2023 XPEL 225

The 2023 XPEL 225 was the 4th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the 3rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Austin, Texas, at Circuit of the Americas, a 3.426 mi permanent asphalt road course. The race took the scheduled 42 laps to complete. Zane Smith, driving for Front Row Motorsports, would hold off the field in the final 10 laps, and earned his 9th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, along with his second of the season. Smith would also dominate a portion of the race, leading 16 laps. To fill out the podium, Kyle Busch, driving for his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Background
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 3.426 mi road racing circuit. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the Supercars Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, March 24, at 3:30 PM CST, and last for 20 minutes. Kyle Busch, driving for his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 2:15.582, and an average speed of 90.543 mph.

Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, March 24, at 4:00 PM CST. Since Circuit of the Americas is a road course, the qualifying system is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have multiple laps to set a time. The fastest 5 drivers from each group will advance to the final round. The fastest driver to set a time in that round will win the pole.

Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is  not  the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying will be set at the exit of Istanbul 8. Ross Chastain, driving for Niece Motorsports, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest lap in Round 2, with a lap of 2:13.613, and an average speed of 91.877 mph.

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Samuel LeComte, Alex Bowman, and Mason Massey.

Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 12 Stage 2 Laps: 14

Stage 3 Laps: 16

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.