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MORE: Practice 3 results | Best 10-lap times

Martin Truex Jr. topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 171.195 mph in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

Right behind him was Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 169.790 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 169.774 mph, Erik Jones in the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 169.721 mph and Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford at 169.550 mph.

Kyle Busch joined Truex as the only other Championship 4 driver in the top 10, placing sixth at 169.492 mph. Brad Keselowski just missed, landing 11th with a best speed of 168.824 mph, while Kevin Harvick was 18th at a clip of 166.795 mph.

Harvick was held on pit road for 15 minutes before the start of practice for failing pre-race inspection twice before last weekend’s race at Phoenix. Chase Elliott, David Starr and Cole Whitt were also held the same amount for the same penalty. Starr was held an additional 15 minutes for being late to qualifying inspection at Miami. Austin Dillon and Matt DiBenedetto had to serve 15-minute penalties apiece for failing qualifying inspection twice at Miami, while David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson and Michael McDowell were all held 30 minutes for failing three times.

The next on-track activity for the series is Sunday’s season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC).

PRACTICE 2 RECAP: Practice 2 results | Complete race lineup

Denny Hamlin topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 171.130 mph in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Hamlin won the final Coors Light Pole Award of the season Friday night with a speed of 173.980 mph.

Right behind him in practice was Dale Earnhardt Jr., making his final planned Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 170.681 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 170.020 mph, Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 169.545 mph and Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 168.972 mph.

Truex, the only Championship 4 driver in the top five, scraped the wall late in practice, prompting his FRR and technically-affiliated Joe Gibbs Racing crew members to work on his car in the garage.

The other Championship 4 drivers — Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick — were 10th, 16th and 17th, respectively.

Chase Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet got into the wall early in the practice session. His team feverishly worked to fix the right rear damage his ride incurred, and he got back out on the 1.5-mile track to complete 27 laps at a best speed of 166.031 mph, good for 27th on the leaderboard.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 18, 2017) – NASCAR and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced a renewed sponsorship agreement that ensures Goodyear is the exclusive tire of NASCAR’s top three national series.

The newly signed agreement continues Goodyear’s designation as the “Official Tire of NASCAR” and extends an uninterrupted relationship that started in 1954. Goodyear and NASCAR’s six decades of partnership is one of the longest-running sponsor programs in any sport. In addition, Goodyear has been the exclusive tire supplier for the sanctioning body’s top three series since 1997.

“We proudly join Goodyear in celebrating our renewed and longstanding partnership,” said Brent Dewar, NASCAR president. “For more than half a century, NASCAR and our teams have trusted Goodyear tires. Our partners’ commitment to innovation and excellence plays a key role in our unyielding pursuit to deliver the best racing product in the world.”

From the introduction of the radial tire to NASCAR in 1989 to multi-zone tread design in 2013, Goodyear and NASCAR have consistently innovated to deliver compelling racing. NASCAR has served as a proving ground for Goodyear, preparing and supplying tires that meet the most grueling and demanding conditions. The technology that goes into a tire to withstand and perform in those conditions helps inform and differentiate Goodyear’s consumer tires.

“We are tremendously proud of the pivotal role Goodyear plays in the best racing competition in the world and excited that NASCAR drivers will be crossing the finish line on Goodyear tires in the years ahead,” said Rich Kramer, chairman, CEO and president of Goodyear. “With this new agreement in place, we celebrate our enduring relationship with NASCAR and the continuing value of NASCAR to the Goodyear brand”

Each tire Goodyear produces for NASCAR’s top three national series are custom-built by the hands of passionate Goodyear associates in Akron, Ohio – Goodyear’s global headquarters – and donned with the name of the employee who helped produce it.

The depth of the relationship has been built on competition, shared passion and brand growth for the two organizations. Goodyear’s industry-leading brand has been amplified through the duration of the relationship generating awareness for the tiremaker with NASCAR’s passionate fan base. According to a Turnkey Sports & Entertainment sponsor loyalty survey conducted for SportsBusiness Journal/Daily in 2016, Goodyear has been the most recognized sponsor in NASCAR for the past five consecutive years.

Posted on by Brant James

RELATED: Bell wins 2017 Truck Series title | Full race results

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — There would be no repeat for Johnny Sauter in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“This is hard. This is tough,” Sauter said, “To come down to one race. They were just better than us tonight.”

The 39-year-old Wisconsin native finished third in the race and second in the championship behind Christopher Bell, a sizeable 13 seconds behind him in the race as the Toyota driver won his first title. Austin Cindric finished fifth in the race and third in the standings, Matt Crafton sixth and fourth, respectively.

