This week in racing was uneventful. In Formula One, there were not many overtakes and in NASCAR, the same driver led for over 200 laps in row. But at the end of the day, racing is racing, so let’s get into this past weekend’s races.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates after the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Let’s start out with the Japanese GP, which took place at 1 a.m. on Sunday, April 6. Max Verstappen took pole position and was followed by Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Lewis Hamilton, Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman, rounding out the top 10.
The race winner was Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen, while the remaining podium was completed by McLaren drivers Norris in second and Piastri in third.
There was not much going on throughout the race as the driver who gained the most positions was Jack Doohan for Alpine, gaining four positions on the day, going from 19th to 15th. The driver who lost the most positions was Liam Lawson in his first race back for Visa CashApp RB after getting demoted by Red Bull Racing. Lawson went from 14th to 17th during the race.
The next F1 race takes place in Bahrain this Sunday, April 13, at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
On Saturday, there was the Xfinity Series race where Cup Series driver Christopher Bell started on pole position. Bell was followed by Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil, Daniel Dye, Cup Series driver Chase Elliott, Christian Eckes and Sheldon Creed to create the top 10.
During the race, there were 14 lead changes along with six cautions that took up 36 out of 147 total laps on the day. The most notable caution was on lap 128 with Leland Honeyman, Harrison Burton, Josh Williams and Connecticut’s own Anthony Alfredo being involved in a wreck, with Honeyman and Williams not returning to the race.
Stage one was won by H. Burton, and he was followed by Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, Jones, Alfredo, Eckes, Josh Bilicki, Cup Series driver Ross Chastain and Elliott. Stage Two was won by Allgaier with Eckes, Chastain, Jones, H. Burton, Kvapil, Bell, Elliott, Jesse Love and Creed.
Jones won the race after 147 laps while Elliott, Allgaier, Chastain, Kvapil, Connor Zilisch, Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Sammy Smith and Creed rounded out the top 10.
The next Xfinity Series race will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 12, at 5 p.m. EST.
Denny Hamlin, front, raises the trophy on VictoryLane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser)
Finally, there was the cup race on Sunday, April 6 with William Byron on pole position, followed by Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell.
There were eight cautions taking up 45 out of the 296 total laps of the race, with the most impactful caution coming out on lap 292 after Kyle Larson spun out after being hit by Bubba Wallace from behind. That caution brought out overtime. Hamlin then climbed from third to first after everyone pitted for fresh tires. Hamlin took a couple second lead off the restart and notched his second win in a row.
Hamlin was followed by Byron, Bell, Reddick, Blaney, Chris Buescher, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Busch to make up the top 10.
Stage one was won by Byron, who was followed by Wallace, Preece, Buescher, Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Blaney, Cindric, Zane Smith and A.J. Allmendinger. Stage Two was won by Byron. The rest of the top 10 were Joey Logano, Hamlin, Blaney, Josh Berry, Bell, Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Reddick and Alex Bowman.
Byron ended up leading the first 243 laps of the race but fell just half a second short of Hamlin in the end.
The next Cup Series race will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13 at 3 p.m. EST.
Also, this weekend on April 11, the Truck Series is racing at Bristol at 7:30 pm EST, and IndyCar is racing on April 13th at 4:30 EST.
Although it was a somewhat boring race weekend, some good things came out of it. Denny Hamlin passed Rusty Wallace for 11th all-time in Cup Series wins, which is a huge feat.
AloJapan.com