Edwards Fastest of Champion Contenders in Final Practice

Joey Logano and Carl Edwards just want to join the championship club. The hood of Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet is emblazoned with photos from his championship years next to the slogan “Always a Racer, Forever a Champion”.

Johnson, who had never won before at Homestead-Miami, drove away from Logano, then set his sites on the lead, passing Kyle Larson. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 2:30 p.m. with coverage on NBC beginning at 1:30. “We had the auto to win there and I know that I did everything in my power to win the race”.

“Eventually, we’re going to keep finishing in the top-five and we just had three top-fives in a row”. France acknowledged that the search for a new sponsor has taken longer than he expected, adding “we’re in a good spot with that, I believe”.

“We feel we’re just as good a year ago if not better and performed better throughout this Chase in order to get ourselves in the position we’re in”. “Even days where I felt like I had a vehicle that could compete with him, he did extraordinary things to get more out of it”. “Just having that accolade and being a part of the sport, having recognition from other champions who come up to you”. But a slow pit stop ended his championship chances.

France says “no one wants to hear my political views”. He does have some strong runs at Homestead, but he has been up or down at the track overall.

According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Jimmie Johnson is favored to win the race, as he is listed with 4/1 odds.

The Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway went Tony Stewart’s way in 2011.

I can’t ignore the laps led and fastest laps run category, but I am willing to put all my eggs in Kevin Harvick’s basket. In the month after Ward’s death, Stewart said he’d probably never race a sprint vehicle again. “Right now, honestly, I can tell that to be a Mexican driver, Latin American driver, is something positive”.

“No apology”, Edwards said of his conversation with Gordon. Stewart made the Chase this year with a win at Sonoma after missing the first eight races with a back injury, but was eliminated in the first round and was never deemed a serious threat.

Johnson is looking to make history by winning a record-tying seventh championship. Simon Pagenaud won Penske the IndyCar series this year.

“We shoot for No. 1”, Logano said. In 13 years on the circuit, he has a record of 28 wins, 223 top-10s and 22 poles.

“I’m not running from it”, Johnson said.

“I’m not running from it”, Johnson said. I don’t know [when I’ll race again]. It’s just not top of mind.

“They put it in my hands”, Edwards said.

To show Johnson knows exactly what’s at stake on Sunday, one only has to look at his helmet. Johnson tries for No. 7 in the third season of the Chase elimination format.

“We just wanted to pay respect to Dale and to Richard”, Johnson said. “Its been cool to wear it. Immediately after the race, he gifted the helmet to three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired at the end of the race.

The last time the young driver competed at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he led 72 laps and finished fourth.

He won the finale at Homestead and gave Toyota its first Sprint Cup championship.

Edwards will get another shot at the ring Sunday.

“No surgeries”, Stewart said. It could be more than that, that’s what it was in this round – a fifth, a fifth and a second was as sporty as we could do and we move on. “I mean, he may come across at the track that way because hes so focused and driven, and he thinks like a computer when hes in the vehicle. I still like watching amusing TV shows, I still want to get my mind off of things.

Joey Logano climbs into his vehicle as he prepares for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto practice Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, in Homestead, Fla. Capacity 46,000. Track lap record set by Jamie McMurray at 181.111 miles per hour in 2003 qualifying. Edwards climbed out, stood on the banking – not too far from his wrecked race vehicle – and watched a replay on a big screen.

But once there was less than 10 laps remaining, the driver nicknamed “Six-Time” started his charge to become “Seven-Time”. The last two champions – Harvick and Kyle Busch – won championships by winning the Homestead race. They have him slotted as a 3/1 favorite to claim his first ever Sprint Cup championship at the conclusion of the Ford EcoBoost 400 this weekend.