Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of Homestead weekend

The last time the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tyler Reddick went from third to first on the final lap to win last fall’s playoff race.

Reddick became the ninth different winner at Homestead in the last nine races. Those winners are: Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Reddick.

While this isn’t a playoff race, much remains at stake this weekend. Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway.

23XI Racing —Good news: Tyler Reddick, who won last year’s race from the pole, has finished in the top five in four of the last five races at Homestead. … Bubba Wallace has scored 43 more stage points this season than he had after five races last year. … Rookie Riley Herbst has four top-20 finishes in the first five races of the season. Bad news: Wallace has finished 28th or worse in the past two races this season. … It has been 84 races since Wallace’s last Cup win.

Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith have each started in the top 10 in two of the first five races of the year. … Noah Gragson won the 2022 Xfinity race at Homestead. Bad news: Gragson has two top-10 finishes in 17 races on 1.5-mile tracks. … Gilliland has not finished better than 20th in three Cup starts at Homestead.

Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer won the Xfinity race at Homestead in 2017 and has three runner-up finishes in the Xfinity race there (2018, ’19 and ’24). Bad News: Custer’s best finish this season is 21st in the Daytona 500.

Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron continues to lead the points. … Byron has four top 10s, including a win, in the last five races at Homestead. … Byron is the only driver to lead in every race this season. … Byron has an 8.1 average finish on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car, the best of all drivers. … Kyle Larson is the only driver to win multiple stages this season. … Larson has won three of the last nine races on 1.5-mile tracks. … Said Larson of racing at Homestead: “I always feel good going to Homestead. It's probably the track that suits me the best.” … Chase Elliott has finished in the top 10 in six of the last seven races on 1.5-mile tracks. … Alex Bowman has finished in the top 10 in each of the last six races on 1.5-mile tracks. Bad news: Elliott has gone 32 races since his last Cup win. … Elliott has one Cup win in his last 75 starts.

Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has four top 20s in the first five races of this year. Bad news: Stenhouse has no top 10s in the last 10 races on a 1.5-mile track. … Stenhouse’s best starting spot this season is 22nd.

Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell seeks to become only the third driver in NASCAR history to win four of the first six races in a season. Bill Elliott did it in 1992 and Dale Earnhardt did it in 1987. … Bell has an average finish of 8.8 at Homestead, second best all-time to Kevin Harvick. … Denny Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in five of the last six races on a 1.5-mile track. … Chase Briscoe has won at Homestead in the Xfinity and Truck Series. Bad news: Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe are among seven full-time drivers yet to score any stage points this season. … It has been 30 races since Hamlin’s last win. … Briscoe has two top 10s in the last 16 races on 1.5-mile tracks.

James Small knew what was happening when he saw Christopher Bell slow on pit road at Las Vegas

Joe Gibbs Racing had talked for years about what to do if a team car needed to have a wheel tightened after leaving its pit stall.

Dustin Long,

Dustin Long,

Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger has finished in the top 10 in each of his last three starts at Homestead. … Allmendinger is tied with Christopher Bell for the best average finish at Homestead (5.3) in the Next Gen car. Bad news: Ty Dillon’s average start in eight Homestead races is 30.1.

Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek has four top 20s in the first five races of the season. … Nemechek has finished on the lead lap in all five races, his longest streak in Cup. … Erik Jones has started in the top five in three of the first five races. Bad news: Jones does not have a top 10 in his last 10 races on a 1.5-mile track. … Jones has gone 84 starts since his last Cup win.

Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon has four top 10s in the last six races at Homestead. … Dillon’s average finish of 12.6 at Homestead is his best of all tracks. … Kyle Busch has three top 10s in the first five races this season. It took him nine races last year before he scored his third top 10 of the season. Bad news: Dillon has not placed in the top 10 in the last six races at 1.5-mile tracks. … Busch is winless in 62 races.

Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Ryan Newman gave the team its best finish at Homestead with its 26th-place finish in 2023. Bad news: Cody Ware’s best finish in two Cup starts at Homestead is 32nd in 2021. … An accident left Ware with a last-place finish at Las Vegas.

RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski will become the 17th driver in series history to reach 550 consecutive starts when he does so this weekend. … Keselowski is coming off an 11th-place finish at Las Vegas, his best result of the season. … Ryan Preece is coming off a third-place finish at Las Vegas. … Preece was 10th at Homestead last year. Bad news: Chris Buescher has never had a top-10 finish in nine starts at Homestead.

AUTO: MAR 16 NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400

Five races into NASCAR Cup season, what we know and what we don’t know

The first five races have provided a variety of storylines for this season.

Dustin Long,

Dustin Long,

Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell won the team’s first Cup pole last weekend at Las Vegas. … Carson Hocevar finished ninth at Homestead last year. … Hocevar won the truck race at Homestead in 2023. Bad news: Justin Haley has not finished better than 23rd in four starts at Homestead.

Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney has finished second in each of the last two Homestead races. … Joey Logano has led a series-high 247 laps this season. … Logano has had to start at the rear in the past two Homestead races, once for unapproved adjustments and another time for going to a backup car. … Austin Cindric ranks second in the series in laps led with 159. Bad news: Cindric has only two top-15 finishes in the last 14 races at 1.5-mile tracks. … Logano is the first reigning champion not to have a top-10 finish through the first five races of the following season.

Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Daniel Suarez finished second and teammate Ross Chastain placed fifth at Las Vegas. Bad news: Shane van Gisbergen has finished outside the top 30 in the past two races and in three of the first five races. … Chastain has finished 30th or worse in four of his six Cup starts at Homestead.

Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry goes for his third consecutive top-five finish after placing fourth at Phoenix and scoring his first career Cup win last weekend at Las Vegas. … In the last 17 races, only Team Penske (four wins), Hendrick Motorsports (three) and Joe Gibbs Racing (three) have more wins than the Wood Brothers. … Berry has led 74 laps this season. That’s the most laps led by a Wood Brothers driver in the first five races of a season since 1982. … Berry has given the Wood Brothers their best career finish at the past two tracks (Phoenix and Las Vegas). The team has never finished better than ninth at Homestead. Bad news: The organization has one top-15 finish in the last 14 starts at Homestead.

Topics

NASCAR takeaways: Josh Berry loves Las Vegas! He ends Christopher Bell's win streak

The NASCAR Cup Series has now completed five of its 26 regular-season races. This coming week, it returns to Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Yahoo Sports - 2d
Josh Berry gets first career Cup Series win at Vegas

Josh Berry raced to the first Cup Series victory of his career, taking NASCAR's oldest team to victory lane Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
ESPN - 2d
Goodyear option tire returns to Cup Series for Phoenix spring race

NASCAR announced on Jan. 22 that the Goodyear option tire will return to the NASCAR Cup Series for the spring weekend at Phoenix Raceway. It will be the same process that was utilized for the ...
Yahoo Sports - Mar. 7
NASCAR at Las Vegas results: Josh Berry gets first Cup Series win in victory No. 101 for Wood Brothers Racing

Berry joins a select fraternity of drivers who have won for NASCAR's oldest race team
CBS Sports - 2d
NASCAR Saturday schedule at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Cup Series will practice and qualifying ahead of the Xfinity race.
Yahoo Sports - 4d
NASCAR Las Vegas predictions 2025: Expert picks for Cup Series race

Our NASCAR predictions are in for Sunday's Cup Series race at Las Vegas. Here's who our experts are picking to win the 2025 Pennzoil 400.
Yahoo Sports - 4d
NASCAR qualifying results: Starting lineup set for Las Vegas race. Michael McDowell? Yep

The lineup is set for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Speedway. This will be the fifth race of NASCAR's 36-race Cup Series season.
Yahoo Sports - 3d
Josh Berry triumphs at Las Vegas for first career NASCAR Cup Series win

Josh Berry, in his first season with legendary Wood Brothers Racing, scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas.
Yahoo Sports - 2d
Winners, losers from Phoenix NASCAR Cup race won by Christopher Bell

While Christopher Bell won his third race in a row, some other drivers also left Phoenix feeling good.
Yahoo Sports - Mar. 10

Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of Homestead weekend

Topics

Related

NASCAR takeaways: Josh Berry loves Las Vegas! He ends Christopher Bell's win streak

Josh Berry gets first career Cup Series win at Vegas

Goodyear option tire returns to Cup Series for Phoenix spring race

NASCAR at Las Vegas results: Josh Berry gets first Cup Series win in victory No. 101 for Wood Brothers Racing

NASCAR Saturday schedule at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

NASCAR Las Vegas predictions 2025: Expert picks for Cup Series race

NASCAR qualifying results: Starting lineup set for Las Vegas race. Michael McDowell? Yep

Josh Berry triumphs at Las Vegas for first career NASCAR Cup Series win

Winners, losers from Phoenix NASCAR Cup race won by Christopher Bell

More from Yahoo Sports

ESPN analyst believes UNC win doesn't justify them in tournament still

March Madness predictions: Cinderellas, upsets, Final Four picks and more for the NCAA men's and women's tournaments

Throwback Thursday: Chloe Dworak, Lincoln Christian (2018) #2668

Crown Notes: Hoyas to Face Lessened Cougs

Pistons vs. Heat Predictions: Odds, expert picks, recent stats, trends and best bets for March 19

More in Sports

ESPN analyst believes UNC win doesn't justify them in tournament still

March Madness predictions: Cinderellas, upsets, Final Four picks and more for the NCAA men's and women's tournaments

Poch: 'Big mistake' for USMNT to focus on politics

'Focused' Heels stomp Aztecs, critics in First 4

Ohtani homers as Dodgers sweep Cubs in Japan