1. Kyle Larson:
Larson suffered some damage in the pits at Homestead when Josh Berry spun and clipped Larson, then Berry hit Joey Logano. The damage affected the aerodynamics in Larson’s No. 5 Chevy, but Larson and his team persevered, putting him in position to make a late pass for the lead, which he converted into his first win of the season.
“It’s good to get the monkey off my back,” Larson said. “As most drivers know, having a monkey on your back can be a real ‘drag’ aerodynamically.”
2. William Byron:
Byron is second in the Power Rankings after finishing 12th at Homestead as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman battled for the win.
“Sunday’s race was the ‘Straight Talk Wireless 400,'” Byron said. “If you’re looking for straight talk somewhere else, you surely won’t find it in NASCAR’s rule book, or their vague inspection procedures.”
3. Christopher Bell:
Bell survived a spin on lap 70, but fell a lap down and finished 29th at Homestead.
“Well,” Bell said, “I guess you can’t win ’em all. If you would have told me that a few weeks ago, I would have called you a liar.”
4. Ryan Blaney:
Blaney had the dominant car at Homestead, winning Stage 1 and leading 124 of 267 laps, but couldn’t cash in for the win, as a blown engine late in the race ended his day. He finished 36th.
“That’s two blown engines for me in the last three races,” Blaney said. “If there’s something that needs to be ‘blown up,’ it may be our engine department.”
5. Alex Bowman:
Bowman started on the pole and was seemingly on his way to victory when he skimmed the wall with six laps remaining but is second in this week’s Power Rankings. Kyle Larson pounced on the opportunity, snatched the lead from Bowman, and held on for the win.
“That mistake was totally on me,” Bowman said. “I’m the driver of the car sponsored by Ally, and, ironically, I was my own worst enemy.”
6. Chris Buescher:
Buescher finished sixth at Homestead, posting his fourth top-10 result of the year.
“My No. 17 Ford’s paint scheme featured Farm Rich mozzarella sticks,” Buescher said, “and that’s the closest to Italy most NASCAR fans will get.”
7. Denny Hamlin:
Hamlin started 23rd at Homestead and utilized an astute tire strategy to win Stage 2 and finished fifth in the Straight Talk Wireless 400.
“We debuted the Progressive Insurance sponsorship for the No. 11 Toyota at Homestead,” Hamlin said. “There are a lot of insurance companies out there we could have partnered with, but we decided to go with the ‘Flo’ and chose Progressive.”
8. Tyler Reddick:
Reddick finished eighth in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead.
“For competition’s sake,” Reddick said, “it was a good thing Ryan Blaney’s engine blew. He was just too good. Blaney’s car was on another planet. I don’t know what planet, but apparently, it was one way hotter than Earth.”
9. Bubba Wallace:
Wallace challenged for the win at Homestead, leading __ laps before eventually finishing third, posting his first top 5 of the season.
“I attributed my car’s speed to the Columbia ‘fish scale’ paint scheme,” Wallace said. “Understandably, my No. 23 Toyota didn’t ‘flounder.'”
10. Chase Elliott:
Elliott faded late and finished 18th at Homestead, and is 10th in the Power Rankings this week.
“There was really nothing about my race to be happy with,” Elliott said. “And I really gave the good people down at the Dawsonville Pool Room nothing to celebrate. That is, unless liver failure is something to celebrate.”
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
