Posted on by Reid Spencer

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Tyler Reddick was the only driver of the Championship 4 who really liked it on top, and his willingness to run the wall paid off with a race win and a NASCAR Xfinity Series title.

Charging forward in the top lane, even though it meant an occasional brush with the outside wall, Reddick pulled away from pole winner Cole Custer during a long green-flag run to the finish to win Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 by 6.902 seconds.

“I picked a really good time to get my life together and decide to win a race,” and elated Reddick said in Victory Lane.

RELATED: Race results | Stage 1 results | Stage 2 results

In fact, Saturday’s win was the third in Reddick’s career and his second of the season. Reddick won the 2018 opener at Daytona International Speedway by .0004 seconds over JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler, who finished 14th on Saturday in his final start as a full-time driver.

At Daytona, Reddick’s margin of victory translated to roughly three inches. At Homestead, it was a no-doubter. Once he passed fellow Championship 4 competitor Christopher Bell for the lead on Lap 164 of 200 and stayed within inches with the wall lap after lap, he quickly pulled away for the win, the championship and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. 

“I just knew we had to execute,” Reddick said. “I thought we had a chance if we just made it to Homestead. I like this track—it rewards my aggression. Tonight, we hit the wall a lot, but the car kept in one piece, enough for me to get to the end.”

Pit strategy also played out in Reddick’s favor. Bell came to pit road under green on Lap 141, and Reddick followed a lap later. Custer didn’t bring his No. 00 Ford to pit road from the lead until Lap 147, after losing roughly two seconds per lap, and exited 8.006 seconds behind Reddick.

Bell passed Reddick for the lead on Lap 154 but within 10 laps the seven-time winner had used up his short-run speed and surrendered the top spot back to Reddick. 

“He went out and attacked, attacked, attacked all night, and it paid off for him,” Bell said of Reddick’s effort. “I was good on the bottom, and I had glimpses of hope, but we just weren’t fast enough.”

Custer took second from Bell on Lap 165 and closed to within 2.7 seconds with 30 laps left, but Custer couldn’t find speed at the top of the track and quickly lost ground.

“I think if we could have run the top better, we could have won,” said Custer, who led the first 93 laps before losing two positions on pit road during stops under caution after the second stage. “We got so far behind (after the exchange of pit stops), and once I caught him, our tires got equaled out, and then he started running the top, and I just couldn’t keep up with him.

“Congrats to Tyler. I’m happy for him, but it’s frustrating.”

Trying to run the top lane, Bell smacked the wall on Lap 181 and had to pit with a flat right-rear tire on Lap 190. He finished 11th, one lap down. Championship 4 driver Daniel Hemric ran a distant fourth behind Reddick, Custer and John Hunter Nemechek. Hemric was 17.836 seconds behind Reddick at the finish.

Austin Cindric finished fifth, followed by Ryan Preece and Justin Allgaier, the last driver on the lead lap.

Reddick is the third JR Motorsports driver in five years to win the Xfinity championship as a rookie, following Chase Elliott (2014) and William Byron (2017), both of whom now drive for Hendrick Motorsports in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. All three rookie champions have driven the No. 9 Chevrolet for JRM.

“(Crew chief) Dave (Elenz) had a great strategy tonight that cycled Tyler into the lead,” said team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. “And Tyler had the speed and the nerve to run the laps he needed to keep the lead.

“I’m telling you, to run on that fence like he did at the end of that race, that takes some precision. He did such an amazing job doing that, and he earned the victory tonight and the championship.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Tyler Reddick’s growth and maturation as a driver were on full display Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And now, he’s a champion.

Reddick won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship for JR Motorsports by winning the Ford EcoBoost 300, book-ending his year after his season-opening win in his first full-time campaign in the series. The 22-year-old Reddick beat out Championship 4 contenders Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Daniel Hemric to reach the series pinnacle.

“We had to overcome a lot,” Reddick said after exiting his car. “This year was all about learning. It was an up-and-down year and with everything we had to do, we had to do it in the playoffs, and it rewarded us with a championship. We can hang our hat on that.

