Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Miami race recap
SHOP: Champion gear


Tuesday: Media Day 2

Early Tuesday morning, Busch made appearances on “FOX and Friends” and “Live! With Kelly and Michael.”


“Rowdy” caught up with Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan and discussed his wild year: injuries, his 2015 championship and 6-month-old son, Brexton.





Kyle also made a stop at SiriusXM and is heading to Facebook and ESPN later today. 


Monday: Media Day 1

After securing his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Busch is making the media rounds to talk about his epic victory and comeback from injuries sustained at Daytona in the XFINITY Series opener.


Busch capped off his Monday appearances by taking in the Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.



Prior to that, the 30-year-old taped an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” that aired Monday night on CBS.

The Sprint Cup champion and Colbert engaged in a Pinewood Derby race, titled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Cinnamon Toast Crunch 400.” Watch the video to see who won.

Busch also taped a promo spot for “The Late Show” disclosing a different type of personal dream.


Earlier Monday, Busch joined “The Dan Patrick Show” Monday morning to chat — from his airplane somewhere “over Washington, D.C.” nonetheless — about the celebration, which started for him about seven hours after the checkered flag fell.



“We did all of our photos; that takes quite a long time,” Busch said. “I’m glad the race was actually over around 7, 7:30 because we were still taking photos and finally got done about 2 a.m. or so. My team guys were having a good old time. They were lit up a little bit so I joined them for a little while and continued on with them for some more celebration before getting a couple hours of sleep to get on an airplane this morning.”



Busch’s long road to recovery certainly helped him flex his focus muscle — but he did get a little help from something else in the closing laps of Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400.



“The last 60 laps or so, I kept thinking to myself … ‘oh, man, this is going to be cool; this is awesome.’ But then I was like, ‘dude, you’ve got 60 to go; stop thinking about it.,’ ” Busch said. “So I just had to start singing a child’s song. One of my kid’s (Brexton) favorite TV shows, it’s a 3-minute little skit … it’s called ‘Vocabulary’ and I was just kind of singing the intro song to that in my head and just trying to make laps.”



Busch’s tour on Monday also included appearances on ESPN’s SportsCenter, FS1 RaceHub and NBCSN’s NASCAR America.

Early Tuesday morning, Busch made appearances on FOX and Friends and Live! With Kelly and Michael. And will be making stops at SiriusXM, Facebook and ESPN.
Early Tuesday morning, Busch made appearances on FOX and Friends and Live! With Kelly and Michael. And will be making stops at SiriusXM, Facebook and ESPN.
Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Drivers, crew chiefs on the move

One day after the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season ended, the first official move of the offseason came down courtesy of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

 

The team announced that Chad Johnston has been named crew chief for Kyle Larson and the No. 42 Target team. Johnston will assume the role effective immediately to begin preparation for the 2016 season, replacing Chris Heroy. Heroy had been Larson’s crew chief for his first two years at NASCAR’s highest level.

 

“I’m excited to get to work with Chad and to start doing what needs to be done to get the team to Victory Lane next year,” Larson said in a team release. “As a team, I think we are very close and the addition of Chad should help move our program forward for many years to come. Lastly, I would also like to thank Chris for all he did to help me grow in my first two seasons in the Cup series.”
 
Johnston joins the No. 42 team from Stewart-Haas Racing, where he has been the crew chief for Tony Stewart and the No. 14 Chevrolet since the 2014 season. Johnston also served as crew chief for Martin Truex, Jr. and the No. 56 at Michael Waltrip Racing from 2011-2013. Johnston has one career Sprint Cup race win as a crew chief (2013, Sonoma) and helped guide Truex Jr. into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup during the 2012 season.

The announcement from CGR means Stewart will have a new crew chief in his final Sprint Cup Series season in 2016.
 
Johnston has also worked in NASCAR as a race engineer at Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, Evernham Motorsports, and JTG Daugherty Racing before serving as a crew chief. He graduated from Indiana State University with a major in mechanical engineering, and briefly worked in the aerospace industry before his passion for motorsports brought him to NASCAR and the Camping World Truck Series in 2004.

 

“I am very excited for the opportunity to be joining Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, and the opportunity to work with Kyle Larson,” Johnston said in a team release. “The organization has a great reputation in numerous forms of racing, and I’m looking forward to adding to that reputation in NASCAR. Kyle is certainly a unique talent, and I’m eager to get to work with him and the team as we look to build a foundation of success.”
 
