CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A speech written by the late Robert Yates for his induction capped off the 2018 class’s enshrinement into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Yates — his words read by fellow NASCAR Hall of Fame member Dale Jarrett, who won his lone Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship driving for Robert Yates Racing — thanked people such as Bill France Jr., Edsel Ford (who inducted him), the people at the Holman Moody engine shop, Junior Johnson and the Allison family.
“The Allisons have been a big part of my life,” Yates said. “I won a championship with Bobby (Allison) in 1983 at DiGard (Racing), and then got to work with Davey (Allison), who was always so positive. When I bought Harry Ranier Racing, I knew other people wanted to hire him, so we talked about it, and he said to me, ‘Robert, I’ll always work for you. You don’t ever have to worry about me.’
“Losing Davey was painful. We shed a lot of tears and didn’t know how we would move on, but we did.”
He thanked Jarrett and crew chief Todd Parrot for the success they achieved and what he called “a special time in my life with a special group of people.”
“So to you, Dale, Todd, and everyone who worked at Robert Yates racing or in our engine shop, you have my deepest appreciation,” he said.
Yates wrapped up by thanking his family, such as sister Martha Brady, who made Yates move in with her at Wake Forest to improve his academics.
“I was the only kid in my family that didn’t make straight A’s,” he said. “That’s when my sister, Martha Brady, stepped in. I moved from Charlotte to Wake Forest and lived with her. She told me what classes I was going to take, and that was the first time I studied and made straight A’s.”
His other sister, Doris Roberts, convinced him to attend Wilson Technical College, where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.
“So if it wasn’t for my two sisters, I don’t know where I’d be today,” he said.
While working for Junior Johnson, Yates took son Doug to the shop, where he’d “sort out nuts and bolts.”
“He could sort them out and put them all in the right bin. I knew he was destined for a career in racing,” he said. “Little did I know that would include working side by side with him for 20 years. Doug, I couldn’t be prouder of the man you are today. I love you.”
After the ceremony, Doug Yates said that he hadn’t seen any of the speech prior to hearing it during his father’s induction, although he was offered the chance earlier that day.
He thanked his daughter Amy and his wife of 51 years Carolyn, then thanked God to conclude his speech.
“I never prayed to win a race. I just prayed for the wisdom to help me make good decisions,” Yates added “My creator didn’t always give me what I asked for, but he gave me more than I deserved. I thank you for this great honor. Good night, and God bless.”
His induction was the highlight of a class that enshrined Red Byron, Ray Evernham, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ken Squier.
Squier, who fought tooth and nail against the campaign to induct him, a pure broadcaster, into the hall, said he felt “like an odd duck in a flock of fancy geese.”
Always the master storyteller, Squier used his induction speech to spotlight the other inductees.
“Now, think about those nominations for 2018: A preacher’s son who built not only great engines but great teams of people, human beings who harmonized like a finely-tuned engine, the late and great Robert Yates,” he said. “And drivers like Hornaday, Ron Hornaday. It was Jean Shepherd who wrote, ‘If horse racing was the sport of kings, then auto racing was the sport of friends.’ Ron Hornaday represents that character of drivers that comes from every short track in America. He’s it.
“And there’s Ray Evernham, modified star, Wall Stadium, Belmar, New Jersey, who learned and listened every time, everywhere, and was to develop a race team that brought Dodge back to racing. Remember Homestead 2001? What a race.
“For some of us, there’s one story this year that I believe deserves special place in this or nearly any Hall of Fame. Red Byron represents the spirit and the passion of NASCAR racing. He was the common man doing uncommon deeds, which has been the history of this country, when the chips are down.”
Ray Evernham took his place in the hall.
“The Hendrick family became very special to me. I love and appreciate those that are here, and I miss the ones that we lost every day,” he said.
“Rick Hendrick, where do I begin. You saw more in me than I saw in myself. You believed in me. I was a young, unorthodox crew chief. You were the first person to stay on my side with my son in the hospital, Ray J. You stood by my side when I decided to take two tires at Charlotte. You didn’t really stand by my side, he kind of paced back and forth behind me, but he didn’t ask me to change my mind. He stood by me when I wanted to start my own team, and if he wasn’t terribly under the weather with the flu, as most of America is, he’d be standing by my side tonight. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve a friend like you, Rick, but thank you very much.”
Ron Hornaday was the first Camping World Truck Series driver inducted into the hall.
He famously allowed drivers such as Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick to sleep on his couch early in their driving careers, a favor which Harvick later repaid in a Truck Series ride for Hornaday.
