Posted on by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Jimmie Johnson went full throwback for NASCAR’s season-ending weekend, commemorating the end of two long-running eras — his time with crew chief Chad Knaus and sponsor Lowe’s. He shaved to replicate the baby-faced look of his early career, and his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet sported a retro design at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

All the measures heightened a sense of reflection for Johnson, who came home 14th in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400. His 17th season in NASCAR’s top series concluded without a victory for the first time in his career, and 2019 will mark a season of change for the seven-time champion. Kevin Meendering will be his crew chief, and Ally Financial will be his primary sponsor.

RELATED: Detailing Johnson’s new sponsor for 2019 | Beardless JJ looks forward

Johnson said the reality of the end of his partnership with Knaus began to set in as the two went through pre-race prep at the 1.5-mile track. Knaus is set to join William Byron, this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year, and the No. 24 team next season, but Johnson said he expected to remain heavily involved with the crew chief that he called “my brother.”

“We will work very close together and I think even on a deeper level than where we have been the last couple of years,” Johnson said. “The last couple of years have been tough. William (Byron) is a great guy and I’ve been working closely with him and obviously, Chad is going to be working with William. We will all be in there working together without a doubt.”

Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 crew pose for a group photo in Miami.
Hendrick Motorsports/Team Lowe’s Racing

The 2018 campaign marked career-lows for Johnson and the No. 48 group in several key categories, including laps led, laps completed, top-five finishes and average finish. The struggles prompted a change for the longtime driver-crew chief pairing, with the announcement of next year’s Hendrick Motorsports lineup coming in October.

“Early in the year, kind of midseason when we made that decision and working through that scenario wasn’t easy,” Johnson said. “Just glad to finish with a respectable result today, but we’ve got a lot of work to do as a company. I’ve got a lot of work to do with my new team, we’ve got a lot of work to do with this new (rules) package and we’ve got to come out stronger.”

Next season will bring a new look for Johnson’s efforts. He’ll aim to build chemistry with Meendering, who moves up to the Monster Energy Series after a successful tenure with JR Motorsports on the Xfinity side. He’ll also sport a new look with Ally sponsorship, which promises to bring more than a splash of purple to the No. 48’s body panels.

More importantly, he hopes to create a new streak of winning ways.

“I’ve had such a fortunate career and I would have loved to keep that streak alive, clearly that is not the case,” said Johnson, who ended the season stuck on 83 career victories. “Instead of reflecting on this year and how bad it was because I know that reality, I’ve been living it first-hand. I just think it’s important for me and the team right now to look back on what we have done together over 17 years together.

“New sponsor, new crew chief, whole new rules package, you know, 2019 is going to be a clean start for myself and this No. 48 team.”

MORE: Why it’s not goodbye for Jimmie and Chad

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano took home his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title with a win in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After all the hard work, the driver they call “Sliced Bread” can now sit back and enjoy the bouquets being thrown his way. Here are some congrats from a few of NASCAR’s notables:

Posted on by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The three drivers that had cornered the season-long market in the win column were deserving co-favorites heading into Sunday’s championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Joey Logano vs. the “Big 3” Goliath story line was an overriding theme.

In the end, Logano turned back the challenges from Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who finished second through fourth, respectively, in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400. The trio combined for 20 wins in the 36-race season, but came up just short of hoisting the Monster Energy Series trophy for a second time in their careers.

RELATED: Final playoffs standings | Race results 

Truex lacked enough oomph after a late-race restart to catch Logano. Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team nearly converted on a pit-strategy Hail Mary. And Harvick led the second-most laps (58) but lamented a No. 4 Ford that faded as conditions shifted from daytime to nightfall.

Truex was vying for a second straight crown in the final event for Furniture Row Racing’s No. 78 team. Last season, he outdistanced Busch by less than a second to savor his first series title; this year, he was 1.725 seconds shy of the title at the checkered flag.