Larson will begin his third full-time Sprint Cup season in 2016. The 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year is coming off of a season that featured two top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. In 75 career Cup starts he has accumulated one Coors Light Pole Award, 10 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Watch Jones’ award speech

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — One night after Kyle Busch took a bow as a first-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, he helped to toast the youngster who brought him his first driver’s title as a team owner.

 

With milk.

 

On a night for honoring new champions, Erik Jones and Chris Buescher took center stage at the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series Awards at the Diplomat Resort and Spa. For Buescher, it marked the 23-year-old’s first national series championship in just his second full year in the series. For Jones, the title march coincided with a Sunoco Rookie of the Year campaign.

 

Busch was missing from Monday night’s awards, occupied with the media duties and obligations that came with winning his first premier series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His wife, Samantha, attended on behalf of Kyle Busch Motorsports, which claimed the team owners’ title for the third straight year.

 

With Busch making the rounds with the Sprint Cup trophy, Ed Laukes, Toyota’s vice president of marketing communications and motorsports, provided an assist in toasting Jones’ stellar season. But the raised glass for the 19-year-old was full of milk, a half-joking homage to Dale Earnhardt’s toast of first-time champion Jeff Gordon in 1995.

 

“I wish Kyle would’ve been there to see his creation come to life, I guess you’d say,” said Jones, who won three races and five pole positions in his first full season. “I think he had a good excuse to miss it, but that was funny. That’s definitely a Kyle thing he would do, especially to me.”

 

Buescher’s coronation on the XFINITY tour came after a two-win season with hallmark consistency — 20 top-10s in 33 races. Monday night, he took his place with his Roush Fenway Racing team at the head table, saying that he showed a slight case of nerves in the Great Hall’s gala setting.

 

Jitters notwithstanding, the experience capped a stellar 48-hour period full of well-wishes from his peers.

 

“The coolest thing is just having so many different people come up and say congratulations and we’ve seen what you’ve done to work for this and it’s awesome to see you here,” Buescher said. “Stuff like that means that all those years working up to this point were well worth it. It’s been countless hours, many all-nighters to make sure we could get to the next ARCA race at night. We’ve done so many things to try and get to this point, and to finally be here, it’s special. It’s very humbling.”

 

Chase Elliott, the driver who preceded Buescher as series champion, took Most Popular Driver honors with him as he transitions to the Sprint Cup Series next year, replacing Jeff Gordon in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet. NASCAR Next driver John Hunter Nemechek was voted Most Popular Driver in the Camping World Truck Series.

 

Daniel Suarez, another product of the NASCAR Next program, was named Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the XFINITY Series.

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RELATED: Complete results from Homestead | Updated standings
SHOP: Champion’s gear | Gordon gear

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch capped a most improbable comeback Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, capturing the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship while winning the Ford EcoBoost 400.



Busch, 30, passed race leader Brad Keselowski on a final restart with seven laps remaining, then pulled away from fellow Chase for the Sprint Cup contender Kevin Harvick to score his fifth win of the season and secure his first premier series title.



It was also the first Sprint Cup Series championship for automaker Toyota, which entered the series in 2007.



“A dream of a lifetime, a dream come true,” Busch said. “I just can’t believe with everything that happened this year and all the turmoil, all the things that I went through, that my wife (Samantha) went through and the people that are around me went through. This championship is all for these guys, my wife, my family, everyone who has had to sacrifice so much to get me here to this place today, whether it was on my team right now, or on my teams in the past.”



“Adam Stevens (crew chief) prepared such a great race car. Adam Stevens is my hero. I love that guy.”



Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing), Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) advanced through this year’s 16-team, 10-race Chase format to qualify for a shot at the title.


RELATED: Busch wins first Cup Series championship



Busch said he never doubted that he and his team could orchestrate such a stunning comeback.



“Oh yeah, no doubt,” he said.  “The rehab … getting ready and focused, all that was the hardest part and the hardest thing I have ever gone through. To put it all together and be here tonight, this wasn’t that hard.”



Sidelined for the season’s first 11 points races after suffering a broken right leg and fractures to his left foot in an XFINITY Series crash at Daytona International Speedway, Busch returned to win five times. Sunday’s victory was the 34th of his career.



