Ford EcoBoost 400

Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL
Sunday November 18, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC
1.5 Mile Oval
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 84°F

Previous Five Winners and Pole Sitters

Race	Race Winner	Pole Sitter
Fall 2017	Martin Truex Jr.	Denny Hamlin
Fall 2016	Jimmie Johnson	Kevin Harvick
Fall 2015	Kyle Busch	Denny Hamlin
Fall 2014	Kevin Harvick	Jeff Gordon
Fall 2013	Denny Hamlin	Matt Kenseth

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Miami this Sunday with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A total of 39 cars are scheduled to enter the event. It is the final race of the 2018 season and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship will be decided. Which of the final four contenders will find the speed to take the checkered flag and race home with the title?

The Championship Contenders

After 26 regular season and 9 playoff races, the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead is finally upon us. Points no longer matter, this is a shootout where the highest finishing car among the four finalists will bring home the title. Any driver entered can win the race, but let’s face the facts. The final four have made it this far for a reason, they have combined to win 22 of the 35 races this year. It wouldn't be shocking if they finished first through fourth.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is one of NASCAR's infamous 1.5 mile "cookie-cutter" tracks and no driver has had more success on the cookie-cutters this season than Kevin Harvick, who won four of the ten 1.5 mile races. Harvick is no stranger to the pressure of competing in a winner-take-all shootout. Since NASCAR adopted the current playoff format in 2014, Harvick has made the final four every season. In his four previous championship races he has finished first, second, third and fourth. He will be in the mix to the very end. The first place finish came in 2014 and won Harvick the Cup Series title. Homestead has always been a good track for him, he hasn't finished outside of the top-ten there since 2007. His 6.8 career average finish leads the four remaining playoff contenders.

"I feel like we race with a chip on our shoulder every week," said Harvick.

The one factor not Harvick's favor is the loss of crew chief Rodney Childers. Childers was suspended after the No. 4 team received a L1 level penalty following Harvick's victory at Texas. Childers was also suspended for last week's race at Phoenix and Harvick dominated the action until a flat tire put him a lap down. He was able to recover to finish in fifth place, so maybe the loss of Childers' services on race day won't slow him down.

Kyle Busch has been battling Harvick all season to be the top dog in NASCAR. Busch also had a strong year on the cookie-cutters, winning three out of the ten races. He won this race in 2015 to claim the Cup Series championship and last year finished runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. He has momentum on his side after winning at Phoenix last week. And of course Kyle Busch never lacks for confidence.

"I think I've yet to see my prime and crest that top," said Busch. "Everybody's got to figure out what to do to make our program the best it can be. I expect Joe Gibbs to do that. I expect Adam (Stevens) to do that. I expect our lead engineer to do that. I expect our guys in the shop to do that. I expect me to do that. Absolutely."

Martin Truex Jr. is the defending champion and has extra motivation to repeat the feat this year. Furniture Row Racing announced 2018 will be their final season in NASCAR and Truex would love to have the team that rescued his career after the departure of Michael Waltrip Racing go out on top.

"It's been, as far as racing goes, by far the time of my life," said Truex. "I've realized dreams I've had since I was a kid because of this group and this team and what we've done. A lot of emotions talking with the guys, but they're fired up, and they feel like they've built one of the best cars they've ever sent out of there. ... So we'll see what we can do with it. It would be a hell of a story to go out on top."

Truex won one cookie-cutter race this season at Kentucky. That was back in July and the last time Truex visited victory lane this year. He has lagged behind his compatriots in the Big Three lately, but will be determined to repeat.

Joey Logano is aware he is the underdog among the four championships finalists.

"It's the 'Big 3' and me," said Logano.

The numbers certainly don't favor Logano. He hasn't won on a cookie-cutter all season and has never won a race at Homestead. His best career finish here is fourth place, which he achieved in 2015 and 2016. That doesn't mean he can't win. He has been competitive on the cookie-cutters in the playoffs with a fourth place finish at Las Vegas and a third place finish at Las Vegas. Plus he has a little extra motivation the other three contenders are missing: He is trying to win his first championship, the other three are striving for number two. He isn't going to back down from the Big Three.

"I guess maybe it was 15, 20 weeks ago, we weren't the championship caliber that we needed to be," said Logano. "Now, I will say since that time we are. I feel like we do have what it takes to ... give them a run for their money."

News Around the Track

On Tuesday Wood Brother Racing announced David Pearson died on Monday at the age of 83. The "Silver Fox" was an all-time NASCAR great, his 105 career victories is second only to Richard Petty's 200 wins. The duo had an amazing rivalry in the 60's and 70's that saw them finish first and second in a race 63 times. Pearson had the edge, winning 33 of those races.

"I have always been asked who my toughest competitor in my career was. The answer has always been David Pearson," said Petty.

Pearson's career records are even more impressive when you realize he rarely ran a full schedule. In a NASCAR Cup Series career which began in 1960 and lasted until 1986, he only competed in a full schedule three times: 1966, 1968 and 1969. He won the Cup Series Championship all three years.

In 1972 Pearson joined Wood Brothers Racing and began a dominant run of racing the motorsport had never seen before. In 1973 Pearson won 11 of the 18 races he competed in, a NASCAR record for highest winning percentage in a season. Despite skipping more than a third of the season schedule, he was named NASCAR Driver of the Year and finished eighth in the point standings. In 1976 he won 10 of the 22 races he entered. All told, Pearson won 43 races for the Wood Brothers in only 143 starts.

Pearson wasn't included in NASCAR's inaugural Hall of Fame Class of 2010 and many fans were upset. His career numbers are only topped by Richard Petty, who had more than twice as many career starts as Pearson. He was the leading vote-getter in 2011 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame later that year.

Enjoy The Race!

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_{Author & Editor: @chops316}

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