NASCAR heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday to crown the 2015 Sprint Cup Champion. There are four contenders for the title; Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
The defending series champ, Harvick, is also the defending race winner at Homestead. In addition to last year’s win, he has six top fives, twelve top 10s and the series-best average finish of 7.571 at the 1.5-mile track. Harvick has consistently had one of the fastest cars, week in and week out, thrives under pressure and is certainly a favourite to win it all again.
Harvick plans to use what he learned last year as he prepares for Homestead.
“I mean, you just go down there and race. Last year I got to experience that all for the first time. It’s definitely, definitely different. There’s a lot more to think about. There’s a lot more to do. There’s a lot more things to manage,” he explained. “I feel like the playbook worked okay last year, so we’ll just try that again.”
Four-time champion, Gordon, would love to add one more title to an already impressive resume that includes 93 wins, 325 top fives, 474 top 10s and 81 poles, as he competes in the last race of his Sprint Cup career at Homestead. It was a struggle to get here, but the win at Martinsville seems to have invigorated Gordon with a renewed determination. Gordon’s legacy and contribution to the sport make him the sentimental favorite of the NASCAR community.
It will undoubtedly be an emotional race for Gordon.
“This is a great group to be a part of, and we’re excited about the opportunity to go down there. Certainly, for me, my final race, I can’t think of anything sweeter than just having that opportunity to go down there and battle for the championship and seeing what happens,” he said.
No one could have foreseen that Kyle Busch would be racing for a championship this season. After a wreck in the season-opening XFINITY Series race in February which resulted in a broken right leg and broken left foot, Busch was sidelined for 11 races. But he returned and went on to capture four victories, 11 top fives and 15 top 10s. While he may not be considered the favorite, Busch has been beating the odds all year.
Busch spoke about his season and the excitement of competing for his first championship.
“We’ve run up front, we’ve run strong,” he said. “We also had a couple mishaps, but, fortunately, they weren’t big enough that they eliminated us. We were able to persevere through those things. Now going to Homestead for the first time with the opportunity to win a championship is really awesome.”
Martin Truex Jr., driving for a single-car operation, is considered the dark horse of the four contenders. He has overcome obstacles, both professional and personal, to arrive at this destination, and should not be discounted. Truex has one win, eight top fives and 22 top 10s this season.
He reflected on the personal satisfaction of being in a position to fulfill a lifelong ambition.
“It’s definitely obviously an exciting day for everybody at Furniture Row Racing and me and just super proud of my team for the season we’ve been able to put together. We have kind of overcome a lot of odds, and just proud to be part of this group and looking forward to having the opportunity to do something that we’ve all dreamed about our whole lives next weekend.”
The four championship contenders represent four different race teams; Stewart-Haas Racing (Harvick), Hendrick Motorsports (Gordon), Joe Gibbs Racing (Busch) and Furniture Row Racing (Truex). They each have a unique story and represent the elite of NASCAR, but it all comes down to one race. May the best driver win.