Ultimately, an eighth top-10 finish in 11 races at Miami wasn’t enough for Sauter.

Chase Briscoe, who was not eligible for the championship, won his first career race.

Sauter improved through the second of three segments and ended the second session in fifth place, second of four championship-eligibles behind Bell. He restarted sixth, third among the hopefuls.

GMS Racing announced before the race that Sauter, 39, had signed an extension to return to the team in 2018. He’d locked into the final with a win at Texas Motor Speedway and won again at Phoenix Raceway to enter the final with momentum and markedly better statistics than when he captured his first crown with the first-year team in 2016. Sauter won three races last season but entered Friday with four, his average finish improved and he’d led 455 laps as opposed to 130.

RELATED: Sauter set to return to GMS Racing in 2018

Sauter had finished fourth in the series for three consecutive years before winning the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs last season. He also finished second — by just six points to Austin Dillon — in 2011.

“One spot too short, I guess,” Sauter said. “We had a great year and we get to do it again next year, so I look forward to that.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Bell wins championship | Final standings | Detailed Breakdown

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The tandem burnouts filled the frontstretch at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a thick cloud of smoke, as Chase Briscoe celebrated his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, and runner-up Christopher Bell exulted in his first NASCAR championship.

In a Ford EcoBoost 200 that ran caution-free except for the planned breaks after the first and second stages, Briscoe, the pole winner, passed Ben Rhodes for the lead on Lap 96 of 134 on Friday night and pulled away to beat Bell to the finish line by 2.887 seconds, after Rhodes ran out of gas on Lap 129.

Two enormously talented open-wheel stars who have made successful transitions to stock car racing, Bell and Briscoe are close friends, but their careers have been following markedly different trajectories as of late.

Briscoe collected the last trophy for Brad Keselowski Racing, which is closing its doors at the end of the season, and he hasn’t announced plans for next year. Bell, on the other hand, will run for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship next season in top-of-the-line equipment at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Bell gave Kyle Busch Motorsports its second title in three years under a format where the highest finisher among four eligible drivers — in this case Bell, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Austin Cindric — is crowned champion.

“To be able to do this for all of the guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports and to win the championship for a team that deserves the championship, words just can’t describe my feelings right now,” said Bell, who scored a series-high five victories this season.

“To run as good as we have, week in and week out, and not just this year. … This whole organization, this whole team has been good for so many years. You just don’t want to be the guy that lets them down, and I’m glad I didn’t let them down tonight.”

Briscoe, who also won the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, certainly improved his standing with the win, achieved in his 23rd start in the series.

“This is a long time coming,” said Briscoe who finished one position and nearly 16 seconds ahead of third-place Sauter, the defending series champion. “So proud of all these guys. To know that they’re not going to have a job next year, and we continued to bring really good trucks even though we were outside the playoffs, such a testament to how good these Brad Keselowski guys are.

“I know two years ago I was sleeping on couches, and now to be a winner in NASCAR. I wish we were in the final four. I felt like we could have been, but that’s part of the circumstances.”

By virtue of his third-place finish, Sauter was runner-up for the championship. Cindric, Briscoe’s teammate at BKR, ran fifth, one position ahead of Crafton, a two-time series champion.

Bell started 2017 with a victory in the Chili Bowl Nationals for midget cars, a title the Oklahoma native has coveted since childhood. He ends the year as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, a perfect bookend to a banner year for the 22-year-old prodigy.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Race results | Final standings | Briscoe wins Miami

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Christopher Bell began his coronation day at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a word of gratitude. His steady road up the NASCAR ladder has been aided by the guiding hand of team owner Kyle Busch, who has helped cultivate plenty of young talent in NASCAR’s developmental series.

“Kyle, if you’re listening, thank you for a great four years at KBM,” Bell said during the pace laps for Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finale. “It’s been fun.”

The appreciation was mutual Friday night at the 1.5-mile track as Bell surged to a second-place finish in the Ford EcoBoost 200 to claim his first Truck Series championship. He outdistanced third-place Johnny Sauter – his closest competitor in the title contest — by nearly 13 seconds at the checkered flag.

“You never know when your last win is, when your last championship is, so to be able to be standing here as a NASCAR champion is something I would say I dreamed of, but I didn’t ever think it was a possibility, so I didn’t ever really dream of it,” Bell said. “But it – I’m just really speechless.”