He also spent two sleepless nights pondering what he’d say.
“Everybody says, you know, just — first of all, I started two nights, can’t sleep, he said. “Sitting up here trying to think what you’re going to say to anybody, and it’s the toughest thing you’d ever say. And everybody would just say just be yourself, it’s easy. It’s the frigging Hall of Fame, guys.”
At first glance, the catchphrase of Monty Python’s Flying Circus “And now for something completely different,” would sum up 2017 NASCAR. As the season played out, however, it went from “something completely different” to a return to form.
Monster Energy and NASCAR are as polar opposite as it gets. The former is an energy drink brand that understands how to target the youth of the United States, while the latter — despite its many attempts to appeal to a younger audience the last decade — is still dependent on an ever-aging demographic of Baby Boomers.
Compounding the matter, 2016 was the 10th-year of a decade-long slide in television ratings. And as much as the big whigs in Daytona won’t admit it, something had to change.
So on January 23, it would’ve been so fitting if NASCAR unveiled their 2017 changes — oh sorry, “enhancements” — via a segue from this.
The idea of throwing out the caution two predetermined points to break up the, at times, roughly three-hour marathon events into more digestible segments (or stages) not only was “something completely different,” but it reeked of desperation.
But that wasn’t all. To quote a mediocre comedy…
Whether or not you called in the next 15 minutes, NASCAR doubled the offer with stage points and playoff points for no extra charge.
The funny thing is that while these “enhancements” offended me as a racing purist, I wanted to see where they led NASCAR. Especially the playoff points, which answered the prayers of us who wanted consistency and the regular season to matter again.
So with a new title sponsor — one which, as of the publishing of this column, has yet to exercise its option to stay past the end of 2018 (SB Nation) — that appeals to millennials, a radically new approach on racing, points that carry through the entire playoffs and an aforementioned decade-long TV ratings slump, to say 2017 would be a make or break season would be an understatement. And NASCAR needed to knock it out of the park with opening day.
So the first race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season arrived, as it always does, at Daytona International Speedway on February 26 with the 59th running of the Daytona 500. The stages came and went, with Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch winning them, and a whole mess of cars were swept up in multi-car wrecks (it’s Daytona).
Kyle Larson leads a pack of cars through Turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway, coming to the white flag of the 59th running of the Daytona 500. Photo: Jerry Markland/Getty Images
The final laps of the 59th Daytona 500 was beautiful restrictor plate racing. There was intense fighting for the lead and position, whether it was in a pack or in single-file, fuel strategy with varying results through the lead pack and a last lap pass for the win.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – FEBRUARY 26: Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 26, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
So did February 26, 2017 give NASCAR the monumental start it needed in this “something completely different” season? The jury is still deliberating on that. I think we’ll know for sure at the end of the 2018 season, especially since Monster Energy will either continue or end its relationship with NASCAR.
It’s one thing for NASCAR’s restrictor plate package to deliver, but did the one for the intermediate tracks…
Yeah, I couldn’t finish that sentence with a straight face.
Now I’ve told this story before. But for those who don’t know, while standing on pit road, Jeff Gluck and I traded thoughts about the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, after the race, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I told him “I thought the race was okay for Atlanta, and that was with the way it ended, with Kevin Harvick’s speeding penalty. Take that out of the equation and Harvick wins it, I don’t think it registers.”
“Oh agreed,” Gluck said. “It’s basically (Martin) Truex (Jr.) at Charlotte if Harvick wins.”
And that sums up the 2017 Cup race at Atlanta: Harvick dominates, but blows it for the fourth straight year.
If I may peel back the curtain, this is an outcome sportswriters — especially those on deadline — hate. While we as writers “root for the best ‘stories,’” clinic performances like Harvick at Atlanta that end with said dominant driver winning on a long day — this race was three hours, 33 minutes and eight seconds — make the writing process that follows easier. When that dominate driver blows it, we got to start all over again.
For example: Deciding not to trust my cynical instincts as the laps wound down, I wrote up a race report in which Harvick ended his run of bad luck at Atlanta. All it needed was quotes, statistics and a photo, and it would’ve been published within 45 minutes of Harvick winning.
So my short evening of writing turned into a two and a half-hour evening (I didn’t get back to Knoxville until midnight).
