Byron Wins in Homestead

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to pick up his first victory of the season.

Byron led over 100 laps on Sunday, and he was able to pull away from Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. over the final run to claim his second-career victory.

Byron said his team worked hard in the offseason to make their cars faster at Homestead.

“We worked hard in the winter on this track,” Byron said.  “This car was just awesome.  I think we went to the sim four or five times this offseason, and it just pays off.”

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Byron picked up the victory in just his third start with new crew chief Rudy Fugle.  Fugle had been a crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, and led Byron to seven victories in 2016.

“That guy has been huge for my career,” Byron said.  “He’s the reason I’m here and I’m glad I could get him.  He’s just awesome and this whole team did a phenomenal job.”

Tyler Reddick finished second after charging through the field on the high side over the final run.  Reddick had the fastest car in the closing laps, but didn’t have enough time to chase down Byron to fight for the win.

Reddick said he was disappointed to finish second with such a fast car.

“Second place is a good night considering how the first few weekends have went,” Reddick said.  “Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air at the end there and I saw how fast we were catching everybody, it’s beyond frustrating.”

“Just two or three decisions on a restart would have put me miles ahead, and I would have been within reach.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Kyle Larson

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Michael McDowell

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kurt Busch

9. Alex Bowman

10. Kyle Busch

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Austin Dillon

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Chase Elliott

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Ross Chastain

18. Chase Briscoe

19. Chris Buescher

20. Christopher Bell

21. Ryan Preece

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Cole Custer

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Joey Logano

26. Justin Haley

27. Erik Jones

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Ryan Blaney

30. Aric Almirola

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Cody Ware

33. Josh Bilicki

34. BJ McLeod

35. Quin Houff

36. Corey LaJoie

37. James Davison

38. Timmy Hill

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Hamlin Dominant in Homestead Victory

Denny Hamlin won the Dixie Vodka 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday night.

The race was delayed numerous times at the beginning of the event due to lightning in the area.  But as the race went through multiple startups, Hamlin was always at the front.

Hamlin dominated on Sunday, and won both stages after starting on the pole on his way to his third victory of the season.  It was redemption for Hamlin, who was dominant in November’s season finale at Homestead until a bad pit call cost him a chance at the title. 

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Hamlin said his team brought the same setup as last year’s Cup Series finale.

“We made our car really good,” Hamlin said.  “This is the…setup kind of based off what we had there in the fall here last year going for the Championship.”

Hamlin lost the lead to Chase Elliott during the final set of green-flag pit stops, but he was able to use lapped traffic to get back around Elliott and hold him off.

Hamlin said he was worried the pit cycle would work into Elliott’s hands.

“Seems like the end of these races seems to be Chase’s…best suit,” Hamlin said.  “I knew if I was just patient and run the pace that I wanted and the pace I was comfortable with, we were going to be hard to beat in the long run.”

Elliott had trouble getting through lapped traffic while leading in the closing laps, and he was held up by Joey Logano when Hamlin took the lead for the final time.  After running in Hamlin’s tire tracks for the final laps, Elliott got into the wall, which allowed Hamlin to pull ahead at the end.

Elliott said the lapped traffic is what cost him a trip to victory lane.

“Just need to get through lapped traffic better, but I thought our Hooters Camaro was plenty good enough to win,” Elliott said.  “Keep putting ourselves in good position, do a little better job getting through lapped traffic, and maybe we have another sticker.”

“We’ll just try to put ourselves in more spots to win and see where it goes from there.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Chase Elliott

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Tyler Reddick

5. Aric Almirola

6. Kyle Busch

7. Austin Dillon

8. Christopher Bell

9. William Byron

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Matt DiBenedetto

15. Michael McDowell

16. Jimmie Johnson

17. Kurt Busch

18. Alex Bowman

19. John Hunter Nemechek

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Erik Jones

22. Cole Custer

23. Chris Buescher

24. Ryan Preece

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Kevin Harvick

27. Joey Logano

28. Ty Dillon

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Ryan Newman

31. Daniel Suarez

32. Brennan Poole

33. Quin Houff

34. Timmy Hill

35. BJ McLeod

36. Joey Gase

37. Josh Bilicki

38. JJ Yeley

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Kyle Busch Wins Championship with Homestead Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday afternoon to win his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Busch came into the weekend as the underdog after going winless over the last 21 races.  The victory was Busch’s first since June 2 at Pocono Raceway.

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Busch picked up his fifth win of the season at Homestead, and said his success was a testament to his team’s hard work as they struggled to find victory lane.

“We have a great race team and a great owner,” Busch said.  “I just can’t say enough and can’t thank everyone enough for this opportunity.  I may be the one who’s able to hoist the trophy or have a championship, but it wouldn’t be possible without [crew chief] Adam Stevens and Coach Joe Gibbs.”