Bell eventually found the words, and the notion of ‘special parting gifts’ became the theme of the night. Bell, 22, was crowned in his final race with Kyle Busch Motorsports before his transition to Joe Gibbs Racing in the XFINITY Series next season. And race winner Chase Briscoe gave Brad Keselowski Racing a heartfelt farewell victory — Briscoe’s first — before the team ceases operations in the offseason.

MORE: Sauter already looking at 2018 | Kyle Busch’s Truck legacy continues 

The big stage, however, belonged to Bell, who shared in the celebration with his team owner. Kyle Busch Motorsports last raised the drivers’ championship trophy in 2015 with Erik Jones, and Busch has won the team owner’s title for five years running.

Bell may have had the first inkling that 2017 was bound to be a special year in racing back before the NASCAR season had started. In the dusty Tulsa bandbox in his home state, Bell grabbed a long-anticipated sprint car victory in the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals. Five wins in the Truck Series followed, and so did stellar consistency with an average finish of 5.7 this season.

“As a calendar year overall, I don’t think it gets much better than that,” Bell said. “You can’t compare the two — one of them’s a race and one of them is a championship over the course of a year. It’s really tough to compare them, but to be able to win both is definitely a dream come true.”

Friday night bookended his Chili Bowl win with the heavy hardware in Miami, where he contended for the championship last season but wound up third among the title-eligible four. This year, driving the same stout “38 Special” KBM chassis that carried William Byron to a Homestead victory in 2016, Bell had plenty of power and the luxury of being patient.

When the smoke cleared from his and Briscoe’s smoky burnouts, Bell said he was ready for another luxury.

“Whenever I won the Chili Bowl, I went to Waffle House,” Bell said with a grin, “so I might have to find a Waffle House later tonight.”

 

Posted on by Brant James

RELATED: Patrick to step away from full-time racing in 2018

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Team owner Chip Ganassi spoke personally with Danica Patrick and her representatives Thursday and Friday about the possibility of fielding cars for her in either the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, or both, but said he doesn’t yet have enough information to determine if participating in her farewell jaunt is feasible.

“I think it’s a great idea for her to do that,” Ganassi said of Patrick ending her racing career at two tracks where she has enjoyed some of her greatest success. “I think it’s a fabulous idea, a fabulous marketing idea, it’s a fabulous opportunity and obviously the business side of the deal has to work. … I’m a long way from saying ‘Yes, I can do that.’”

Patrick has expressed confidence in being able to bring sponsorship to field both ventures. Ganassi said “I would think it would be better to do it with one team.”

The team owner said he has not had time to consider when he’d need a commitment and firm details from Patrick’s camp.

Ganassi fields two-car teams in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar.

One of Ganassi’s Monster Energy Series drivers, Kyle Larson, is a personal friend of Patrick who has in the past expressed an interest in attempting the open wheel classic. Ganassi said he doesn’t know if Larson, who had a breakout four-win season, is still interested but said fielding a third car for him in May wouldn’t preclude partnering with Patrick for a fourth.  That said, Ganassi noted doubling his roster for the Indianapolis 500 is something he would be unlikely to attempt.

“I doubt I would do four,” he said.

The only other team able to field rides in both the Monster Energy Series and IndyCar would be Team Penske, but owner Roger Penske said he has no plans to field five cars at Indianapolis again. Penske boasts a three-car IndyCar roster and will add a fourth in 2018 for three-time race champion Helio Castroneves, who will move the Penske’s sports car program next year.

Posted on by Brad Norman

It was an emotional day for Danica Patrick as she fought back tears during her announcement confirming the 2017 season would be her last as a full-time driver in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Drivers and fans took to Twitter to share their appreciation and admiration for the only female currently competing at NASCAR’s highest level.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will also likely make his final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, Sirius XM), didn’t hesitate to share with fans the impact Patrick had on the sport. Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson also sent good thoughts Patrick’s way.

Longtime boyfriend and fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made sure to tell the internet that Patrick wasn’t quite done breaking down walls and reaching her goals.

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RELATED: Full lineup in photos | Full qualifying results

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – With a dramatic run late in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Denny Hamlin knocked Championship 4 contender Martin Truex Jr. off the pole for Sunday’s Ford Eco-Boost 400 (on NBC at 3 p.m. ET).

