HOMESTEAD | It’s taken nine months and 10,158 laps in a span of 35 races for NASCAR to whittle down to a Final Four for next Sunday’s winner-take-all at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Four drivers remain in contention for the championship.
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Mark him down as Notre Dame in our college football comparison, loved by a few, hated by others but always a threat to shake down the thunder. Kevin Harvick is the defending victor of this race, having captured last year’s event to seal his first career Sprint Cup championship….
If Gordon wins Sunday, his 14-year gap between championships would surpass Terry Labonte’s record 12-season drought between titles (1984-’96). Adam Stevens [crew chief] and these guys, they worked hard and they persevered all through the beginning part of the season when I was gone working with David Ragan and Erik Jones and Matt Crafton and those guys that drove my race auto.
– In his career at Homestead, Busch has no wins, just one top five finish, and just three top ten finishes in 10 races. If he wins his first title, he’ll be the first driver with a single-car entry since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to celebrate. There is no guarantee that the race victor will be the series champion.
AVONDALE, AZ – Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Pepsi Chevrolet, greets the crowd during driver introductions for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix worldwide Raceway on November 15, 2015. The odds are current as of Thursday morning for your NASCAR betting or fantasy racing leagues. This will be the 21st Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway…. Well on the final lap at Homestead, it wasn’t Joey Logano or Denny Hamlin breathing down Kevin Harvick’s neck – it was Newman. However, until the checkered flag falls Sunday, nothing is a given. Looking at the stats though Harvick is a clear favorite. Harvick has been fairly successful at the track, with one win (which came last season), six top five finishes, and 12 top ten finishes in 14 career races at Homestead. However, that story will undoubtedly generate debate about a champion that missed 42 percent of the regular season – as Busch did when he was sidelined for the first 11 races. His rating of 106.6 is tops over Harvick at 102.5, Gordon at 100.7, and Busch at 91.5. Busch won four times and finished well above the cut line.
That’s because even with a completely redesigned Chase for the Sprint Cup format, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team have been by far the class of the field. In fact, his 23.1 Homestead average finish ranks 25th among active drivers. Rodney Childers, Harvick’s crew chief, is the only one who has experienced final four stress.
Since all four contenders are experienced Chasers, it’s unlikely they’ll be overwhelmed by stressful scene in Homestead. “Not only has Homestead-Miami Speedway been my best track over the past 10 years, but the 1.5-mile tracks have also been strong for our team”.
Truex, who has been labeled the underdog because of Furniture Row Racing being a single vehicle team feels the Denver, Colorado-based team has what it takes to bring the Sprint Cup trophy to the Mile High City. The stats seemed to give him a little hope. Heading into Sunday’s race, Gordon has 93 career wins, 325 top-five and 474 top-10 finishes, as well as 81 poles. The debatable and ever-changing Chase system cost Gordon the title in 2004, ’07 and ’14; perhaps this is the year Fate pays him back with a triumphant retirement from the very top of stock auto racing. His best finishes include a runner-up, third and fourth. “At the end of the day, what is best for the sport is best for me, best for the team, best for all teams”.
Others: Someone outside the Chase could win the race Sunday. Matt Kenseth returns to action after missing the previous two races at Texas and Phoenix while serving a NASCAR-mandated suspension. HMS has won the last three races and is hitting its stride right at title time.
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He also enters Sunday’s Ford 400 with the best driver rating at Homestead among the four finalists.
