NASCAR
Last Several NASCAR Champions Have All Used a Different Championship Path in Homestead Finale
Sunday’s Ford Ecoboost 400 will mark the conclusion of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. 4 drivers are going for the title this time around. Let’s take a look back at the last 8 years, and the championship path that led to the big stage.
2010-5 Straight Titles for Johnson and Knaus
Coming into the 2010 season finale, Denny Hamlin held a narrow advantage in the points standings. However, Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, and the Hendrick 48 team were chasing down their 5th consecutive title. Hamlin’s Toyota suffered damage in an early-race spin, leading to a 14th place finish. The championship path for Johnson saw him finish 2nd in this race to Carl Edwards. This performance was enough for the 48 to win title number 5 by 39 points.
2011-Stewart vs Edwards Battle Comes Down to Closest Margin Ever
In what may have been the closest championship battle in NASCAR history, Tony Stewart took his 3rd title in a tiebreaker over Carl Edwards. The 2011 Playoffs was a historic and unprecedented run for Stewart, winning 4 of the first 9 races. In spite of this domination, Tony and Carl entered Homestead separated by just 3 points. The championship path for ‘Smoke’ saw him take the lead late, and win by 1.3 seconds over Carl. 5 wins in the Playoffs is still a record that may never be beaten. In addition, there may not be a points battle this tight ever again.
2012-Consistency Pays Off for Keselowski
The 2012 Cup Series season was a year-long battle of reliability between Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Clint Bowyer. Brad entered the finale 20 points ahead of Johnson. His championship path needed the 2 to finish 15th or better to win it all. Oddly enough, Brad would finish 15th. After Johnson had a bad pit stop, this clinched the first title for Keselowski and Team Penske.
2013-Johnson Completes 6 Pack, Conversation Starts On 7-Time
2013 would mark the last season of the old Playoff format, where consistency was at a prime. Jimmie Johnson and the Hendrick 48 team utilized season-long steadiness to make it back to Homestead as a contender. They entered this race 28 points ahead of Matt Kenseth, without much pressure or a demanding championship path. Although Kenseth led the most laps that night, a 9th-place effort would deliver Jimmie Johnson a 6th championship. Immediately after this race, many were wondering a larger question. How long it would take for Jimmie to become a record-tying 7 time champ?
2014-New Format Leads to New Champion in Harvick
2014 saw the debut of the current elimination-style Playoffs. The new Playoffs narrowed the field from 16 to 4 over the course of 10 weeks and 4 rounds. The championship 4 for the inauguration of this new system were Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman. None of these 4 had a prior championship, so 2014 would crown a new NASCAR Cup Series Champion. The championship path under this new format required the champion to beat just the other 3 finalists. Rather than points racing in the finale, all contenders had to race at 100%. Even though a race-win at Homestead wasn’t necessary, this turned out to be the easiest way to guarantee the title.
Harvick had the momentum going to Homestead. This was as a result of having to win just a week ago at Phoenix to make the finale. With just 7 laps remaining, Harvick took the lead and the championship from Hamlin. The Bakersfield native held on for his first career title, in his first year at Stewart-Haas Racing.
2015-A Legend’s Sendoff and Another New Champion
2015 will forever be remembered as Jeff Gordon’s final full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Amazingly, his final career win at Martinsville put him into the Championship 4 at Homestead. In his last full-time race, Gordon had 1 more chance at the Drive for 5. The other 3 joining him in the Homestead Championship 4 were Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr.
Despite leading only 41 laps, Kyle Busch was able to secure his first Cup Series championship with the win. This came just 9 months after breaking his leg and foot in the season-opening Daytona Xfinity race.
2016-Johnson Ties Petty and Earnhardt With 7th Championship
The 2016 NASCAR season was primarily dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing and their 4 Toyota drivers. However, Jimmie Johnson came on strong in the Playoffs, winning 2 of the first 9 races. 1 of those wins was at Martinsville, which secured Jimmie into the Championship 4. The other finalists were Joey Logano, and JGR drivers Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. For once, Johnson was not the title favorite, starting Homestead in a deep hole. The 48 was forced to the rear for the start, because of an illegal body modification.
With just 10 laps remaining, the championship path ended for the man who had dominated the night. On a restart, Carl Edwards blocked Joey Logano, and the 22 refused to lift. As a result, the 19 Toyota was turned off the bumper of the 22. Carl’s night ended with a scary crash in turn 1. As it turns out, this would be the final career race for Carl Edwards. In a shocking revelation, he announced his retirement in January, 2017.
Meanwhile, this accident put the 48 in a prime position to take the title away from the favorites. On a restart with just 5 to go, Johnson took the championship lead from Busch. On another restart with 3 to go, the 48 took the race lead. Johnson held on for his first-career win at Homestead, marking perhaps his biggest win ever.
Winning this championship only further cemented the legacy of Jimmie Johnson and the Hendrick 48 team. This 7th championship tied Johnson with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the Cup Series’ record-most titles.
2017-Dream Season Comes to Fruition for Truex and Furniture Row
Martin Truex Jr and the Furniture Row Racing 78 team entered 2017 as determined as ever. This was after a heartbreaking end to their 2016 Playoffs. Through the first 35 races, the 78 won 7 times, 6 of which were on 1.5-mile tracks. Coming into Homestead, Truex was the only 1 of the Championship 4 without a previous title. It would be Truex against Harvick, Busch, and Keselowski in the finale.
Oddly enough, Truex would lead 78 laps at Homesetad en route to his first championship. This was a very emotional victory for the 78 team, as team owner Barney Visser was not in attendance. Instead, the Vietnam War veteran was watching his team’s biggest win ever from a hospital bed. Visser was recovering from a heart attack back in Denver.
The past 8 champions of the NASCAR Cup Series have all had amazing seasons capped off with the biggest honor. In addition, all 8 of these seasons had a different championship path for the eventual victor. In 2018, 3 drivers are going for their second title, with Joey Logano still looking for his first. Tune in Sunday to NBC to see which championship path yields the ultimate success.
Photo credit to DanMiami via Flickr.
