HOMESTEAD, FL – NASCAR is returning to Homestead-Miami Speedway, but this time the stakes have changed for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series.
This was once the championship track of the NASCAR season. Later on, it became a late playoff track to determine who gets into the championship. Now, the Homestead race has been relegated to a regular season race in late March. This is the earliest the races at Homestead have been run in a season since 2021.
Things are certainly different now. while NASCAR and Miami-Dade may have lucked out with the weather, they couldn’t account for a brush fire. While an initial cause for concern is that certain roads have been closed in the area, the races are still on.
Instead of having championship implications, winning at Homestead now reserves a spot for the winning drive in the NASCAR playoffs. Regardless, HMS is a popular track with the drivers. Its simple layout is hard to master, which should make for exciting racing on Sunday’s Cup Series race.
Preordering A Spot In The Postseason
The way that the regular season works in NASCAR is that winning a race rewards you with an automatic spot in the postseason. So far this season, three drivers have that claim. William Bryon opened the season with a win in the Daytona 500. Then, Christopher Bell went on a tear, winning the next three races in Atlanta, COTA, and Phoenix. Last week, Josh Berry got a win for the Wood Brothers in Las Vegas.
Winning three races is not an easy thing to do. Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Toyota) has had a dominant start to the season and is entering Homestead with a win in 2023.
Meanwhile, Berry picked up his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in Las Vegas last week. In NASCAR, it pays to be in some of the top-tier teams in the sport like Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing. Berry, however, is representing the Wood Brothers. They hadn’t gotten a victory in the Cup Series since August 2024. He’ll now look to take a page out of Bell’s playbook and go back-to-back.
While Bell may have won three races, Byron is the current points leader. With similar overall placements, Byron has completed every race so far while Bell suffered a DNF earlier this season. Bryon is no stranger to Homestead, winning the Cup Series race in 2021.
A Chance At The Triple Crown
One big storyline to watch out for involves Kyle Larson. He’s doing something rare in modern NASCAR – competing in all three races in one weekend. And so far, he’s 1 for 1.
Larson has already secured a victory in the Baptist-Health 200 on Friday night, taking and holding on to the lead with only a few laps remaining. There are lots of drivers who compete in the Craftsman Truck Series AND the Cup Series, but to drive in all three, including the Xfinity Series on Saturday? It’s not too common, and this is a track that Larson enjoys quite a bit.
In addition to Larson, look out for Tyler Reddick, the winner of last year’s Cup Series race at Homestead. While he has no wins in 2025, he has two top-five placements.
Along with Reddick, another diver who’s looking for his first win in 2025 is Chase Elliott. With a top 5 finish and three top 10 finished so far, he has a sneaky good season that could continue with a win in Homestead.
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