“I just needed time. That’s all I needed,” said Truex, who surrendered the lead to Logano for the final time in the 256th of 267 laps. “They were faster than us for 15, 20 laps all day long. It was like the reverse scenario of last year, you know? Last year, we took advantage of the short-run car at the end and the 18 should’ve won the race. Tonight, we should’ve won the race and they took advantage of the short-run car. I don’t know what else we could’ve done, honestly.

MORE: Truex: ‘We had it’

“We worked our guts out all weekend just to get here. I told you earlier that just to get here, we showed a lot of people up and made ’em eat crow and that felt good. To come here and almost upset the field and almost win it back to back was really awesome.”

Harvick was the slowest of the Championship 4 throughout the weekend’s preliminary practices and qualifying, but adjustments quickly put his Stewart-Haas Racing entry into contention. Harvick was without his regular crew chief Rodney Childers, who served the second event of a two-race penalty at Homestead, but interim wrench Tony Gibson filled in admirably with a veteran’s guile atop the pit box.

Harvick spent the bulk of his time up front during the early going, winning Stage 1 and finishing a close second in Stage 2. But Harvick never led again after the final stage set sail.

“We didn’t make a lot of big changes, we made a lot of small changes, and the car was definitely better,” Harvick said. “But like I say, when it got dark, we just lost the rear grip and couldn’t get off the corner and was having trouble turning in the corner. Just the balance was really good until it was dark outside, and we just never could get the rear grip back to where we needed to, and I couldn’t take off.”

For Busch, the run-up to Sunday’s finale was dominated by pit-stall talk and how the team of pole-winning stablemate Denny Hamlin ceded the No. 1 box to lift Busch’s championship hopes. Once the race started, that first box was the site of a pair of hiccups for the No. 18 team that cost Busch ground. When the final pit stop rolled around, Busch’s crew held serve with quick pit work that atoned for previous miscues.

Busch’s first lead of the day came late as crew chief Adam Stevens opted for an alternate pit strategy, delaying the No. 18’s final pit stop in an attempt to gain track position with an advantageous caution flag. Busch and Co. got it when David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Suarez all came together with 20 laps left, but the team was unable to capitalize for the final sprint to the finish.

“We were so bad tonight on the race track and on pit road that nothing was kind of going our way,” said Busch, the 2015 champion. “So it was just not all there the way that we needed it to, and sometimes it all falls into place and falls your way, and other times you’ve got to be able to go out there and go earn it, and we didn’t have either tonight.”

Stevens said of his late-race call that “it wasn’t so much bold as it was desperation. All the guys we were racing were already in front of us, so they weren’t going to do the same thing as them and get in front of them, so we had to do something different. And we got the caution we needed, but we just didn’t have the car we needed to hang onto it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. just didn’t have enough in his quest for consecutive championships in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Truex finished second to Joey Logano, who made the decisive pass with 12 laps to go in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

MORE: Full race results

Truex, who is moving to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2019 season after Furniture Row Racing closes shop, reacted to the second-place finish after emerging from the No. 78 Toyota on pit road.

“I’m gonna miss these guys,” Truex said of his Furniture Row teammates in an interview with NBC. “I wish we could have won it. We had it. We were able to get the lead, I was just slow first 15 laps. I just couldn’t do it. I don’t know what else I could have done. He passed me so fast I didn’t even have a chance to do anything.

“Not the way we wanted to go out, but hell of an effort. Been the best time of my life. I don’t know what else to say.”

The numbers say plenty.

In a five-year run with Furniture Row, Truex Jr. won 17 races — including eight in a 2017 championship effort — and logged 56 top-five finishes. The black No. 78 Toyota became one of the fastest cars in the track, and Truex Jr. evolved from a driver with two career Monster Energy Series wins to a NASCAR superstar.

He’ll drive the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing next season, with crew chief Cole Pearn coming along with him.

“Everything about it has been great,” Truex Jr. said. “Everything about it has been the best thing I’ve ever been a part of. You know, I feel good about my future and going to a great place, and I know we’ll have more success. But it’s going to be different.  You know, it’s going to be a different team, a different cast of characters, and these guys were a special group, and I’m very thankful to get to work with all of them.

