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.
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 â termed "short chutes" â 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.
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 .
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.
Stage 1 Laps: 30
Stage 2 Laps: 30
Stage 3 Laps: 40