| RACE INFO |
| DATE: Sunday, March 23, 2025 RACE: Straight Talk Wireless 400 TRACK: Homestead-Miami Speedway (Homestead, FL) TRACK LENGTH: 1.5 miles TV: FOX Sports 1 (3 p.m. ET) RADIO: MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (3 p.m. ET) |
| JOE GIBBS RACING |
| JGR AT HOMESTEAD: |
| Joe Gibbs Racing leads all teams with nine NASCAR Cup Series victories at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 83 combined starts at the 1.5-mile oval, the organization has tallied 23 top-five finishes, 45 top-10s, six pole awards, and 1,831 laps led. Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, and Tony Stewart have all driven JGR entries to victory lane at the South Florida track. |
| DENNY HAMLIN |
| No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE |
| HAMLIN AT HOMESTEAD: Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with three NASCAR Cup Series wins and three pole awards at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His most recent win at the track came in 2020 when he led 137 of 267 laps on the way to victory lane. Last year, Hamlin ran well throughout the race and grabbed the lead on a late-race restart before ultimately finishing third. STARTING UP FRONT: Hamlin’s three pole awards at Homestead lead all active drivers. From 2015-2021, Hamlin started first in six out of seven races at the 1.5-mile oval – three by qualifying time, one due to a rainout (2019), once by random draw (2020), and another by the metric qualifying system (2021). Last fall, Hamlin qualified fourth at the South Florida track. LAS VEGAS RECAP: Hamlin finished 25th in last weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after an untimely caution spoiled the team’s late-race strategy. Early on, he was penalized for speeding on pit road during a green-flag pit stop in stage one. He eventually rejoined the lead lap in stage two. The No. 11 team vaulted Hamlin into the top five late after a mix of strategies. A caution shortly after the No. 11 team’s green-flag pit stop late in the race trapped Hamlin one lap down and forced him to take the wave around before what ended up being the final restart. With tires older than those around him, Hamlin was unable to make up any lost ground in the closing laps of the race. PROGRESSIVE: The No. 11 team is debuting a new partnership with Progressive Insurance this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Tuesday, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Progressive will be featured as the primary sponsor of Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota for 18 races this season. For more information on Progressive, visit www.progressive.com. HISTORY OF THE 11: Throughout NASCAR history, the No. 11 has visited victory lane more than any other car number. Hamlin’s win last season at Dover Motor Speedway was the 234th time a No. 11 car has won in the Cup Series. For Hamlin, his 54 victories driving the No. 11 are only one behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for most on the illustrious list of drivers who have wheeled a No. 11 car to victory lane. That list includes Bobby Allison (3 wins), Mario Andretti (1 win), Buddy Baker (2 wins), Geoffrey Bodine (4 wins), Bill Elliott (6 wins), A.J. Foyt (1 win), Denny Hamlin (54 wins), Ned Jarrett (49 wins), Junior Johnson (11 wins), Parnelli Jones (1 win), Terry Labonte (4 wins), Darrell Waltrip (43 wins), and Cale Yarborough (55 wins). |
| CHASE BRISCOE |
| No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Classic Toyota Camry XSE |
| BRISCOE AT HOMESTEAD: Chase Briscoe has made nine starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway across NASCAR’s three national series. In the NASCAR Cup Series, he has raced on the South Florida track four times with his best finish of 12th coming last fall. Briscoe owns one NASCAR Xfinity Series win (2020) and three top-10 finishes in four starts at the 1.5-mile oval. The Mitchell, Indiana native earned his first career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory at Homestead in 2017 after winning the pole award and leading a race-high 81 laps on the way to victory lane. LAS VEGAS RECAP: In last weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Briscoe lost four laps on lap 33 due to a tire coming off on the track. Despite the setback, the No. 19 team earned all of their laps back through strategy and timely cautions. At the end of the day, Briscoe salvaged a 17th-place finish. NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: 2025 is Briscoe’s first season under the Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing banners. JGR officially announced Briscoe would drive the No. 19 Toyota Camry during the 2025 season on June 25, 2024. The No. 19 has a long history in NASCAR and Briscoe joins an elite group of drivers to have piloted the No. 19. Martin Truex Jr, Carl Edwards, and Cale Yarborough are among the drivers to have been behind the wheel of a No. 19 car in NASCAR’s top series. JAMES SMALL: 2025 marks James Small’s sixth season as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief. The first five years of his tenure as crew chief were spent with Martin Truex Jr. as Small led the No. 19 team to eight wins, 45 top-fives, 86 top-10 finishes, and four NASCAR playoffs appearances. The Australia native led Truex to a runner-up finish in the 2021 championship and to the 2023 regular season championship. BASS PRO SHOPS: Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Newsweek as “America’s Most Trusted Retailer for Outdoor Gear”. For more information or to shop online, visit www.basspro.com. BASS CAR: The No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE will once again feature a bass-inspired livery to promote the Spring Fishing Classic Sale. The Spring Classic offers more than just savings on products— local Bass Pro Shops stores will also host rod and reel trade-ins, a dream boat giveaway, and Kids Weekend festivities on March 22-23. |
| CHRISTOPHER BELL |
| No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE |
| BELL AT HOMESTEAD: Christopher Bell found his way to victory lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October 2023 to secure his spot in the Championship 4. Bell had another strong run at the 1.5-mile oval last fall when he qualified third and finished fourth. His 8.8-average finishing position leads all active drivers. In 2017, Bell won the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway after finishing second in the race. HOT START: Bell has won three of the first five races of the season. His three victories already match his career-best for wins in a single season in the Cup Series. The victories have come on three very different track layouts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas and Phoenix Raceway. THREE OUT OF FOUR: Bell is the first driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win three out of the first four races to start the season. Dating back to 1949, the only other times a driver won three out of the first four races were Herb Thomas in 1954 and Bill Elliott in 1992. RHEEM AT HOMESTEAD: Rheem will host more than 180 guests this weekend in South Florida. Executives will be onsite from the Rheem Operations team in addition to guests from Rheem Canada, the Southeast Water Heater Division (WHD), Rheem Plumbing contest winners, and customers from key distributors – Ferguson (FL) & Gemaire. |
| TY GIBBS |
| No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE |
| GIBBS AT HOMESTEAD: Ty Gibbs has started three NASCAR Cup Series races at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a best finish of seventh in 2023. His best qualifying effort at the track was a sixth-place effort during a part-time schedule with 23XI Racing in 2022. Gibbs started third and finished second in his lone Xfinity Series start at the track during his 2022 championship season. LAS VEGAS: Gibbs started 29th and finished 22nd in last Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. TYLER ALLEN: Crew chief Tyler Allen is in his first year leading Gibbs and the No. 54 team. While this is Allen’s first experience as a crew chief at the Cup Series level, he had a standout season in 2024 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Allen led JGR’s No. 20 Xfinity Series team to eight victories and a runner-up finish in the owner’s championship. |
| TEAM PR CONTACTS |
| Tyler Overstreet Denny Hamlin / No. 11 Teamtoverstreet@joegibbsracing.com Megan Leben Chase Briscoe / No. 19 Teammleben@joegibbsracing.com |
| Nancy Padula Christopher Bell / No. 20 Teamnpadula@joegibbsracing.com Joe Crowley Ty Gibbs / No. 54 Teamjcrowley@joegibbsracing.com |
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