Busch can thank debris on the race track for the race win. It was driver and team that won the championship, however.



Seemingly on his way to a second-place finish that would have still secured the title, Busch shot past Keselowski (Team Penske) on a Lap 261 restart for the 18th and final lead change of the night.



“I knew it was time to go,” Busch said. “I don’t know why Brad chose the bottom, but he gave me the top and I thought, ‘This is interesting.'”



The restart order put Harvick directly behind Busch, who said, “I knew I just had to protect whatever Harvick tried to do if he was going to shoot the middle or shoot the gap or whatever it was going to be.”



“I don’t know if Brad spun his tires or what. We got to Turns 1 and 2 and we were pretty even; I just looked into (Turn) 4 and gave it everything I had those last seven or eight laps.”



Officially, it was Busch, Harvick and Keselowski finishing first through third, with Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.



“I don’t really know if there was a right one or wrong one, to be honest,” Keselowski, who led a race-high 86 laps, said of the lane choice call. “We just weren’t fast enough and I don’t think it would have mattered either way.”



Gordon ended his illustrious driving career with a sixth-place finish while Truex wound up 12th.


ALL ACCESS: Gordon parks car for final time



“His talent is so strong, and that team really found some things this year,” Gordon, a four-time champion making his final start, said of Busch, adding that he’s seen “a changed Kyle.”



“When he came back, not only was he driven and just inspired by it, but you can tell he was racing smarter, with more patience, just being more deliberate. … I think he showed it right away when he came back that there was a pretty good chance he was destined to win this championship.”



It wasn’t a down-to-the wire battle for the championship or for the race until the final caution. With 67 laps remaining, Keselowski was easily out front while Busch enjoyed a lead of more than one second over Harvick for second place. Gordon, who had led earlier, ran ninth and Truex was just outside the top 10, running 12th.



A fire on pit road and an ill-handling car stymied the efforts of Truex and his team for the first half of the race; a two-tire gamble during pit stop on Lap 168 put him out front.


WATCH: Truex Jr. has ‘a lot to build on for the future’



But the lead was short-lived; Truex soon found himself free-falling through the field, eventually settling in just outside the top 10.



Gordon made his way to the front for the first time following a Lap 36 restart, shooting past the soon-to-be champ for the lead and bringing the crowd in the grandstands to their feet.



Harvick took charge moments later with a power move on a Lap 45 restart. A multi-car accident involving Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and others erupted almost as soon as Harvick took control, bringing the yellow flag for the fourth time.


RELATED: Harvick sets bittersweet NASCAR record



The defending series champion was able to build as much as a 1.5-second lead over Busch and led 46 laps before a cycle of green-flag pit stops allowed Joey Logano to move to the top spot.



Afterward, Harvick could only smile as he watched Busch celebrate on stage.



“He broke his leg at Daytona, and to come back from everything that he came back from … that’s a great comeback story from where he was after Daytona,” said Harvick.



The race began 1 hour, 35 minutes late due to rain but ran uninterrupted by weather conditions following its 4:50 p.m. ET start.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Live weather updates from Homestead-Miami

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400, the championship-determining race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was delayed by inclement weather at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
The 267-lap event (400 miles) was scheduled to get underway at 3:15 p.m. ET (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). Driver introductions began at 3:30 but other pre-race events were on hold. The green flag finally waved at 4:51.
 
Reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) survived the first three rounds of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to qualify for today’s Championship 4 Round and a shot at the title.
 
It marked the final start for Gordon, a four-time series champion, as a full-time driver in the series. He will join the FOX Sports team next season as an analyst for its coverage of NASCAR.
 
Busch was the highest qualifying driver among the four Chase contenders, and rolled off third in the 43-car field. Gordon started fifth, Truex started 11th and Harvick started 13th.
 
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday and Team Penske‘s Joey Logano joined him on the front row.
 
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France noted earlier this weekend that the sanctioning body had “a record number” of Air Titans and other equipment on hand to speed up the track drying process on the 1.5-mile layout in case of rain.
 
“We’re looking at everything,” France said during a state of the sport address on Friday. “Our view now is that like a lot of things that aren’t necessarily perfect … that’s part of the game. That’s part of racing that it’s part of the strategy.”
 
Weather issues have impacted several races this season. Two, the June race at Michigan and last week at Phoenix, were declared official before reaching their scheduled distance. Two other events, at Richmond in April and Charlotte in October, had to be pushed to the following day due to rain.

