HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Larson is uninterested in his weekends at Homestead-Miami Speedway ending in disappointment.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has received a NACAR Cup Collection race and Xfinity Collection race in his profession on the South Florida observe, however he largely simply remembers the heartbreaks there, which not too long ago got here in a disappointing Thirteenth-place end in final yr’s playoff race.
This yr, Larson has already secured a victory on the 1.5-mile observe, the place he’s competing within the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck races. Larson rallied from a late-race spinout to drag off a comeback win within the Truck Collection on Friday, and he’s eyeing extra.
Kyle Busch is the solely driver to comb a triple-header weekend, engaging in the feat at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017.
“To affix him in one thing like that may be fairly particular,” Larson stated. “Greater than something I simply love the chance to race. I like Homestead. … I felt prefer it was a prefect weekend to run all three. And to win all three can be nice.”
Larson has 5 top-five finishes in 11 Cup begins in his profession at Homestead — two driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He’s led essentially the most laps (626) of any lively driver, and his 12 stage wins within the Subsequent Gen automobile is a sequence greatest. No different driver has greater than 5 stage wins.
Busch stated Larson has shot at a sweep given how effectively he drives in Homestead, which was within the playoff rotation the previous three years however has now been moved to a regular-season race.
“I did it first,” Busch quipped, earlier than including, “That is his place. He’s identified to be tremendous good right here. Tremendous snug operating the wall, so that you get loads of profit from that.”
Larson completed fourth in 2021 and received the race in 2022 however left pissed off the previous two years.
He was out of the race at Lap 214 in 2023 after slamming into the pit street boundaries making an attempt to overhaul Ryan Blaney for the lead. Final yr, Larson’s successful probability ended when he spun whereas racing Blaney for the lead with underneath 20 laps to go.
“I really feel like each time I am going there (to Homestead) you permit dissatisfied since you really feel like you could have the perfect automobile or truck, and issues don’t work out,” Larson stated. “Whether or not it’s errors on my finish or ill-timed cautions mixed with a hiccup on pit street, or no matter late within the race, and you find yourself shedding.
“Actually all however perhaps two or three races at Homestead I felt like we had the perfect automobile, greatest probability of successful, and we don’t have the wins to point out for it.”
Rule clarification
NASCAR despatched out a clarification to race groups in all three nationwide sequence on pitting in one other staff’s pit stall after Christopher Bell stopped within the pit stall of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe to have a free left wheel tightened throughout the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas final weekend.
If a automobile will get service in one other staff’s pit stall to repair a security challenge, it would obtain a flag standing penalty, NASCAR stated, they usually’ll both must restart on the tail of the sector or obtain a pass-through for pitting outdoors the assigned pit field.
The left-front wheel was free on Bell’s No. 20 Toyota when he was exiting pit street final week. If the wheel got here off after he exited pit street, Bell would have been penalized two laps and had two pit crew members suspended for the subsequent two races. He stopped in Briscoe’s stall for service as an alternative, was dinged for pitting outdoors the field and solely needed to restart behind the sector. He completed twelfth.
NASCAR listed tightening free wheels, eradicating a gas can or a wedge wrench as examples of questions of safety.
Hamlin’s new sponsor
Joe Gibbs Racing introduced Tuesday that the group signed an settlement with Progressive Insurance coverage to sponsor Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry in 18 NASCAR Cup Collection races this season, beginning with Sunday’s race in Homestead.
Progressive’s identify and blue branding will probably be displayed on Hamlin’s automobile and race swimsuit, and his crew will put on Progressive branded gear.
“It’s good for them (Joe Gibbs Racing) to have an anchor accomplice,” Hamlin stated, “and positively for my followers’ sake, they’re going to have the ability to determine me week-to-week. And I feel that’s one thing that actually is essential. So feeling out these 18 races goes to be an enormous deal for myself and Gibbs all year long.”
On the pole
Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman received the pole for Sunday’s race whereas driving a No. 48 Toyota that promotes the 3-on-3 ladies’s basketball league Unmatched, which simply wrapped up its inaugural season in Miami.
It’s the sixth profession pole for Bowman, who was adopted by Josh Berry — the winner at Las Vegas final weekend — Noah Gragson, Briscoe and William Byron.
Odds and ends
Larson (+375) is the BetMGM Sportsbook favourite, adopted by Tyler Reddick (+600). Larson’s 1,286 whole miles led on the 1.5-mile tracks is sort of double that of some other driver. Bell is second with 614. … Reddick received the race final yr, whereas Hamlin leads lively drivers with three wins (2009, ’13, ’20).
Copyright 2025 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.