It’s championship week. The conclusion to the 36-week long journey that is the NASCAR season happens at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 400. With just four drivers left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, it simply comes down to who finishes highest in the field, regardless of them winning the race outright or not. Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Joey Logano all won their way into this race in the Round of 8 while Kyle Busch inched his way in on points. Homestead is a 1.5-mile layout with progressive banking in the turns and practically flat straightaways at just three degrees of banking on them. With just one race a year here, we have expanded the data points a bit to give a better grasp of who has done what on the southern track.
Track Breakdown
| Avg. | Avg. | Laps | High | Low | Avg. | Diff | Laps Led | Laps Led | ||||||||
| Driver | Start | Finish | Races | Wins | Top 5's | Top 10's | Top 20's | Led | Poles | Finish | Finish | DNF | Rating | Pts. | Pts. | Pts./race |
| Tony Stewart | 17.9 | 14.94 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 450 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 1 | 91.7 | 2.96 | 112.5 | 7.03 |
| Greg Biffle | 16.7 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 175 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 2 | 73.2 | -0.3 | 43.75 | 3.13 |
| Carl Edwards | 11.6 | 9.25 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 568 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 109.1 | 2.35 | 142 | 11.83 |
| Denny Hamlin | 24.7 | 10.73 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 213 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 103.4 | 13.97 | 53.25 | 4.84 |
| Kevin Harvick | 13.3 | 7.2 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 236 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 123.9 | 6.1 | 59 | 3.93 |
| Matt Kenseth | 16.8 | 15.25 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 449 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 2 | 85.1 | 1.55 | 112.25 | 7.02 |
| Kurt Busch | 13.7 | 18.47 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 97 | 2 | 1 | 43 | 2 | 71.6 | -4.77 | 24.25 | 1.62 |
| Kyle Busch | 13.1 | 21.09 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 278 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 2 | 69.8 | -7.99 | 69.5 | 6.32 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 15.3 | 14.07 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 99 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 2 | 95.2 | 1.23 | 24.75 | 1.65 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 14.3 | 10.18 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 111 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 1 | 97.4 | 4.12 | 27.75 | 2.52 |
| Clint Bowyer | 16.1 | 14.1 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 43 | 1 | 87.9 | 2 | 0.25 | 0.03 |
| Ryan Newman | 12.4 | 15.86 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 143 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 2 | 80.5 | -3.46 | 35.75 | 2.55 |
| Jamie McMurray | 17 | 16.36 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 95.4 | 0.64 | 0.25 | 0.02 |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.5 | 13.5 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 106 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 0 | 99.6 | -1 | 26.5 | 3.31 |
| Kasey Kahne | 10.3 | 15.25 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 107 | 2 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 84.6 | -4.95 | 26.75 | 2.23 |
| Casey Mears | 26.6 | 23.92 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 76 | 0 | 5 | 42 | 3 | 61.1 | 2.68 | 19 | 1.46 |
| Joey Logano | 14.4 | 17.71 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 72 | 1 | 4 | 39 | 1 | 97.7 | -3.31 | 18 | 2.57 |
| A.J. Allmendinger | 22 | 19.57 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 40 | 1 | 67.8 | 2.43 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Aric Almirola | 20 | 20.33 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 41 | 0 | 72.4 | -0.33 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Paul Menard | 24.1 | 21.8 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 39 | 1 | 68.1 | 2.3 | 0.25 | 0.03 |
| Kyle Larson | 23.3 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 106.9 | 12.3 | 0.75 | 0.25 |
| David Ragan | 23.1 | 27 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 38 | 1 | 57.2 | -3.9 | 0.5 | 0.06 |
| Danica Patrick | 30.3 | 20.67 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 24 | 0 | 72.3 | 9.63 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Regan Smith | 18.4 | 25.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 34 | 0 | 52.7 | -6.8 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Trevor Bayne | 21.8 | 29.6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 42 | 2 | 83.1 | -7.8 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Austin Dillon | 17 | 19.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 25 | 0 | 71.9 | -2.5 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ryan Blaney | 6 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 68.4 | -11 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Reed Sorenson | 23.3 | 26.83 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 40 | 1 | 38.8 | -3.53 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ty Dillon | 25 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 65.8 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Brian Scott | 30 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 52.9 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 37 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 47.4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Alex Bowman | 37 | 29.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 33 | 0 | 45.9 | 7.5 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Michael Annett | 39 | 32.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 35 | 0 | 43.9 | 6.5 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 18.5 | 26.25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 39 | 1 | 42.6 | -7.75 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Michael McDowell | 29.5 | 37.33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 43 | 4 | 42.6 | -7.83 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Landon Cassill | 33.5 | 33.33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 40 | 2 | 41.3 | 0.17 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dylan Lupton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Gray Gaulding | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Alex Bowman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Jeffrey Earnhardt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Chris Buescher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Key Drivers on 1.5-mile Tracks
| Avg. | Avg. | Laps | High | Low | Diff | Laps Led | Laps Led | |||||||||
| Driver | Start | Finish | Races | Wins | Top 5's | Top 10's | Top 20's | Led | Poles | Finish | Finish | DNF | Rating | Pts. | Pts. | Pts./race |
| Jimmie Johnson | 13.9 | 12.37 | 35 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 1,115 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 2 | 102.5 | 1.53 | 278.75 | 7.96 |
| Kevin Harvick | 6.9 | 9.49 | 35 | 5 | 19 | 27 | 31 | 2,160 | 5 | 1 | 42 | 2 | 117.4 | -2.59 | 540 | 15.43 |
| Brad Keselowski | 6.7 | 9.89 | 35 | 5 | 13 | 26 | 32 | 1,419 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 2 | 107 | -3.19 | 354.75 | 10.14 |
| Joey Logano | 6.6 | 10.31 | 35 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 30 | 1,263 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 3 | 107.8 | -3.71 | 315.75 | 9.02 |
| Kyle Busch | 10.8 | 8.61 | 31 | 4 | 15 | 22 | 29 | 683 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 1 | 104.3 | 2.19 | 170.75 | 5.51 |
| Carl Edwards | 10.1 | 10.63 | 35 | 3 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 310 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 94.2 | -0.53 | 77.5 | 2.21 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 10.9 | 11.46 | 35 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 31 | 1,183 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 101.2 | -0.56 | 295.75 | 8.45 |
| Denny Hamlin | 11.1 | 14.26 | 35 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 28 | 361 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 4 | 92.2 | -3.16 | 90.25 | 2.58 |
| Kasey Kahne | 16.7 | 14.91 | 35 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 27 | 80 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 3 | 84.6 | 1.79 | 20 | 0.57 |
| Matt Kenseth | 13.4 | 10.97 | 34 | 0 | 10 | 24 | 29 | 637 | 4 | 2 | 42 | 2 | 99 | 2.43 | 159.25 | 4.68 |
| Ryan Newman | 12.9 | 10.94 | 35 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 88.7 | 1.96 | 8.25 | 0.24 |
| Kyle Larson | 15.3 | 17.03 | 35 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 83 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 3 | 86.3 | -1.73 | 20.75 | 0.59 |
| Kurt Busch | 10.8 | 14.24 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 26 | 371 | 3 | 3 | 42 | 5 | 89.9 | -3.44 | 92.75 | 2.81 |
| Jamie McMurray | 16.1 | 16.29 | 35 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 28 | 107 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 2 | 81.2 | -0.19 | 26.75 | 0.76 |
| Chase Elliott | 13.5 | 18.38 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 186 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 3 | 90.5 | -4.88 | 46.5 | 3.58 |
Drivers to watch this week:
.jpg)
Jimmie Johnson: “Six Time” heads into this weekend trying to join a group with just two other drivers, Dale Sr. and Richard Petty, in it with a seventh championship. At $10,800 in salary, he is the most expensive driver despite having never posting a win at the track. He has however finished in the top-10 10 times in 15 career races at Homestead and has been on the pole twice. Even with all the pressure that has been building for him during the Chase playoffs, he has been able to stay cool and collected and he’ll need that demeanor if he wants to take home the championship.
Kyle Busch: Kyle is the defending Sprint Cup champ after capping off a remarkable comeback season with a win here last season. That win was only his fourth top-10 finish in 11 career races there and just two top-fives. He ranks fourth in laps led in that 11-race span with 278 in the front of the field. He is the third costliest driver at $10,500 but could be well worth the investment if he can capture the magic from last year.
Joey Logano: Logano is coming off a win at Phoenix to lock in his spot in the Ford Championship Weekend, however his history at Homestead-Miami is the weakest among the competitors. He has one top-five and two top-10s in seven career races there and hadn’t led a lap until last year’s race when he led 72 of them. At $10,200 this week, he represents a driver on an upswing and a possibly elite-caliber driver at a slightly cheaper price than the previously mentioned two.
Carl Edwards: Edwards has the strongest credentials of any of the four drivers going for the title, yet is the cheapest Chase driver on the price list. Edwards has the second best average finish in Miami since racing started here in 1999 with a 9.25 average spot. He also has two wins, five top-fives, and seven top-10s in the 12 races he’s run on the track. The 568 laps led he’s posted are the best in the field by more than 100. At $9,700 he can get you an elite driver and save on your budget at the same time.
Tony Stewart: Sunday will mark, what in all likelihood is, the last race for Smoke in his NASCAR career. Stewart has been up and down this season that saw him win with a great last turn pass at Sonoma to even get into the Chase. Homestead-Miami has been a great track for him over the 16 races he’s run at it with three wins, four top-fives, and seven top-10s. His 450 laps led is the third highest total in the field this week as well. He comes in at $7,500 in salary for the final race and with him motivated to put on a show, much like Jeff Gordon did last year, he could very well regain his form for one more week and bring great value.