“I know people will say we weren’t consistent, but we got it done when it counted most.”

RELATED: Race results

Reddick opened the 2018 season with a bang, winning his second career Xfinity Series race in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway to seal the first spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs. The official margin of victory — 0.000 seconds — was the closest in NASCAR national series history.

But the driver struggled to find his way following that win. It took until deep in the playoffs for the No. 9 team to be running for the win late as growing pains were evident during Reddick’s first year with the team.

On Saturday under the lights, everything came together. Reddick led 44 laps, third-highest in the race, but soared to the lead on the strength of some pit strategy that saw him pit early in the final run.

He passed Bell for P1 on Lap 164, then held off a hard-charging Custer — who led the opening 93 laps — by riding the rim at a track known for rewarding those who can run the top successfully.

RELATED: Custer laments late stop

“I knew coming in here if we just made it to Homestead, this is a great track for me, it rewards my aggression,” Reddick said. “We hit the wall a lot, but the car kept in one piece long enough for me to get to the end.”

The JR Motorsports driver was quiet on the radio after taking the checkered flag, soaking the win in and letting crew chief Dave Elenz and others holler out celebrations.

It was a moment of reflection for the driver, who would later say multiple times that he made too many mistakes this year.

A seven-race summer stretch resulted in just one top-1o finish and four finishes of 25th or worse and took his name out of the championship discussion, but driver and team both righted the ship in time for the title push.

RELATED: Junior praises Reddick

“It’s just a great moment,” Reddick said in Victory Lane as the title win began to sink in. “This isn’t going to be the year where the best car all year won. We had to fight really, really hard. I made a lot of mistakes. I had a lot of growing pains. These guys didn’t give up on me.”

It’s the second consecutive championship for team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who runs JR Motorsports with his sister, Kelley. William Byron won the 2017 series title in the same No. 9 Chevrolet. Chase Elliott earned the organization’s first title in 2014, also in the No. 9.

Reddick scored three career victories in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with now-defunct Brad Keselowski Racing from 2014-16, finishing second in the standings in 2015 before making the jump to the Xfinity Series. He will make the switch from JR Motorsports to Richard Childress Racing’s Xfinity Series program in 2019.

“We dug down deep when it mattered most, and we got it done,” Reddick said. “We had to run well and we were consistent and got to Homestead. I knew if we got here, we had a good shot at getting this championship done.”

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Denny Hamlin earned his third Busch Pole Award in four years at Homestead-Miami Speedway and will lead the field to green for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does his favorable history at the season-finale track make him a lock for my lineup? And what of the Championship 4? After three practice sessions and qualifying determining the starting order, we’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the playoff game works

Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Also, your garage play can only be swapped for a driver of similar classification. (A playoff garage driver can only be swapped for a playoff driver in your lineup; a non-playoff garage driver can only be swapped for a non-playoff driver in your lineup.)

Also, all drivers will be scored for stage points in the Fantasy Live game. In real life, the Championship 4 do not receive stage points, but in the Fantasy Live game they will receive stage points as they have all year.

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Miami:
Playoff driver 1: Joey Logano
Playoff driver 2: Martin Truex Jr.
Non-playoff driver 1: Denny Hamlin
Non-playoff driver 2: Brad Keselowski
Garage: Kyle Larson

MORE: Fantasy analysis for Miami | Driver stats | 10-lap averages | Lineup

Analysis: This is it! The last week of the the season and the last week in Fantasy Live. I am going against the popular plays to try and gain ground in this last weekend. As of this writing, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch are each owned by 70 percent of Fantasy Live players. Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano are owned by significantly less and that is just part of the reason I am changing course from my pre-weekend lineup and going with BOTH Truex and Logano in my lineup. The main reason I am going with both the 78 and 22 is they have just looked faster than their Championship 4 competitors. Logano led both Saturday practices and was best on the 10-lap board in both sessions. Truex was top five on the 10-lap board in both practices on Saturday. Both Logano and Truex were 1-2 on the 15-lap board as well, according to NBCSN. Busch is a solid pick and has had a good weekend, but not as good as Logano and Truex. On the other hand, Harvick seems a little off. The 4 is a car built for long runs, but I expected to see a little more speed from the 2014 champion so far.

