Saturday, November 17 Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida

2007 NASCAR Busch Series Owner Champion Richard Childress (right, white shirt) celebrates with Jeff Burton (left) and other members of the No. 29 team after winning the Ford 300.

Burton Wins Final NASCAR Busch Series Race, Clinches Owner's Title
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (November 17, 2007) -- Jeff Burton won the NASCAR Busch Series owners' championship for Richard Childress Racing when he took the green flag for Saturday's Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Two hundred laps later, he won the race, notching his fifth win of the year and the 27th of his career in the final event in the series under Anheuser-Busch sponsorship.

Burton denied former Roush Racing teammate Mark Martin a chance to win the final series race. Martin, the all-time series leader with 47 victories, finished 1.718 seconds behind Burton but held off current Roush Fenway drivers Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, who came home third and fourth, respectively.

Though Edwards had clinched the NASCAR Busch Series title two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, Saturday brought the official trophy presentation for the final championship before the series takes on sponsorship from Nationwide Insurance next year.

Stephen Leicht ran fifth, followed by Greg Biffle, Tony Raines, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Clint Bowyer and Marcos Ambrose.

"It really means a lot to me to win the last race in the Busch Series," Burton said. "I grew up wanting to be a Busch driver -- that's what I wanted to be. So it really means a lot to me to win the final race with Busch as a sponsor."

David Ragan's spin off Turn 4 on Lap 169, which interrupted a green-flag cycle of pits stops, left the leaders mired mid-pack for final restart on Lap 177. Burton restarted in first position, but 19th in the running order, followed by Edwards and Kenseth, who had survived a blown tire and a spin on Lap 86 that left him temporarily one lap down.

Over the next few laps, Martin was able to pull up beside Burton but couldn't clear the No. 29 Chevrolet, which Burton shared with driver Scott Wimmer in winning the owners' title for Childress by 255 points over the No. 20 Chevrolet driven by Denny Hamlin for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Subsequently, Edwards and Martin swapped second position, with Martin securing it on Lap 197. On the final lap at the 1.5-mile speedway, Kenseth overtook Edwards for third.

"We were pretty close tonight, but we couldn't pull it off, with Jeff Burton running the way he did," said Martin, who finished second for the second time in three races in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. "But we gave it our best shot. We got 'em two second-place finishes, but we couldn't get the job done."

Despite failing to finish the race, Ragan left with the consolation of having won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Busch Series.

Complete Race Results and Point Standings in the Event Stats section below...


Series sponsor Busch Beer bows out at Homestead-Miami Speedway after 26 seasons. The stat line: 803 races, 19 driver champions, 15 owner champions and the climb to earn the title as the No. 2 motorsports series in the nation.

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Jeff Burton won the Ford 300, his 27th victory in 280 NASCAR Busch Series races.
• This is his fifth victory and 17th top-10 finish in 19 NASCAR Busch Series races in 2007.
• This is Burton’s second victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• Mark Martin (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in seven Homestead NASCAR Busch Series races – all top fives.
• Matt Kenseth (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 10 NASCAR Busch Series races at Homestead.
• Marcos Ambrose (10th) was the highest finishing rookie.
• David Ragan won the 2007 Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year Award.

Carl Edwards (right) celebrates the 07 driver's championship with team owner Jack Roush.

NASCAR Busch Series Driver Champion - Carl Edwards

• Carl Edwards, who clinched the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Championship at Texas, won his first championship in one of NASCAR’s premier series
• Edwards finished the 2007 season with a 618-point lead over second place, David Reutimann.
• This is Edwards’ third full-time season driving in the NASCAR Busch Series. His previous best NASCAR Busch final point standing was in 2006 when he finished second to Kevin Harvick. He was third in 2005.

Richard Childress (center) with co-drivers of the No. 29 car, Jeff Burton (left) and Scott Wimmer (right).

NASCAR Busch Series Car Owner Champion - Richard Childress

• Richard Childress won his fourth NASCAR Busch Series Car Owner Championship – his second with multiple drivers. His four titles tie him with Teresa Earnhardt for the most in NASCAR Busch Series history. His 13 victories this season is the most ever in a single season in the NASCAR Busch Series.
• Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer shared the driving responsibilities for the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet this season. Childress won the car owner championship in 2003, with Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter sharing the wheel of the No. 21 PayDay Chevrolet. He also won the 2006 and 2001 championships with Kevin Harvick as the driver.
• Childress is just one of three car owners that have won championships in all three of NASCAR’s top three series. The others are Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush. Childress has totaled nine driver/owner championships and two car owner championships.

