Championship Race: Ford EcoBoost 400 The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway The Date: Sunday, Nov. 18 The Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 2 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps), Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 267) Familiar Faces This will be the second consecutive year that Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. have advanced to the Homestead-Miami Speedway Championship 4 round. This marks the first time in NASCAR’s Playoff era that three of the four title contenders were championship eligible in consecutive years. It marks the third consecutive time that three of the four drivers vying for the big trophy are former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champs. Harvick won the 2014 championship, Busch in 2015 and Truex is the reigning Monster Energy Cup champion. A Spoiler At Homestead? Under the “win and you’re in” elimination-style Playoff format, the eventual champion has won at Homestead the last four years (Kevin Harvick, 2014; Kyle Busch, 2015; Jimmie Johnson, 2016, and Martin Truex Jr., 2017). Still, a driver out of championship contention can win the race. In addition to Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson – two previous Homestead winners, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson claims Homestead-Miami Speedway as his favorite track. The 26-year-old NASCAR Next alumnus finished runner-up at Homestead in 2016 after leading a race-high 132 laps and placed fifth at the 1.5-mile track in 2015. After a breakout season in 2017, when he set career highs in wins (four), top fives (14), top 10s (19) and average finish (13.6), Larson’s Chip Ganassi Racing team struggled this year. He has not won a race for the first time in two seasons but arrives at his favorite track fresh off back-to-back top-five finishes in Texas (5th) and Phoenix (3rd) and never more motivated to finish out the year in victory circle. Streaks on the Line Two other highly-motivated, would-be “spoilers” at Homestead are Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. Both drivers have won at the track before and both drivers are trying to extend decade-plus winning streaks. Hamlin, a two-time Homestead winner (2009, 2013), has won a race every season of his 13-year fulltime Cup career. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has been fast this year – claiming three pole positions and posting six top-three finishes, including a pair of runner-up finishes in the Playoffs (Dover, Del. and Martinsville, Va.). Johnson, who won at Homestead to seal his seventh Cup championship in 2016, has won at least two races every previous year in his 17-year Cup career. He is currently riding the longest winless streak of his time in the Cup Series. His last victory came at Dover, Del. 59 races ago. Johnson has three top-10s in the nine playoff races, but a seventh at Talladega, Ala. four weeks ago is his most recent. His best showing on the season is third at Bristol, Tenn. in the Spring. This will be Johnson’s last race paired with Chad Knaus as crew chief. The Hendrick Motorsports team is moving team positions and in 2019, Knaus goes to 2018 rookie William Byron while Kevin Meendering will move to Johnson’s team. Good Things Come In (Top) Threes All three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champions crowned since the elimination-style Playoff format was introduced in 2014 earned their title by taking the checkered flag. In three of those years (2014, 2015, 2017), second place in the standings finished second in the race. That means there’s a lot of pressure on this year’s Championship 4 to win, or at least finish very close to the front, to secure the title. Kevin Harvick leads the Championship 4 in top-five finishes in 2018 with 22, followed by Kyle Busch’s 21. Joey Logano, making his first Playoff appearance since 2016, leads the champion foursome in average finish during the nine playoff races. He’s averaging a 9.4 finish compared to 9.8 by Truex, 10.8 by Busch and 12.4 by Harvick. Next Race: Ford EcoBoost 300 The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway The Date: Saturday, Nov. 17 The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200) NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 (In Alphabetical Order) Below is a look at the four drivers that have qualified for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 and will race for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 300 on Saturday, Nov. 17 (at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90). Christopher Bell (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry) Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell is having a record-breaking Sunoco rookie season and with his seventh win on the year last weekend at Phoenix, he now has the chance to vie for the championship this weekend in Miami. If Bell were to win the title this weekend, he would become the third different Sunoco Rookie to win the series championship joining Chase Elliott (2014) and William Byron (2017). Bell won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship last season and looks to become the fourth driver to win both the Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in his career joining Austin Dillon, Johnny Benson Jr. and Greg Biffle. Season Recap: Bell has made 32 series starts in 2018 producing a rookie record seven wins (Richmond, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Iowa-2, Richmond-2, Dover-2 and ISM Raceway-2), 18 top fives (series-most), 20 top 10s and