As the season comes to a close this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, anticipation is high as we prepare to embrace our 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.
Four drivers will compete for that honor; Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Of these final four contenders, the driver that posts the highest finish will be crowned Champion.
These drivers represent four different teams; Stewart-Haas Racing (Harvick), Hendrick Motorsports (Gordon), Joe Gibbs Racing (Busch) and Furniture Row Racing (Truex). This diverse group includes two past champions and two hopefuls looking for their first championship.
Who will capture the title of NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion? The Speedway Media staff shares their picks below.
Tucker White (Contributor): I’ll keep this short and simple…
Pick for the title: Jeffrey Michael Gordon
In 16 career starts, Jeff Gordon has amassed a win, seven top fives (43.75 percent), 12 top-10’s (75 percent), a 10.6 average finish, dominated this race a year ago and I have no doubt Hendrick Motorsports will pull all their resources together this weekend – short of team orders – to make sure Gordon rides into the Florida sunset as champion.
Dark horse: Kevin Michael Harvick
In 14 career starts, Kevin Harvick has amassed a win, six top fives (42.86 percent), 12 top-10’s (85.71 percent), a 7.6 average finish, is the defending race winner and has had one of the most dominant seasons I’ve ever seen in my years of following NASCAR.
Ed Coombs (Managing Editor):
My pick for the Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway has my head and my heart struggling to agree. So, rather than let common sense prevail I am going to follow my heart and say that in his final Sprint Cup race, in a Cinderella story, Jeff Gordon will beat the other three participants to win the championship. I am picking Gordon because I’m truly a fan of his and have been since I watched him drafting with Dale Earnhardt in the 1993 Daytona 500. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with Gordon, and his public relations manager Jon Edwards, for years. I used to photograph and work with Gordon during his fan club events and allow his website to use my photos from the track, for years. I have had the opportunity to ask Gordon questions during that time and he makes you comfortable enough that it’s a conversation, not just a question and answer session. So, I will break the media code and cheer loudly for that No. 24 car this Sunday.
My dark horse pick isn’t really a dark horse pick because, hey, they’ve performed in 2015. My pick here is Kyle Busch. Busch, who missed 11 races due to injuries sustained at Daytona, might just pull it off because he has done pretty well and is actually due for a win. This has been a crazy chase and I believe that it ends with an unexpected winner.
Mary Jo Buchanan (Senior Writer):
My pick for the Sprint Cup championship is Jeff Gordon. And yes, it may be purely sentimental as he takes his last trip of his career making left turns and going in circles. But my pick is also personal as Jeff Gordon was the driver that brought me back to the sport of NASCAR. In fact, I really didn’t ‘choose’ Jeff Gordon as my driver. I actually chose the 24 car just for the looks of it. I had no idea who even drove the car. But as I researched the driver, his history, and his career, I knew that I had made a wise choice. And moving from fan to covering the sport, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing Jeff, those on Team 24 and even his family. And he has impressed me even more, personally and professionally. So, yes, I have to go with the heart on this one and pick Jeff Gordon for his fifth championship.
My dark horse pick is Martin Truex Jr. This driver has overcome so much on and off the track, from losing his ride with Michael Waltrip Racing and ending up at one car team Furniture Row Racing to his worries over his girlfriend’s serious cancer diagnosis. I so admire his courage, stamina and fortitude. And heck, the driver is from New Jersey so how can I not root against a hometown boy?!
Barry Albert (Managing Editor):
My interest in NASCAR began in the late ’80s as a supplement to my football addiction. Then in the early ’90s a new driver came along, “Wonder Boy.” As my football addiction disappeared, my racing addiction came full circle. Before I knew it, I had my first favorite driver. I can’t say that Jeff Gordon brought me to NASCAR, but I can say for certain that he kept me in NASCAR and eventually being more involved.
Gordon began as the unknown, the young driver, the underdog that just kept fighting to win and he wrecked a lot of cars in the process. Gordon kept fighting, eventually winning and beating NASCAR’s best drivers in the process. In 1995, we had a new “young” NASCAR champion and a new era of the sport had already begun.
I have to stick with my favorite driver for one more weekend. So Jeff Gordon will be my pick to win the championship for the final time.
It would be wishful thinking on my part to think that Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch or Martin Truex Jr. were underdogs. All three drivers have earned their spot in the final four and each driver has their own unique story. So my underdog pick is that there isn’t one this season.
Matt Laflair (Staff Writer):
Based on the statistics for each of the four Championship contenders at Homestead, Kevin Harvick (average finish of 7.57 in 14 races) is the most logical pick to win the 2015 Championship, and the Vegas oddsmakers have been on board. With 3/2 odds to win the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, Harvick is the favorite, but since most sports fans seem to like fairy-tale endings, my pick for 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship goes to the three-time Daytona 500, five-time Brickyard 400, and four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Jeff Gordon. With a win on Sunday, Gordon will join the likes of John Elway, David Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Michael Jordan (sort of), and Dominick Hasek, as legendary athletes to retire as champions of their sport.
Gordon currently boasts the longest odds to win the Championship on Sunday at 7/2, which is quite interesting considering he started on the pole and led 161 laps in 2014, and won the season finale from 15th in 2012.
My longshot this week isn’t really a longshot at all, in fact, he has better odds than Jeff Gordon to take home the Championship. He currently sits at 10/1 to win the 2015 Ford Eco Boost 400 with 3/1 odds to be crowned the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. Martin Truex Jr. has top-11 finishes in eight of his 10 career races at Homestead, with driver ratings over 100 in four of his last five races at the 1.5 miler. I believe the winner of Sunday’s race will come from one of the Championship contenders, and with an average finish of 10th, Truex is my longshot play for Homestead.