I am sticking with my initial non-playoff plays across the board of Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson — meaning I will go with a roster alignment of three non-playoff drivers to two playoff drivers. I realize there is a lot of risk in not having Busch or Harvick even in the garage, but that is a gamble I am willing to take in an effort to differentiate my roster to try and gain ground. There are bonus picks I could use on one of those drivers if I so choose — more below on that.

Hamlin won the pole and has five straight top 10s at Miami. Keselowski will start fourth, has four top 10s in his last five Miami starts and appears to be the best of the non-playoff cars based on 10- and 15-lap runs. The 2012 champ has also been solid on 1.5-milers (earning the sixth-most points on that track length) and a great source of stage points — earning the fourth-most in the series. Larson gets the garage nod for his Homestead history with three straight top fives there and his propensity to run the high line to make time is especially intriguing. He was also sixth on the 15-lap board, per NBCSN.


I am taking Truex to win Stage 1 and Logano to take Stage 2 with Kyle Busch as the race winner pick. Like I said earlier, I want to differentiate my lineup a bit from the masses, but I need to have the 18 represented somewhere. If you remember back to last year, his car was the best when the night time rolled around.

Thanks for playing and following all year long. Best of luck to everyone in their leagues for the final race of 2018.

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano continued to show the most speed of all Championship 4 drivers as he topped the leaderboard for Saturday’s final practice session at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano, who drove his No. 22 Team Penske Ford to a fast lap of 171.701 mph, also led the earlier practice Saturday.

RELATED: Final practice results | Best 10-lap averages

Fellow championship contender Martin Truex Jr. was just behind Logano in the final practice, however, as he drove his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota 170.584 mph.

Non-playoff drivers Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones and Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.

The remaining Championship 4 drivers did not crack the top 10 in practice: Kyle Busch drove his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the 12th-fastest lap, 168.587 mph; Kevin Harvick was 14th in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 167.931 mph. Busch kissed the wall late in final practice and picked up a little right rear damage to his car.

This was the last time the Monster Energy Series saw the track until Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which will determine the 2018 champion.

EARLY PRACTICE RESULTS

Championship contender Joey Logano led Saturday’s early Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he wheeled his No. 22 Team Penske Ford around the track at 169.609 mph.

No other Championship 4 driver was among the top five drivers in the 50-minute practice session.

Aric Almirola was second-fastest in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 169.194 mph. Pole winner Denny Hamlin was third after he pushed the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to 168.492 mph. Ryan Newman (167.999 mph) and Erik Jones (167.411 mph) rounded out the top five.

The remaining three Championship 4 drivers were scattered throughout the leaderboard, with Martin Truex Jr. ninth in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota (166.718 mph), Kyle Busch 23rd in the  No. 18 JGR Toyota (164.489 mph) and Kevin Harvick 28th in the No. 4 SHR Ford (163.552 mph).

The No. 1 of Jamie McMurray and No. 15 of Ross Chastain both served 15-minute penalties for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice.

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Busch will have the first pit stall for Sunday’s season-ending Monster Energy Series finale after the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 team for pole-winner Denny Hamlin selected a stall farther back on pit road.

RELATED: Starting order| Pit stall assignments

Busch’s JGR No. 18 team earned the second starting spot in Friday qualifying at Homestead-Miami Speedway and picked second in the pit-stall selection process Saturday morning. Busch is competing for a series championship in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). Hamlin’s team was eliminated from title contention in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.

Hamlin won the Busch Pole on Friday, edging Busch by .043 seconds. He’ll try for his third Homestead-Miami win from the fourth pit stall, which is strategically behind an opening in the pit wall for an easier egress. But the No. 1 stall is typically the most advantageous, with an unimpeded exit from the pit road.