five poles. He has also led 750 laps (series-most) this season and has managed an average start of 8.8 and an average finish of 11.1. In addition, Bell has posted solid season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 106.1 (third-best), an average running position of 10.266 (fifth-best), a total of 603 fastest laps run (series-most), and completed 81.3% of his laps (4,501) in the top 15 (fifth-best). Cole Custer (No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang) Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer has made the most of his sophomore season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series making the Championship 4 for the first time in his career. Last season, Custer fell just short of making the Championship 4 but ultimately finished fifth in the series standings as a rookie. Now Custer has the opportunity to bring Stewart-Haas Racing its first series championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Season Recap: Custer has made 32 series starts in 2018 collecting one win (Texas-2), 13 top fives, 25 top 10s (series most) and five poles. He has also led 294 laps this season and has managed an average start of 6.1 and an average finish of 9.2. In addition, Custer has posted stout season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 103.4 (fourth-best), an average running position of 8.921 (third-best), a total of 321 fastest laps run (second-most), and completed 87.9% of his laps (4,868) in the top 15 (second-best). Daniel Hemric (No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro) For the second consecutive season, Daniel Hemric has raced his way into the Championship 4 round and heads to Miami with a chance of becoming the next NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. Hemric has already been tapped to run fulltime next season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but a Xfinity title before he goes would be a nice feather in his cap. Hemric is still looking for his first win of his NASCAR career, if he were to win the championship this weekend with out winning the race he would become the first NASCAR national series champion to win a title without ever winning a NASCAR race at any level (0-for-2 in Cup; 0-for-66 in Xfinity [after Homestead]; 0-for-50 in Trucks; 0-for-3 in K&N Pro Series; 0-for-12 in NWMT/NWSMT and also 0-for-1 in ARCA). Season Recap: Hemric has made 32 series starts in 2018 amassing 15 top fives, 22 top 10s and four poles. He has also led 440 laps (fourth-most) this season and has managed an average start of 7.9 and an average finish of 9.1. In addition, Hemric has posted robust season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 106.1 (second-best), an average running position of 7.297 (series-best), a total of 290 fastest laps run (fourth-most), and completed 93.4% of his laps (5,174) in the top 15 (series-best). Tyler Reddick (No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro) Heading into Phoenix it looked as though three of the Championship 4 this season could be from the JR Motorsport’s camp. But following the action at ISM Raceway, only Tyler Reddick was able to advance and have a shot this weekend at the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Reddick’s season has been a winning one from the start and his recent consistent finishes have led to this opportunity this weekend. The 22-year old is on the verge of possibly winning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors and becoming the third different Sunoco Rookie to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship joining Chase Elliott (2014) and William Byron (2017). Season Recap: Reddick has made 32 series starts in 2018 rallying off one win (Daytona-1), six top fives, and 19 top 10s. He has also led 140 laps this season and has managed an average start of 11.9 and an average finish of 13.2. In addition, Reddick has posted decent season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 93.3 (sixth-best), an average running position of 11.018 (sixth-best), a total of 186 fastest laps run (eighth-most), and completed 79.7% of his laps (4,411) in the top 15 (sixth-best). Saying Farwell: Veteran Elliott Sadler Calls It A Career In Fulltime Racing Despite the joys of crowning a champion this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway it will be sad to see long-time NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran and JR Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler retire from fulltime racing at the drop of the checkered flag in the weekend’s Ford EcoBoost 300 (at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sadler’s NASCAR national series career started in 1995 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving in his own equipment owned by his mother Bell Sadler. Is wasn’t long after that he was running fulltime in the series and then moving up to the Monster Energy Series as well in 1997. The constant competitor, Sadler, even dabbled in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the early 2000s and all tolled the Virginian has made 852 NASCAR national series combined starts (Cup 438, Xfinity 394 and 20 in Truck) – he ranks 21st on the all-time NASCAR national series combined starts list. His 394 Xfinity starts are eighth most all-time (21 years of competition). He is also one of just 29 drivers all-time to win in all three of NASCAR’s national series. In total he has produced 17 wins (three MENCS, 13 NXS and one NCWTS) Sadler has finished in the top four in points in six of the last seven Xfinity seasons; including four runner-up