Ron Thornton (Senior Writer):
There is no doubt, as far as one can guess with the talent of the quartet involved, that Kevin Harvick will repeat as Sprint Cup champion. It is his time of year and he has shown strength leading up to the finale. That, and the determination to do what it takes to get there, even when it might upset our sensibilities along the way. What he did at Talladega affected the outcome, and removed Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the mix. Junior’s reaction, as classy as it was, helped soothe the ruffled feathers. It also helps that he did not do what he had to do in a way that upset Matt Kenseth. As we have seen, doing so can cost a driver a shot at the title.
A repeat champion, a five-time champion in his career swan song, or even a first-time champ coming back from injury to equal his brother as the king of the paved ring would be satisfying. However, the dark horse would have to be Martin Truex Jr. and that single-car team out of Colorado. Furniture Row was nothing a few years back, but after Kurt Busch provided some magic you saw a dream start to materialize. Even after last year’s slump, with Truex behind the wheel, you still had the feeling that this was an outfit on the rise. This year, they made the cut and somehow managed to stay in the hunt as bigger names from bigger teams faltered.
Each contender comes in with a compelling story. On Sunday, we can sit back and watch how it all unfolds knowing that whoever becomes the 2015 Cup champion will give us something to talk about between now and Daytona. What more could we ask for?
Larry Van Zandt (Staff Writer):
I see Kevin Harvick winning the whole enchilada.
Why?
Because Talladega, and it being revealed that Harvick doesn’t mind wrecking as many cars as possible in order to get into contention to win, or at least finish really well. The other three drivers in the chase don’t give the appearance of being psychopathic or sociopathic drivers: Even Kyle Busch, resident grudge-match racer and opponent-punter, has something resembling a conscience (and at least the merest glinting of emotion) when compared to either Harvick or I-Would-Have-Run-Over-An-Entire-Cub-Scout-Troop-As-Well-To-Get-A-Chance-At-Wrecking-Joey-Slowgano-If-Necessary Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon is too burned out to crash half the field to win, and Martin Truex Jr. is only in the chase because of blind, stupid, simple, doo-dah, clueless luck, and doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who’d run down his own grandmother to win a race. So yeah, Harvick or something, but I had to hold my nose to pick him.
Dark Horse Winner?
Kyle Busch.
Why?
Toyota wants a championship, wants it bad. I foresee Busch having an uncommonly good weekend at Homestead (he doesn’t finish well here), Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota will throw everything and the kitchen sink at the No. 18.
Ashley McCubbin (Senior Editor):
For sentimental reasons, the majority will pick Jeff Gordon as the 2015 Sprint Cup Series Champion. However, based on the season, things don’t point in that direction.
Kevin Harvick will be the 2015 Sprint Cup Series Champion. He continues to be freaky fast on a weekly basis. He has posted three wins thus far this season, one of those coming as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He has also posted 22 top-fives and 27 top-10s, more than he posted last year en route to the championship. He enters this weekend with momentum, too, as he has posted a top-three finish in the last two races. Should I add that he has posted 12 runner-up finishes this year, too? All in all, Harvick has displayed all the qualities that show he can repeat easily.
Of course, previous season numbers don’t apply as everyone enters this weekend on equal footing. No fear, though, as Harvick has six top-fives and 12 top-10s in 14 starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, including the victory last season.
The dark horse pick has to be Martin Truex Jr. All the focus has been on the other three throughout not only the Chase but the season. However, Truex has snuck his way in there through consistency. Perhaps he and crew chief Cole Pearn can put together the last piece needed for championship glory.
Angie Campbell (Assistant Editor/Senior Writer):
Choosing my pick for the 2015 Cup Champ was a struggle. The stats are telling me one thing while my heart is pulling me in a completely different direction. Jeff Gordon is an icon of the sport and his contributions, both on and off the track, will leave a legacy that future generations will find difficult to match. To see him win a fifth title in the final race of his career would truly be a storybook ending.
But I can’t ignore the impressive season that the defending champ has put together so I’m going to choose Kevin Harvick as my pick to win it all at Homestead. Although he has two fewer wins this year (five in 2014, three in 2015), his stats surpass those of his championship season last year with a consistent 22 top fives and 27 top 10s. Harvick has also shown the tenacity and “take no prisoners” mentality that should propel him to a second championship.
Martin Truex Jr. is my dark horse pick to win the championship title. He has put together the best season of his career and elevated the single car team of Furniture Row Racing to a new level. He is facing an uphill battle but if anyone can beat the odds, it’s Truex. He has quietly and steadily overcome personal and professional obstacles to make his way into the final four and this “underdog” may surprise us all at Homestead.
Justin McFarland (Staff Writer):
My heart goes to Jeff Gordon for the win since I’ve been watching him race since I was 8 years old and this is his last race. However, going by stats and his win at Homestead last year I have to go with Harvick.
Matt Kenseth is the Dark horse for Homestead. He has had a pretty good season and although he didn’t lead with any laps last year he placed 6th.
Dark Horse for the Chase I pick Martin Truex Jr.
The Results:
Jeff Gordon, the sentimental favorite, grabs five picks while Kevin Harvick, the defending champion, captures five votes, for the title.
Martin Truex Jr. was named as the dark horse choice six times while Kyle Busch received two votes and Kevin Harvick, one.
