After grabbing the lead with 15 laps to go, Regan Smith would win the Ford Ecoboost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his first ever Nationwide Series victory. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would finish sixth to win the driver’s championship for the second straight season. Joe Gibbs Racing would win the owner’s championship with the No. 18 car for the fourth time in five years.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clinches the championship by finishing 16th or better. Kyle Busch starts on pole, followed by Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon and Stenhouse Jr.
Green flag
Kyle Busch grabs the early lead through turns one and two as Stenhouse and Dillon are side-by-side for second. Sadler clears Dillon for second going into turn four. Stenhouse fourth
Lap 2 Busch leads Sadler, Dillon, Stenhouse, Allgaier, Scott, Whitt, Smith, Logano and Hornish Jr.
Lap 3 Hornish Jr. passes Logano for ninth; Stenhouse passes Dillon for third
Lap 6 Whitt and Smith side-by-side for seventh
Lap 8 Busch and Sadler side-by-side for the lead
Lap 11 Sadler falls back behind Busch as Stenhouse begins to close on them
Lap 17 Busch leads Sadler, Stenhouse Jr., Dillon, Allgaier, Scott, Smith, Hornish Jr., Whitt and Logano
Lap 22 Hornish Jr. passes Scott and Smith; Logano passes Whitt
Lap 23 Busch leads Sadler, Stenhouse, Dillon, Allgaier, Smith, Hornish Jr., Scott, Logano and Whitt
Lap 24 Smith passes Allgaier for fifth
Lap 32 Busch leads Sadler, Stenhouse, Smith, Dillon, Hornish, Allgaier, Scott, Logano and Whitt
Lap 36 Blaney passes Whitt for 10th
Lap 39 Gaughan passes Blaney for 10th
Lap 46 Busch leads Sadler, Smith, Stenhouse, Hornish Jr., Dillon, Scott, Logano, Allgaier and Gaughan
Lap 48 Patrick pits.
Lap 49 Smith pits so its Busch leading Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish Jr……..Allgaier and Busch pit. Sadler to the lead.
Lap 50 Dillon, Hornish, Stenhouse and Sadler pit, handing the lead to Logano.
Lap 51 Logano pits, handing the lead to Whitt. Whitt pits, handing the lead back to Busch to complete the cycle
Lap 53 Busch leads Smith, Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish, Scott, Gaughan, Dillon, Allgaier and Logano. 17 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 62 Busch leads Smith, Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish, Scott, Dillon, Gaughan, Allgaier and Blaney
Caution lap 66 Ryan Truex wrecks off of turn four while running 13th. Truex got into the wall and then over corrected, causing more contact…..leaders pit under caution. Some teams take fuel only, some take tires. Stenhouse wins race off pit road ahead of Busch, Dillon, Blaney, Smith, Logano, Patrick, Scott, Hornish Jr. and Gaughan.
Restart Lap 70 – Busch goes three-wide and grabs the lead
Caution lap 72 Richardson Jr. taps the inside wall. Busch leads Sadler, Smith and Stenhouse.
Restart lap 82 Busch gets a good restart as Sadler is clear for second with Stenhouse third
Lap 83 Smith and Allgaier side-by-side for fourth
Lap 84 Smith passes Allgaier and Stenhouse to move up to third; Allgaier passes Stenhouse for fourth
La 85 Hornish Jr. passes Stenhouse for fifth; Gaughan passes Stenhouse for sixth
Lap 86 Smith and Sadler side-by-side for second; Smith completes the pass off of turn four; Hornish Jr. passes Allgaier
Lap 87 Busch leads Smith, Sadler, Hornish Jr., Allgaier, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Whitt, Scott and Sweet
Lap 89 Patrick and Sweet side-by-side for 10th; Patrick completes the pass; Hornish Jr. passes Sadler for third
Lap 90 Busch lead Smith, Hornish, Sadler, Gaughan
Lap 93 Smith grabs the lead
Caution lap 94 richardson spins…..leaders pit with a variety of strategies……Sadler has to come back in due to missing lugnuts. Danica Patrick stays out to take over the lead
Restart lap 99 as three-wide into turn 1, Hornish Jr. grabs the lead while Smith and Busch are side-by-side for second with Patrick back to fourth.
