SM Archive

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, led all the Bowties in qualifying on Friday evening at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway in the final time trial session for 2012. Johnson will be looking to score his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship on Sunday, but will need to overcome a 20-point deficit in the series’ final race of the year.

RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 6 Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion – "That was not exactly what we wanted. The car was better than we had it in practice though so that was good. It is cool to have Fifth Third Bank for the first time on the car for me and I am looking forward to next year with them."

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Qualified 3rd “That’s a little bit faster than what we ran (in practice). It’s probably going to take a 30.50 or 30.60 here to be on the pole. Marcos (Ambrose) laid down a heck of a lap. Our car was pretty decent."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT 20-YEAR CELEBRATORY CHEVROLET, AND RICK HENDRICK, OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed the 20-year relationship with DUPONT, the incident at Phoenix International Raceway and other topics.

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed making his 500th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, the high and low points of the season and other topics

Richard Petty is the most recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to win the championship behind the wheel of a Dodge. In 1975, Petty scored 13 wins and 21 top fives in 30 races. He scored 24 top-10 finishes – a top 10 in every race where he was running at the finish. The official margin of victory over second-place Dave Marcis was 722 points and clinched the title in race No. 26.

Roush Fenway Racing owner Jack Roush announced earlier this week that veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig would move from the No. 17 team to the No. 99 of Carl Edwards for the 2013 season and that Roush would pair rookie crew chief Scott Graves with rookie Cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his first full Cup season next year. Ford Racing caught up with all the major players Saturday to talk more about the plans for all starting in Daytona.

Roger Penske (Chairman, Penske Corporation) Q. Could you just talk about the performance of your race teams this year and in particular the No. 2 car who is points leader heading into the season finale? “Well, obviously we're thrilled to be in the position we are here the last race at Homestead.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 for Roush Fenway Racing, will end a highly successful chapter of his racing career this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400.

Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season finale this weekend. Dave Blaney will pilot the No. 36 Florida Lottery Chevrolet at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). David Reutimann will drive the No. 10 TMone in Iowa City, IA – Spearfish, SD Chevrolet in the 400-mile race.