I also told Gluck that “the intensity was nowhere near as high as it was last week at Daytona. Now I know Daytona is its own animal, but the stages and points cranked it up to 11. So after the Daytona 500, I was thinking, ‘Oh my God. NASCAR has struck gold with this! If this is what we’re gonna get every week, the sport will be on top of the world!’ But about halfway through it, after watching it unfold from the press box, I’m just thinking, ‘Oh…*sigh.* This isn’t going to be a weekly thing. This is just the same old downforce racing we see every week.’”
And…I was right. Week after week, we got the same old tired downforce-centric racing that’s made the mile and a half races unbearable.
It wasn’t until the short track gauntlet that we got a string of decent races, with Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway (and I know Talladega isn’t a short track, but it was part of that string of great races).
But at Richmond in April, “encumberment” struck race winner Joey Logano. While NASCAR let the win stand, he couldn’t use the benefits of that win to qualify for the playoffs. Since he didn’t win another race, Logano — a preseason favorite to win the title — missed the playoffs. At some point, I’ll write a column with my thoughts on “encumbered” wins. But it boils down to this: Why is an “encumbered” win bad enough that a driver can’t use the benefits of it to qualify for the playoffs, but not enough to strike it from the NASCAR record?
Switching gears, let’s discuss the run of first-time winners in a five-race span.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. burns down pit road as he celebrates victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com
Talladega was the start of a five-race stretch in which three drivers scored their first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Days like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney celebrating in victory lane for the first time almost make me wish I wasn’t so cynical. Watching on TV Dillon play the fuel game right to win the Coca-Cola 600 and Blaney just out-race Kyle Busch and hold of Kevin Harvick to win at Pocono Raceway was awesome. But it was nothing compared to seeing it happen in person, as I did when Stenhouse passed Busch on the final lap to win at Talladega.
By the summer stretch, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. established themselves as the dominant drivers. Larson took the points lead in NASCAR’s first trip to Phoenix and held it until the Coca-Cola 600. Truex led for the next three races, was usurped by Larson for three, retook it lead after his clinic performance at Kentucky and didn’t relinquish it the rest of the season.
Truex didn’t win the title uncontested, however, as Joe Gibbs Racing challenged his supremacy. Spearheading it was Kyle Busch, who with a strong drive and victory at Pocono and complete weekend sweep at Bristol put himself in position to steal the title from Truex.
While the fight for the drivers title was hotly contested, nobody questioned who the dominant manufacturer was.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NOVEMBER 19: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Caramel Toyota, race during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. Photo: Chris Trotman/Getty Images
In the first half of the season, there was a greater level of parity amongst the manufacturers (in terms of wins). But in the second half, the Toyota camp was all but unstoppable, winning 13 of the final 18 races. Chevrolet’s only real bullet in the gun was Larson, but an engine failure in the cutoff race of the Round of 12 ended any realistic possibility of another championship for the bow tie’s. Ford remained in the hunt for a title with their dominance of restrictor plate racing, Kevin Harvick running down and passing Truex in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway and Brad Keselowski benefiting from the misfortune of others to race Kyle Busch and Truex for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Unfortunately for Harvick and Keselowski, while never too far from the front, they were no match for the Toyota’s on the mile and a half Homestead.
Only Larson posed a threat to either Busch or Truex, leading 145 of 267 laps. But with 105 laps to go, the race — and championship — was down to just Truex and Busch.
While Truex pitted with 69 to go, Busch stayed out until 50 to go, putting him within the fuel window to make the finish. His one-stop strategy went wayside when Kurt Busch spun out, scattering debris on the track, with 39 to go.
A few laps after the restart with 34 to go, Busch was held up trying to pass Joey Logano for third. While he passed Harvick for second with ease, he didn’t have “enough tire” when he caught Truex.
“Yeah, it wasn’t quite what we wanted there at the end,” Busch said. “I thought we had a really great race car, especially on the long runs. We were really, really good. Just came down to there at the end not having enough tire when I got to the 78 (Truex), so I just overused my stuff, and I knew I overused my stuff when I was running with the 22 (Logano) trying to get by him and just overworked everything and got to the 4 (Harvick), got by him pretty quick, I tried to make sure that I could do that pretty quick so then I could have at least a little more tire life, but didn’t seem to pay me off any when I got to the 78.”
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NOVEMBER 19: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
When the checkered flag waved, Martin Truex Jr. — who four years prior, after finding himself out of a ride due to the actions of others at Michael Waltrip Racing, sat on his front porch thinking his career was over — was no longer a journeyman who won only three times in an eight-year span, racing for the little team in Denver. At that moment he was, and forever will be, a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion.
