Ford EcoBoost 400 Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The talk of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season was all around the ‘Big Three’ of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Rightfully so, given that the trio went to victory lane in 20 (Busch – 8, Harvick – 8 and Truex – 4) of the 35 races heading into Sunday’s championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On paper, the deck was stacked against the Middletown, Connecticut native. Logano was the only driver of the Championship 4 without aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – If there was a sentimental favorite to win the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship, Martin Truex, Jr. and Furniture Row Racing were that favorite. With the impending closure of the team at the end of the season, it would have been a storybook finish to see Truex, crew chief Cole Pearn, owner Barney Visser and the entire organization raise the trophy for the second year in a row before riding off into the sunset and into the annals of NASCAR history.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – After 17 seasons together, Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway was the closing of a chapter in Jimmie Johnson’s career as it marked the final race that he and crew chief Chad Knaus would be paired up and the final time that Lowe’s would serve as the primary sponsor on the No. 48 Chevrolet. To commemorate the end of an era, Johnson’s car was decked out in the same Lowe’s paint scheme he sported back during his rookie season, his uniform matched the one heRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. –With eight victories heading into Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Busch was having a career year, tying a personal-best mark with victories and setting career-highs in top-fives (21) and top-10s (27). However, Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota lacked rear grip throughout the race and struggled on pit road. It was an atypical performance from one of the strongest teams of the season when it counted the most. “We just didn’t have the rear grip thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer With so much emphasis on the Championship 4, three drivers may have strapped into their cars for the last time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The three of subject were AJ Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth, and Jamie McMurray, whose careers are up in the air after completing their last races in their current rides in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Their results might’ve been what defined each of their seasons, with McMurray in 18th and Allmendinger in 19th, while sixth-place KensethRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer As with the ‘game of musical chairs’ that takes place at season’s end, Matt DiBenedetto’s relationship with Go Fas Racing, and Ford Performance, came to an end at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The underdog Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team struggled throughout much of the Ford EcoBoost 400. DiBenedetto’s No. 32 Zynga Poker Ford Fusion spent much of the race outside the top-20. In practice and qualifying, he struggled just to break into the top-30. Untimely cautions, and the overall lack of speed, left the Ford PerformanceRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer A five-year stint with Richard Childress Racing came to a quiet end for Ryan Newman at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran ended one of his worst career seasons with a top-15 finish in the Ford EcoBoost 400. On the final restart, Newman’s No. 31 E-Z-Go Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 hovered just outside the top-10. In the chaotic scramble, as the focus was on the Championship Four competitors, he had his own battle with Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, and Ricky Stenhouse,Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The final race for Leavine Family Racing as a Chevy Racing team never got off the ground. The team, in its’ third full-time season, lost 26 laps due to an oil leak under the parade laps for the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Next season, the team will be a member of the Toyota Racing Development camp. Regan Smith in the teams’ No. 95 Dumont Jets Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 started well behind the preverbal eight ball. In the car designed to be a tributeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Sixteen drivers entered the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a shot at the championship, but now we are down to the best of the best. Press conferences with some good-natured ribbing have been held, the drivers have had the opportunity to dial their cars in throughout practice and qualifying over the last few days and now all that’s left is to race it out and see how things shake out by the time the checkered flag falls. Before Kyle Busch, KevinRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – “Just didn’t have enough,” Daniel Hemric said after climbing out of his car at the end of the night Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, falling short of the championship for the second year in a row with Richard Childress Racing. Though he had yet to win a race in any of the national NASCAR series he has competed in, Hemric was one of the favorites coming into the night as a result of his season wide performance. Despite all that, something was missing inRead More