This year’s championship race features defending champion Kevin Harvick and three unexpected challengers in Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. “How could I not be having the time of my life?” “Over here I think it’s very similar”. – Team owner Rick Hendrick on the the significance of a potential Gordon championship.
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The big topic at Homestead-Miami Speedway all week has been “what is NASCAR’s etiquette line?”
“It’s a great story”, said Gibbs. “I wasn’t that proud at the moment because we started 21st, but I will remember that forever”. Two drivers missed qualifying for the race completely, those were Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson. Each will visit Krista Voda, Kyle Petty andDale Jarrett on the Countdown to Green pre-race set to discuss their expectations, nerves and final thoughts heading into the Championship race. The stuff I do away from the track really has no bearing. “We were pre-planning for sure”. During NASCAR’s opening weekend, Busch suffered a broken right leg and left foot after a devastating wreck in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona.
Gordon must earn that one, just as he did the other 93.
Before Busch could return, however, he had to mend.
Said Gordon: “He’s the favorite”. “Just because you’re playing with house money doesn’t mean you don’t want it bad”. After three more nondescript starts at Dover, Pocono and MI, Busch’s season took a turn.
Now 44 with an aching back, Gordon will run one more race that could put the final title on a legendary resume. Won the inaugural Brickyard 400, the first Indianapolis NASCAR race, in 1994. That’s why I, and many others who previously could not stand that screaming bright evil Monte Carlo, will be sad when it happens, and why we’re also kind of, almost, sort of pulling for him to get that 5th Cup.
“I thought 11th was a decent effort”, said Truex. “I mean, we’ve not qualified as well this year as we had last year, especially on a few of these types of racetracks…”
“Sam has a big influence on him”, Gibbs said.
“Sitting back here and watching Jeff talk and everything, it’s like, man, you know, I thought about it before, but I didn’t think about like how awesome it would be [for Hamlin] to win his final race”, Hamlin said.
“The team did an excellent, excellent job of that in those last couple laps”. He seems to have more of a patience, willing to think through things. Right now, I’m not even thinking and fathoming that. “But I think he definitely now is in a different place than he was 10 years ago”. After starting out as an 86-pound freshman, Harvick quit his senior year – the last time he says he gave up on anything.
Busch was the first Chase driver to attempt a third-round lap, setting the third-best overall speed (176.062 mph), behind Hamlin and Joey Logano.
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Rowdy had to scratch and claw his way into the Chase after getting a late start to his season due to an injury, but he has made it all the way to the end, and he is a huge threat to win whenever he takes the track at any level. “I just didn’t push the auto hard enough, didn’t realize how much more grip was going to be out there compared to practice, and I just wasn’t aggressive enough”.
