andrewgallinger.com

By: Andrew Gallinger

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season has been one of domination & unknowns. After William Byron claimed the Daytona 500 for the second-consecutive year, the series rolled into the Peach state for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

ATLANTA

In Georgia, where drafting was also essential, Christopher Bell claimed victory in a race that saw 50 lead changes throughout the 400-mile contest at the 1.54-mile speedway. The close quarters racing saw 11 cautions for 63 laps. As the field went back to green after each of those cautions, it was split with which lane would see the advantage, as for the leaders & second place driver, their strength getting back to full song was the strength of bump drafts from the drivers behind them. With those 50 lead changes, the front of the field shuffled a lot, with cautions-breeding-cautions. Those opportunities to tighten up the field led to drivers clamoring for every position possible with most crashes being caused with drivers simply running out of real estate with no room for clean air, or just simply being aggressive with moves to get to the front. On the Overtime Restart, Ross Chastain was leading with Kyle Larson to his outside. Carson Hocevar was pushing Chastain on the bottom while Bell worked over Larson’s bumper on the outside. On the final lap charging down the backstretch, Larson & Bell were side-by-side, inside & outside, respectively. Hocevar was pushing Bell. As they entered Turn 3 coming to the checkered flag Hocevar got in the middle, as the caution waved for a wreck involving Josh Berry. Per NASCAR rules, once the white flag lap is underway, the next flag definitively ends the race, whether it’s the field crossing the finish line at speed or slowed by a caution. NASCAR officials went back & reviewed video, concluding that Bell was just in front of Hocevar as the came through turns 3 & 4, at the moment the caution light came on. After that finish, it was off to the twist & turns of COTA in Austin, Texas.

CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS

After the chaos of two straight drafting races to open the season the NASCAR Cup drivers looked to wrangle a win in the Lone Star state with road-course racing at Circuit of the Americas where Christopher Bell got his second-straight victory of the early 2025 campaign.

The Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix saw beating & banging right away. As the field slowed up for the tight Turn 1 just after the hill at the end of the front stretch, Ross Chastain locked his tires trying to get slowed down for that initial corner, with no space yet within any of the field & contact was made with Chase Elliott. Being a 2.4-mile road course, that contact & spin by Elliott didn’t demand a caution, as he was able to get back underway with only left rear corner contact & no other cars mangled in this incident. The first two caution flags of the day were for the ends of Stage 1 & 2, which saw Bubba Wallace & Ryan Preece claim those wins, & the playoff point that goes with each stage win, as the field entered the last round at COTA. At Lap 51, the first caution flag for an incident flew when Daniel Suarez & Connor Zilisch made contact going into Turn 19, leaving Zilisch nosed into the barrier in the gravel trap, along with the right front fender torn off of Daniel Suarez’ 99 car. Then, at Lap 79 of 95, Austin Dillon & Denny Hamlin brought out another yellow flag for contact in Turn 6a, leaving Dillon stuck in the gravel. With 6 laps remaining, Bell battled Kyle Bush for the lead, prevailing & ultimately holding off William Byron for the victory. After the twist & turns in Texas, the Cup series stars duked it out in Phoenix.

PHOENIX

The Shriners Childrens 500 at Phoenix Raceway saw Christopher Bell & his Joe Gibbs Racing team claim victory for the third-straight week. In the desert, Bell led 105 of the 312 laps around the one-mile speedway. NASCAR’s first west coast race of the season saw 10 caution periods for 73 laps, including a pair of debris cautions & a Lap 100 eight car crash coming out of Turn 2 that stemmed from the wide corner losing space with walls on each side of the backstretch. Bell’s victory in Phoenix came after a restart with 2 laps remaining battling teammate Denny Hamlin in a photo finish between the teammates with Kyle Larson hounding them, ending his day in third position.

Next, would someone else be able to gamble & knock Bell off his winning streak in Sin City, at the first true 1.5-mile cookie cutter track of the season.

LAS VEGAS

When NASCAR’s premier series rolled into Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a feel-good story emerged with late-model stock car star Josh Berry, who started his career in that feeder series in a car owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at NASCAR’s top-level driving for the Wood Brothers, another team of hall-of-famers, as well as family.

Berry only led 18 of the 267 laps. A pair of cautions came out after tires came off race cars soon after pit stops, the first on Lap 34 when Chase Briscoe left his pit box from service, but before a tire was tight via the single lug-nut on Cup cars. Christopher Bell who had dominated the previous 3 races, narrowly avoided disaster. As he pulled away from a scheduled pit stop, his crew ordered him to stop in a pit box further down pit road, as the tire changer didn’t get the left front tightened all the way. The resulted in a penalty from NASCAR officials but could’ve ended his day had the wheel come off at racing speed. Soon after, a caution came out again on Lap 114 when Kyle Bush got loose in the high lane exiting Turn 2, as the right rear wheel came off of his Chevrolet. Eventual winner Josh Berry stayed nice & methodical running consistently in & around the top 10 at LVMS. Later, on Lap 196, carnage ensued on the backstretch when just after a restart, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney crashed and they tried to avoid Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who spun exiting Turn 2. With 14 laps to go, Berry & Daniel Suarez battled, Berry eventually prevailing & driving away to victory.

