The Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway certainly looked like a good day for the Ford camp, especially at Team Penske. Ryan Blaney fired off early and easily looked like the best car in the field. But some unforeseen circumstances befell every one of the Penske drivers at some of the worst possible times. While Team Penske struggled, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson were just biding their time.
When it came time to deliver, Larson did what he does best. Especially at Homestead, as he drove from fourth to the win in the final 10 laps of the race. Outlasting Bowman for the second of three wins on the weekend in Miami. Sure Saturday’s unfortunate ending ruined a chance for Larson to win all three races in the same weekend. Getting two out of the three wasn’t too bad.
Team Penske Flounders at Homestead as Kyle Larson Surges Late to Win
Alex Bowman showed some speed this weekend as he put his No. 48 Chevy on the pole. That speed was good enough to keep him in the top five for much of the early run on Sunday. He led the opening eight laps, only for Blaney’s No. 12 to go zooming past. Once Blaney got to the lead he didn’t look back. He held the lead for 24 laps until the teams hit the pitlane for green flag pitstops.
Plenty of green flag racing continued as the pit cycle got all the way through and after that Blaney held serve at the front with Bowman still on his heels. Things got brought back together with less than 10 laps in stage one as Christopher Bell who looked near unstoppable just two weeks ago having won three races in a row spun out on the front stretch.
The yellow flag is being displayed as @CBellRacing goes for a big slide! pic.twitter.com/UNN59enNoY
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
So a six-lap dash to close the opening stage brought up a wild restart, but Blaney was able to hold off Bowman, Briscoe, and Larson to collect the stage win.
Costly Pit Road Mistakes
Several cars ran into trouble exiting the pit lane as the cars came in for their pit stops during the stage break. This is pretty understandable as Homestead has a pretty tight pitlane much like Indianapolis. That included last week’s winner Josh Berry as he and Joey Logano made contact and both went around as they were leaving their pit stalls. According to the broadcast, Kyle Larson made contact as well.
An additional angle of the contact on pit road. pic.twitter.com/Gt2mwR03e0
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
This started a rough trend for Penske drivers, as both Berry and Logano would have to fight all day just to get track position back. After the problems on the pit lane, things went pretty well, for most of the field as the second stage went green much like the opening stage. That happens to be a common theme for Homestead, as the long green flag runs make for fun and interesting battles for the pit crews.
Pit strategy was the name of the game during the closing laps of stage two, as Blaney continued to control the race. The long 78-lap run in stage two helped Denny Hamlin and Larson catch Blaney as Hamlin led the final seven laps of the stage to take the green and white checkered flag.
The Nos. 5 and 11 are making a late-stage charge!
Move @dennyhamlin to the lead at @HomesteadMiami. pic.twitter.com/pGbW5RcULP
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
Penske’s Dominate Day Goes Up in Smoke
Trouble on the pit stops during stage two was two-fold, as Chase Elliott was penalized for passing another car as he entered the pit lane. Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson argued that he was trying to avoid running through Austin Cindric, which was pretty clear on his onboard. But according to Gustafson, NASCAR wasn’t budging on the penalty.
“So newsflash, they’re not interested in anything but their decisions. That’s where we’re at,” he said. ” It was a lot of fun when we used to be able to race. Now it’s just yeah- Go back to law school, you’ve got to be a litigator. So many rules.”
Full radio exchange from Chase Elliott's pit road penalty. Elliott argued that he was trying not to hit someone and CC Alan Gustafson was absolutely fuming at NASCAR after unsuccessfully arguing with them.
"So newsflash, they're not interested in anything but their decisions.… pic.twitter.com/mU3ewOlz6d
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) March 23, 2025
Certainly a questionable call at best. But whatever. That wasn’t the only incident involving Elliott’s No. 9 on the stop as he and Blaney made significant contact while exiting the pitlane.
During all that excitement a new player got to the front as Bubba Wallace put his No. 23 out front showing how strong he was especially on the short run. While Blaney was once again fuming on the radio, and making moves to get back to the front, his car had some other ideas.
Around Lap 209, Blaney’s day ended in smoke, as he blew an engine for the second time in three races. This is crazy given cars haven’t blown engines very often in the Next Gen era. Certainly not the way Ryan wanted to see his day in Homestead end.
A tough end to the day for @Blaney. https://t.co/tIth99Nq8W pic.twitter.com/0eGAzLVTm7
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
Long Run to the Finish Shows You Can’t Hide from Kyle Larson
The race to the finish was going to be a fun one, especially with Blaney out of the picture. That made room for Wallace, Bowman, and Briscoe along with the always-hungry Larson. Bubba kept his car out front for as long as he could, but it wasn’t enough as Bowman showed some real power with around 30 laps to go.
Back out front, it’s @Alex_Bowman! pic.twitter.com/bAelUQeOs5
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
Sure it looked like the race-winning move for Bowman, but this is Homestead, and there isn’t a driver better at ripping the wall than Larson. It took him a while, but Larson was able to work his way from fourth to passing Alex with seven laps remaining.
Bowman in the wall!
Larson to the lead!! pic.twitter.com/PfxEa2nQQD
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
From there he checked out to score his 30th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, and it also moved him into third all-time in Hendrick Motorsports History.
Never doubt Yung Money! @KyleLarsonRacin wins at @HomesteadMiami! pic.twitter.com/o1DtNc5dux
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 23, 2025
Though he fell short it was a great weekend for Bowman, along with Bubba Wallace as he led 56 laps and scored a third-place finish. It was also a great race for both Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin who both needed this kind of result after some ugly races so far this season. Homestead was fun, but up next is Martinsville and that should have plenty of drama next weekend.
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Featured Image Credit: Chris Graythen, Getty Images. 3/23/2025
