BACK TO GALLERIES
Analyzing the Championship 4 field
By Zack Albert | Published: November 12, 2017 5
NASCAR Digital
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NASCAR Digital
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series' Championship 4 is set to run Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC). Three hard-nosed former title winners -- Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski -- will battle 2017's regular-season champ, Martin Truex Jr., on the 1.5-mile Florida facility. Here's a quick-snap sizing up (in alphabetical order) of stock-car racing's final four.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Kyle Busch
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota
Championship 4's: 3rd (2015, 2016, 2017)
Outlook: The No. 18 team went winless for the first 20 races of the season, but clicked off five victories to surge through the postseason. Believers in the concept of momentum could see Busch win his second championship in three years.
Quotable: 'These (last) two (weeks) don't necessarily matter. Since we won at Martinsville we've had an opportunity to kind of focus forward.'
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota
Championship 4's: 3rd (2015, 2016, 2017)
Outlook: The No. 18 team went winless for the first 20 races of the season, but clicked off five victories to surge through the postseason. Believers in the concept of momentum could see Busch win his second championship in three years.
Quotable: 'These (last) two (weeks) don't necessarily matter. Since we won at Martinsville we've had an opportunity to kind of focus forward.'
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Kevin Harvick
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford
Championship 4's: 3rd (2014, 2015, 2017)
Outlook: The No. 4 team's triumph at Texas put the spring back in Harvick's step at the right time of the year. Performance is one thing, but swagger and gamesmanship give the 2014 champ something of an X-factor.
Quotable: 'The pressure is really on the 78 (Truex) and the 18 (Busch). ... It's a lot of fun coming from behind and playing catch-up and kind of playing that underdog role.'
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford
Championship 4's: 3rd (2014, 2015, 2017)
Outlook: The No. 4 team's triumph at Texas put the spring back in Harvick's step at the right time of the year. Performance is one thing, but swagger and gamesmanship give the 2014 champ something of an X-factor.
Quotable: 'The pressure is really on the 78 (Truex) and the 18 (Busch). ... It's a lot of fun coming from behind and playing catch-up and kind of playing that underdog role.'
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Jerry Markland | Getty Images
Brad Keselowski
Team: Team Penske No. 2 Ford
Championship 4's: 1st (2017)
Outlook: Keselowski claimed the final title berth without a win in the Round of 8. He hasn't won at a 1.5-mile track since Atlanta in March, but hopes to have a puncher's chance in the finale.
Quotable: 'I think I'm just glad to be in it, and we'll have a great opportunity. ... But where we're at and the way these formats go and single race like this, you just don't know what's going to happen.'
Team: Team Penske No. 2 Ford
Championship 4's: 1st (2017)
Outlook: Keselowski claimed the final title berth without a win in the Round of 8. He hasn't won at a 1.5-mile track since Atlanta in March, but hopes to have a puncher's chance in the finale.
Quotable: 'I think I'm just glad to be in it, and we'll have a great opportunity. ... But where we're at and the way these formats go and single race like this, you just don't know what's going to happen.'
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Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images
Martin Truex Jr.
Team: Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota
Championship 4's: 2nd (2015, 2017)
Outlook: The No. 78 team's season-long dominance should be on display as the likely pre-race favorite. Truex was brimming with confidence after Phoenix as six of his seven wins this year have come on 1.5-mile tracks.
Quotable: 'If I'm the favorite, perfect, I like that. I think it's a better position to be in. I was the underdog before and I finished fourth, so yeah, bring it on.'
Team: Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota
Championship 4's: 2nd (2015, 2017)
Outlook: The No. 78 team's season-long dominance should be on display as the likely pre-race favorite. Truex was brimming with confidence after Phoenix as six of his seven wins this year have come on 1.5-mile tracks.
Quotable: 'If I'm the favorite, perfect, I like that. I think it's a better position to be in. I was the underdog before and I finished fourth, so yeah, bring it on.'