Combating fires and shut battles: The winners and losers from NASCAR at Homestead

Kyle Larson made certain 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 trend.

This is a take a look at the largest 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 crew to beat early in 2025, which ought to shock nobody when contemplating the historical past of this powerhouse group. HMS started the 12 months 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 entering into the wall and dropping the win to his teammate, Homestead was an enormous weekend for Bowman (which he wanted) as put collectively a really sturdy 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 12 months 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 aim of turning 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 capable of obtain the identical feat. Larson received Friday’s Truck race regardless of triggering the ultimate warning by spinning out. He quickly charged again via the sector 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 mockingly, that was his most dominant displaying of the final three days regardless of failing to seize the checkered flag in the long run. 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 proper weekend. Larson was in management, however an unhelpful shove from Sam Mayer brought about him to spin the tires, permitting the surface 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 understood for his highway course racing prowess, however he is no slouch at Homestead-Miami Speedway both. He now has the most effective common end there of any driver within the Cup Collection for the reason that introduction of the present era of automobile. 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 Group has had a curler coaster begin to the season, which has included a number of wrecked race automobiles. They did handle to carry residence 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 crew. In 2022, they got here only one place shy of successful the Cup Collection 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 at the moment 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 crew. Wallace led 56 laps and in contrast to earlier races the place he had successful tempo, it did not all crumble in the long run. 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 remaining 30 laps, however he nonetheless managed a third-place end and was even cracking jokes together with his crew 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, Group Penske Ford

Picture by: Malcolm Hope – Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photographs

Ryan Blaney now has three consecutive DNFs after the primary six races of the 12 months, and two of them have been fully out of his fingers. 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 automobile. The engine failure was particularly robust at Homestead as he had led essentially the most laps of anybody and was in an excellent place to probably win the race earlier than the difficulty 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 as a consequence of grass fires that have been getting uncomfortably near the race monitor. Nonetheless, the native firefighting crews have been on prime of it and capable of preserve 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, Group 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 unfastened wheels on pit highway, Homestead was all about collisions on pit highway. There have been a number of notable moments the place drivers have 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 Group 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 rapidly ran out of house. 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 effectively. Each of the Ford drivers went spinning fully round, severely hindering their efforts for the remainder of the day. The reigning champion [Logano] remains to be with out a top-ten end after six races this 12 months.

Pictures from Homestead-Miami – Race

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