Busch took the lead late in the race after his teammates suffered pit miscues.  Denny Hamlin had to make an unscheduled stop when his car started overheating after the team put too much tape on the nose, and Martin Truex Jr. was caught too far behind the leader without enough time to make up the difference after he pitted later than the rest of the leaders.

Hamlin said he was disappointed he couldn’t celebrate his first title.

“It’s disappointing, but all you can ask for is a chance,” Hamlin said.  “Chris [Gabehart, Hamlin’s crew chief] is aggressive; he’s an aggressive crew chief.  He tried to get me all the speed he could there and it was just too much tape.  We were going to blow up.”

Truex had a dominant car and led 103 laps, but fell short to Busch over the final run.

Truex said he and his team lost control of the race in the third stage.

“Having to restart back where we did…and we started the third stage for sure too tight,” Truex said.  “We were faster the whole last run, we were just too far behind and it was too much to make up with traffic.”

Busch, who has always been a polarizing figure in the sport, said the victory and the championship was for his fans.

“There’s always your doubters; there’s always your haters,” Busch said.  “This one’s for Rowdy Nation, because you guys are the best.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Erik Jones

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Joey Logano

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Ryan Newman

8. Austin Dillon

9. Alex Bowman

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Daniel Hemric

13. Jimmie Johnson

14. Daniel Suarez

15. Chase Elliott

16. Chris Buescher

17. Paul Menard

18. Brad Keselowski

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Matt DiBenedetto

21. Kurt Busch

22. Aric Almirola

23. John Hunter Nemechek

24. Ty Dillon

25. Ryan Preece

26. Michael McDowell

27. David Ragan

28. Landon Cassill

29. Drew Herring

30. JJ Yeley

31. Corey LaJoie

32. BJ McLeod

33. Timmy Hill

34. Bubba Wallace

35. Ross Chastain

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Reed Sorenson

38. Joe Nemechek

39. William Byron

40. Kyle Larson

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Joey Logano Wins Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Joey Logano won the Ford Ecoboost 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday night to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

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Logano was considered the underdog for the championship heading into the race as he went up against the strong trio of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. in the Championship Round. 

Truex and Harvick had the dominant cars all day, but Logano had the fastest car for the first 20 laps of a run.  When the four drivers lined up for a final restart with 15 laps to go, Logano was able to work his way around Truex to win the race.

Logano said he knew he had a fast car and that he wanted the victory.

“I knew I was going to pass that car,” Logano said.  “We rise to the occasion and execute under pressure like that.  Our car was a short-run car…it came down to that short run and we’re champions.”

As a teenager, Logano was called “the best thing since sliced bread” by NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin.  Logano said he was happy to finally back up the legend’s praises in his 10th season at the Cup level.

“I’ve worked my whole life to get here,” Logano said.  “I’ve spent 10 seasons fighting for this.  I can’t believe it.  It’s a dream come true.”

Truex finished second on Sunday, falling one position short of repeating as Cup Series Champion.  Truex said his car just wasn’t fast enough on the short run to compete with Logano.

“We had it, we just couldn’t go over 15 laps,” Truex said.  “I was just slow for 15 laps.  Not the way we wanted to go out, but a hell of an effort.”

Truex’s team, Furniture Row Racing, is shutting down after Homestead.  Truex, who will be moving on to Joe Gibbs Racing next year, said he was sad to see his team disband after five years together.

“I’m going to miss these guys; wish we could have won it,” Truex said.  “Been the best time of my life.  These guys, they’ve been amazing.”

“They’ve made me a superstar in NASCAR, and I’m just very thankful for them all.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Kyle Busch

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Matt Kenseth

7. Chase Elliott

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kurt Busch

11. Austin Dillon

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Kyle Larson

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Ryan Newman

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Ryan Blaney

18. Jamie McMurray

19. AJ Allmendinger

20. David Ragan

21. Darrell Wallace Jr.

22. Ty Dillon

23. Chris Buescher

24. William Byron

25. Paul Menard

26. Matt DiBenedetto

27. Erik Jones

28. Michael McDowell

29. Alex Bowman

30. Daniel Suarez

31. Landon Cassill

32. JJ Yeley

33. Ross Chastain

34. Corey LaJoie

35. BJ McLeod

36. Kyle Weatherman

37. Timmy Hill

38. Tanner Berryhill

39. Regan Smith

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Martin Truex Jr. Wins Championship with Homestead Victory

Martin Truex Jr. won the Ford 400 on Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Truex led 78 laps on Sunday, but was not the dominant car throughout the race.  A late caution ruined Kyle Busch’s pit strategy, and that allowed Truex to take the lead for good.  He was able to hold Busch off in the closing laps to win his eighth race of the season.

