Homestead-Miami Speedway; the Perfect Championship Site

It wasn’t quite the 100-plus cars that will be on track competing over the course of the three races during Ford Championship Weekend November 18-20, but for now it was nice to have. What I’m referring to is the NASCAR testing session that was held a couple of weeks ago in which 11 Sprint Cup teams sent one driver apiece, including five who were still alive in the Chase at that point and two of whom moved on to the Round of 8 last week following Talladega – Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch.

Never were all 11 on the track at the same time, and the cars – for the most part – were bare except for the number. Nevertheless, it was a thing of beauty to hear, see and smell - senses which will all come back to us once again in another few weeks.

In a way it was almost like baseball spring training or training camp in the NFL. The big difference is that a couple of weeks ago the participants were not merely preparing for a regular season, but the pinnacle of our sport, also known as the Ford EcoBoost 400 Sprint Cup Series Championship race.

Many of us already realize what a special place Miami is to host a championship event for its cultural elements and many entertainment options. After experiencing the testing and hearing what several of the drivers had to say, they, too, have come to realize what a special place this is for an event of this magnitude. They also love it because of the No. 1 reason they are here – the racing.

Certainly those in the Championship 4 – in any of the three premier series – love it because they are contending for a title. But even those who are racing for a win and a chance to collect the coveted 25’ Contender Bay Boat that the winning driver receives, possess a passion for it because it allows them to do their job – and that’s drive a race car. The configuration of our variable banking on all four turns typically puts the outcome in the hands of those behind the wheel.

The drivers who participated in the testing last week made this abundantly clear. They adore the track, some for its picturesque setting, some for the great racing that it provides, some because of the family atmosphere it fosters, and yes others because of the boat. You have heard many of these sentiments voiced from some of the top drivers on the Cup circuit over the years. It’s a track that has delivered many thrilling moments.

And if anyone knows about the excitement that our track can offer for drivers and fans, it’s Busch and Edwards. Busch took the checkered flag at the 2002 Ford 400, and earned the lone Sprint Cup Series championship of his career two years later, celebrating right here in our Victory Lane. This year’s Ford EcoBoost 400 – on November 20 – will mark five years to the day that Tony Stewart stormed back to claim victory in the Ford 400, and thus allowing him to edge Edwards on tiebreakers to take home the Sprint Cup Series crown.

The rhetoric spoken by the drivers at the test was something we have heard many times from those across the industry, but each and every time the message gets reinforced, it makes you feel really good about what you do as a host, and how you “entertain” the industry. As fans and residents of south Miami-Dade, it should also make you boast a bit, for the fact that the best in the business can’t wait to make their way down here, whether or not a championship is on the line.

The Chasers Chase On: Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion for Team Penske, was teetering right on the edge of advancing to the Round of 8 heading into Talladega last weekend. Unless you have won a race – as Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick did in the first two races of the Round of 12 to advance – you can’t leave anything to luck.

And Logano certainly did not. A few weeks ago he was salsa dancing with his wife, Brittany, at the Ball & Chain in Little Havana. On Sunday he was doing a victory dance in Victory Lane following his win in the Hellmann’s 500, moving him into the Round of 8 for the third year in-a-row. He might have moved on without the win, but why leave anything to chance. It’s the only sure way. And when you’re in the Chase, you find a way to rise to the occasion. And with the Round of 8 now set, Logano will look to be a part of the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second time in three years after he was part of the first such group in 2014. In fact, of the 2016 Round of 8, Harvick has been a Championship 4 participant each of the past two years, while Denny Hamlin and defending champion Kyle Busch have been there once previously.

With Logano’s victory, a driver in the Chase has now won 16 of the last 18 races in the Chase. It’s really an amazing streak and speaks to how the top drivers in the sport know what they need to do and are able to take care of business. The streak started with the final race of the Round of 8 in 2014, when a win was required by Harvick in order to advance to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Not only was he able to accomplish that but he followed that up with a victory the following week in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to take home his first career Sprint Cup crown.

There’s very little doubt that this same excitement is brewing this year as we begin the Round of 8 this weekend in Martinsville.

NASCAR ACTION THIS WEEKEND

• Sunday, October 30 at 1:00 PM (ET)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Tune In: NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

• Saturday, October 29 at 1:30 PM (ET)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 presented by Alpha Energy Solutions at Martinsville Speedway

Tune In: FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

*The XFINITY Series is off this week and will return November 5*

UPCOMING EVENTS AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Oct. 28-30 Driving 101

Nov. 5-6 Ferrari Challenge

Nov. 25-27 FARA Miami 500

2016 HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY NASCAR DATES

Nov. 18 Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series Championship Race

Nov. 19 Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series Championship Race

Nov. 20 Ford EcoBoost 400 Sprint Cup Series Championship Race