In his post-qualifying news conference Friday, Hamlin said he discussions would take place within Joe Gibbs Racing about pit stall selection. He said that team affiliate Furniture Row Racing asked for the same concession last year for eventual champion Martin Truex Jr. The No. 11 team declined.

“I think everything is earned. Nothing is given,” Hamlin said Friday. “With us having the No. 1 pit stall, nobody else — none of the other competitors will have it. I don’t know. It’s a discussion.”

Team owner Joe Gibbs explained the reasons for the decision, saying in a Saturday morning interview with NBCSN that he continually has to balance what’s best for all four of his Monster Energy Series teams.

“So we all kind of got together as a team and so what came out of those meetings was this: What we want for Denny is to win this race, OK? So that’s important for him. That’s a big deal for us and our sponsor,” Gibbs said. “And then of course the other side of that for our team, we all want to win a championship.

“So we all kind of … we meet, we talk all that over and it’s everybody making a team decision and so we felt like the best thing for us, we want Denny focused on winning this race. He thinks he can do it, and we think he can do it from that pit box, and at the same time, we want to make a team decision, we’d like to win a championship for Joe Gibbs Racing and so that’s part of the complication, the intriguing part of this, but it’s a part of our sport.”

Pit-stall selection hasn’t necessarily been a determining factor in the race outcome. The pole winner hasn’t won the season finale since 2002.

Among the rest of the championship contenders in Sunday’s race: Martin Truex Jr. qualified third and will pit in stall No. 7; Joey Logano qualified fifth and his team chose pit stall No. 3; Kevin Harvick qualified 12th and will pit in stall No. 39.

Posted on by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Noah Gragson ripped off his driving gloves after Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200, coming up some five seconds short of a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.

Consoling hugs followed, first from team owner Kyle Busch and next from Rudy Fugle, the crew chief for his No. 18 Toyota. Busch had implored his 20-year-old driver over the team radio: “It’s all up to you, brother,” before the final green-flag run, then watched the closing stage of the season finale atop the pit box with arms crossed.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Gragson finished third at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday night behind eventual champ Brett Moffitt and runner-up Grant Enfinger, the pole winner. He’d led twice for 34 laps, racing hard with Moffitt in a slice-dice battle for the top spot before the final exchange of pit stops placed a buffer between the two. Though initially frustrated with the result, Gragson kept a measure of perspective on the season-ending event.

“Just very fortunate to be racing for a championship. Trying to soak it all in,” said Gragson, who thanked his Kyle Busch Motorsports team on the cool-down lap. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so just really fortunate, really thankful for everyone who supports me.”

Gragson closed the year with one win (Kansas in May) and a series-best six pole positions. He qualified third Friday, fastest among the four championship contenders, and remained among the top five virtually all night.

He slowed with what he surmised was a deflating tire, prompting his final trip to pit road on the 101st of 134 laps. Fugle said that Gragson lost small increments of time entering and exiting the pits, plus precious ground during the stop itself. Even with Busch’s prodding, Gragson was unable to mount a final charge.

“That’s just pretty much just me driving 100 percent, driving my nuts off pretty much,” said Gragson, who quickly regained his sense of humor by the time he reached the post-race press conference. “I mean, it’s tough, but I guess it just comes down to experience, making good … I gave it all I got. I mean, I had my tongue hanging out. I wasn’t worn. I wasn’t falling out of the seat, but I just burned the front tires off of it.”

The season finale was Gragson’s swan song with the KBM organization. He announced in September that he would move to the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, replacing the retiring Elliott Sadler with a multiyear deal in the No. 1 Chevrolet.

MORE: JRM lands Gragson for full-time ride

Gragson will be succeeded in KBM’s No. 18 Toyota by Harrison Burton, but he had fond words for the team upon his departure. “It’s just a bummer, but hey, no bad days, right?” he quipped. In the end, both driver and crew chief expressed appreciation for their growth through the 2018 season.

