Kyle Larson wins Cup Series at Homestead, finishes one race shy of triple-header sweep

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Larson passed Alex Bowman with six laps remaining in NASCAR's Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, giving the Hendrick Motorsports driver the 30th win of his career at one of his best tracks.

Larson, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet, sped by as Bowman scraped the wall on Turn 4 with the lead. Larson extended his edge to more than a second over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, then held on to beat Bowman by 1.205 seconds for his second career Cup Series win at Homestead, and his second victory of the weekend.

Larson fell one race short of sweeping the triple-header weekend. He won the Craftsman Truck race on Friday and finished fourth in the Xfinity Series on Saturday despite leading 132 of 201 laps. He was hoping to join Kyle Busch as the only drivers to sweep a triple-header weekend — Busch did it at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017. Larson will take another shot at a sweep in Bristol next month.

He said he was motivated by Saturday's result, when a late caution essentially cost him a race he had dominated. It was an all-to-familiar feeling of disappointment at Homestead despite Larson historically driving very well there.

“Proud of myself. Proud of the team. Just a lot of gritty hard work there today,” Larson said. “Super pumped. One of the coolest wins I think in my Cup career just because of all the heartbreak I’ve had here, the heartbreak yesterday. To just keep my head down and keep digging feels really good.”

He was far from dominant on Sunday. Larson led just 19 of 267 laps, had to climb from 14th-place starting position and overcame pit road mishaps and bad restarts to pull off the win — his first victory of the season and first in the Cup Series at Homestead since 2022.

“Given past history, I just wanted to take the green flag and kick everybody's ass today,” Larson said. "I wanted to get to the lead early and just dominate like I was yesterday. Then the green flag flew, and it was like the opposite. I was going backwards, and getting (mad) in the helmet.

“After 10 laps or so, I forgot about the wanting to kick everybody's ass all race long. It was like, 'All right, let's try to and work hard at this and get a win.'”

Bowman, who was Saturday's pole winner, finished second in the No. 48 Chevrolet. Bubba Wallace was third for 23XI Racing after leading 56 laps — the most laps he's led in a race since September 2023. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Ryan Blaney was running third when his engine blew up on Lap 207, causing a thick cloud of smoke to cover the track and a lengthy cleanup.

It had been a strong race for Blaney before then. He led 124 laps and won Stage 1 after starting sixth. It was the second time in three races that Blaney did not finish a race because of an engine failure with his No. 12 Team Penske Ford.

“It just stinks,” Blaney said. "Led a lot of laps. Lost a little bit of track position there with some stuff on pit road but got back to third. And it was a great race between me, Bubba and Larson. ... It was going to be a heck of a battle the last 60 laps or so, but just didn't really work out for us. We'll keep our head up.

“It's one of those things where it's not really going our way right now, but the good news is we're bringing fast cars.”

While exiting pit road on Lap 84, Josh Berry's No. 21 Ford hit the side of Larson's car, then hit Joey Logano's No. 22 Ford. Both Logano and Berry spun then went the wrong direction into their pit stalls to check the damage. Larson's car was slightly damaged from the contact.

Another incident happened on Lap 172. Chase Elliott received a penalty for not being line up single-file coming into pit road, even though Elliott could be heard on his in-car feed saying the he had veered left to avoid hitting someone, but gave the spot back. Elliott, driving a No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, finished 18th.

Some drivers would like to see Homestead return to the postseason after the 1.5-mile track went from hosting NASCAR’s championship races from 2002-2019 to being out of the playoff rotation.

While Phoenix Raceway has hosted the final since 2020, Homestead was in the playoff rotation the past three seasons before being moved to the regular season this year.

“I certainly would like to see it play a bigger factor in our championship, whether it's in the playoffs or just part of the championship race or round,” Hamlin said.

The Cup series races next at Martinsville Speedway, where Blaney won in November to punch his ticket into last season's playoff final four. Wiliam Byron won Martinsville last spring.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Kyle Larson celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Kyle Larson, front left, celebrates with his son Owen, front right, in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Kyle Larson (5) passes Bubba Wallace (23) to take the lead during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Kyle Larson celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Noah Gragson drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Denny Hamlin drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Crew members for Chase Briscoe perform a pitstop during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Crew members for Josh Berry work on his car after spinning on pit road during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Ryan Blaney drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Alex Bowman (48) leads the field to start a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Bubba Wallace drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Kyle Larson drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)