finishes in the championship standings. This weekend Sadler has as good a shot as anyone to play spoiler on the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the 43-year old has made 12 series starts at the 1.5-mile track posting two top fives, six top 10s and an average finish of 14.5. Sunoco Rookie of the Year Battle Continues It has all come down to this and the highest finishing Sunoco rookie between Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick, both in the Championship 4 this weekend, will be named the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year. Bell enters the championship race having posted seven wins the season – a series record for a rookie. Reddick has also won this season – the season opener at Daytona – and since has been a title contender all season. Both have made just one start at Homestead last season, Reddick started on the pole and finished fourth while Bell started fourth and finished 36th due to an engine failure. Owners’ Championship 4 Outlook Three of the four driver championship teams have made it into the owner standings Championship 4 as well, except for the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team. In its stead is the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet team led by crew chief Mike Shiplett. Several drivers have contributed to the success of the No. 42 team this season including Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Jamie McMurray, Justin Marks and John Hunter Nemechek, who will be in the car this weekend. Shiplett has guided the No. 42 team to six wins this season. Chip Ganassi Racing will be accompanied by Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 00 Ford team driven by Cole Custer, the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota team driven by Christopher Bell and the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet team piloted by Daniel Hemric. Next Race: Ford EcoBoost 200 The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway The Date: Friday, Nov. 16 The Time: 8 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 201 miles (134 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 30), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on lap 134) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 (In Alphabetical Order) Below is a look at the four drivers that have qualified for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 and will race for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 200 on Friday night, Nov. 16 (at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90). Noah Gragson (No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota) Noah Gragson has had an outstanding sophomore season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Although he couldn’t clinch as many wins as he would have liked, Gragson was a stage winning machine throughout the season. He won 10 stages, the most of any driver and three of those stage wins were in the Playoffs. Gragson, 20, was dominant in qualifying this season with six pole awards (Dover Kansas, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Phoenix), the most of any driver in the series. Gragson started in the top 10 in 18 of the 21 races he ran and finished in the top 10 in 16 of them. He had a season full of Truck Series career bests including seven top-five finishes and 16 top 10s. Gragson led 591 laps and has an average starting position of 6.0 and average finish of 10.4. Gragson completed 3,174 laps of the scheduled 3,209. In addition, Gragson raced in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2018 for Joe Gibbs Racing; where he had impressive finishes of second, fourth and seventh. This weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway marks the first season in his career he has made the NASCR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4. His previous best championship standings finish was 1oth in last season’s Playoffs. Justin Haley (No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet) As the youngest driver competing in the Championship 4, Justin Haley, 19, has had no problem fitting right in with the others. It’s been a whirlwind of a season for the young driver, who scored his first victory this season at Gateway Motorsports Park, which also secured his spot in the Playoffs early on. This is Haley’s first appearance in the Playoffs. From there, Haley just kept getting better. He has had a career-best season with three wins (Gateway, CTMP and Texas), 9 top fives, 17 top 10s and has led a career-high 60 laps. Two of those three wins came during the Playoffs. Haley didn’t finish outside of the top 10 in any Playoff races except last weekend at Phoenix where his truck suffered an oil leak. With 22 starts this season, Haley’s average starting position is 10.0 and his average finishing position is 9.0. Haley competed 3,184 laps of the scheduled 3,269. This season marked Haley’s second fulltime season behind the wheel in the Truck Series and fourth year all together. He piloted the Braun Motorsports No. 32 for six races total in 2015 and 2016 before landing a spot with GMS Racing in 2017. Haley’s impressive championship run in the Truck Series earned him the opportunity to run three races for GMS Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year at Iowa, Daytona and Watkins Glen. Haley also has experience in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and East as well as the ARCA Racing Series. Brett Moffitt (No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota) Brett Moffitt took the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series