” … It’s just been a good ride. It’s been a good run, and I hate to see it come to an end, but everything ends somewhere.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano is 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion — and Ford Performance has added another driver title to its coffers for the first time since 2004.

So long, 14-year streak.

RELATED: Race results

Logano, 28, won the title with a display of gumption, perfectly executing a brilliant pass on race leader Martin Truex Jr. with 12 laps to go following a restart.

He held the No. 78 Toyota at bay for the next two laps, then powered well ahead of Truex Jr. over the final eight-lap stretch to win on Ford Championship Weekend.

The title was the first for Logano, who added a second driver championship for team owner Roger Penske.

SHOP: Logano championship gear!

Kurt Busch won the 2004 championship for team owner Jack Roush, the last time a Ford driver won the premier series title. Matt Kenseth won for Roush the previous season in 2003.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – On Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it was “The Big Three and Me” — with the “Me” being Joey Logano waging vehicular war against the three most prolific winners in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Now “Me” is a champion.

In a thrilling finish that featured all four Championship 4 drivers battling for the race victory and the title — and finishing 1-2-3-4 in the Ford EcoBoost 400 — Logano charged past defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. on Lap 256 of 267 and pulled away to win his first championship.

RELATED: Race results
SHOP: Joey Logano championship gear

“Oh, my God, yes!” Logano screamed on his radio as his No. 22 Team Penske Ford flashed across the finish line 1.725 seconds ahead of Truex, establishing a handful of milestones in the process.

“We did it! We won the championship! I can’t believe it. I don’t know what to say. This team, (owner) Roger Penske, (crew chief) Todd Gordon, the pit crew. Oh, my God! They gave me the car I needed at the end to do my job. Put me in position to do my job. I couldn’t be more proud of them. We won the championship! Oh, my God!”

The victory was Logano’s third of the season, his first at the 1.5-mile track and the 21st of his career. With the win, he sealed the first manufacturer’s championship for Ford since 2002 and the first driver’s championship for the car maker since Kurt Busch won the first Playoffs in 2004.

It was the first title for the Ford Fusion. It was also the last title for the Ford Fusion, which will be replaced by the Mustang in the Cup Series next season. It was the second championship for Penske, who got his first in 2012 when Brad Keselowski beat Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson for the top prize in stock-car racing.

RELATED: Truex Jr. laments second place finish

Keselowski figured prominently in Sunday’s outcome, but not as a contender. With 21 laps left, Truex passed Logano for third place and took off in pursuit of eventual third-place finisher Kevin Harvick, who was running second at the time, with Kyle Busch holding the lead on old tires, hoping for a caution.

On Lap 247, Busch’s prayer was answered. Contact from Keselowski’s Ford sent the Toyota of Daniel Suarez spinning to cause the fifth caution of the race. That yellow flag changed everything. Busch got the caution he needed to get back into contention, and Logano got the chance he needed to win the championship.

Busch was first off pit road and led the field to green on Lap 253, but Truex surged past him in the first corner with Logano following into second place. Three laps later, Logano made a breathtaking charge into Turn 1 and sped around Truex to the outside. Game over.

“My car was really good on entry all day,” Logano said, in what may be the understatement of Ford Championship Weekend.

The victory was the culmination of week in which Logano had declared himself the favorite despite his total of two victories entering the race, compared with eight each for Harvick and Busch and four for Truex.

“We were the favorite, like I told you before the race started,” Logano said in Victory Lane. “I’m so proud of everybody for rising to the occasion. We executed down the stretch like nobody’s business.”

In his excitement after taking the checkered flag, Logano thought he had pulled a muscle, but the pain was well worth it.

“Man, I worked my whole life to get here,” Logano said. “To win a championship. We’ve been so close. It has been 10 seasons of fighting for this. I wasn’t sure we were going to get it, but Todd made a good adjustment at the end, and we had that no-quit attitude.”

Posted on by Jessica Ruffin

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The Big 3 was the talk of the 2018 season. They dominated and, at times, looked untouchable. Many thought no one could beat them.

But on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Joey Logano did.