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RELATED: Starting lineup | Live weather updates | See the 43-car field

And then there were four.

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. will be vying for the Sprint Cup Series title in a few hours at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC). But there’s plenty happening in the garage before then — after all, it is championship weekend.

NASCAR.com will be keeping a live blog covering all the Homestead action. So, check back right here for periodic updates throughout the day.

4:45 p.m. ET: Thanks for tuning into NASCAR.com’s live blog from Homestead. Turn on NBC for the start of the season finale Ford EcoBoost 400.

4:27 p.m. ET: The command has been given. Getting ready!

4:19 p.m. ET: Counting down the minutes until race time.

4:04 p.m. ET: Everyone wants to get a glismpe of Jeff Gordon.

3:55 p.m. ET: One of these four drivers will be hoisting the 2015 Sprint Cup Series trophy above their heads.

3:51 p.m. ET: One last time at driver intros for Jeff Gordon.

3:30 p.m. ET: Driver introductions are now underway on NBC.

3:15 p.m. ET: Getting closer!

3:02 p.m. ET: Just awesome.

2:43 p.m. ET: Stay with us, folks — the radar for the rest of the day looks promising!

2:25 p.m. ET: The real MVPs of NASCAR are gearing up.

2:15 p.m. ET: Driver introductions — which were set to begin at 2:20 p.m. ET — are on hold due to rain. 

2:10 p.m. ET: Rain, rain stay away.

2:03 p.m. ET: Coincidence or premonition?

2 p.m. ET: That’s a sharp-looking group.

1:28 p.m. ET: Man, Jeff Gordon has some cool friends.

1:05 p.m. ET: Rollin’ on out.

12:46 p.m. ET: Danica Patrick pays a classy tribute to Jeff Gordon.

12:33 p.m. ET: One last driver’s meeting for the 2015 season, set to begin at 1 p.m. ET. 

12:27 p.m. ET: Rodney Childers makes sure the No. 4 car is in tip-top shape for today.

11:51 a.m. ET: Guess who’s back at the track?

11:48 a.m. ET: #24ever.

11:45 a.m. ET: Full house behind Jeff Gordon for his FS1 Race Day cameo this morning.

10:56 a.m. ET: Um, Ricky, Texas was two weeks ago. The footwear of choice in Miami is flip-flops.

10:12 a.m. ET: We’re liking the looks of these sunny skies!

10:09 a.m. ET: The No. 48 team got a special visit from country superstar Tim McGraw this morning.

9:49 a.m. ET: Drivers like Dale Jr., media and even former President Clinton took to Twitter to wish Jeff Gordon well-wishes and share their favorite No. 24 memories. Check out all the messages here.

9:22 a.m. ET: A little elbow grease to accompany morning coffee for the four championship contenders’ teams.

Posted on by Holly Cain

IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe was in the NASCAR paddock this weekend in Homestead with three primary goals: telling Jeff Gordon good-bye, wishing sponsor GoDaddy a happy sendoff and, perhaps most importantly to him, talking to teams about a ride in the Watkins Glen, New York, XFINITY Series road course race.

A handful of IndyCar Series drivers roamed the paddock from three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves to Marco Andretti. But the Canadian Hinchcliffe was there with a distinct and different mission, to secure his first NASCAR start.

“It was really an exploratory trip,” Hinchcliffe said. “I planted some seeds and got the ball rolling.

“I would love to do all the road courses but I need one foot in the door first. Watkins Glen makes sense because it’s closest to Canada.”

The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver said the car would have to be a Ford because of his Honda commitments. While that tightens the parameters, it also eases the process and focuses on teams that run Fords such as Penske and Roush-Fenway — organizations that fielded the winning car and winning driver in this year’s XFINITY competition.

“It limits my options, but makes it easier too,” Hinchcliffe said with a smile.

A two-time front row starter in the Indy 500 and a four-time IndyCar race winner, Hinchcliffe is recovering from a serious injury he suffered in a crash during practice for this year’s Indy 500.

He said his visit this weekend to the NASCAR garage was, “More of floating idea in paddock.”

And in addition, he conceded, it was a great opportunity to see one of his racing heroes in his final start.