“This is what this team’s been built to do,” Fugle said. “It’s not really said very much, but this team’s won five owner’s championships in a row until this year, So owner’s, drivers … doesn’t matter. We’ve won lots of races together. This year was a little bit down on race wins, but we led as many laps as we ever had and then it was really strong. We didn’t close races the way we needed to, but really proud of how we got here and how we performed here and what we’re going to do going forward.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Brett Moffitt is the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion after a decisive victory in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In a race that featured a minimum two cautions, both for planned stage breaks, Moffitt drove away from the rest of the field after taking the lead from fellow Championship 4 contender Noah Gragson on Lap 99 of 134.

Moffitt finished 2.000 seconds ahead of pole winner Grant Enfinger, who passed Gragson for the runner-up spot during a cycle of green-flag pit stops at the 103-lap mark. Gragson ran third, 5.006 seconds back.

RELATED: Race results

GMS Racing teammates Justin Haley and Johnny Sauter didn’t factor into the title battle. Haley ran eighth, and Sauter, trying for a second series championship, battled a loose handling condition all race long and finished 12th, the last driver on the lead lap.

Driving for underfunded Hattori Racing Enterprises, owned by former driver Shigeaki Hattori of Japan, Moffitt picked up his sixth victory of the season (and second straight) and the seventh of his career. More than 20 years ago, Hattori won the first of his two Indy Lights races at Homestead after leading 64 of 67 laps in a Lola/Buick.

“That was the longest 20-30 laps of my life,” Moffitt said of the final run to the checkered flag. “Man, I was just glad we could get to the white flag without a caution and clean sailing. We had a great truck all day.

“It’s unreal. We all know the story by now. We didn’t know if we were going to race this whole year. I didn’t know if I would have the opportunity to run for a championship, even after we got our first win. Everyone pulled together hard here.

“We’ve had so many partners who came in at clutch moments and got us to the race track.”

Hattori fought sponsorship issues throughout the season, and Moffitt has yet to announce a deal for next season, but that didn’t deter the driver of the No. 16 Toyota from battling Gragson from a restart on Lap 68 until he finally prevailed on Lap 99 — after two concerted runs at his rival for the title.

“I just got my tires a little too hot the first time I got next to him, and I probably didn’t commit enough to the move,” said Moffitt, who competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series before landing the ride with HRE. “I kind of let them cool down and ran the top trying to get some momentum.

“He was kind of backing up, and we could still run the bottom really well, which is kind of unusual for Homestead.”

Moffitt lost the lead briefly but gained three seconds on Gragson in the championship battle when the drivers came to pit road for their final stops, Gragson on Lap 101 and Moffitt one circuit later. After returning to the point on Lap 106, Moffitt wasn’t challenged the rest of the way.

Sauter’s performance was surprising, too, in that his team never hit a workable setup.

“It was awful,” admitted Sauter, who couldn’t find the form that carried him to Victory Lane six times this year. “Just no grip. We laid an egg tonight. When you suck that bad, you just go home and ask yourself, ‘What the hell happened?’”

Stewart Friesen finished fourth and Sheldon Creed fifth. Matt Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Haley, Jesse Little and Ben Rhodes completed the top 10.

Myatt Snider, who finished 14th, claimed Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors for the series.

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Brett Moffitt turned an unlikely NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship bid into a Cinderella championship hoist Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning his Hattori Racing Enterprises team its first ever NASCAR title with a resounding victory at the track.

RELATED: Moffitt wins 2018 Camping World Truck Series title

It’s the same track where team owner Shigeaki Hattori won as a driver 20 years ago competing in an Indy Lights Series race. The NASCAR title is the first ever for the popular Japanese owner and stands as a huge achievement for a team that has only 10 full-time employees, led by veteran crew chief Scott Zipadelli.

The Moffitt-Zipadelli combination scored the first six wins in team history this season but none was more important than Friday night’s at Homestead – Moffitt’s first time competing in a truck race at the 1.5-mile track.

“Those were longest 12 laps of my life,” Moffitt said of the final laps of the race, grinning widely in his Movember mustache.

“This is the first race we’ve been up front for most of it.”