And he has the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy to prove it.

“If you look at it, it was the Big 3 and me, right,” No. 22 crew chief Todd Gordon said. “So we were the fourth wheel of the group and able to race all night long. … That’s just surreal to think about he got to race Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch for a championship and execute. 

SHOP: Logano championship gear!

“Phenomenal group of guys, and again, we proved you’ve got to win, and Joey elevated himself to do it.”

Logano emerged from his No. 22 Ford on the frontstretch after taking the checkered flag for the title. He banged the roof of his car, as his crew members crowded around cheering and celebrating with the new champion. They hoisted him upon their shoulders.

As the celebrations continued, front tire changer Thomas Hatcher kneeled on the blue-painted surface. He wiped his face and looked upon his team members, who were now champions.

“You try so hard, you come so close and everybody does. And I just kind of got hit with it,” Hatcher told NASCAR.com of the emotional moment later. “It was tough. When I say it was tough, I mean it was emotional, it was everything came together. And honestly, the last pit stop … we weren’t able to beat (Martin Truex Jr.) out and I didn’t know if it was over with. But Joey got up on the wheel and, holy smokes.”

RELATED: Race results | Race recap | ‘Big 3’ falls short

No. 22 front tire changer Thomas Hatcher
No. 22 front tire changer Thomas Hatcher takes a moment after Joey Logano’s Miami victory to win the 2018 championship. (Jessica Ruffin | NASCAR Digital Media)

Hatcher has been a pit crew member for 14 years and a part of Logano’s crew for five years. He was there for the 2014 heartbreak when the No. 22 Ford fell off the jack on the final pit stop, costing the team valuable seconds and ultimately the title. He was there when Logano and Carl Edwards tangled with 10 laps to go, with Jimmie Johnson going on to take the championship that night.

And he was there for the team’s brightest moment tonight on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

“I got my expectations up really high in ’14 and I did in ’16 too, especially ’16. I wasn’t going to let my emotions take over tonight,” Hatcher said. “I think everybody was pretty calm, everybody was pretty loose. Trying not to get our hopes up but Joey motivates us and I feel like we motivate him. … When he makes moves like I said on the track, we want to crush it on pit road. And man, I feel like we crush it on pit road, it motivates him to make moves like that on the track.

“It’s a team sport.”

It’s partly because of his team that Logano knew he wasn’t the underdog heading into the race, the David in a David-and-Goliath situation.

“We built a great race car that was able to be good on short runs … my race team, I wasn’t worried about them at all,” Logano said. “And I just had to do my job.”

But that “job” is often a tough task; with more than 35 competitors on the track every week, race wins — much less, championships — are challenging to earn. A winning stretch is even tougher to maintain throughout the long racing season. And while Logano pinpointed himself as the favorite ahead of Championship 4 Media Day, he wasn’t as sure of his chances before the 10-race stretch of the NASCAR Playoffs.

“Twenty weeks ago, I thought man, if we get to run to the Round of 8, that’s pretty good this year from where we were at the time,” he said. “We were consistent, that’s what kept us up in the points all year long. We didn’t have many bad races throughout the season.

“But I guess just as the Playoffs went, everyone rose to the occasion. Everyone picked it up. We talked about it at Playoffs Media Day … and I was talking about how you have to find another little bit inside of you to just maintain when the playoffs start because everyone’s able to get a little bit better. As we do that, we just started running better … I don’t think anyone scored more points than us throughout the playoffs. …

“It goes to show that we executed under pressure, not just today or the last five races, but the last 10 is when I felt like, ‘We got a shot at this thing.’ “

The 28-year-old driver certainly didn’t look like an underdog under the lights in Florida; he paced the field for a race-high 80 laps, restarting third behind Championship 4 contenders Busch and Truex Jr. with 15 laps remaining. Truex grabbed the lead, but with 12 laps remaining, Logano charged forward to take it back. 

In the waning laps, he pulled farther ahead to take the most important checkered flag of his young career. Beating reigning champion Truex across the start-finish line, with 2014 champion Harvick and 2015 title winner Busch behind him.

