Wurth 400 Race Recap

After a pair of wild finishes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, the Cup cars took the track on Sunday, looking to put on a show for the raucous crowd. Picture-perfect weather and an extremely fast track made for a dynamite combination. Let’s talk about what went down in the Wurth 400.

Wurth 400 Stage One

After a great qualifying effort, Carson Hocevar started on the pole and controlled the first twenty laps of the race. The #77 set a blistering pace ahead of the first caution.

Noah Gragson in the #4 brought out the first yellow of the day when he spun in turn one while trying to pass the #99 of Daniel Suarez. Gragson managed to keep from hitting the wall during the incident.

With some differing strategies on pit road, Austin Cindric inherited the lead for the ensuing restart. As feared heading into this race, passing proved to be incredibly difficult. Tyler Reddick in the 45 managed to find some speed on the outside in 3 and 4 and used that groove to work his way up through the field to second.

Fire in the No. 11. Denny Hamlin is okay. pic.twitter.com/LjuFx6KyLK

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 4, 2025

Unfortunately, just as a battle for the lead shaped up, Denny Hamlin’s #11 blew an engine. As flames enveloped the car, Hamlin came to a stop and brought out the second caution of the race. Hamlin got out of the car quickly, but track clean-up for the incident was unable to wrap before stage end, handing Austin Cindric the win in stage one.

Wurth 400 Stage Two

After taking the lead on pit road between stages, Josh Berry led the field into turn one for the second stage. Action kicked off in a hurry in stage two with Chase Briscoe getting into the bumps in three and four and spinning. Riley Herbst received a touch of damage in the process as he attempted to avoid the #19.

Chase nearly saved that thing! 😳 pic.twitter.com/A75hkS9eVW

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 4, 2025

Josh Berry controlled stage two after we went back to green. The #21 car seemed like a rocket ship in front of the field. However, anything can happen in NASCAR. Berry proved that point when he lost control over the bumps in turns three and four and slammed the wall. The incident ended the day for the #21.

Kyle Larson started on the front row for the restart and quickly jumped out to a lead over the field. However, Tyler Reddick showed the strength of the #45 once again and quickly closed the gap. Yet, in spite of his ability to rapidly close, Reddick found himself unable to complete the pass.

Larson retained the lead into the closing laps of the second stage when Chris Buescher lost a right rear tire. The resulting debris brought out the caution and gave Kyle Larson the win in stage two.

Final Stage

Pit road once again saw a shake-up in the running order between stages. Thanks to some strategy, Chase Elliott gained 12 spots to restart along with William Byron on the front row. Byron, in spite of starting the stage out front, did have some damage from contact with Cole Custer on pit road.

The final stage kicked off with a bang as Bubba Wallace spun on the back stretch of the first lap, collecting Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, and Chad Finchum. The incident began with Joey Logano right on the bumper of Wallace. Wallace brushed the wall and when he checked up, Logano had nowhere to go, ultimately causing the spin.

There's mayhem on the backstretch! pic.twitter.com/HScLRMlHQU

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 4, 2025

The incident ended the day for Allmendinger, Bowman, Gragson, Wallace, and Finchum. On the ensuing restart, Byron took control of the race. However, with the front-end damage on the #24, Byron was unable to hold the lead for long. Kyle Larson quickly passed the #24 and quickly set sail.

Ryan Blaney closed rapidly on the #5, but we saw the passing difficulty of Texas rear its head once again. Blaney found himself unable to work around Larson before green flag pit stops began. Several drivers made their way down pit road as the cycle began; however, before the cycle could be completed, Jesse Love spun to bring out the caution.

Chaos Outbreak

Love’s spin started a flurry of cautions as the restart following the incident saw Kyle Busch spin early on to bring out a caution. Then, another caution was thrown due to an incident with Carson Hocevar squeezing Ryan Preece up into the outside wall. Both cars suffered terminal damage.

This time, the restart saw Michael McDowell claim the lead as Kyle Larson struggled mightily. Blaney quickly got by as well, with Larson plummeting all the way to fourth before we got another caution. Brad Keselowski spun off of two, collecting Cindric, Custer, Busch, and Ty Dillon.

Back under yellow due to this four-car incident. @Mc_Driver, who took the lead away from @KyleLarsonRacin on the last restart, sits P1. pic.twitter.com/hilR1x3wGJ

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 4, 2025

With Blaney and McDowell out front on the restart, the two battled hard for a brief period before a caution flew for Tyler Reddick spinning off the bumper of Daniel Suarez. Another restart saw Michael McDowell take the lead. McDowell, however, was unable to hold the lead. Joey Logano snuck by the #71 to claim the lead, and shortly afterward, McDowell smashed the wall out of turn two to bring out a caution and set up overtime.

Overtime

For the green-white-checkered, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney occupied the first row. Joey Logano powered through the first turn to claim the lead and never looked back from there. In a chaotic Wurth 400, Joey Logano claimed his first victory of 2025.

Logano’s win wrapped up an exciting weekend of racing at Texas Motor Speedway. The win punches Logano’s playoff ticket and gives Penske their second straight win after Austin Cindric’s victory at Talladega.

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