“I’m here for Jeff Gordon, I used to wear a Jeff Gordon hat every day for grade six,” Hinchcliffe said, smiling.

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Full race results | Gordon’s final race in photos

 

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Jeff Gordon sat in his parked silver No. 24 Chevrolet for an extended time on pit road following Sunday’s season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race; his helmet on, his heart still beating fast.

After several minutes, he exited his race car for the final time in 23 years of amazing, highest-level effort after a sixth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway — good enough for third place in his final Sprint Cup championship run. But instead of getting emotional about the end of his certain Hall-of-Fame career, the four-time champ found himself immediately reassuring others as the sellout crowd cheered loudly.

Gordon’s only team owner, Rick Hendrick, inserted himself between television interviews for an embrace with Gordon, the two speaking privately at length.

“I’m real happy for him,” Hendrick said. “I told him I loved him. And he said he loved me. I thanked him for all the years.”

Hendrick then walked away with Gordon’s final race helmet, a gift the driver had planned for some time.

Moments later Gordon’s wife, Ingrid, arrived at his side on pit road for a kiss and long hug. Then she looked up into the sky, tears in her eyes, as Gordon, 44, bent down and embraced his children, Ella, 8, and Leo, 5.

Gordon was as strong and vibrant in his goodbye as he was throughout a 93-win, high-achieving career that started out mustachioed and celebrated, Dale Earnhardt milquetoasted and, finally, fittingly much-appreciated.

RELATED: Full coverage of Gordon’s final race

All those who booed the kid who won too much, cheered the man who transformed the sport. It was a two-way street this weekend in South Florida.

 

“Well, we all know nothing would have been quite better than the win,” Gordon said. “But I’ve learned a lot in life, and there’s no such thing as a perfect day and a perfect life. Just like there’s no such thing as a perfect race car. They’re really close and good and at times better than the rest, but it doesn’t mean that they’re ever perfect.”

Throughout the weekend Gordon was acknowledged and honored by everyone who knew him from family, to sponsors to his fiercest competitors.

During the rain-delayed driver introduction session, Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton stood with Gordon and took photos with the four-time NASCAR champ, looking far more fan than racing champion himself. Several IndyCar Series drivers made the trip to South Florida to bid Gordon goodbye, including Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and Josef Newgarden.

“Of course,” Mario Andretti said of attending the race to support Gordon. “He’s an icon. Not just the personality he brought to the sport as a racer, but as a person himself. He’s been a big contributor to NASCAR’s personality, no doubt about it. He will be missed, but he won’t be going too far away.

“He’s certainly kept up the time. He’s still a young man and he’s retiring relatively young, which is wonderful. He’s on top of his game and you can’t do any better than that. He’s living a wonderful life and he’s the envy of a lot of people for what he’s done. I just wish him well.”

Gordon conceded he was impressed and endeared by the pair’s presence at his celebrated final race. 

“I do believe he’s the greatest driver of all time,” Gordon said of Andretti. “And Lewis, I met at the Super Bowl a couple years ago. I’m a big fan of that sport. I was already a fan of his and he won the championship and we stayed in touch. I was trying to get him to come to a race and today was the race he could come to.

” … I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m in their league, but I have a ton of respect for them and am so happy they were here today.”

After an emotional driver introduction ceremony, Gordon walked with his daughter Ella down pit road, waving to the sellout crowd that would surprise him at race start with front grandstands fan placards that spelled out, “Thank You Jeff. 24Ever”

 

As Gordon’s car rolled off pit road to start the race, pit crew members from all the teams stood along the pit wall to clap and honor him.

WATCH: Pit crews honor Gordon

 

Earlier, Gordon’s afternoon included a standing ovation at the driver’s meeting and a short clip of Gordon, showing him from his earliest open-wheel days to his NASCAR entree and some of his finest multiple winning moments.

The support was a theme throughout the weekend. Fans crowded around Gordon’s team hauler in the infield, and he had to have security personnel from the South Miami Police guard his No. 24 as it snaked through the garage for final inspection Sunday morning.

About 100 fans stood behind temporary barriers at Gordon’s team transporter in the garage hoping for a glimpse of the real thing. 

Carla Piccarreto and her 24-year-old son James traveled to South Florida from upstate New York and had been standing at Gordon’s team transporter since the garage opened — about three hours. They’d still not seen Gordon by race morning but were intent to wait it out for him.

