The 2025 Pennzoil 250 was the 21st stock car race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 14th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, a permanent square-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 100 laps to complete.
In a wild race with late controversy, Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would make a late pass on Taylor Gray for the lead with two laps to go, and held off Sam Mayer on the final lap to earn his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, his fifth of the season, and his third consecutive win. This was also the 100th victory for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. Mayer finished in second, followed by Gray in third, with Kyle Larson and Ryan Sieg rounding out the top five.
Throughout the late stages of the race, controversy ensured after an incident involving Austin Hill and Aric Almirola. With five laps to go, Almirola rebounded from a bad pit stop and made his way back into the top five. Coming out of turn three, Almirola bumped into the back of Hill, getting him loose and sending him up the track. As Hill corrected himself, he came down onto the track, hooking Almirola in his right-rear quarter panel, sending him head-on into the outside wall. Almirola was evaluated and released from the infield care center, and described it as "one of the hardest hits he's taken in his NASCAR career." Hill was eventually given a five-lap penalty from NASCAR for reckless driving, he was credited with a 34th-place finish, five laps down.
Report
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana, (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500 of IndyCar Series and the Brickyard 400 of the NASCAR Cup Series. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately west of Downtown Indianapolis.
Constructed in 1909, it is the original speedway, the first racing facility so named. It has a permanent seating capacity estimated at 235,000 with infield seating raising capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world.
Considered relatively flat by American standards, the track is a , nearly rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its inception: four turns, two straightaways between the fourth and first turns and the second and third turns, and two short straightaways – termed "short chutes" – between the first and second, and third and fourth turns.
The track also holds races on its infield road course, formerly the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, from 2021 to 2023 in the Cup Series, the Pennzoil 150, in the Xfinity Series, and currently the Sonsio Grand Prix in IndyCar.
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 RacingChevrolet07Logan BeardenSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet7Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet8Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet10Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet11Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet14Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet16Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet17Kyle Larson (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet18William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Aric AlmirolaJoe 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 RacingChevrolet35David StarrJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet39Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord41Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord42Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet44Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet45Mason MasseyAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet48Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet53Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet54Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota70Leland HoneymanCope Family RacingChevrolet71Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet74Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet88Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet91Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet99Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Friday, July 25, at 12:05 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes. Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 54.013, and a speed of .
Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet54.013166.62721Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet54.502165.132341Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord54.566164.938Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, July 26, at 1:00 PM EST. Standard intermediate track qualifying was in effect, although at Indianapolis, a hybrid road course qualifying rule was used. The timing line was set in Turn 3, where cars exited pit road, drove five-eights of a lap, then took the green flag in the north chute exiting Turn 3, and completing their lap there the next time by. Teams then immediately pitted the car, meaning only two laps were run. In addition, up to two cars could be at the track at one time, separated by considerable intervals (about 20 seconds) to ensure drafting was prohibited.
Sam Mayer, driving for Haas Factory Team, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 54.014, and a speed of .
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed141Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord54.014166.623248Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet54.060166.482300Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord54.098166.36542Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet54.104166.346520Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota54.117166.306619Aric AlmirolaJoe Gibbs RacingToyota54.118166.303788Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet54.196166.06487Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet54.204166.039918William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota54.286165.789101Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet54.371165.529118Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet54.463165.2501251Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet54.470165.2291321Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet54.477165.2071454Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota54.488165.1741516Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet54.534165.0351626Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota54.558164.9621770Leland HoneymanCope Family RacingChevrolet54.569164.9291817Kyle Larson (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet54.641164.7111910Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet54.641164.7112025Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord54.678164.6002139Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord54.700164.5342242Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet54.710164.5042327Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet54.749164.3872432Katherine Legge (i)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet55.026163.5592599Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet55.051163.485264Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet55.066163.4402744Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet55.169163.1352828Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord55.177163.1112931Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet55.364162.5613091Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet55.365162.5583111Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet55.371162.5403214Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet55.416162.408Qualified by owner's points3345Mason MasseyAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet55.782161.3423471Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet55.899161.0053507Logan BeardenSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet56.540159.1793653Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet56.767158.5433774Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet57.122157.5583835David StarrJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet57.907155.422Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 30 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts141Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord1027Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet9319Aric AlmirolaJoe Gibbs RacingToyota8420Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota7588Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet6600Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord572Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4817Kyle Larson (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet0954Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota2101Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1
Stage 2 Laps: 30 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts17Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet10288Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet9317Kyle Larson (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet0419Aric AlmirolaJoe Gibbs RacingToyota7554Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota6620Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota5741Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord481Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet392Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet21018William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1
Stage 3 Laps: 40 FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1788Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet10019Running552141Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord10032Running5031454Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1003Running4241917Kyle Larson (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1007Running052139Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord1000Running326918William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1000Running327118Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running3081810Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1000Running29942Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1000Running34101626Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota1000Running27112599Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running26121251Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1000Running25131516Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1000Running2414264Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1000Running23152327Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1000Running22162828Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord1000Running2117300Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord1000Running25182025Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord1000Running19193091Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet1000Running18202744Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1000Running17213471Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet1000Running16223111Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet1000Running15232242Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running14243345Mason MasseyAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1000Running13253214Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1000Running12261770Leland HoneymanCope Family RacingChevrolet1000Running11272931Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1000Running10283653Joey GaseJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running9293835David StarrJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running830101Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running11313774Dawson CramMike Harmon RacingChevrolet1000Running632520Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota970Running1733248Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet960Running4341321Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet950Running335619Aric AlmirolaJoe Gibbs RacingToyota902Accident173687Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet8737Accident20372432Katherine Legge (i)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet740Electrical0383507Logan BeardenSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet370Electrical1Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Justin Allgaier 750 2 Connor Zilisch 729 (–21) 3 Sam Mayer 702 (–48) 1 4 Jesse Love 654 (–96) 1 5 Austin Hill 650 (–100) 6 Brandon Jones 595 (–155) 7 Carson Kvapil 587 (–163) 8 Sheldon Creed 576 (–174) 9 Taylor Gray 568 (–182) 10 Sammy Smith 545 (–205) 1 11 Jeb Burton 519 (–231) 1 12 Nick Sanchez 517 (–233)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 825 2 Toyota 686 (–139) 3 Ford 666 (–159) Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.
References