HOMESTEAD MIAMI

As NASCAR made its way back to the Sunshine state for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500, this time the field faced the 1.5-mile Homestead Miami Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports champion, Kyle Larson won the Straight Talk Wireless 400, his first win of the season. This 400-mile event was quiet in terms of carnage related to previous 2025 races. Christopher Bell spun by himself, just got loose in the high lane off the exit of Turn 4 on Lap 71 of 267. The next caution for cause came at Lap 209 when the engine blew in Ryan Blaney’s Ford for Team Penske. On the ensuing restart, Larson was leading the outside lane, then with 33 to go, was running in fourth place, a little more than 2 seconds behind Bubba Wallace who was battling Alex Bowman for the race lead. Larson steadily crawled his way back up to the leaders, getting around Wallace who was one second behind Bowman. Through Turns 3 & 4 with 7 laps to go, the Hendrick Motorsports teammates of Bowman & Larson were nose to tail, each just inches from the wall. Bowman made contact with the outside wall giving Larson the avenue to take the lead with 6 laps left, not looking back for the victory in Florida.

MARTINSVILLE

NASCAR is back at the “paper clip” with the Cup drivers doing battle at Martinsville Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out 400 in Martinsville, Virginia. The race began fairly clean with Christopher Bell leading early. Bell would go on to lead 25 laps of the 400 circuits. Hamlin dominated leading 274 laps, pacing the field on two separate occasions. Caution flags flew 10 times for 86 laps with nine lead changes among six drivers. With Hamlin’s first victory of 2025, the series celebrated its history in South Carolina.

Darlington

Darlington Raceway hosted NASCAR’s throwback weekend, the annual race weekend that celebrates the history of the sport. The Goodyear 400 showcased today’s take on historic NASCAR paint schemes and many other celebrations of the sport. Once it came time for the green flag to wave, William Byron dominated in his Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, leading 243 of the 297 laps, finishing second to Denny Hamlin. After dominating for the victory one week earlier in Martinsville, Darlington saw Hamlin only in front two different times for a total of 10 laps. Tyler Reddick & Ryan Blaney also led the race for 42 & 2 laps, respectively.

Larson, Cindric & Logano claim final 4 races of Spring stretch of 36 race season

Kyle Larson claimed victory the following week at the Tennessee Bullring, Bristol Motor Speedway. A quiet race, based on the history of races at the 1/2-mile track. The Food City 500 only saw four lead changes between four drivers. Larson led 411 of the 500 laps over two different occasions. Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman & Carson Hocevar, each paced the field once for 48, 39 & 2 laps respectively. Aside from the two stage breaks, the only caution stemming from an on-track incident was on Lap 179 involving Turn 2 contact between Cody Ware & Shane Van Gisbergen.

The NASCAR Cup series would next face NASCAR’s biggest track, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Austin Cindric would claim his first checkered flag of 2025, beating Kyle Larson to the finish at the end of 500 miles by just .022 seconds. This race at Talladega didn’t see “The Big One” wrecking most of the field. There were only two caution periods for wrecks, the first one on Lap 44, collecting five drivers on the frontstretch, including Ryan Blaney, Kyle Bush, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher & Alex Bowman. The other slow down for a crash also involved Buescher, along with Christopher Bell & Denny Hamlin on the backstretch as the field worked Lap 53. After Cindric won at “Dega”, it was time to return to Texas.

Texas Motor Speedway saw Cindric’s teammate Joey Logano win in Fort Worth. Logano scored his first win of 2025 for Penske Racing & his 22 crew. Logano beat Ross Chastain for the victory by just .346 seconds. The second battle in the Lone Star state, this time on a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway saw 12 cautions for 73 of the 267 laps. All the cautions were a result of single or multi-car crashes, or debris being on the track. Kyle Larson would end up finishing fourth after leading 90 laps. Logano only led for 7 laps en-route to the win.

The last points race, so far in the 2025 season was the Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson was back in victory lane after his mid-west victory. Larson dominated once again leading 221 of the 267 laps in Kansas. Christopher Bell ended the race as the runner-up, just .712 seconds back of Larson & another victory. Kansas saw seven caution flags fly. Four times for crashes, once for fluid on the track, as well as the two stage breaks.

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series, the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. NASCAR’s longest race of the season is just weeks before teams make their longest trip of the season for the inaugural Cup Series race in Mexico City. Who will heat up on the track, as the summer heat also rises. Find out each week as the summer stretch for NASCAR’s 2025 season begins, as we remember our nation’s heroes this Memorial Day, as NASCAR too, Honors & Remembers.