Taylor Gray has scored his first career pole in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Saturday’s Hard Rock Bet 300. (Photo Credit: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Taylor Gray continues his strong performance in the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, achieving his first career pole position for Saturday afternoon’s Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Gray is at the top of the points standings among all nine full-time Xfinity Series rookies ahead of Saturday’s race in Southern Florida. The 19-year-old has achieved one top 5 finish and three top 10 finishes to kick off the 2025 Xfinity Series season.
The driver of the No. 54 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing rocketed around the 1.5-mile oval with a time of 33.064, with a speed of 163.320 mph.
Fellow rookie contender and two-time Xfinity Series winner Connor Zilisch locked out the front row with Gray in his No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.
Defending race winner Justin Allgaier, who won last week’s The Liuna! at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and is also the reigning champion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will start the race from fourth position, alongside Nick Sanchez. Christian Eckes secured the fifth spot in Saturday’s qualifying session. Notably, four of the top five qualifiers were rookie drivers.
Sam Mayer, Justin Bonsignore, Ryan Sieg, Sheldon Creed, and Matt DiBenedetto were the fastest 10 cars in qualifying for Homestead-Miami.
Josh Williams, who is recovering from pneumonia, had Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Dillon qualifying the No.11 in 11th place. Williams is set to start the race, with Dillon on standby in case Williams needs to hand off the driving duties.
Taylor Gray debriefing following qualifying with fellow NASCAR XFINITY Series rookie Daniel Dye. (Photo Credit: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)
Last year’s winner at Homestead-Miami, Austin Hill, struggled in qualifying and will start 21st for Saturday afternoon’s 200-lap race. His Richard Childress Racing teammate, Jesse Love, will begin the race one position ahead of Hill in 20th.
Dawson Cram in the No. 74 Chevrolet for Mike Harmon Racing was unfortunately the lone DNQ for Saturday’s race.”I feel that my Joe Gibbs Racing team has worked hard today,” said Gray after qualifying on the pole for the Hard Rock Bet 300.
“I put us in a little bit of a tough spot, tried to run the (Kyle) Larson line in Turns 3 and 4, and got right-sided, had to do a little bit of work getting better. I just got to stay consistent today, stay patient, take care of the right side of our car, and I think we will be there at the end.”
Gray also commented on how most of the Xfinity Series field has to keep an eye out for the driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro of Kyle Larson, who is looking to continue his dominant tripleheader weekend at the 1.5-mile oval facility after an impressive win in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race.
“Yeah, I feel like (Larson) is the guy to beat, he’s so good at this place, running the fence, and making minimal mistakes, So I think trying to keep him behind me, he’s so good at making speed, so just keeping him in my dirty air, and trying to keep him behind me and protecting his favorite line as much as possible.”
Larson begins his race in the 17th starting spot alongside Parker Retzlaff.
The Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will air live on the CW Network at 4:00 pm EST.
Hard Rock Bet 300 Homestead-Miami Speedway Qualifying Results
| Rank | Car No. | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | 33.064 |
| 2 | 88 | Connor Zilisch | JR Motorsports | 33.143 |
| 3 | 48 | Nick Sanchez | Big Machine Racing | 33.173 |
| 4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | 33.223 |
| 5 | 16 | Christian Eckes | Kaulig Racing | 33.234 |
| 6 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | 33.237 |
| 7 | 19 | Justin Bonsignore | Joe Gibbs Racing | 33.258 |
| 8 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | 33.260 |
| 9 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | 33.347 |
| 10 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | Viking Motorsports | 33.390 |
| 11 | 11 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | 33.443 |
| 12 | 25 | Harrison Burton | AM Racing | 33.455 |
| 13 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | 33.458 |
| 14 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | 33.459 |
| 15 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | 33.487 |
| 16 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | 33.575 |
| 17 | 17 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | 33.583 |
| 18 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Alpha Prime Racing | 33.591 |
| 19 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | 33.609 |
| 20 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | 33.636 |
| 21 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | 33.637 |
| 22 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | 33.643 |
| 23 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | 33.648 |
| 24 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | 33.668 |
| 25 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Young’s Motorsports | 33.739 |
| 26 | 45 | Brad Perez | Alpha Prime Racing | 33.957 |
| 27 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | 34.023 |
| 28 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | DGM Racing | 34.039 |
| 29 | 91 | Myatt Snider | DGM Racing | 34.067 |
| 30 | 10 | Daniel Dye | Kaulig Racing | 34.122 |
| 31 | 24 | Corey Heim | Sam Hunt Racing | 34.123 |
| 32 | 07 | Patrick Emerling | SS Greenlight Racing | 34.180 |
| 33 | 70 | Leland Honeyman | Cope Family Racing | – |
| 34 | 53 | Mason Maggio | Joey Gase Motorsports | – |
| 35 | 35 | Joey Gase | Joey Gase Motorsports | – |
| 36 | 5 | Kris Wright | Our Motorsports | – |
| 37 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | SS Greenlight Racing | – |
| 38 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | – |
| DNQ | ||||
| 39 | 74 | Dawson Cram | Mike Harmon Racing | – |