RELATED: Every Cup champion | Every 2018 race winner | Ford breaks title drought

When everything was on the line, he executed. And beat the best.

Maybe, he was never really the underdog after all.

“We proved why we’re not (the underdog),” Logano said. “This is the favorite, and I told you that before the race started. I’m so proud of everybody. Everyone rose to the occasion, executed under pressure like nobody’s business. …

“Man, you just — I’ve worked my whole life to get here, to get to the championship. I’ve been so close. I spent 10 seasons fighting for this. I wasn’t sure we were going to get it, but, man, Todd made a good adjustment at the end, and it was a ‘no-quit’ attitude. 

“I was going to pass that car no matter what.”

Posted on by Staff Report

What channels are NASCAR races on this week? We answer that and give you the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET. 

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports Go | How to find NBCSN

Monday, November 19
2 p.m., NASCAR 120, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN
noon: Motorsports Monday (with hosts Woody Cain and Joey Meier)

Tuesday, November 20
4:30 p.m., Glory Road: Battle of the Big 3, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN
7 p.m.: NASCAR Live (with host Mike Bagley)

Wednesday, November 21
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1 (re-air)
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Thursday, November 22
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Features Part 1, FS1

On MRN
1 p.m.: Throwback Thursday — 1978 Sportsman 100

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson swiped the Stage 2 win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, using his speed on the high line to pass Kevin Harvick on the final corner of the last lap of the stage Sunday.

It marked Larson’s fifth stage win of the season when he led at the conclusion of Lap 160 in the Monster Energy Series championship race. In all, Larson led 41 laps in the second stage.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Harvick finished second, but does not officially receive points toward his season total for the stage win because Championship 4 drivers do not receive stage points for this season finale race.

Among Championship 4 drivers, Joey Logano finished third in the stage, Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth and Kyle Busch finished sixth.

Aric Almirola broke up the Championship 4-plus-Larson domination of the leaderboard, finishing fifth.

The first caution of the weekend — in all three series at Homestead-Miami — for something other than a stage break came on Lap 138 for debris.

The race is scheduled to end on Lap 267.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 10
2  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing —
3  Joey Logano  Team Penske —
4  Martin Truex Jr.  Furniture Row Racing —
5  Aric Almirola  Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6  Kyle Busch  Joe Gibbs Racing —
7  Kurt Busch  Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9  Jimmie Johnson  Hendrick Motorsports 2
10  Clint Bowyer  Stewart-Haas Racing 1

STAGE 1 RESULTS

Kevin Harvick took the lead from Busch Pole winner Denny Hamlin on Lap 43, and the Championship 4 driver held on to cruise to the Stage 1 win on Lap 80 at the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Harvick recorded a series-leading 19th stage win, but does not officially receive points for the season tally because Championship 4 drivers do not receive stage points for this race.

Kyle Larson was second in the stage in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet after a late surge buoyed by his ability to drive the high line close to the outside wall in Miami.

The remaining Championship 4 drivers followed Larson in the stage: Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota, Joey Logano in the No. 22 Ford and Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Toyota.

Harvick started the race in 12th in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after struggling through qualifying and practices throughout the weekend, but by the time cars made their first pit stops around Lap 37, he had worked his way up to second — thanks, in part, to a speedy pit stop that had him exiting ahead of fellow championship contender Busch.

Larson, who started the race in 11th, claimed second from Busch by Lap 69.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing —
2  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 9
3  Kyle Busch  Joe Gibbs Racing —
4  Joey Logano  Team Penske —
5  Martin Truex Jr.  Furniture Row Racing —
6  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 5
7  Aric Almirola  Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8  Erik Jones  Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9  Brad Keselowski  Team Penske 2
10  Kurt Busch  Stewart-Haas Racing 1
Posted on by Staff Report

Ever wonder what goes on in a driver meeting? We’re here to help.

This year, we’ll publish the actual rules video your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will watch before climbing into their stock cars. Above is the video for the Ford EcoBoost 400 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Homestead-Miami Speedway.