Spinning To Winning: Kyle Larson Claims Truck Series Win at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Kyle Larson celebrates with his son Owen in Homestead-Miami Speedway’s victory lane after winning the Baptist Health 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series on Friday evening. (Photo Credit: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Larson drives through the field in the final 40 laps after going for a spin to claim his fourth career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory in Friday evening’s Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion made his first start in the 2025 Truck Series campaign for Spire Motorsports. After restarting in 22nd place with less than 40 laps remaining in the race, he managed to steal the victory from Layne Riggs with just two laps to go.

Corey Heim started the race after gaining momentum from his victory in last Friday’s Ecosave 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

As the field raced into Turn 1 under the green flag, rookie contender Gio Ruggiero spun out, inadvertently collecting Ben Rhodes and resulting in the first caution of the night. This incident marks the first time in Ruggiero’s young Truck Series career that he has finished outside of the top 20 after starting the year with finishes of 2nd, 11th, and 15th in the first three races of the year.

Gio Ruggiero went for a spin after making contact with Grant Enfinger entering Turn 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo Credit: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)

Heim, Larson, and Riggs all declared themselves as the top contenders for the race lead early in Stage 1.

As Heim led the field back to green for the beginning of Stage 2, Ty Majeski had found himself in contention for the first time of the evening, battling Larson and Stewart Friesen inside the top 5 for the majority of the 30-lap stage.

Heim continued his dominance in the early race, mirroring Stage 1, as the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Tundra went on to sweep both stages.

As the final stage began, fellow Floridian driver Ross Chastain surged to the front of the field, taking the lead from Heim on Lap 71. The two drivers then engaged in a fierce battle for the majority of the final 74-lap dash to the finish.

Larson, who had been running third behind Riggs had driven in his No. 07 Chevrolet deep into Turn 1 with 45 laps to go, sending his truck for a spin in the middle of the corner after slight contact with Riggs, relegating Larson to the back of the field for what would be the final restart of the race.

The Elk Grove, California homegrown picked off the 21 other trucks in front of him one at a time as he found himself back to seventh place with just 15 laps to go.

With just five laps to go, Larson made his final descent for the race win, shooting past Tyler Ankrum for fourth, rolling by Chastain for the third spot on the same lap.

Meanwhile, at the front of the lead, Corey Heim had suffered a mechanical issue, giving way to Riggs to take the lead with just 4 laps to go.

With two laps to go, Larson passed Riggs and never looked back, starting his tripleheader weekend at the 1.5-mile oval in South Florida with a crucial win in the Truck Series race.

“That was pretty unbelievable,” said a very upbeat Larson in a post-race interview.

“I wasn’t exactly sure if I could get back up there, didn’t have the restart that I wanted, took a little too long to start picking them off and ripping the wall, and it was paying dividends for me in Turns 1 and 2 for me, I caught some of the guys that were doing just good enough up there to where I couldn’t get by and bogged my momentum down, but got cleared of them. That last run was a lot of fun.”

Kyle Larson drove all the way from 22nd to score the victory on Friday night (Photo Credit: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)

Riggs was able to hold onto second place on the day before Larson passed him for the win. Heim finished third, but his dominant performance ended his chances of victory due to a mechanical problem with less than five laps to go. The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammates of Ankrum and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top 5.

Chastain, Jake Garcia, Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger, and Kaden Honeycutt completed the top 10 on Friday evening..

Larson aims to carry his Friday night success into Saturday’s Xfinity Series Hard Rock Bet 300, starting strong with a win in the first of three weekend races that Larson is tapped to drive in.

Stage 1 Results
1. Corey Heim
2. Kyle Larson
3. Layne Riggs
4. Ty Majeski
5. Ross Chastain
6. Tyler Ankrum
7. Daniel Hemric
8. Stewart Friesen
9. Kaden Honeycutt
10. Chandler Smith

Stage 2 Results
1. Corey Heim
2. Kyle Larson
3. Ty Majeski
4. Stewart Friesen
5. Kaden Honeycutt
6. Layne Riggs
7. Ross Chastain
8. Daniel Hemric
9. Tyler Ankrum
10. Grant Enfinger

Baptist Health 200 Homestead-Miami Speedway Results