“Yesterday we saw the crowd swarm him, chanting his name and we were afraid for him,” Carla said, smiling.

Standing next to her, Joe Fiorello, 39, of Delray Beach, Florida, was wearing his best — if faded, and mustard-stained — original Jeff Gordon T-shirt. Jeffrey Jones was in the group, as well, holding a custom-made guitar shaped in a 24. He gave one to Hendrick earlier in the week and left a rainbow-colored version with the team for Gordon.

 

WATCH: Fans salute Gordon with card trick

 

Timothy and Britney Prior were also standing outside Gordon’s team hauler hoping for a photo, autograph or handshake. They drove 14 hours from Danville, Virginia, to attend the event and support their favorite driver.

The couple is so committed that Timothy’s back is completely tattooed with Gordon’s cars and even Gordon’s signature, something they got back in 2011.

While the couple didn’t have a chance to see their favorite driver in the garage, they did after the race — and Gordon had Timothy tag along to his post-race press conference, where he introduced the longtime supporter.

“You want to talk about commitment and a loyal fan and a nice guy, this guy is awesome,” Gordon said. “Now that right there, folks, that’s commitment. That is commitment.

“But I just happened to run into him on the way in here, and I just wanted him to be here and be a part of it because he’s a huge fan, and I appreciate him and all of our fans so much, especially what I saw this weekend.”

 

RELATED: Gordon says, ‘We’re still going to celebrate’

 

As Gordon spoke to the media after the race, he seemed truly at peace, extremely happy and, as we know, as accomplished a modern-day driver as one could be. His final race was fitting and he will leave South Florida — after a big party Sunday night — feeling fulfilled, respected and loved.

“That sendoff at the drivers’ meeting, you know, drivers are so competitive, and they don’t show ‑‑ they might have it inside them, but to show it publicly, their appreciation for other competitors, just doesn’t happen like that very often, and I really, really appreciate it very, very much,” Gordon said. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the evening, as well.

“Talking more about my career and the moments and what it’s all meant to me, this is why me and my mom having this conversation this morning was so important to me. We talked about the television station that filmed my quarter midget race when I was like 6 years old and I never understood why. I found out I was on the cover of a kids magazine with my quarter midget. 

 

“To come from that and have this … it blows my mind. Just being here and part of my day, to wrap up this amazing career it didn’t take a championship for me to feel like I’m on top of the world.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Even in the moments Chris Buescher was celebrating his NASCAR XFINITY Series title Saturday night, his team owner Jack Roush was suggesting that the newly-crowned champion might end up in the Sprint Cup Series in 2016. 

The only question seemed to be whether it would be a full-time ride or a part-time gig.

“We’re still not sure what his arrangement is going to be next year,” Roush said. “He will be involved in a Cup car to some extent, but whether it’s a part‑time program or a full program, we’re still in the midst of finalizing the conditions today. 

“We’ve got a number of possibilities, but we’re not ready to announce that today.”

While Roush is still securing details, it was all news to Buescher.

Reporters told Buescher of Roush’s comments — made before the driver came into the deadline media room at Homestead-Miami Speedway — but the newly crowned champ wasn’t ready to confirm a change beyond his intent to run a full XFINITY schedule in 2016.

Buescher made six Cup starts this season in the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford with a best finish of 20th at Fontana.

“So I’ve been clear, I’m not in a rush,” Buescher, 23, said Saturday after celebrating his XFINITY Series title. “If it comes around — and that’s the first I’ve heard of that, by the way — so it’s kind of like the radio interview where Jack said something four months ago and I found out from my dad. 

“But you know, if that’s what it brings, then I’ll do my best to prepare for it and be ready, and if not, we’ll go try and double up on these XFINITY championships.

“Right now we’re living in the moment, and that’s a big weight off our shoulders.  We get to calm down a little bit, get to celebrate, get to enjoy the banquet, going to do some offshore fishing while we’re down here in Florida, and get ready for 2016.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Race results | Final standings

SHOP: Busch gear | Gordon gear

 

The season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway saw the ending of a legendary career and the completion of an incredible comeback with Jeff Gordon‘s final start in the No. 24 car and Kyle Busch‘s 2015 championship, respectively. 

 

See what the NASCAR community had to say about the Ford EcoBoost 400.

 

Kyle Busch:

 

 

Jeff Gordon: