Harrison Burton rises in late Homestead scramble, lands second Xfinity Series win

Posted on June 13, 2020June 13, 2020 by Holly Cain

Harrison Burton prevailed in a three-wide, frantic push to the checkered flag to win Saturday’s Hooters 250 on a restart with only two laps remaining in the first event of a NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 19-year old series rookie Burton edged Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson by .379-seconds – leading only the final two laps on the day – to earn his second career victory of the season and become the track’s youngest series race winner.

“I’m so excited, that’s so awesome,” said Burton, who drives the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “I gave away the lead in the first restart in the same position and I didn’t really want to do that again. I knew the nine (Gragson) was going to drive in real deep and slide up so I felt good about that.

“I’m proud of my guys, we worked on this thing so hard every day, every run I should say and made it better and better. What a day to get this Dex Imaging Toyota Supra in Victory Lane. They can keep on doubting us and we’re going to keep on coming back.”

“What a race, man. This track is so much fun and really puts it in the driver’s hands, especially at the end there. I’m just ready to go again tomorrow, to be honest with you. I’m ready to get two.”

Anthony Alfredo finished fourth, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start since Aug. 31 of last year at Darlington Raceway. Michael Annett finished sixth and Chase Briscoe turned in a valiant seventh-place effort after going down six laps at the race start. Burton’s JGR teammate Brandon Jones, Ross Chastain and another JGR rookie, Riley Herbst, rounded out the top 10.

It was an especially rough outcome for Gragson, who led the most laps on the day – 83 of 167- and held a five-second lead on the field before the caution came out with only five laps remaining.

“It was tough,” Gragson said. “The No. 9 guys at JR Motorsports had really great pit stops all day. Restarts were just the biggest struggle. I was really proud of my restarts here last year here, but just couldn’t get them going [today].

“I thought we were going to be able to come home with the win today running the top. That was so much fun.”

It was certainly an exciting race in the hot Florida afternoon sun with 23 lead changes – often multiple cars involved in a single lap. Gragson, Cindric, Florida native Ross Chastain and fan-favorite Earnhardt – who hadn’t raced in the Xfinity Series at Homestead since 2008 – led laps at various times in a thrilling highlycompetitive day.

Briscoe, who led the championship standings coming into the race, had a mechanical problem before the green flag and sat in the pits for the opening six laps. Disappointing, for sure, but it made for a dramatic and impressive comeback for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver who made up all but one lap by the start of Stage 2. He stayed out as long as possible during the final stage, running with 20-lap older tires than the race leaders. He was sixth with 20 laps remaining hoping for a caution flag that would have let them pit and stay on the lead lap. But he was ultimately forced to come in for fresh rubber with 17 laps remaining and still raced to a top 10. He finished seventh and dropped to 18-points behind new leader Gragson in the championship standings.

Ryan Sieg earned his second career stage win, taking the opening stage victory by pitting four fresh tires on a caution period and sprinting by the race leaders who did not pit at that point. Gragson won the second stage.

The series will race again Sunday at noon in the Contender Boats 250 (12 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR) in a Dash 4 Cash incentivized race with $100,000 up for grabs among last week’s Atlanta winner A.J. Allmendinger, Gragson, Justin Haley and Daniel Hemric. The top four drivers from Sunday’s race will be eligible for $100,000 bonus on June 20 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Note: The Nos. 19 (Brandon Jones, finished eighth), 11 (Justin Haley, finished 13th) and 26 (Colin Garrett, finished 21st) each had one lug nut not safe and secure.

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Staff Report

NASCAR announced Saturday morning the Cup Series will no longer hold practice at Talladega Superspeedway before the GEICO 500 on June 21.

The original weekend schedule included a practice June 20, the Saturday prior to Sunday’s main event. That will no longer be the case, as NASCAR officials think the current format with no qualifying or practice is working well and has still created competitive racing.

NASCAR has been hosting one-day events since it returned to racing after the COVID-19 outbreak paused the three national series’ 2020 schedules. The sport postponed all events starting in March and began making them up in May.

The GEICO 500 will be a 188-lap, 500-mile race June 21 at 3 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Terrin Waack

As he recalled a story, Bubba Wallace struggled to remember what day he received a text message he wanted to share with the group. It came sometime after the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, he knew that for sure. Whether it was Wednesday or Thursday, though, he went back and forth.

The race was Wednesday night. The text was Thursday morning.

“My days are running together,” Wallace said Friday on a Zoom teleconference. “You can see how mentally taxing this is.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

As the only African American driver currently in the NASCAR Cup Series, the 26-year-old is a leader within the racing community amid ongoing discussions about social injustice. He called for the sanctioning body to ban confederate flags at events and properties, which it followed through on within days. He drove a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme this week in Virginia, where he finished a career-best 11th at the Virginia short track. And he wore a “I CAN’T BREATHE” T-shirt in honor of George Floyd on national TV during pre-race ceremonies, paired with an American flag face mask due to COVID-19 precautions.

Wallace put himself in the spotlight and it has admittedly placed a lot of weight on his shoulders – one he’s willing to bear.

“It’s part of the pedestal you sign up for,” Wallace said. “It doesn’t say that on the front page of the book of being an athlete or an icon in the sport. It doesn’t say that on the front page of what you have to go through. It’s just part of it. It’s in the fine print, the underline print there that you have to go through.

“When you sign up to become something, you’re signing up to become something larger than yourself. Represent something more than yourself.”

So now Wallace feels like he is balancing two jobs: race-car driver and social-injustice voice.

“I would say off the track is a lot busier, a lot more hectic,” said Wallace, driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet. “Thankful for no practice or the three-day shows we’re used to because I’d be wiped out by practice time. So it’s good to kind of just stay focused on this throughout the week, but you definitely have to do a quick shift – a mind shift – going into the race. It’s challenging, but I’m learning every step of the way.”

Wallace is actually having his best season to date so far.

Through 11 races, Wallace is averaging a 20.1 finish, highlighted by two top-10 finishes. At this point last year, his finishing average was a 26.9. His rookie season saw a 20.6 average finish in the same amount of time, which albeit is close to his current stat line but featured a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500 for padding.

Wallace has only had three finishes worse than 21st in 2020. At the same point in the season, he had nine in 2019 and five in 2018.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

“As much as we talk about racing, you kind of get lost in the translation of what’s going on today, so it’s nice to talk about it a little bit,” Wallace said. “My guys have done a really good job. Everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports, ever since we were allowed back into the shops, they’ve been busting their tails to get our Camaros competitive and fast. … I’m proud of the efforts we’re doing on the race track, and I’m super thankful for what they’re doing off the race track to support me. From Richard Petty to Andy Murstein, everybody at RPM is standing behind me and believing in me on track and also following me through this journey off track and letting me find my way and find my voice in standing up for what’s right.”

Wallace is exhausted. Physically, the NASCAR Cup Series is facing its most demanding schedule as it makes up the eight races postponed during the COVID-19 outbreak with midweek events. Mentally, he’s speaking out more than ever to anyone who wants to talk about the current real-world issues. It’s, quite frankly, a lot for one person.

All it takes, though, is remembering why he feels the way he does to keep going.

“There’s a poster of a little girl that says, ‘Yes, we said Black Lives Matter. No, we did not say only black lives matter. We know that all lives matter,’ ” Wallace said. “But we’re trying to make (everyone) understand that black lives matter, too. Too. T-O-O. It’s the three letters left off people don’t understand. Black lives matter, too.”

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Miami for the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown postponed its original scheduled date in March. Homestead-Miami Speedway will play host to Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Although fans will be prohibited from attending like other events held since NASCAR returned to action after the coronavirus outbreak, the 400.5-mile race will host up to 1,000 South Florida service members, while only a limited amount of essential personnel will be permitted on the track’s grounds. It will mark the eighth Cup Series race in NASCAR’s return and the 12th race overall this season.

Here’s everything you need to know with helpful information for Sunday.

TRACK DETAILS

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval that held its first NASCAR Cup Series event on November 14, 1999, won by Tony Stewart during his rookie NASCAR Cup Series season.

The turns feature 18-20 degrees of progressive banking, while the straightaways have three degrees of banking. Both the frontstretch and backstretch are 1,760 feet in length.

Sunday’s 267-lap race will be the 22nd race for NASCAR’s top division at the South Florida track.

