William Byron took the lead in the closing laps to close out the season with a victory, but it was Johnny Sauter, one of the elder statesman of the series, who beat the competition to finally add a championship to his resume.
Tony Stewart, pondering whether failing to win any of the crown jewel events in NASCAR and IndyCar frustrates him, said it does, but "it was pretty damn cool to just have the opportunity to go race those races."
Asked where the 48 team's season started to turn around, Chad Knaus points to the Brickyard as being where they began their run to the championship finale.
With Byron eliminated from championship contention, it is looking like GMS Racing driver Johnny Sauter, is now in prime position to hoist the championship trophy at Homestead.
Jimmie Johnson captured his ninth win at Martinsville Speedway Sunday, securing his spot in the final Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20. It marks his 79th career victory, but more importantly, the opportunity to race for a seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup title.
With rain interfering one last time and delaying the race start for over an hour, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the season finale, the 17th annual Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After an hour delay by rain, track drying is almost complete as of this post's publishing and we're set to crown a champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The start of the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway is currently on hold due to down-pouring showers. A line of showers is passing over the track at the moment as one would expect in Florida.