MORE: Full race results | Recap

That’s certainly true. Of his six victories, Moffitt won one race leading the final two laps (Atlanta). Twice (at Michigan and Chicago) he led only the final lap en route to victory. And it only made his effort and the team’s determination more inspiring. At one point – even with the Playoff-qualifying early season victory — the team nearly had to park the truck, needing sponsorship to carry on.

FR8Auctions.com came on board to literally sustain the Hattori effort this summer — appearing on Moffitt’s Chicago-winning No. 16 Toyota — and the team was able to continue its championship quest. Only 2016 champ Johnny Sauter – also a championship finalist Friday – won as many races as Moffitt this season.

In the last four races of the 2018 championship Playoffs, Moffitt – a member of NASCAR’s inaugural “NASCAR Next” class in 2011 —  finished runner-up (Martinsville), third place (Texas) and won back-to-back at Phoenix’s ISM Raceway and then Homestead-Miami.

“I don’t think everyone understands, we have nine or 10 employees working seven days a week working till midnight more times than not,” Moffitt said of the team’s effort. “It’s a testament to them. I’m fortunate to drive the truck but it’s an honor to drive for them.”

Zipadelli agreed.

“It’s kind of amazing really and it feels good,” he said. “Going into this race, everyone asks “Are you nervous?” Nope. We’re not even supposed to be here . We exceeded all the expectations of our peers and competitors.

“Saying that, we had all the confidence we could do it. And we did it with people not stuff and big budgets. We did it with people and heart. I’ve had to kick em’ out of the shop at 1 in the morning. They’d be there at 5:30 in the morning and they’d leave at midnight.

“It’s been an amazing journey and taught us a lot about ourselves and what you can do it if you focus on the right things. Brett did an amazing job all season driving the truck and working for Shigeaki is a pleasure.”

In all, Moffitt led 59 of the 134 laps in the No. 16 AISIN Group Toyota Tundra including the final 28 laps. He beat Grant Enfinger to the checkered flag by 2.0-seconds. Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson finished third – next highest for a championship contender. Other championship eligible drivers, GMS teammates Justin Haley and Sauter finished eighth and 12th, respectively.

“We’re a small team but everybody did a great job,” Hattori said. “I’m so happy.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Three of the four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 drivers qualified near the top of the board in Friday’s time trials at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but Denny Hamlin, who has his own agenda, stole the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

Trying to extend his streak of winning at least one race per season to 13 consecutive years, Hamlin streaked around the 1.5-mile track in 31.059 seconds (173.863 mph) to secure the top starting spot in the race that will determine the series champion.

Hamlin edged Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and Championship 4 competitor Kyle Busch (173.622 mph) by .043 seconds in the money round. Future JGR teammate and reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. qualified third at 173.539 mph.

RELATED: Qualifying results

Playoff driver Joey Logano was fifth fastest in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford at 173.366 mph. Fellow title contender Kevin Harvick fought a tight-handling No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to a 12th-place run in the final round of qualifying.

Hamlin has more than his streak of winning seasons on the line. He revealed via Twitter on Friday that Mike Wheeler will no longer be his crew chief after Sunday’s race. No replacement has been named. Hamlin hopes to duplicate his performance from five years ago when he won at Homestead for his only victory of the season.

“It’s big for us to get this race team up front here,” said Hamlin, who won his fourth pole of the season, his third at Homestead (and second in a row). “We definitely want to end on a high note and try to win. In 2013 we were in the same predicament where we hadn’t won a race until the final race and we got it done, so hopefully it’s our time to do it.”

Busch was pleased with his qualifying effort, even though it fell just short.

“Not too bad, wish we had a little bit more there obviously to get the number one pit box,” Busch said. “Two years in a row, Denny has been able to figure that last run out. Just see what happens tomorrow.”

RELATED: Photos of every paint scheme

There was speculation after qualifying that Hamlin might cede the coveted No. 1 pit stall to Busch, but Hamlin didn’t seem enthused about the prospect. He was more concerned with keeping every advantage that might help him preserve his streak.

“I sure don’t want to break that streak,” Hamlin said. “I hope Kyle finishes second.”