1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s four-tire pit stop on a caution with 20 laps to go keyed his victory at Homestead, giving him the Sprint Cup championship. Harvick held off Ryan Newman to claim his first title.
As the Florida sun faded to darkness at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a first-time champion was crowned, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the season’s final race, the Ford EcoBoost 400.
In a thrilling green-white-checkered finish, Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 20 GameStop/Rock Candy Toyota, held both Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson at bay to win the 20th annual Ford EcoBoost 300.
For Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 23 DipYourCar.com Toyota for BK Racing, this season has been one of firsts and lasts. One of those firsts, in the last race of the season, is that he is competing at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the very first time in his career.
As the final four prepare to thunder to their fate at Homestead, not everyone is thrilled with the new format to determine the Cup champion. Again and again I read how appreciative some are for NASCAR allowing them to do other things on a Sunday afternoon than watch a sport they have abandoned.
1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 264 of 312 laps at Phoenix and won the Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500, qualifying for the Chase finale at Homestead. “Just call me ‘Mr. Unexcitement,” Harvick said, “because I took all the drama out of Sunday’s race.”
In the final race of the Eliminator Chase round, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 27th annual Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Joey Logano: Logano spun on lap 303 at Texas and lost ground, but recovered to finish 12th. He is tied for the lead in the points standings with Denny Hamlin.
After remembering the passing of racer Jim Sauter with a moment of silence, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 10th annual AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
So, Danica Patrick is not all sweetness and loveliness. Okay, she is the latter, but the fact she is a little ticked or not going along with the company line, has some folks talking. She is upset with Joey Logano, she had a bit of a run in with Martin Truex Jr. at Martinsville and she thinks qualifying at Talladega stinks after her boyfriend got left in the cold. She even is not a fan of NASCAR’s diversity program.
