NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Lock in at Homestead-Miami Speedway?
The title finale is on the ever-nearing horizon as NASCAR heads south to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Race two in the Round of 8 offers seven drivers an all-important ticket to the championship-decider in Phoenix. While Homestead marks two-straight weeks of intermediates, this track is anything but a cookie-cutter. Here’s a look at a few standout drivers heading into the Straight Talk Wireless 400.
Kyle Larson
Calling Kyle Larson and Homestead a match made in Heaven is the understatement of all understatements. Last year’s race alone saw Larson lead nearly 100 laps, before a rarely colossal mistake by the Hendrick driver. Large points gap aside, Larson is brimming to chase another win on one of his favorite tracks.
“I look forward to racing at Homestead-Miami,” Larson said. “I just really love that track. We only get to go there once a year, whereas a lot of intermediates we go to twice a year. I wish we could go there twice because I just love the track. So yeah, I look forward to going there because, one, I love it, and we’re really, really fast there. And yeah, it’s just a good track for us.”
Different horses are made for different courses, and Kyle Larson has always been elite at Homestead. Five top-fives and 625 laps led read like a stat line of a multi-time winner at most tracks. Larson will try and pad this record with a second trophy on Sunday. It should shock nobody that Larson is an overwhelming favorite for this checkered flag.
Christopher Bell
Once Larson was wrecked out a year ago, a new contender emerged with Christopher Bell. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is the defending Homestead winner, and was in a very similar situation 12 months ago. Bell’s Homestead victory came on the heels of a painstakingly close second at Las Vegas, just like last Sunday. Team 20 hopes that history will repeat itself and award them a third-straight Championship 4 berth.
“Homestead last year was huge,” Bell said. “To get the win and lock in was a memory I’ll cherish forever and I get that opportunity to try again this weekend. Homestead is an interesting one, I’ve talked about struggling there in the past, but I feel confident after how last year went that we will be competitive and in the hunt.”
Bell hasn’t been stellar at Homestead in the past, but the No. 20 Toyota seems to be in peak championship form. Second the last two weeks and 155 laps led in Las Vegas show great execution all around. Bell has a past win at each of the final three tracks; do not be surprised to see the 20 make another victory lane appearance.
Tyler Reddick
In very similar vein to Larson, Tyler Reddick has been electric in his brief time at Homestead. Four career starts on the South Florida track have netted three top-fives for the 23XI Racing driver, including his time at Richard Childress Racing. Homestead was also the site of Reddick’s back-to-back title-winning runs in Xfinity, showing great pace here in every division.
Las Vegas showed great promise for the No. 45 Toyota until it all came to a sudden end. The flip seen around the world put Reddick’s championship hopes on ice. With average stats at Martinsville, Homestead is just about a must-win day for this team. Whether they stand tall or fold under pressure remains to be seen. Reddick should be parked against the fence for 400 miles if all goes according to plan.
William Byron
Another past Homestead winner looking to repeat, William Byron broke through here in 2021. Hendrick drivers are rarely overshadowed, but Byron’s been sneakily consistent at Homestead. Since the win, the 24 has laps led in three-straight races here and top-10s in three of the last four. Byron sees Homestead as a golden opportunity to lock into a second consecutive Phoenix finale.
“We’re always really good at Homestead,” Byron said. “It’s just trying to be the best car. We’ve focused a lot on that in the Chevy simulator this week. I feel like we’re in a really good spot as a team. Hopefully we can go in there with a good baseline setup and we can work through and build off of it through the weekend to be that best car.”
If Bell’s been in peak form through these Playoffs, then Byron is not far off. The last four weeks have seen the 24 place second, third, third, and fourth with winning speed each time. Byron also has past success across each of the last three tracks. Hendrick hopes to keep this high performance rolling into South Beach.
Denny Hamlin
Leading active drivers with three past Homestead trophies is Denny Hamlin. His most recent victory here came four years ago, with the No. 11 leading in five of the last six Homestead races. If not for a tragic steering failure, Hamlin may have been challenging teammate Christopher Bell for last year’s win. Entering this weekend in a points deficit, Hamlin knows he has to put up or shut up.
“I feel like we’re going to have to go to both of these races and run top three all day to get points in the stages and good points in the race,” Hamlin said. “That’s going to be a tall task, but Homestead is pretty straightforward from a strategy perspective. You’re going to take four tires anytime you pit, so that will allow guys that are up front to stay up front. We need to be in that group and hope for a little luck from someone having a bad day or whatnot to make up that gap. Then at Martinsville, who knows with the new tire? It has traditionally been a race with mixed strategies, but we just don’t know, so that one will be a bit of a wild card.”
Hamlin and his team have been nothing short of a head-scratcher so far in these Playoffs. After stumbling through the opening rounds’ wildcard races, Hamlin’s looked surprisingly average at his better tracks. If not for some costly pit crew errors, the 11 may be in the green on points instead of below the cut line. Hamlin is more than capable of winning Homestead, but the 11 team must execute flawlessly to remain a contender.
Ryan Blaney
Can the Round of 8 remain Penske Perfect though two weeks? Ryan Blaney has yet to win at Homestead, but last year was his best showing yet. Second to Bell, Blaney led over 50 laps that day. Three teams’ worth of manpower are now dedicated to locking the 12 into Phoenix alongside Joey Logano. Blaney has high hopes of a breakout run to cap off his title defense season.
“I love going to Homestead-Miami,” Blaney said. “I feel like if you ask any driver they love that racetrack just because it’s so unique in its shape, the surface that it has. We put a great run together there last year and had a great shot to win that race, so I really enjoy it. To me, that’s one of the more risk-reward racetracks that we go to. The closer you get to the fence, the faster you can go if you can run properly, but it’s one of those things where you inch closer and closer to it and you might hit it. I feel like the tire fall off there is a huge factor, too. You’re running inches away from the wall with no wiggle room and your tires get worse every lap, so how do you judge that as a driver going into the corner fully committed? But you can’t just do the same thing every lap. You’re always continuing to understand tire wear and things like that, so I feel like that is a huge driver racetrack. I think everyone really enjoys that part of it and I’m excited to get back to that.”
Taken out in Reddick’s flip as an innocent bystander, Blaney is well behind the eight ball and in virtual must-win territory. While his Martinsville stats say he will be strong there, Homestead may be kind to the 12 as well. After showing early speed at Las Vegas, Blaney hopes to close out another banner day in Homestead.
Once the track where championships were built, Homestead-Miami Speedway is still a keystone to a title run. Homestead’s green flag will fly Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The Straight Talk Wireless 400 has the chance to send another driver desert dreaming and give their team another week to get ready.
Written by Peter Stratta
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