Schedule/Broadcast Times*

Practice: Friday, November 16 (SPEED at 2 p.m./AT)

Qualifying: Saturday, November 17 (SPEED at 1 p.m/AT)

Pre-Race Show: Saturday, November 17 (ESPN2 & TSN-HD at 5 p.m./AT)

Race: Saturday, November 17 (ESPN2 & TSN-HD at 5:30 p.m./AT)

*AT is one hour ahead of ET, i.e. if it's 2 p.m./AT - it's 1 p.m./ET...

Event Stats PDF files unless otherwise noted

Entry List

Qualifying Order

Starting Lineup

Race Results

Point Standings - Driver

Point Standings - Owner

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Ford 300
The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,533,505
2006 Winner: Matt Kenseth
2006 Pole: Kevin Harvick
Pre-Race Schedule: Friday–Practice, 1:10-2:20 p.m.; Rookie Practice, 2:30-3:00 p.m.; Final Practice, 6:35-7:25 Saturday–Qualifying, 12:05 a.m. (impound).
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Track Map



Green Flag Notes

• The Ford 300 is the final race for the NASCAR Busch Series; to be renamed the NASCAR Nationwide Series starting in 2008...
• The second split driver-owner championship in NASCAR national series history will be officially recognized Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway even though both will have been claimed before the start of the race. Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford) will officially raise his driver championship trophy while the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet of Richard Childress Racing will claim the owner title once the car settles into its starting spot. Both officially receive their respective awards after the Ford 300. Even though he re-claimed the 10th spot from Mike Wallace (No. 7 GEICO Chevrolet) after a second-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway, Matt Kenseth (No. 17 Dish Network Ford) dropped back to 11th following a 25-point penalty due to a post-race height infraction. Wallace jumped back into 10th, but is only 14 points ahead of Kenseth. Marcos Ambrose (No. 59 Kingsford Ford) remains in a nerve-racking position. He’s in eighth place, but has just a 44-point cushion separating him from a fall out of the top 10. Additionally, Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) is hanging on to a seven-point lead over reigning series champion Kevin Harvick (No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet) for third place in the final standings.
• Jason Keller (No. 11 CJM Racing Chevrolet) will help close out the NASCAR Busch Series era by attempting to register start No. 422 at Homestead on Saturday. Keller, who set the series all-time start mark at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Oct. 12, again must qualify on time for the event. He has started 52% of the 802 races contested in the NASCAR Busch Series and will continue to build on that mark next season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. His CJM Racing team announced it will compete in 2008.
• Think of the name Dale Jarrett and his stellar NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career – complete with the 1999 series championship and 32 wins – comes to mind. What may be forgotten is Jarrett’s standing as one of the charter members of the NASCAR Busch Series. The first of Jarrett’s 330 starts was on Feb. 13, 1982, the date of the first NASCAR Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway. He’s the only driver entered in this week’s national series races at Homestead that participated in that first NASCAR Busch series event. The 26-year-old Jarrett, driving for Horace Isenhower, finished 10th and earned $3,500.
• If Bobby Labonte wins the Ford 300, he’ll make a fan a millionaire. Mary McNair of Fairhope, Ala., was the grand prize winner of Dollar General’s “Win a Fast Million” sweepstakes. In addition to a $10,000 prize and an all-expense paid trip to attend the Ford 300, McNair will collect $1 million if Labonte is declared the winner of the race.
• The JR Motorsports No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet team returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, two years after the team made its NASCAR Busch Series debut at the 1.5-mile track. The team made its first start at the Speedway in 2005 as a precursor to its first full season of series competition in 2006. The track is also special for driver Brad Keselowski. In 2003, he turned his first-ever laps on a speedway at Homestead during a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test session.
• Despite three consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series wins to go along with three top fives, four top 10s and one Busch Pole in seven NASCAR Busch Series races, Greg Biffle has yet to win in NASCAR Busch Series competition at Homestead.
• Germain Racing will attempt to make its fifth NASCAR Busch Series start this season. The team will field the No. 03 Toyota for 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Todd Bodine. He has 320 starts and 15 wins in NASCAR Busch Series competition, plus two top-10 finishes this year.
• Jennifer Jo Cobb will attempt to qualify for Saturday’s race and will rely upon past success. In 2004, she qualified 28th – the highest a female driver had qualified in series competition that year – for the season finale at Homestead in what was also her first career series start.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.