived through it a number of times here, obviously a bummer to have another Homestead race play out that way,” said Larson, who finished fourth.

“I can’t go when my rear tires are off the ground,” he said of the contact from Mayer’s car on the restart. “I did everything I thought I could and the 41 just lagged back and slammed the [expletive] of me. Bummer, but cool to have had that big lead at the end.

“Loved to have gotten a win for everybody at the 17 car. They don’t get to race all the time, so it’s good we can run up front. Got one more opportunity at this [in the 17 car] in a few weeks and see if we can get it done then.”

WATCH: Larson calls Homestead finish a ‘bummer’

While the first half of Saturday’s race had all five of the day’s caution flags, Larson essentially put it in cruise control for the final 100 laps — and pulled a zip code ahead of Mayer, who doggedly pursued all afternoon.

“I unfortunately got to his [Larson] bumper a little too early,” Mayer said of the contact with Larson on that final restart. “He went really, really late in the box, just played games and that’s what you’ve got to do at this level to get the advantage. But he just waited really long and I wasn’t ready for him to wait that long.

“Anytime you’re finishing second you’re super bummed out but that’s a good day. We’re going to keep it going and try to get better.”

Not only did Allgaier get a trophy to take home, but he also won the first $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus check from series sponsor Xfinity. He, Mayer, third-place finisher Hill, and 10th-place finisher Jesse Love were all eligible for the extra pay based on their finishes last week at Las Vegas.

The second of the four Dash 4 Cash races is next Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, with Allgaier, Mayer, Hill and Sheldon Creed eligible to race for the next $100,000 bonus.

MORE: Dash 4 Cash hub | Xfinity Series standings

Love, JGR’s Brandon Jones and rookies Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top 10.

Allgaier is now the first series driver with multiple wins in 2025 and takes a 29-point lead in the championship standings over Mayer.

The Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday with the US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville (5 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Aric Almirola is the defending race winner.

Note: Inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was completed without major issue, confirming Allgaier as the race winner. Four teams were flagged for having one unsecured lug nut each in a post-race check — the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy and the No. 42 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet. Those infractions will result in a fine for each team in next week’s penalty report, according to guidelines in the NASCAR Rule Book.

Contributing: Staff reports