HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 36 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 2:30 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, NOV. 20 (NBC/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 36 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
17th in standings
35 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
Career
467 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
89 top-five finishes
169 top-10 finishes
4,607 laps led
Track Career
12 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
1 top-five finish
4 top-10 finishes
107 laps led
GREAT CLIPS: Longtime Hendrick Motorsports partner Great Clips returns to the primary position this weekend on Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Earlier this year, the Minneapolis, Minnesota, company signed an extension with Hendrick Motorsports for 10 races per season each year through 2018.
STRONG FINISH TO THE SEASON: Even though Kahne and the No. 5 team narrowly missed the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, their commitment to finish the year strong didn’t waiver. Since the start of the Chase, the No. 5 team has moved from 16th to 12th in total points accumulated throughout the entire season. Seven of Kahne’s 15 top-12 finishes in 2016 have come in the last nine races.
KAHNE AT HOMESTEAD: Kahne has earned two pole awards (2006 and 2010) at the season-ending track, where he has a career-best finish of fourth. The Enumclaw, Washington, native has led laps three different times at the 1.5-mile track for a total of 107 laps, which ranks him 13th out of active drivers.
HOMESTEAD LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data, Kahne is third in the green-flag passes category with 940. The 36-year-old ranks sixth in average speed late in a run at 160.057 mph. He’s ninth in both fastest laps run with 108 and quality passes with 451.
FLORIDA NATIVES: Two members of the No. 5 team hail from Florida. Engine tuner Billy Fraser is from Callahan, Florida, located in the northeast portion of the state. Fraser has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Florida. Rear-tire changer Johnny Roberts originates from Titusville, Florida, located four hours north of Homestead.
SUITS FOR SOLDIERS: Farmers Insurance has launched Suits for Soldiers, a national program to help transitioning veterans enter the civilian workforce. Through the end of November, bring new or gently used suits or pieces of business attire for men or women to your local Farmers Insurance agent’s office to donate. Farmers will distribute the business attire to veterans through the Army Reserves, various transition assistance programs and at Recruit Military events starting in 2017. Suits for Soldiers builds on Farmers’ commitment to veterans, as a corporate citizen and as a workplace.
KASEY’S KAROLINA KAHNEWICH: Kahne and the Kasey Kahne Foundation have partnered with PDQ (People Dedicated to Quality) restaurants to create the Karolina Kahnewich. Kahne’s revved-up BBQ sandwich will be served exclusively at all 11 PDQ locations throughout North and South Carolina from Oct. 4 through Nov. 30. The sandwich is $5.99 with $1 from each sandwich sold benefiting the Kasey Kahne Foundation in its effort to raise funds to support chronically ill children and their families.
No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 20 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2016 Season
10th in standings
35 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
10 top-five finishes
17 top-10 finishes
358 laps led
Career
40 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
10 top-five finishes
17 top-10 finishes
358 laps led
Track Career
0 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
NAPA AUTO PARTS: The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season comes to a close this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NAPA AUTO PARTS will adorn the hood of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS for Chase Elliott’s final race as a rookie. NAPA has been a dedicated partner this season on board Elliott’s Chevy as the primary partner for 24 races of the 36-race series and has been a major associate partner for the additional 12 events. In 2016, Elliott accumulated 17 top-10 finishes so far, and while he has yet to win his first race, he claimed 10 top-five showings – the most by a rookie since Carl Edwards scored 13 in 2005. Hendrick Motorsports, NAPA and Elliott are looking forward to many more years of success on the track.
REIGNING ROOKIE: Elliott leads the 2016 Rookie of the Year contender standings heading into the season finale by 65 points over second-place Ryan Blaney and 98 points over third-place Chris Buescher. Elliott has accumulated a total of 297 rookie points this year through the first 35 races. This weekend at Homestead-Miami, a panel will meet and reward favorable conduct in the following categories: conduct with NASCAR officials in the garage and pit areas; conduct and awareness on track; personal appearance and relationship with the media. The panel rates each driver, with scoring ranging from a maximum of 10 to a minimum of one. Total points will be averaged from each panel member’s ballot. The points derived from the panel will be added to the entry, competition, and bonus points after the final race of the season to determine the overall Sunoco Rookie of the Year winner. In addition to the points earned from the panel, the highest-ranking rookie in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship receives 10 bonus points. For a full rundown of the scoring system and points standings, click here.
GUSTAFSON THE PROBLEM SOLVER: The MOOG Problem Solver of the Race is presented following each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event to the crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second half of the race, utilizing the 40 best lap times (10-lap segment on road courses). Heading into the race weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS crew chief Alan Gustafson leads his fellow crew chiefs with the highest amount of individual race awards (five). If he can retain his lead through the season finale, he will be honored at the NMPA Myers Brothers Luncheon on December 1.
