NASCAR Straight Talk Wireless 400 takeaways: Homestead-Miami win decided in closing laps

Here are five takeaways from the Straight Talk Wireless 400:

Kyle Larson does it again at Miami despite some adversity

It may have only been Larson's second win at the South Florida track, but Sunday was another reminder of how well he takes to the 1.5-mile track.

While a 14th-place starting position put Larson in an early hole, he also received some damage on pit road after last week's winner Josh Berry hit his left rear trying to avoid Team Penske's Joey Logano, who was coming out of his stall. 

The final 51-lap run to the checkered flag played out in Larson's favor, as he was able to navigate his way to the front running next to the wall and get his second win in three races this weekend after winning Friday night's Truck Series race.

So close for Alex Bowman

The race's pole sitter led 43 laps, which marked the first time in Bowman's career that he has led in Miami. With top-six finishes in each stage, Bowman collected the second-most points in the race, only behind Larson.

Homestead-Miami has never been one of Bowman's better tracks. However, Sunday was his fifth top 10 in six races this season and continued what has been a strong start to the 2025 campaign.

Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe finally put solid finishes together

Before Sunday's third-place showing, Wallace had never finished better than sixth in six prior starts at Homestead-Miami. He led 56 laps and ran toward the front of the field for much of the day. With only one top-10 finish coming into Sunday (ninth at Atlanta), the third-place finish is an encouraging sign for Wallace after a difficult start to the season.

Chase Briscoe has always excelled at high tear-wear tracks like Miami and Sunday was no different. Briscoe had four straight finishes outside the top 10 coming into Sunday. After coming home fourth at Homestead-Miami, Briscoe stopped the bleeding and will look to build some momentum as he puts more races together in his first season driving the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

When will Ryan Blaney catch a break?

For the third week in a row, Ryan Blaney suffered a DNF when his engine let go on Lap 207, resulting in a 36th-place finish. It was the second time in three weeks he blew an engine while the other DNF occurred during a multi-car crash at Las Vegas.

It is the first time in Blaney's Cup Series career that he has failed to finish three consecutive races. He won Stage 1 and led a race-best 124 laps, but had nothing to show for his speed once again as the early-season misfortune continues for the 2023 champion.

Homestead comes down to another battle in the closing laps

No, this year's Miami race did not feature three different leaders in the final three laps or a last-lap pass for the win as Tyler Reddick accomplished when he overtook Blaney in Turn 4 for the win in last season's playoff race.

Still, Larson's ability to go from fourth to the lead in the final 20 laps of the race was another reminder of Homestead-Miami Speedway's surface and why it continues to be a favorite among drivers and fans.