STAGE LENGTHS

Stage 1 is set to end at Lap 80, Stage 2 at Lap 160, and the final stage is slated to conclude on Lap 267.

STARTING LINEUP

Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 will be held without practice and qualifying as NASCAR tries to limit exposure for on-site personnel to control the spread of coronavirus. The lineup was determined by a random draw among groups in the team owner standings:

Positions 1-12: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 13-24: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 25-36: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 37-38: Open teams in order of owners points

Denny Hamlin will start on the pole in the No. 11 Toyota Camry alongside Joey Logano in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang.

MORE: Starting lineup for Homestead-Miami

Pit-stall selection was ordered based on finishing positions from the NASCAR Cup Series’ previous race — Wednesday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway — followed by new entries in order of points.

For more information about starting-lineup procedures for national-series races scheduled without qualifying, click here.

RULES PACKAGE

The 2020 NASCAR rules package for intermediate-sized tracks will be in effect with a tapered spacer used to set a target of 550 horsepower. The cars will use aero ducts in addition to other aerodynamic devices to increase downforce.

GOODYEAR TIRES

Heat, humidity and high wear: Since its return in mid-May, NASCAR has run at several high tire wear race tracks, and Homestead-Miami Speedway ranks right near the top of that list. Homestead has come to be known for being one of the most competitive race tracks on the circuit, with its progressive banking, multiple racing grooves and its abrasive surface are part of that. High tire wear puts an emphasis on tire management, with drivers who are easier on their tires early in a run suffering less tire fall-off and making up a lot of track position later in that run. That scenario creates a lot of “comers” and “goers” over the course of a full fuel run, all leading to exciting and entertaining racing for the fans.

“Over the past several seasons we have had some great races at Homestead,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “It has also turned into one of our most high wear tracks, and that is something that both fans and drivers seem to like. For the drivers, it puts a lot of focus on being smooth and managing their tires. Over a long run, lap times will fall off over two seconds from the beginning to the end of the run, so drivers who are able to save their tires early in a run will benefit from that later on. One other nice thing about this tire setup is that these teams just ran it at Darlington a few weeks ago, and at Homestead last fall, so they should have a good notebook from which to work.”

The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will all run the same tire combination this weekend in South Florida.

STATS TO KNOW

— The last four races at Homestead-Miami Speedway have been won by four different drivers — Kyle Busch (2019), Joey Logano (2018), Martin Truex Jr. (2017), Jimmie Johnson (2016).

— The race winner has started in the top-five positions in six of the last seven races.

— Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last seven Miami races, while the organization’s former affiliate Furniture Row Racing also won one of those seven races with Truex Jr.

— Kevin Harvick has 12 straight top 10s at Miami, including six straight top fives all coming with Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick is also the all-time leader at Miami in these categories: 11 top fives, 17 top 10s, 6.4 average finish. He also owns an average running position of 4.0 or better in six straight Miami races.

— Kyle Busch has recorded five consecutive finishes of sixth or better, including two wins, all coming with crew chief Adam Stevens. Busch is also the only repeat winner in the last 10 Miami races.

— Ryan Blaney finished second at Martinsville Speedway, but it’ll be a little more of a challenge at Homestead-Miami if he wants to replicate that result. The 1.5-mile track is one of only three places where Blaney has yet to score a top-10 finish, including Darlington Raceway and Richmond Raceway. His best finish at Miami is 11th in 2019.

Source: NASCAR statistics, Racing Insights

LIVE COVERAGE

Tune in Sunday at at 3:30 p.m. ET to television coverage from Homestead-Miami Speedway on FOX and the FOX Sports App. For full radio coverage, listen to MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RELATED: Ways to follow the races

For a more interactive experience, head over to NASCAR.com or the NASCAR app to check out an enhanced Race Center, live Lap-by-Lap coverage, the customizable live leaderboard with Scanner (which is FREE for both races), and the return of Drive (featuring in-car cameras).

Be sure to set your lineup in Fantasy Live and make your picks in the NASCAR Finish Line App.

2019 RACE WINNER

Kyle Busch, who has yet to win so far in 2020, took his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry to Victory Lane in last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Busch led 120 of the 267 total laps and finished with a 4.578-second margin of victory over Championship 4 contender and teammate Martin Truex Jr. Busch also won at Miami in 2015 for his first career title.

