NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Closes Season by Crowning a Champion at Homestead

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The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season comes to a close at Homestead Miami Speedway with the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday, November 20th at 2:30 pm ET. When the checkered flag waves, the championship title will be known. Television coverage begins at 2 pm ET on NBC with radio coverage on MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90. 

 

Home Sweet Homestead

Homestead-Miami Speedway has become dear to the hearts of several champions who were crowned at the 1.5-mile track.  In fact, over the past half dozen years the championship has been decided under the South Florida sun. Here’s a look at some recent memorable title performances: Continue reading

Who Says Joe Gibbs Racing Drivers aren’t Cooperating?

Photo - Getty Images

Photo – Getty Images

Team owner Joe Gibbs says it’s every man for himself in Sunday’s Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on NBC at 2:30 pm ET.

Just don’t tell his drivers.

Gibbs is the first owner to place two drivers in the final round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup since the elimination format debuted in the 2014 season.

And to Gibbs, it’s understandable if Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards hold back proprietary information from each other as they compete for the series title. Continue reading

Championship 4 Drivers are Tightly Bunched at Homestead; Harvick Wins Pole

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2016 in Homestead, Florida. Photo - Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2016 in Homestead, Florida. Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Jimmie Johnson’s rueful rhetorical question told the story of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“What’s a championship race without a little drama?” Johnson asked after earning the 14th starting position during a session fraught with difficulty for the No. 48 team.

Kevin Harvick, who was eliminated from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last Sunday at Phoenix, won the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 Championship 4 race on NBC at 2:30 pm ET, touring the 1.5-mile track in 30.399 seconds (177.637 mph) during the money round. Continue reading

Falling Short in 2011 Gives Carl Edwards Motivation for Title Run

MIAMI BEACH, FL - NOVEMBER 17: Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Arris Surfboard Toyota, talks to the media during media day for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship at the Loews Hotel on November 17, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

MIAMI BEACH, FL – NOVEMBER 17: Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Arris Surfboard Toyota, talks to the media during media day for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship at the Loews Hotel on November 17, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Five years have passed since Carl Edwards got his last shot at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

And earlier this week, he got a painful-if-instructive reminder.

In 2011, Edwards came to Homestead-Miami Speedway with a three-point lead over Tony Stewart in what had evolved into a two-man battle for the series title.

Stewart won the race, and Edwards ran second, leaving the drivers tied for the points lead at the end of the Chase. But Stewart claimed the championship via tiebreaker, having won an unprecedented five of the Chase races. Continue reading

Johnson, Knaus Can Cement Names atop NASCAR Record Books

Photo - Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Jimmie Johnson has been there before – more than any other driver in the past two decades.

But this trip to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at 2:30 pm ET is different. In the first place, Johnson has his first opportunity to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship under the 16-driver elimination format introduced by the sanctioning body in 2014.

Beyond that, in what is the transcendent story of this year’s Chase, Johnson has a chance to win a seventh series title, one that would tie him for the all-time lead with NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Continue reading