The 2025 North Carolina Education Lottery 250 was the 10th stock car race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 1st iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina, a permanent oval shaped racetrack. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 250 laps, but was increased to 256 laps due to an overtime restart.
In an action-packed and wreck-filled race, Sammy Smith, driving for JR Motorsports, would be given the victory following post-race inspection, after the original winner of the race, Jesse Love, was disqualified for a rear suspension violation, and was credited with a 37th-place finish. This was Smith's third career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his first of the season. Ryan Sieg led a race-high and career-high 77 laps, before being involved in a late-race incident and finishing 18th. Following the DQ, Parker Retzlaff earned a career-best second-place finish with Alpha Prime Racing, and Harrison Burton, driving for AM Racing, rounded out the rest of the podium.
This was the first Xfinity Series race to be held at Rockingham since 2004, the return of Kasey Kahne in a NASCAR-sanctioned race since 2018, and the fourth and final race of the Dash 4 Cash. Drivers eligible for the D4C were Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Brandon Jones, since they were the highest finishing Xfinity regulars following the race at Bristol. Smith was given the race win and claimed the $100K bonus cash.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
#DriverTeamMake00Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord1Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet2Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet5Kris WrightOur MotorsportsChevrolet07Patrick EmerlingSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet7Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet8Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet10Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet11Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet14Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet16Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet18William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Justin BonsignoreJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet25Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord26Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota27Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet28Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord31Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet32Katherine Legge (i)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet33Kasey KahneRichard Childress RacingChevrolet35Greg Van AlstJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet39Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord41Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord42Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet44Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet45Vicente SalasAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet48Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet53J. J. Yeley (i)Joey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet54Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota70Thomas AnnunziataCope Family RacingChevrolet71Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet74Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet87Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet88Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet91Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet99Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Friday, April 18, at 3:05 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes. Carson Kvapil, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.899, and a speed of .
Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed11Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet22.899147.779288Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet23.052146.799300Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord23.061146.741Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, April 19, at 12:00 PM EST. Since Rockingham Speedway is a mile oval, the qualifying system used is a single-car, single-lap system with one round. Drivers will be on track by themselves and will have one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole.
Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 22.630, and a speed of . However, after getting a flat tire during his run, he will start at the rear of the field.
Dawson Cram was the only driver who failed to qualify. Katherine Legge, who originally failed to qualify, would move to the No. 53 for Joey Gase Motorsports, replacing J. J. Yeley.
Qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet22.630149.53624Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet22.631149.529348Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet22.683149.187433Kasey KahneRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.720148.944518William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota22.733148.858620Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota22.753148.72872Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.769148.62387Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet22.806148.382916Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet22.825148.2581021Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.842148.1481141Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord22.881147.8961239Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord22.888147.850138Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet22.894147.8121499Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet22.931147.5731554Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota22.981147.2521651Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet22.984147.2331700Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord22.996147.1561826Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota23.010147.0661919Justin BonsignoreJoe Gibbs RacingToyota23.015147.0352070Thomas AnnunziataCope Family RacingChevrolet23.017147.0222111Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet23.019147.0092227Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet23.072146.6712371Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet23.104146.4682431Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet23.104146.468251Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet23.151146.1712691Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet23.165146.0822710Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet23.167146.0702844Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet23.231145.6672925Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord23.272145.411305Kris WrightOur MotorsportsChevrolet23.280145.3613153J. J. Yeley (i)Joey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet23.289145.3053287Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet23.304145.211Qualified by owner's points3314Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet23.324145.0873442Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet23.368144.8133528Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord23.449144.3133645Vicente SalasAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet23.507143.9573707Patrick EmerlingSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet23.703142.7673835Greg Van AlstJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet24.713136.932Failed to qualify3932Katherine Legge (i)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet23.397144.6344074Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet23.590143.451Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 60 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts148Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet1024Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet9339Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord8442Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet7527Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet6628Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord571Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet4899Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet3951Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet21020Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1
Stage 2 Laps: 60 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts126Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota10227Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet9351Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet8499Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet7542Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet6620Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota571Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet4828Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord3954Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota21041Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord1
Stage 3 Laps: 136 FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1138Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet2569Running40224Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet2560Running4432925Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord2560Running3442844Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet2560Running3351554Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota2560Running3461021Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet2560Running3172111Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet2560Running3082227Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet2560Running4492710Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet2560Running28101651Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet2560Running37111826Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota25611Running3612620Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota2566Running3113188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet2560Running2414433Kasey KahneRichard Childress RacingChevrolet2560Running23153442Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet2560Running3516251Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet25647Running29172691Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet2560Running20181239Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord25677Running27193707Patrick EmerlingSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet2560Running18203528Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord2560Running252187Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet2540Running16223314Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet2530Running1523916Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet2521Running14243645Vicente SalasAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet2510Running1325518William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota2480Running12261141Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord2470Accident12271499Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet2470Accident2028305Kris WrightOur MotorsportsChevrolet2470Accident9292070Thomas AnnunziataCope Family RacingChevrolet2460Suspension8303287Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet2410Accident731348Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet24052Accident16322431Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet2260Accident5332371Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet1800Accident4343835Greg Van AlstJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1710Brakes3351700Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord1090Accident2363153Katherine Legge (i)Joey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet500Accident0DSQ72Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet25653Running2DSQ1919Justin BonsignoreJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1570Accident1Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Justin Allgaier 411 2 Sam Mayer 324 (–87) 1 3 Austin Hill 311 (–100) 1 4 Jesse Love 288 (–123) 1 5 Carson Kvapil 286 (–125) 1 6 Brandon Jones 284 (–127) 2 7 Connor Zilisch 284 (–127) 2 8 Sammy Smith 281 (–130) 9 Ryan Sieg 277 (–134) 2 10 Sheldon Creed 254 (–157) 2 11 Jeb Burton 251 (–160) 12 Harrison Burton 243 (–168)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 390 2 Toyota 336 (–54) 3 Ford 322 (–68) Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.
References