HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
Saturday, October 26 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 12 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, October 26 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, October 27 — NASCAR Cup Series, 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC)
All three of NASCAR”s top touring series are in the same spot going into this weekend’s action at Homestead-Miami Speedway as each prepares for the middle race in the Round of 8. The action kicks off with a Saturday doubleheader featuring the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and NASCAR Xfinity Series while the NASCAR Cup Series closes out the weekend on Sunday afternoon.
LOGANO CLINCHES SPOT IN CHAMPIONSHIP 4
Joey Logano led only six laps on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but they were the final six and that vaulted him into the Championship 4 for the sixth time since the format was introduced in 2014. Coincidentally, all of Logano’s appearances have come in even years (2014, ‘16, ‘18, ‘20, ‘22 and ‘24). The two-time Cup Series champion will look to become the 10th driver to win at least three titles and join the likes of three-time winners Tony Stewart, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson and Lee Petty; four-time champion Jeff Gordon; and seven-time titleholders Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty.
BLANEY LOOKING FOR BOUNCE BACK
Ryan Blaney’s Round of 8 got off to a rough start and it started on the second lap of practice when he ran over something on the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and punctured his left-rear tire. That resulted in him hitting the wall and being forced to a backup. He was working his way through the field, but on lap 90 he got rear end damage in a multi-car accident and lost multiple laps while his crew made repairs. The result was a 32nd-place finish that has the defending champ seventh in the standings, 47 points below the cut line. Blaney has nine career series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway and is still looking for his first win, but he finished runner-up a year ago after leading 53 laps.
CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME FORD WIN LIST
Logano’s victory was the 35th of his NASCAR Cup Series career and 33rd with Ford, which is fourth on the all-time Blue Oval win list. The only three drivers ahead of him are Ned Jarrett (43), Bill Elliott (40) and Mark Martin (35).
ALL-TIME FORD WIN LIST (TOP 5)
43 – Ned Jarrett
40 – Bill Elliott
35 – Mark Martin
33 – Joey Logano
30 – Dale Jarrett
PENSKE SITTING ON 99 FORD CUP WINS
In addition to being fourth on Ford’s all-time win list, Logano has also won more races for Team Penske with Ford than any other driver. His win on Sunday marked the organization’s 99th with the manufacturer. Rusty Wallace scored the first win when he won at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, NC, in 1994. Team Penske won 27 races from 1994-2002 and then returned to Ford in 2013 with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Since then, they’ve added a third car with Ryan Blaney and have won 72 times. Seven different drivers have won at least one race with Team Penske and Ford with Logano leading the way (33).
TEAM PENSKE ALL-TIME FORD WINNERS
33 – Joey Logano
26 – Brad Keselowski
23 – Rusty Wallace
11 – Ryan Blaney
3 – Jeremy Mayfield
2 – Austin Cindric
1 – Ryan Newman
RYAN BLANEY: “I love going to Homestead-Miami and I feel like if you ask any driver they love that racetrack just because it’s so unique in its shape, the surface that it has. We put a great run together there last year and had a great shot to win that race, so I really enjoy it. To me, that’s one of the more risk-reward racetracks that we go to. The closer you get to the fence, the faster you can go if you can run properly, but it’s one of those things where you inch closer and closer to it and you might hit it. I feel like the tire fall off there is a huge factor, too. You’re running inches away from the wall with no wiggle room and your tires get worse every lap, so how do you judge that as a driver going into the corner fully committed, but you can’t just do the same thing every lap. You’re always continuing to understand tire wear and things like that, so I feel like that is a huge driver racetrack. I think everyone really enjoys that part of it and I’m excited to get back to that.”
JOEY LOGANO: “Homestead has been a good track. I think every driver loves Homestead because the racing is pretty cool. As a driver you can run right up next to the wall. You can run right on the bottom. There’s a ton of tire fall off. The strategy is pretty interesting as it goes along with the long green flag runs depending on if you short pit and try to jump some cars, but then you’re gonna lose them on the back end of the run. It’s fun to watch all of that play out, so I think if you’re a purist race fan, Homestead is your racetrack because it doesn’t have any of that gimmicky stuff. It’s just old-school racing when you go there.”
HOMESTEAD FEELS LIKE HOME FOR ROUSH
Car owner Jack Roush has had his share of success on intermediate speedways, but his streak of winning seven times in nine years at Homestead-Miami is arguably one of the best. Kurt Busch won the organization’s first Cup race at the track in 2002 before Greg Biffle won three straight from 2004-06. That was part of a five-year winning streak that saw Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards go to Victory Lane in ’07 and ’08, respectively. Edwards capped the run by winning for a second time in 2010. Since then, Roush has celebrated NASCAR Xfinity Series championships at the track, twice with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2011 and 2012) and once with Chris Buescher (2015).
CUSTER OFF TO GOOD START IN ROUND OF 8
Cole Custer had a solid weekend in the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying second and finishing eighth. In between, he won the first stage and scored 15 stage points, so the California native finds himself third in the playoff point standings with two races remaining. Custer, who is 16 points above the cut line going into Saturday’s race, captured his first series victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2017 and also has a pair of runner-up finishes in five career series starts.
MAJESKI ABOVE THE CUT LINE
ThorSport’s Ty Majeski has one series victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway with that coming in 2022 and another one this weekend would automatically put him in the Championship 4. The Wisconsin native goes into the race fourth in the playoff standings, five points above the cut line. Majeski has finished in the top 10 in all three of his career series starts on the mile-and-a-half track, adding a 10th-place finish in 2020 and ninth-place result last year to his victory two years ago.
FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS
AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
2002 – Kurt Busch
2004 – Greg Biffle
2005 – Greg Biffle
2006 – Greg Biffle
2007 – Matt Kenseth
2008 – Carl Edwards
2010 – Carl Edwards
2018 – Joey Logano
FORD’S NASCAR Xfinity Series WINNERS
AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
1995 – Dale Jarrett
1998 – Jeff Burton
2003 – Kasey Kahne
2006 – Matt Kenseth
2008 – Carl Edwards
2013 – Brad Keselowski
2017 – Cole Custer
2020 – Chase Briscoe (2)
FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
1996 – Dave Rezendes
1997 – Kenny Irwin Jr.
1998 – Rick Crawford
1999 – Mike Wallace
2006 – Mark Martin
2017 – Chase Briscoe
