Straight Talk Wireless 400
(⏰ Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET | NBC | NBC Sports App | MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101
Location: Homestead, Fla.
Track length: 1.5 miles
Race purse: $7,997,594
Race distance: 267 laps | 400.5 miles
Stages: 80 | 165 | 267
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Starting lineup: Tyler Reddick roars to pole position
Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
Defending winner: Christopher Bell, October 2023
Key things to watch
Saturday sessions
Tyler Reddick made it a clean sweep of Saturday’s track time, topping the practice leaderboard and backing that speed up in Busch Light Pole Qualifying with his third pole position of the season. Reddick landed a final-round lap of 167.452 mph in time trials, giving his No. 45 23XI Racing entry the top starting spot for Sunday’s 400-miler and leading a top-four sweep of playoff drivers on the grid. Toyota teams grabbed four of the top six spots.
Reddick was also atop the charts in practice with a best lap of 167.770 mph, besting Ross Chastain by a mere 0.001-second margin. He was also fastest among the eight playoff-eligible drivers in the consecutive 10-lap averages category. | Full Saturday recap
Big story line
Opportunity, and moving the playoff-bubble needle
Last weekend in Las Vegas, the Round of 8’s first race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs produced the Championship 4’s first entrant in race winner Joey Logano. It also yielded a wide-open 27-point cushion on the elimination line, with William Byron holding that margin over Denny Hamlin. It’s the largest gap between the provisional last driver in and the first driver out after a round-opening race in playoff history.
That margin, of course, is subject to change in Sunday’s 400-mile South Florida showdown, where only Logano can truly consider his postseason status safe.
There’s room for three more title hopefuls in the Nov. 10 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, and Sunday dawns with another opportunity for the remaining playoff-eligible seven to lock in with a clinching victory. The third and final chance in the round comes next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.
For Hamlin and fellow drivers among the bottom four — Tyler Reddick (-30), Ryan Blaney (-47) and Chase Elliott (-53) — all hope is not lost. At least one driver below the elimination line after the Round of 8 opener has reached the Championship 4 in each of the last five seasons. A victory at Homestead would be the most straightforward route, one that would also shift the complexion of the bubble for Martinsville.
“I mean, if we have pretty calm races from here to the last lap of Martinsville, I would say it’s probably not too great a deficit, but every freaking race in this playoffs, something crazy has happened,” said Reddick, who barrel-rolled his No. 45 Toyota on the frontstretch at Las Vegas last weekend, but who starts first Sunday. “So I wouldn’t rule it out, but I think for us to advance, today we have to be top three and score a lot of points, and if we want to win this race, we’ve got to do the same thing. Hopefully, we get some things to go our way along the way, but we’ve got to focus on just going into this weekend with the intent of winning.”
Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske group has the luxury of putting extra focus toward the Phoenix finale, given the team’s newfound playoff immunity. Logano said Friday that its team meetings this week included a brief Vegas recap, plus a Homestead-Miami overview, but concluded with an in-depth look at the title-deciding race two weeks from now.
The time frame is a bit tighter for the playoff field this weekend, but a Homestead victory would provide another week of Phoenix prep, sparing the winner from stressing over their playoff fate in the round-closing race at Martinsville.
“The teams have their routine to prepare the car for every week, but the Phoenix car is a special car and if you’re in the final four, it deserves to have more time and effort put into it,” said defending Miami race winner Christopher Bell. “So, winning that first race is huge and yeah, it’s an advantage, and I noticed that from winning Homestead last year, having that extra week to prepare.”
Seamless execution will be crucial for the remaining playoff contenders. Five of the eight encountered on-track trouble in last weekend’s round opener at Las Vegas, on pace with the steep 65% rate of playoff-driver peril in the postseason thus far.
History tells us…
Homestead, a playoff drivers’ playground. The last four winners of Homestead-Miami events share a common thread: All four are still alive in the Cup Series Playoffs. Denny Hamlin prevailed here during the COVID-shuffled season of 2020, and William Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell have followed with their own trips to Victory Lane.
Further back in its history, Homestead was a haven for championship-clinching wins. The 1.5-mile track was the host venue for the Cup Series season finale from 2002-2019, and the eventual champion also won the season-ending race for six straight years after the advent of the playoff-elimination format in 2014.
No single manufacturer stands out with a heavy advantage at Homestead-Miami, but Ford’s record here includes a curious wrinkle: Ford won seven of the first 12 Cup Series races — including a five-year streak — at Homestead; in the 13 races since, Ford drivers have won just once (Logano’s title-clinching victory in 2018).
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
AUSTIN DILLON. The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet has sagged to 28th in the current Cup Series standings, but his Homestead results merit a closer look. Dillon hasn’t led a lap in 10 starts here, but he has registered four top-10 finishes in the last five races here — including a career-best fourth in 2022. That rounds out to an 8.2 average finish — best among Cup Series full-timers during that span.
Dillon enters this weekend on the heels of two consecutive results outside the top 30, but for those looking for a deep dark-horse pick, the Richard Childress Racing driver’s 100-1 odds fit the bill. | Homestead-Miami odds
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
– Bubble Watch: Playoff drivers running hot, cold into Miami | Photo gallery
– Full speed to Ph0enix: Locked-in Logano has championship bid in focus | Read article
– Script flipped: How Joey Logano’s rise turned the season’s tide | Read article
– Confidence remains: Why defending champ Blaney is still positive in finding momentum for rest of Round of 8 | Read article
– Homestead headway: Defending race winner Bell aims to shake Vegas toll | Read article
– Turning Point: Chaos to continue with Miami mayhem? | Read article
– Playoff-time projections: Where Racing Insights predicts drivers will finish at Homestead | Read article
– Clinch scenarios: How drivers can advance in Round of 8’s middle race | Read article
– Power Rankings: Reddick ready to reverse recent tailspin | Photo gallery
– NASCAR Betting: Which Round of 8 contender is favored at Homestead? | Photo gallery
– 36 for 36: Check out this week’s survivor pool picks | Read article
– Fantasy Update: Toyota pacing the field heading into Sunday, Stewart-Haas Racing could surprise | Read article
– Memorable moments: Homestead’s history has a vibrant past | Photo gallery
– NASCAR Classics: Rewind with favorite full-race replays from Homestead | Read article
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh Miami designs hit the track | Pick your favorite
Fast facts ⏩
Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
– Christopher Bell leads all Cup Series drivers with 265 points earned in the playoffs so far.
– Tyler Reddick posted an average finish of 11.2 during the regular season; that figure has dropped to 20.57 in the seven postseason races.
– Joey Logano’s sixth Championship 4 appearance ranks as the most in the Cup Series’ playoff era.