Truex said he was sure Busch would pass him in the closing laps.

“At 20 to go, I thought I was done,” Truex said.  “I found a line that I could use.  I found a lane that was blocking enough of the air that they couldn’t really use it.”

Truex, the regular season champion, dominated on the track all season, but had to persevere through struggles off the track; Truex’s longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex has been battling cancer, a crew member passed away before the Kansas race, and team owner Barney Vissar suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

Throughout all the struggles, Truex and his team never gave up.

“A lot of it was for her, a lot of it was for me, a lot of it was for this team,” Truex said.  “I was a wreck just thinking about all the rough days, the bad days, the times where I thought my career was over with.  The times when I didn’t think anyone believed in me…but the people who mattered did.”

“I’ve been wanting this since I was a kid racing go-karts.  I never thought this day would come.”

Busch had the fastest car all day, but he was caught off-sequence from the other leaders when a caution affected their pit strategy.

Busch said he believed he could have beaten Truex if he had more time.

“Just unfortunate for us that that caution came out and kind of ruined our race strategy,” Busch said.  “We weren’t able to get back to where we needed to be.”

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

“They deserved it on probably every other race but today; I thought we were better…but they were out front when it mattered most.  Congratulations to the 78.”

The race was also the final Cup Series race in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career.  Earnhardt finished 25th on Sunday, but he said he hoped his fans enjoyed his final season.

“I hope all the fans enjoyed this season,” Earnhardt said.  “I know it’s not everything we wanted on the racetrack, but we sure had fun off of it.”

“Sure going to miss everybody, but we’ll be back.  We’ll be back at the racetrack a little bit with our Xfinity stuff next year…we’ll be around.  We definitely want to be a part of this sport no matter what.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Joey Logano

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Ryan Newman

11. Austin Dillon

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Jamie McMurray

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Paul Menard

17. David Ragan

18. Aric Almirola

19. Trevor Bayne

20. Chris Buescher

21. Erik Jones

22. Kurt Busch

23. Landon Cassill

24. Michael McDowell

25. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

26. Ty Dillon

27. Jimmie Johnson

28. Cole Whitt

29. Ryan Blaney

30. Matt DiBenedetto

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Jeffrey Earnhardt

33. Kasey Kahne

34. Daniel Suarez

35. Reed Sorenson

36. David Starr

37. Danica Patrick

38. Ray Black Jr.

39. Joey Gase

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Jimmie Johnson Wins at Homestead to Win 7th Championship

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won his record-tying seventh Sprint Cup Series Championship on Sunday by winning the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Johnson had to start last after his team was sent to the back for unapproved body modifications prior to the green flag.  Johnson avoided a late-race accident to move to the front, and he held off Kyle Larson and fellow Chase driver Joey Logano to win the race and the championship.

 

Sean Gardner (Getty Images)

“I didn’t think the race was unfolding for us like we needed to be the champs,” Johnson said.  “Some luck came our way and we were able to win the race and win the championship.”

Johnson said he didn’t think he would be able to win after running behind Logano, Busch and Carl Edwards most of the day, but that he was able to stay calm all day and was strong when it counted.

“I had this crazy calmness over myself all day long and leading into this,” Johnson said.  “Even with us running fifth, and the championship not looking like it was going to be there, I just felt something.”

Johnson is now tied with NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with seven Sprint Cup Series championships.  Johnson said the record was something special to be a part of.

“It’s big…number seven has a special place in my heart,” Johnson said.  

Rick Hendrick, Johnson’s team owner, said he was excited to see one of his drivers stand among NASCAR’s elite.

“To see him tie Richard and Dale…it’s unbelievable,” Hendrick said.  “To do it through all these different formats has been so special.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Joey Logano

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Kyle Busch

7. Matt Kenseth

8. AJ Allmendinger

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Michael McDowell

11. Chase Elliott

12. Austin Dillon

13. Kurt Busch

14. Paul Menard

15. Brian Scott

16. Alex Bowman

17. Greg Biffle

18. Casey Mears

19. Danica Patrick

20. Trevor Bayne

21. Landon Cassill

22. Tony Stewart

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Chris Buescher

25. Ryan Newman

26. Ryan Blaney

27. Matt DiBenedetto

28. Michael Annett

29. David Ragan

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

31. Jeffrey Earnhardt

32. Reed Sorenson

33. Ty Dillon

34. Carl Edwards

35. Brad Keselowski

36. Martin Truex Jr.

37. Kasey Kahne

38. Regan Smith

39. Dylan Lupton

40. Aric Almirola

Sean Gardner (Getty Images)