Cup Series: Larson beats teammate Bowman to Homestead victory

Sean McKean
Mar 23
4 min read

Written by Sean McKean

Larson celebrating his Trucks win on Friday | Credit: James Gilbert / Getty Images

After a late battle with Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson took his first victory of the 2025 season. It was the 2021 champion’s second win at Homestead-Miami.

As it unfolded

Alex Bowman got a good jump from pole to retain his lead whilst outside polesitter Josh Berry faced pressure from Noah Gragson and Ryan Blaney for second. The top three at the end of Lap 1 were Bowman, Berry and Gragson.

By Lap 6, Blaney passed Gragson and Blaney and subsequently began pressuring Bowman for the lead. Three laps later, the Penske driver took the lead.

The field remained stable until Lap 32, when the first green flag pit stops started. No major penalties were dished out; Ryan Blaney kept the lead.

The first caution came out with only ten laps remaining in the first stage on Lap 71. This came out for Christopher Bell going for a solo spin coming off Turn 4. He drove away undamaged.

Everyone came down pit road under caution. Blaney won the race out followed by Bowman and William Byron.

Five laps remained in Stage 1 when Blaney led the field away. Bowman took the lead out of Turn 1 initially, but Blaney made a strong move on the inside to lead again by Turn 4.

Blaney won the first stage followed by Bowman and Chase Briscoe.

Stage 1 Results:

No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)
No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing)
No. 4 - Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports)
No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)

Most drivers took the opportunity for another pit stop. Trouble hit three cars, as Josh Berry and Joey Logano spun each other out whilst hitting the right side of Kyle Larson. This caused Berry and Logano to lose a lot of track position and Larson to puncture a hole in the car.

Carson Hocevar, as the only car to stay out, took the green flag on Lap 89, however Alex Bowman quickly assumed the lead. Ryan Blaney took the lead back four laps later.

Having emerged over the long run, Denny Hamlin moved into second on Lap 100.

Green flag pit stops began on Lap 118. During the cycle, Daniel Suarez locked the rears and spun on the entrance to pit road. The caution didn’t come out.

With lapped traffic playing a role, Hamlin took the lead with four to go in the stage. He kept that until stage’s end with Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney following behind.

Stage 2 Results:

No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)
No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)

Everyone took to the pits under the break. Larson won the race off.

94 laps remained when Larson led the way. Three laps later, though, Bubba Wallace took the lead.

Everything remained stable until 65 laps to go, when third-placed Ryan Blaney suffered a terminal engine failure – his second in the last three races.

All drivers pitted under caution. The top three of Wallace, Larson and Hamlin stayed the same.

Wallace led the way with 51 laps to go, and despite nearly four-wide into Turn 1 for the lead, he remained on top. Larson fell to fourth whilst Bowman jumped to second.

The 23XI driver led until 33 to go, when Bowman applied pressure for the lead and took it.

With ten laps to go, Larson cleared Wallace for second – allowing the Hendrick driver room to chase down teammate Bowman. Bowman then made a critical mistake off Turn 4 with seven laps to go by brushing the wall, handing the lead to Larson.

Larson came off Turn 4 to take the victory at Homestead.