RELATED: 2019 Ford EcoBoost 400 recap

ACTIVE HOMESTEAD-MIAMI WINNERS

Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin (two each); Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. (one each).

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Staff Report

Want to ride along with Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Well, on Saturday, you’ll have your chance.

NASCAR will feature Earnhardt’s live in-car camera as the 15-time Most Popular Driver makes his lone start of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season in the Hooters 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Earnhardt is set to pilot the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, his third NASCAR Xfinity Series start after his retirement from full-time competition at the end of the 2017 season. In his two prior starts, Earnhardt finished fifth at Darlington Raceway in 2019 and fourth at Richmond Raceway in 2018.

Saturday’s race is a part of a doubleheader for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the 1.5-mile Florida track. The second race will be held Sunday with the Contender Boats 250 at noon ET on FS1, prior to the NASCAR Cup Series’ Dixie Vodka 400 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Posted on June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials handed down an L1-level penalty and a pair of lug-nut penalties following Wednesday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 for the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway.

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team of Chase Elliott, and Adam Stevens, crew chief for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team of Kyle Busch, were each fined $10,000 after their cars were found to have one lug nut not safe and secure during post-race inspection at the .526-mile Virginia short track. Elliott finished fifth, while Busch finished 19th.

The No. 51 Petty Ware Racing team of Joey Gase received an L1 penalty after failing pre-race inspection five times. Gase started at the rear of the field and served a drive-through penalty after the initial green flag. Additionally, crew chief Lee Leslie was fined $25,000 and the team assessed a loss of 10 owner points. Gase finished the race in 36th place.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns on Sunday for the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Staff Report

After a successful event at Darlington Raceway on May 18, The NASCAR Foundation again teamed up with the Joey Logano Foundation and Elevation Outreach, an outreach ministry of Elevation Church based in Charlotte, North Carolina, to bring Convoy of Hope to Martinsville Speedway on June 11.

On June 10, as NASCAR Cup Series drivers prepared to take the green flag at Martinsville, a tractor trailer full of 30,000 pounds of food and supplies arrived in Martinsville, Virginia. Due to anticipated weather, volunteers moved the staging operation to the Salvation Army, where they prepared for the relief effort designed to bring hope to this racing community affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In these uncertain times, it feels great to bring some much-needed hope to families in Martinsville,” said Nichole Krieger, The NASCAR Foundation’s executive director. “We are so thankful for the opportunity to expand our partnership with Joey Logano Foundation, Convoy of Hope and Elevation Outreach to reach even more of our racing communities.”

For three hours on the morning of June 11, volunteers from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Blue Ridge, Bowman Gray Ladies Auxiliary, the Grace Network and other community partners worked alongside The NASCAR Foundation, Joey Logano Foundation and Elevation Outreach to load grocery bags filled with emergency food, water and hygiene supplies into a line of queued vehicles. An added treat for younger guests, The NASCAR Foundation provided its signature Speedy Bears that enlisted smiles all around.

“We are so thankful for Martinsville Speedway graciously providing a platform for this donation event,” said Ali O’Connor, the Joey Logano Foundation’s executive director. “This important work answers a community’s basic needs and we couldn’t be more proud to participate.”

Serving nearly 800 households in the Martinsville community, Convoy of Hope’s contactless drive-thru ensured the safety of its staff, volunteers and deserving guests. Convoy of Hope is addressing an important need during the ongoing pandemic, and its distributions have helped to surpass its goal of 10 million meals served.

Posted on June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by RJ Kraft

NASCAR Finish Line, a free-to-play gaming app from Penn National Gaming, is back with the resumption of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. Each week, there will be six groups of five drivers for the upcoming race. Users will predict which driver will finish first among each of the six groups and then the overall race winner and second-place finisher for a chance to win $25,000 if all eight scenarios are correctly selected.

RELATED: Download NASCAR Finish Line

The first of six groups for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX/FOX Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) consists of four past champions and winners at the 1.5-mile track as well as the 2020 championship co-favorites based on the latest odds from Penn Gaming. The group is made up of Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott.