by storm in 2018, winning five times (Atlanta, Iowa, Chicagoland, Michigan, Phoenix) with 12 top-five finishes in his first fulltime season in the series. Plus, this is Moffitt’s first Playoff run and the first for Hattori Racing Enterprises. Moffitt, who has experience in all three NASCAR national series, showed the most success of his career this season. In 22 starts, 3,214 of 3,269 laps completed and 210 laps led, he has posted an average start of 12.0 and average finish of 9.3. Moffitt finished every race of the season except for the series opener at Daytona where he crashed on lap 72. This team has fought through adversity the entire season, sometimes not knowing if they would be able to make it to the racetrack over the weekend due to sponsorship struggles. But they were always able to make the best of it with last lap finishes for the win. Thus far in the 2018 Playoffs, Moffitt has four top-five finishes and started in the top 10 every race except at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Martinsville, where he came from the back to finish second and third, respectively. Johnny Sauter (No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet) It wouldn’t be the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs if we didn’t have Johnny Sauter in the Championship 4, would it? The 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion is back to take his crown. This is Sauter’s third trip to the Playoffs in its current format and he has been in the Championship 4 every one of those trips, winning it all in 2016. This is Sauter’s 15th year competing in the Camping World Truck Series and his 10th as a full-timer. He has 243 total starts, 23 wins, 102 top fives, 157 top 10s and seven poles. He has led 2,447 laps and has an average start of 9.8 and average finish of 9.6. Sauter also passed Todd Bodine this season to put himself on the list of top five all-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winners with 23. In 2016, Sauter’s first trip to the Playoffs and the Championship 4, he had three wins, 12 top-five finishes, 19 top 10s and one pole. He won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway to secure his spot in the Playoffs and then went on to win back-to-back Playoff races at Martinsville and Texas before winning the championship. Last year, Sauter had four wins with 13 top fives, 19 top 10s and led 455 laps. Sauter won at Dover to secure his spot in the Playoffs and then went on to win at Chicagoland in the regular season. In the Playoffs, Sauter won at Texas and Phoenix before finishing second in the standings when Christopher Bell took home the championship. If Sauter wins the championship this year, he will join Ron Hornaday Jr., Jack Sprague and Matt Crafton as multi-championship winners in the series. It appears that Sauter just gets better with time as he accomplished a career-best six wins this season along with 14 top fives, 17 top 10s and one pole. He also led a career-best 585 laps so far. The winning began in the season-opener at Daytona where Sauter started in the front row and ended up winning the race after leading 39 laps. And, as a reminder, the last time Sauter won the season-opener and went to the Championship 4, he won the title. From there, he just kept winning. He won at Dover after starting from second place and won at Charlotte Motor Speedway starting from the pole. Immediately after, he won at Texas to give himself back-to-back victories. He then went on to win at Bristol starting from the fourth position, also where he was crowned the regular season champion. Don’t Forget About Gilliland Todd Gilliland’s rookie season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been an impressive one, for sure. The newly 18-year-old has 18 starts this season with four top fives, nine top 10s and one pole. Gilliland came close to getting his first win multiple times this season but suffered heartbreak in each of them due to outstanding issues like running out of fuel. He led a career-best 208 laps this season and has an average start of 6.5 and finish of 12.4. Although he is not in the Playoffs, Gilliland has been a true contender on the track and should only get better next season. Owners’ Championship 4 Battle For the second straight season, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will see a unified driver and owner championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. All four team that have qualified for the driver Championship 4 are also the same teams entered in the owner standings Championship 4 and as a result the highest finishing team of the four this weekend will take home the title. The four trucks to watch for are GMS Racing’s No. 21 Chevrolet truck led by crew chief Joe Shear Jr. and driven by Johnny Sauter and the No. 24 Chevrolet team led by crew chief Kevin Bellicourt and driven by Justin Haley; plus, Kyle Busch Motorsport’s No. 18 Toyota team led by Ryan Fugle and driven by Noah Gragson and last but not least Hattori Racing’s No. 16 Toyota team led by crew chief Scott Zipadelli and driven by Brett Moffit. Manufacturer Championship Toyota has dominated the manufacturer’s championship for the Truck Series with 10 wins. Five of those wins were in the last five years. If a Toyota were to win again this year, it would be the most consecutive championship wins by a manufacturer in history. However, Chevrolet is currently leading the standings with 11 wins and 814 points. Toyota is behind 32-points with eight wins and Ford is in third place 73-points behind with three wins. source – NASCAR communications
