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Monday Morning Pit Box: Pit Road Slippery for Some at Homestead

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For Kyle Larson, it was likely just a matter of time.

The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet scored his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday (March 23), passing HMS teammate Alex Bowman late to take the checkered flag in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Following a chaotic race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway rife with penalties and mistakes, pit road at Homestead was largely tame by comparison. With a more abrasive track surface that eats rubber, four tires was the call each and every time down the pit lane.

With that said, there were a couple of driver incidents on pit road worth mentioning:

Pseudo Teammates Make Pit Road Contact

Josh Berry experienced the highlight of his racing career last weekend, collecting his first career Cup win at Las Vegas. Starting from the outside pole, Berry appeared to be well-positioned to go back-to-back in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford.

However, the day took a wrong turn for Berry during the post-stage one pit stops on lap 84. After leaving his pit stall, Berry bounced off of the left side of Larson and then got into Joey Logano, causing both of them to spin. This delayed Justin Haley’s departure from his pit stall in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Both Berry and Logano drove backwards on pit road to assess the damage, sending them both to the rear of the field.  Neither Ford driver factored much into the race for the win after that, with Logano finishing 14th and Berry settling for 17th.

It was a bad sequence of events for Team Penske and the Wood Brothers, who have a tight alliance to the point of being de facto teammates.

Suarez’s Solo Spin

Daniel Suarez got his first taste of success in 2025 last week, finishing runner-up to Berry at Las Vegas. But Homestead turned out to be a regression back to the mean.

Suarez took the initial green flag way back in the 33rd position, and his day took a further hit when he spun out entering pit road under green on lap 126.

While Suarez was able to pit and keep going without any further issues, he was never a serious factor on Sunday, placing 22nd.

Suarez actually wound up being the top finisher for Trackhouse Racing, with his teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen placing in 31st and 32nd, respectively. It’s been a slow start to the season for Trackhouse, and they will need to remedy things soon to make a push for the playoffs.  

Pit Road Police

It was a quieter weekend for pit penalties, but here are a few to briefly note.

Pit Crew of the Race: No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Team

With three wins and an average finish of 10.2, Denny Hamlin has fared well at Homestead throughout his Cup Series career. Despite that resume, Hamlin started Sunday’s race back in 23rd.

Over the course of the race, No. 11 team crew chief Chris Gayle worked on improving the car, and the No. 11 pit crew showed why they are considered one of the fastest on pit road year in and year out.

All of that, combined with Hamlin’s drive on track, culminated with a fifth-place finish, Hamlin’s second top five in the young season.

“I still think we got work to do,” Hamlin said postrace. “I contend we still don’t have the speed to lead a ton of laps. We got to get our cars a little bit faster to really contend week in, week out right now.”

Look Ahead to Next Week

The NASCAR Cup Series will head to its oldest racetrack at Martinsville Speedway for the running of the Cook Out 400 next Sunday, March 30. Coverage starts at 3 p.m., and the broadcast will be on FOX Sports 1.

The half-mile short track in Virginia features close quarters racing, giving it its nickname The Paperclip. With passing difficult under green, pit strategy and execution will be a key factor in gaining track position and determining who wins next week.

Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.