For a stats look, NASCAR.com has compiled the drivers’ career average finish at Miami, their average finish of the last two races at Miami, their average finish in 2020 races at Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway and then their average finish of tracks in the 1.5-mile range in 2020 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta. Miami is the second roughest surface on the circuit, where as Atlanta is the roughest and Auto Club is the third roughest, so those two are solid basis of comparison based on the track surface.

PHOTOS: Tracks ranked from smoothest to roughest

A points system has been assigned, starting with one point for the best finisher and counting up to six points for the worst finisher. Those numbers were then added up. The lowest total signifies the strongest driver (green), and the highest total represents the weakest driver (red) — in recent years.

Driver	Career Miami avg. finish‘1	Last 2 Miami races	Two 2020 races on rougher surfaces	Four 2020 races on 1.5-mile range tracks	Total
Kyle Busch	Avg. finish: 16.3 (5)	Avg. finish: 2.5 (2)	Avg. finish: 2.0 (1)	Avg. finish: 12.5 (5)	13
Chase Elliott	Avg. finish: 9.5 (2)	Avg. finish: 11.0 (5)	Avg. finish: 6.0 (3)	Avg. finish: 9.3 (3)	13
Kevin Harvick	Avg. finish: 6.4 (1)	Avg. finish: 3.5 (4)	Avg. finish: 5.0 (2)	Avg. finish: 6.0 (1)	8
Joey Logano	Avg. finish: 12.7 (4)	Avg. finish: 3.0 (3)	Avg. finish: 11.0 (5)	Avg. finish: 7.5 (2)	14
Martin Truex Jr.	Avg. finish: 10.2 (3)	Avg. finish: 2.0 (1)	Avg. finish: 8.5 (4)	Avg. finish: 9.5 (4)	12

Harvick looks to be the overwhelming choice based on the stats for Group 1 at Miami and is coming off a win at a track with a rough surface at Atlanta. Even his average finish in the last two races at the 1.5-mile track in Florida — 3.5 — while fourth best in this group — is still ridiculously low and would likely top the category with almost any other set of drivers to compare against. If you go by strictly Miami results, Truex is a solid alternative to choose, as he had the best combined marks in the Miami-based categories. If you go by just 2020 stats on rougher surfaced tracks and 1.5-mile range tracks, Elliott is the alternative to Harvick to consider.

Make sure to get your picks for all the groups as well as the first- and second-place finishers in the NASCAR Finish Line App before Sunday’s race at Miami.

Posted on June 11, 2020June 12, 2020 by Staff Report

The starting lineup for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) has been set.

Denny Hamlin will start from the pole position, with Joey Logano joining him on the front row to lead the field to green for the 267-lap, 400.5-mile race.

The lineup for the race was determined by a random draw, with results airing on FS1’s “Race Hub.” The parameters for the draw were as follows:

Positions 1-12 determined by a random draw from charter teams in those positions in team owner points
Positions 13-24: Random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 25-36: Random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 37-38 will be filled out by open, non-chartered teams in order of owner points

Here is a look at the full lineup:

Starting spot	Driver	Car #	Team
1	Denny Hamlin	11	Joe Gibbs Racing
2	Joey Logano	22	Team Penske
3	Brad Keselowski	2	Team Penske
4	Kyle Busch	18	Joe Gibbs Racing
5	Chase Elliott	9	Hendrick Motorsports
6	Martin Truex Jr.	19	Joe Gibbs Racing
7	Kevin Harvick	4	Stewart-Haas Racing
8	Alex Bowman	88	Hendrick Motorsports
9	Jimmie Johnson	48	Hendrick Motorsports
10	Kurt Busch	1	Chip Ganassi Racing
11	Ryan Blaney	12	Team Penske
12	Clint Bowyer	14	Stewart-Haas Racing
13	Chris Buescher	17	Roush Fenway Racing
14	Ryan Newman	6	Roush Fenway Racing
15	Erik Jones	20	Joe Gibbs Racing
16	Austin Dillon	3	Richard Childress Racing
17	Bubba Wallace	43	Richard Petty Motorsports
18	John Hunter Nemechek	38	Front Row Motorsports
19	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	47	JTG Daugherty Racing
20	Matt Kenseth	42	Chip Ganassi Racing
21	Aric Almirola	10	Stewart-Haas Racing
22	William Byron	24	Hendrick Motorsports
23	Matt DiBenedetto	21	Wood Brothers Racing
24	Tyler Reddick	8	Richard Childress Racing
25	JJ Yeley	27	Rick Ware Racing
26	Corey LaJoie	32	Go Fas Racing
27	Josh Bilicki	53	Rick Ware Racing
28	Brennan Poole	15	Premium Motorsports
29	Joey Gase	51	Petty Ware Racing
30	Michael McDowell	34	Front Row Motorsports
31	Quin Houff	00	StarCom Racing
32	Ty Dillon	13	Germain Racing
33	Ryan Preece	37	JTG Daugherty Racing
34	BJ McLeod	77	Spire Motorsports
35	Cole Custer	41	Stewart-Haas Racing
36	Christopher Bell	95	Leavine Family Racing
37	Daniel Suarez	96	Gaunt Brothers Racing
38	Timmy Hill	66	Motorsports Business Management

