Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. joined Jeff Gordon in the four-man Chase showdown.
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NASCAR RACE HUB WEEKEND EDITION once again is a Friday and Saturday fixture on FS1, delivering at-track updates and news as it breaks throughout the course of the race weekend, while NASCAR VICTORY LANE recaps each Sprint Cup Series race with highlights and analysis.
Event: Ford Ecoboost 300, (200 laps, 300 miles), Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In his words: “They’re trying to put together the best possible vehicle they can in all areas, and I’m sure the rest of the guys are doing the same thing”. He wanted to race with the big boys.
All four will have tunnel vision on Sunday, looking only to finish first. With his three wins this year, Harvick also has 12 runner-up finishes. Even so, Busch won four times during the Sprint Cup season, which has him on the verge of a career breakthrough championship at Homestead. With his win here last season and experience winning a title, if Harvick can avoid trouble, he will be the driver to beat.
“They were the cutest things and we had a lot of fun with them”. Martin was the exact type of driver the majority of NASCAR’s southern fanbase could identify with, and Gordon, having risen so quickly, could only be seen as the heel. None of those have come under the Chase format however. They view themselves more as a fan of the driver than the sport, and they’ll no longer be watching NASCAR once Gordon retires (seven people answered this way).
Last race: Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Unlike Petty, Gordon can go out a champion.
1998 was the best year in Jeff Gordon’s career. After struggling through the regular season following the announcement of his imminent retirement, Gordon has fought his way into the title decider and is on the fringe of a fifth title.
“He’s got four championships, so I think he’s got the advantage”, said Harvick, who finished second. “Kids motivate you in a whole new way, and no matter what, we’re going to go out and be happy and celebrate, but to do it as a champion, oh, my gosh, I just can’t imagine anything that would be more emotional and more exciting and more gratifying than to look at my wife in the eyes and see that reaction from her when that race is over if we win it”. It was going against Earnhardt; that was huge. ’98 was big because of the wins, the 13-win season and how we dominated that season.
“I don’t think that any of us now have any beefs among one another, and we have a lot of respect for one another”, Gordon said. He’s had one top five and five top 10s in those nine races.
Yes, it’s true, Gordon has crossed that river, the one that most of the great NASCAR drivers go across as they get near the end of their careers. It was a bit surreal when Harvick, the driving force who’s all the time good to stir the pot, stated he did not need to make anybody indignant prematurely of Sunday’s season finale. He won four races and has been competitive enough to find himself deeper into the Chase than he has ever been. “Excited to get to Homestead, which has been a really good track for me over the years, and get a chance to pull off our first win there”. “Those other three competitors are going to get a few hard competition from me and any of the other teammates that are out there”. In June 1998 at Richmond, Wallace sent Gordon’s No. 24 into the wall and out of contention when Gordon tried to pass him for the lead on the outside late in the race. “I’m talking against Ricky Bobby right there”. So that always helps when you follow a good guy because it makes your job easier.
To get to this point, Truex has been excruciatingly consistent during the Chase (his Chase berth came via a win at Pocono). He races for a single auto team that is based far outside the NASCAR hotbed of North Carolina.
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“We want this more than anything right now”, Truex said Thursday.
