"Neck and neck" is how the race for 2025 Road March title was described by masqueraders and spectators during Carnival festivities in downtown Port of Spain on Carnival Tuesday (March 4). The songs echoing through the streets of PoS were Carry it by Bunji Garlin and Machel Montano's Pardy.

With Montano chasing an 11th Road March title, which will take him level with the legendary Aldwyn "Lord Kitchener" Roberts, the soca king has a fight on his hands to win the crown. The last of Montano's ten titles came in 2019, when he teamed up with Bunji and Gamal "Skinny Fabulous" Doyle to thrill fans and take home the Road March crown with Famalay. Bunji went on to cop the Road March in 2023 with his mega hit Hard Fete, with his 2024 song Carnival Contract coming a close second to Mical Teja's DNA in 2024.

DNA was played a total of 341 times last year, with Carnival Contract racking up 225 plays. And though the official 2025 results were not out up until press time, it is expected to be a relatively close race – at least on the evidence of what was played across the various stages in the nation's capital.