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Holly Cain

The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship title won’t be up for grabs based solely on the outcome of Saturday night’s Baptist Health 200 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Homestead-Miami Speedway as has been the case at the track for more than a decade.

But the drivers who have established themselves as the early favorites for the 2020 title happen to be some of the best drivers at the South Florida 1.5-miler, and they will be tested this weekend by some of the sport’s best, including the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and the NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver Chase Elliott.

This season’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series points leader, Austin Hill, won the 2019 Miami race, but he wasn’t one of the four drivers eligible for the title when the series championship was decided there last November. His work at the track, however, combined with a strong runner-up showing last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway makes him an absolute favorite this week in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota.

Hill is the only driver with top-10 finishes in all four races this season, his 5.0 average finish is best in the series and his 73 laps led is most among series regulars.

“We’ve had a great start to the year, and I know our group is capable of even more,” Hill said. “We had a great United Rentals Tundra last week at Atlanta and we’ve had good speed every race so far. It definitely would have been nice to seal the deal last week, but we have a great shot to do it at Homestead on Saturday.”

Grant Enfinger, who bettered Hill last week at Atlanta on a green-white-checkered restart to settle the race in overtime, is now 2-for-4 on the season — also winning the Daytona International Speedway season opener. Enfinger has a solid Miami record as well with three top-10 finishes in the last four races. His best showing was a runner-up finish in 2018 after starting from pole position. He is third in the championship, 31 points off Hill’s pace.

In all, there are four current championship contenders with Miami trophies. In addition to Hill, Brett Moffitt won in South Florida in 2018 to claim the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship. Reigning champion Matt Crafton won there in 2015, and Johnny Sauter is the 2011 race champion.

All four of these past winners are setting themselves up as early 2020 title favorites.

Moffitt is ranked fourth in the championship, 31 points behind Hill. The driver of the No. 23 GMS Chevrolet has two top-five finishes in two starts at Miami, including a fifth-place last year in addition to the 2018 victory. His average finish is 3.0.

Crafton, driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford, is still trying to raise his title defense game. His only top 10 through four races is a fourth place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He’s ranked 11th in the standings but has an impressive Miami resume with 11 top-10 finishes in 19 Homestead starts and not a single DNF. Saturday night may be just what the three-time series champion needs to establish himself a contender again.

Sauter, driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford, comes to Miami abundantly motivated. An inspection violation last week at Atlanta dropped the veteran from a top-10 finish to last on the scoring sheet. Instead of being ranked among the top five in the title run — he was second — he’s now eighth. Not only does he have that previous win at Miami, he has had nine top-10 finishes in 13 starts — including five of the last six races.

These past success stories, however, are facing a talented group of young drivers who have already proven themselves ready to challenge.

Zane Smith, driver of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet, is second in the championship — 21 points behind Hill. He’ll be making his Miami debut. The 21-year old comes to South Florida with top-10 finishes in the last three races, including a best of third place on the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval.

Ben Rhodes, the 23-year old driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford, has top-10 finishes in the last three races. He’s ranked fifth in the championship, 35 points behind Hill. Rhodes has one top-10 in four previous Miami starts.