RELATED: Live weather updates from Homestead-Miami
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400, the championship-determining race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was delayed by inclement weather at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The 267-lap event (400 miles) was scheduled to get underway at 3:15 p.m. ET (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). Driver introductions began at 3:30 but other pre-race events were on hold. The green flag finally waved at 4:51.
Reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) survived the first three rounds of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to qualify for today’s Championship 4 Round and a shot at the title.
It marked the final start for Gordon, a four-time series champion, as a full-time driver in the series. He will join the FOX Sports team next season as an analyst for its coverage of NASCAR.
Busch was the highest qualifying driver among the four Chase contenders, and rolled off third in the 43-car field. Gordon started fifth, Truex started 11th and Harvick started 13th.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday and Team Penske‘s Joey Logano joined him on the front row.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France noted earlier this weekend that the sanctioning body had “a record number” of Air Titans and other equipment on hand to speed up the track drying process on the 1.5-mile layout in case of rain.
“We’re looking at everything,” France said during a state of the sport address on Friday. “Our view now is that like a lot of things that aren’t necessarily perfect … that’s part of the game. That’s part of racing that it’s part of the strategy.”
Weather issues have impacted several races this season. Two, the June race at Michigan and last week at Phoenix, were declared official before reaching their scheduled distance. Two other events, at Richmond in April and Charlotte in October, had to be pushed to the following day due to rain.