MARK, SET, GET ANIMATED: Nickelodeon shifted into high gear with its series of six race car-themed episodes of the hit animated preschool series, “Blaze and the Monster Machines,” featuring Blaze — a high-octane race car — and guest voice appearances from superstar race car drivers including Jimmie Johnson, Elliott and Kahne. Five of the episodes have already aired, with Elliott as a special guest in four of them. He will be featured in the final episodes of the series: “The Polar Derby,” premiering Dec. 9 on Nickelodeon. Elliott voices the race car character “Mark Set-Go,” a sensational race starter who kicks off each racing adventure with rock-star style and a signature rhyme.
CHOOSE CHASE: Voting for the 2016 National Motorsports Press Association Sprint Most Popular Driver is in full swing. Since the award’s inception in 1953, 19 different NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have been crowned NMPA Sprint Most Popular Driver including Elliott’s father Bill, who earned the award 16 times. Elliott has been ranked in the top 10 for the 2016 class. Voting ends at 11:59 PM EST on Nov. 20, 2016. The name of the driver receiving the most votes will be posted Dec. 4, 2016. Click here to cast your daily vote for the 2016 Most Popular Driver.
No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 41 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2016 Season
2nd in standings
35 starts
4 wins
1 pole position
10 top-five finishes
15 top-10 finishes
734 laps led
Career
542 starts
79 wins
35 pole positions
217 top-five finishes
329 top-10 finishes
18,443 laps led
Track Career
15 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
99 laps led
Jimmie Johnson will be available to the media following qualifying at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the track media center.
CHAMPIONSHIP 4 IN THE BIG APPLE: Before heading to Miami, Johnson joined his fellow competitors in New York City on Tuesday for a media tour. Stops included “The Dan Patrick Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
#SE7EN: If Johnson is able to attain a seventh championship title, he will tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006-10 and his most recent in 2013.
ONE DRIVER, ONE SPONSOR: Lowe’s has been the primary sponsor for Johnson since the No. 48 team’s inception in 2001. Since then, the home improvement retailer has been on board for all six Sprint Cup championships, 79 victories and numerous milestones, including two wins in the Daytona 500 and four in the Brickyard 400. Hendrick Motorsports’ relationship with Lowe’s is one of the longest-running driver-team-sponsor partnerships in NASCAR.
KNAUS ON TELECONFERENCE: No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus will be on the NASCAR teleconference on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 11:30 am ET. Knaus has been paired with Johnson since 2002 and the duo has recorded 77 wins together along with six championships. Legendary crew chief Dale Inman currently holds the record for most championships won with eight, while Knaus’ six are second all-time. He holds the distinction of being the only crew chief to win more than two Sprint Cup titles in a row.
PERFORMANCE IN MIAMI: Johnson has posted four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 15 races at Homestead-Miami. He has two pole positions and two runner-up finishes as well. The runner-up results came in 2004 and 2010.
STILL SEEKING VICTORY: The South Florida track remains one of the four venues on the current Sprint Cup schedule where Johnson has yet to score a win. The others are Chicago, Kentucky and Watkins Glen.
SOLID YEAR: Heading into Sunday’s race, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS has earned four wins and 10 top-five finishes in 2016. Johnson has led 734 total laps and 468 of them have been in the last nine races.
DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Johnson has the sixth-best driver rating at Homestead-Miami with a score of 96.8 during the past 10 years at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Alex Bowman
Driver Alex Bowman Hometown Tucson, Arizona
Age 23 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
9 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
200 laps led
Career
80 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
203 laps led
Track Career
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
THANK YOU, ALEX AND JEFF: During a tumultuous season in which Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have missed a total of 18 races due to a concussion, the bright spot for the No. 88 team was having two incredibly talented drivers step up to fill in for Earnhardt. Both Alex Bowman, who is scheduled to make his 10th start in the No. 88 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon not only helped carry the No. 88 team through Earnhardt’s absence, but allowed the team to stay competitive and improve each and every week. It has truly been a team effort this season.
PHOENIX RECAP: Last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, Bowman earned his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole. The Tucson, Arizona, native didn’t take his starting position for granted either, as he led the most laps (194) in the event and brought home his third top-10 result, finishing a career-best sixth in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
HOMESTEAD STATS: Bowman has two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a best finish of 26th. As has been the case in recent weeks, he’ll have an opportunity to improve on that stat this weekend, as he has run in the top 10 in every event he’s competed for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team and is coming off of his career-best finish.
AXALTA: The No. 88 Chevrolet will carry the red, orange and yellow Axalta colors this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Axalta has been the primary partner on board the No. 88 Chevrolet SS for 13 race weekends in 2016. In addition to appearing on the No. 88 Chevy again next season, Axalta’s training center on the Hendrick Motorsports campus is nearing completion and is scheduled to open in 2017.