96 laps to go Hornish leads Smith, Dillon, Busch, Allgaier, Stenhouse, Sweet, Blaney, Gaughan and Scott
95 to go Dillon passes both Smith and Hornish to take the lead. Hornish second, Smith third.
94 to go Dillon leads Hornish, Smith, Stenhouse, Blaney, Busch, Gaughan, Allgaier, Sweet and Whitt
92 to go Smith passes Hornish for second; Sadler up to 10th past Whitt
91 to go Dillon leads Smith, Stenhouse, Hornish, Blaney, Gaughan, Busch, Sadler, Sweet and Whitt
82 to go Dillon leads Stenhouse, Smith, Gaughan, Blaney, Sadler, Hornish, Sweet, Busch and Coulter
79 to go Sadler passes Blaney for fifth
69 to go Dillon leads Stenhouse, Smith, Sadler, Gaughan, Blaney, Sweet, Busch, Coulter and Whitt
59 to go Dillon leads Smith, Stenhouse, Sadler, Gaughan, Blaney, Sweet, Busch, Coulter and Whitt
58 to go Sadler passes Stenhouse for third
55 to go Gaughan passes Stenhouse for fourth
54 to go Smith pits from second
53 to go Blaney and Busch pit
52 to go Dillon leads Sadler, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Sweet, Coulter…..Sadler and Dillon pit, handing the lead over to Stenhouse.
51 to go Stenhouse pits, handing the lead to Swindell
49 to go Swindell pits, handing the lead to Kenny Wallace; Logano pits;
48 to go Wallace pits, handing the lead to Dillon. Dillon leads over Smith and Sadler
41 to go Dillon leads Smith, Sadler, Hornish, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Blaney, Sweet, Busch and Scott. 15 cars on the lead lap.
39 to go Gaughan and Stenhouse Jr. pass Hornish
36 to go Sweet passes Blaney
27 to go Caution for debris. Patrick gets the lucky dog…….leaders head down pit road. Dillon leads Smith, Sadler, Gaughan, Stenhouse, Blaney, Whitt, Scott, Busch and Hornish off pit road. Swindell stayed out to take over the lead. Stenhouse leads Sadler by 19 points, Dillon by 21 points.
Restart 22 to go four-wide for the lead with Sadler, Dillon, Smith and Swindell. Smith grabs the lead off of turn two followed by Sadler and Dillon.
21 to go Sadler and Dillon side-by-side for second; Dillon clears Sadler off of turn two. Stenhouse and Busch side-by-side for fourth. Sadler clears Busch off of turn four.
20 to go caution for Johanna Long hitting the inside backstretch wall due to contact from Logano
Restart 15 laps to go as Smith grabs the lead ahead of Sadler while Busch and Dillon battle for third.
14 to go Smith leads as Sadler and Busch are side-by-side for second; Busch grabs the spot
13 to go Smith leads Busch, then Sadler. Hornish and Gaughan side-by-side for fourth…..Hornish gets loose, up towards Dillon, Dillon pushes up into Stenhouse and Stenhouse barely stays off the outside wall
11 to go Smith leads Busch, Sadler, Gaughan, Hornish, Dillon, Stenhouse, Whitt, Scott, Blaney
10 to go Gaughan and Hornish pass Sadler
8 to go Smith leads Busch, Gaughan, Hornish, Sadler, Dillon, Stenhouse, Scott, Blaney and Whitt.
7 to go Sadler passes Dillon…..Stenhouse looked under Dillon, but backed off.
6 to go Sadler and Dillon side-by-side for position with Scott and Stenhouse right behind.
3 to go Stenhouse passes Sadler; Scott passes Sadler.
2 to go Smith leads Bush, Gaughan, Hornish, Dillon, Stenhouse, Scott, Sadler, Blaney and Whitt
FL Blaney passes Sadler for eighth
Regan Smith wins the race ahead of Busch, Gaughan, Hornish, Dillon, Stenhouse, Scott, Blaney, Sadler and Whitt. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the champion. Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 wins the owner’s championship.