Hamlin covered the 1.5-mile distance in 31.038 seconds (173.980 mph) in the final round, edging Truex (173.952 mph) by .005 seconds for the top starting spot in the race that will decide the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Truex, in turn, was .004 seconds faster than title contender Kyle Busch (173.930 mph). Championship 4 drivers Brad Keselowski (172.452 mph) and Kevin Harvick (171.876 mph) qualified fifth and ninth, respectively, with Harvick sawing on his wheel in Turn 1 on his money lap to save a car that was unexpectedly loose.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Hamlin’s second of the season, his second at Homestead and the 26th of his career. And he won it despite brushing the wall out of Turn 4 on his final lap

“We had them there by a little bit, and I messed up (Turns) 3 and 4 a little bit,” said Hamlin, who was eliminated from the Playoff last Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. “Honestly, it was a great run, and we did great adjustments there.

“Our FedEx Camry was obviously very fast that last run. I love this race track, and wish we would have our chance, but that will be another day, another year for us.”

RELATED: Patrick to step away from NASCAR in 2018

Truex was happy to be the fastest among the championship contenders, but he’s fully aware the trophy won’t be awarded until Sunday.

“That was a bit dramatic,” Truex said with a wry smile. “We missed it a little bit in that last round, lost more grip than I anticipated. We made some adjustments knowing it was going to go that way, just not far enough… It was just five one-thousandths off from being a perfect day…

“I think we definitely wanted to be first to get that first pit stall, but aside from that, we’re all up front, we’re all close to each other, and this is a track you can pass on. Just in general I was proud of my team for having a good, solid day. We had a shot there and just missed it a little bit there in Round 3. Good, solid effort and that’s what we needed to do today, and we’ll get to work and see what we can do on Sunday.”

Harvick was fourth fastest in the first round and fifth in the second, but his No. 4 Stewart-Haas racing Ford broke loose as he started his third-round lap.

“Just about spun out there going into Turn 1,” Harvick said. “It was definitely sideways. It kept turning, but the back tried to go the other way.”

Busch was pleased with his lap but felt he had the car to challenge for the pole in a race where the highest finisher among the Championship 4 wins the series title.

“We had a pretty good first round and second round, and when Martin went out there and ran an oh-something (31.043 seconds), I felt like there was a .90 out there and an opportunity to beat him and go for the pole,” Busch said.

“Trying to cut my Turn 1 entry, I got to the bottom too soon, hit the apron and messed up the exit off (Turn) 2 and felt like I tried to get a little more back in (Turns) 3 and 4 than I needed to and probably messed up down there.”

 Keselowski, who had as-yet-unresolved brake issues during Friday’s opening practice qualified at the top end of his expectations.

“It was probably a tad bit higher than I thought we would end up… but I’m not complaining,” Keselowski said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not make a run in the second round after posting the 15th fastest lap in the first. In his final run in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Earnhardt will start from the rear of the field because of an engine change during opening practice.

MORE: Junior to start season finale from the rear

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MORE: FRR owner Barney Visser has successful surgery following heart attack

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Barney Visser, founder and owner of the two-car Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series organization Furniture Row Racing, will not be at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend to watch his driver Martin Truex Jr. attempt to win his first series title.

“He’ll be at home,” team president Joe Garone said Friday during a news conference featuring principals from the four organizations competing for the series title there this weekend. “I don’t think he’s left his house yet. I’m sure he’ll be in front of his TV. Honestly, I can’t tell you what he’s going to do.”

Visser, who started the No. 78 Toyota team as a part-time entity in 2005, suffered a heart attack Saturday, Nov. 4 and underwent bypass surgery Nov. 6. Feeling ill, he drove himself to the local hospital near his Denver, Colo., home.

“For the last couple of weekends I am linked together with text messages with (Visser),” Garone said. “He’s certainly paying attention to everything that’s going on.”

Truex and the No. 78 team, led by crew chief Cole Pearn, were the winningest team in the series this season, collecting seven victories prior to advancing to the Championship 4 round here this weekend.

Also competing for the title in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR) are Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske Ford).

Busch (2015), Harvick (’14) and Keselowski (’12) have previously won the series title. Truex, who also qualified for the Championship 4 in ’15, is seeking his first championship in the series.

Visser has grown his racing operation from a small part-time outfit struggling to compete into an organization that now finds itself contending for championships.

Visser was hospitalized during last week’s race at Phoenix in which Truex finished third. He had already secured a spot in the final based on points earned.

“I know I am connected to him text messaging the whole race long,” Garone said. “I’m giving him what is going on on top of the box that he’s not getting on the radio, keeping him engaged.

“I don’t know how much stress he’ll actually go through, to be honest. He’s a pretty calm guy, anybody that knows him. We’ll see. It’s going to be interesting.”