DOUBLE DUTY: As he did at Phoenix last weekend, Bowman will again be pulling double duty this weekend. In addition to driving the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, the 23-year-old will also be behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports, making his first NASCAR XFINITY Series start at the 1.5-mile oval. Homestead will mark his ninth start for JRM this season. In the first eight races, he earned three top-five and seven top-10 finishes for JRM’s No. 88 “All-Star” car, with a best finish of third. While the No. 88 isn’t in contention for a championship, Earnhardt will have two of his three JRM entries (the Nos. 1 and 7) competing for the honor in Homestead and he will be on hand to see how they fare. Earnhardt will also attend Sunday’s race to support his No. 88 team and his teammate Johnson, who will be aiming to tie Petty and Earnhardt Sr.’s record seven championships.
MPD: Voting for the 2016 National Motorsports Press Association Sprint Most Popular Driver is in full swing. Race fans have selected Earnhardt Jr. a record 13 consecutive times as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver. Click the link to cast your daily vote for the 2016 Most Popular Driver before voting closes on Nov. 20: http://www.nascar.com/sprintmostpopulardriver.
“RELIGION OF SPORTS” SERIES: Earnhardt is featured in the first episode of a new series from executive producers Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra called “Religion of Sports,” which will premiere on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m. ET on Audience network — DIRECTV channel 239 and U-verse channel 1114. Click here to view the trailer.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT HOMESTEAD: Hendrick Motorsports drivers have earned one win, three pole positions, 13 top-five finishes and 28 top-10s at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The win came courtesy of Gordon in 2012, when he led the final 13 laps of the race en route to Victory Lane.
SEASON IN REVIEW: With one Sprint Cup race remaining in 2016, Hendrick Motorsports has amassed four wins, four pole positions, 28 top-five finishes, 56 top-10s and 1,352 laps led. The four wins came at four different tracks — Atlanta, Fontana, Charlotte and Martinsville. The win at Martinsville propelled Johnson to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he will race for Hendrick Motorsports’ 12th Sprint Cup Series championship.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 244 victories, 210 pole positions, 1,008 top-five finishes and 1,693 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 66,369 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“Homestead is the last race of the season and we’ve had fast cars the last several races. We want to finish the season strong and this race gives us another opportunity to get a win before we head into the offseason. All of the guys on the team have been working really hard and we just need to capitalize on it this weekend.” – Kasey Kahne on racing at Homestead
“I would say the biggest thing about Homestead is just trying to stay disciplined. It seems like over the past couple of years it’s easy to jump that line and make a mistake. Obviously running around that close to the wall, like you do there, produces a lot of lap time and I think if you can do it correctly that makes for a fine line of jumping it and hitting the wall. Once you hit the wall in these cars it’s really hard to recover. It’s definitely going to be a learning process never having run a Cup race there before. I think it will be interesting. The XFINITY Series cars are a little more forgiving when it comes to hitting the wall and being able to continue. The way the Cup cars are and the way the fender curves around the tire, a lot of times you get tire rubbing issues as soon as you hit it. It’s a big risk versus reward but I think it will be fun. I watched the race from the spotters’ stand down there last year and I got to see Jeff (Gordon) run his last race, at the time, which was really cool. I’m excited to get back and give it my best shot.” – Chase Elliott on racing at Homestead
“I couldn’t have dreamed this big. I never even thought I could win one race or one championship, and here we are poised for a shot at a seventh title. Nothing is guaranteed in this sport and you never know when your last win will be. It’s incredible to be in this position with this No. 48 Lowe’s team and to have a shot at it. We have some serious competition, and we know what we need to do. I’ve never had to go to Miami in the position to win it. With the other formats I either knew what I needed to gain points or defend a lead. This Chase format is intense and we are focused on the goal.” – Jimmie Johnson on competing for his seventh championship
“We are just thrilled to have a shot at it. That’s all you can hope for in this sport, is just to have a shot at it.” – No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus on competing for the championship at Homestead
“We are going to go to Homestead and try our best to win both races between the XFINITY car and the Cup car. If not, we’re going to give them everything we’ve got. I’m really thankful to have built the relationships that I have with Hendrick Motorsports and the friendships with everyone there. Really it’s been a big learning process on how Hendrick Motorsports works – the process on doing things, how they operate as a team. It’s been incredible to be a part of it, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot doing it. It’s been a lot of fun and a huge blessing in my life to do this. I’m trying to make the most of it but at the same time trying to have as much fun as I can. You never know when this is going to end or if you’re ever going to get an opportunity like this again.” – Alex Bowman on racing at Homestead and reflecting on his experience with Hendrick Motorsports