“It’s overwhelming,” Truex said. “You think about all the rough days, the bad days, the days that we couldn’t run 20th to be here. I never thought this day would come and to be here is unbelievable!
“I can’t believe it. I’ve wanted it since I was a little kid. Just never give up. Just never give up on your dreams, no matter what happens, or what kind of crap you go through.”
The races of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season were very hit and miss, but it was NASCAR at its best. Playoff points made performance in the regular season matter again. And that they carried through the whole playoffs made the whole season the closest we’ll get back to a season-long points format. Stage points, as much as I hate them, put more emphasis not on saving your stuff until the end, but on running up front all day/night long. Yes, x-factors such as luck and bullshit still factor into the playoffs, but not to the degree of the last three years. Take the playoffs out of the equation, this would most likely remain the outcome (although Harvick and Keselowski probably would’ve been out of the hunt by Homestead in a season-long format).
And that’s what this season had over the last three. It was the closest thing to a naturally played-out one that’s possible with NASCAR. Unlike 2014 through 2016, I didn’t feel empty with how the course of the season brought us to this outcome.
Let’s hope we have another season like this, or better, in 2018.
There’s one thing I have zero tolerance for in the world of motorsports, and that’s when incompetence puts the safety of drivers at risk. NASCAR, your safety team needs a lot of work.
On Lap 142 of the Ford EcoBoost 400, Danica Patrick got loose in Turn 1, the result of a flat right-rear tire, and hit the wall, and was rear-ended by Kasey Kahne.
As she drove her car back to pit road, the caved-in right-front tire caught fire down the backstretch. She then decided to drive it to the garage, but the fire spread when she reached the entrance to the pits. She parked it and quickly exited the car.
From the moment the caution came out, her wheel was on fire for over a minute.
So a few questions come to mind:
Why did nobody from NASCAR tell her to stop the moment the wheel caught fire?
And don’t tell me they couldn’t. NASCAR has spotters manning the entire perimeter of the speedway, not to mention cameras trained on every inch of the track. They had to know this was happening. And if they don’t, that’s another major problem.
Why was a safety truck not tailing Patrick back, considering her car was on fire?
Again, someone from NASCAR should’ve sent a safety truck straight to her, one, to make sure her damaged car gets back to pit road, and two, to assist her extraction from the burning car. One belt strap doesn’t come undone, running the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 next season suddenly becomes the least of Patrick’s concerns.
And this isn’t the first time the safety team has come under fire.
Earlier this season, Kevin Harvick blasted them for their pitiful response time to his wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“The worst part was the medical response. It took them forever to get to the car,” Harvick said. “I thought we made that better, but obviously we haven’t.”
But as Denny Hamlin revealed on Playoff media day back in September, it only got worse as the season progressed.
He told the story of how Aric Almirola’s ambulance that took him from his wrecked car at Kansas Speedway in May to the infield care center got lost.
“His ambulance got lost inside the race track and I mean, he had a serious injury,” Hamlin said. “So that was an issue, for sure. I know they’re trying to do the best they can. They’re not doing it every week, they’re just doing it when we come to town.
“People argue it should be the same team everywhere, others think that the ambulance crew should be familiar with just that racetrack.
“I don’t know what the correct answer is, but we for sure can get better because we’re not good right now.”
NASCAR, this farce you call a safety team has gone on long enough. This should’ve changed after Almirola’s mishap, and it needs to change now. And by change, I mean get an actual safety team, like IndyCar uses.
Sooner or later, this will get a driver seriously hurt, or killed.
Four years ago, Martin Truex Jr. sat on his front porch thinking his career was over. Four years later, he held off a hard charging Kyle Busch to win the Ford EcoBoost 400 and the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.
When the final caution flew with 39 laps to go, everyone hit pit road for tires and fuel. Truex exited with the race lead.
It went back to green with 34 to go.
Busch was held up a few laps by Joey Logano, which, in his words, is what cost him in the end.
Once he passed Logano for third with 25 to go, he essentially hit the nitro button, because it took him only seven laps to run down and pass Kevin Harvick for second.
Five laps later, he caught up to Truex.
The gap between him and Truex went back and forth from 13 to go, until eight to go, when it remained around three-tenths of a second to the checkered flag.
“I don’t even know what to say,” a teary-eyed Truex said after getting out of his car. “We just never gave up all day long. We didn’t have the best car. I don’t know how we won that thing. Never give up, dig deep. I told my guys, ‘We’re gonna dig deeper than we ever have today.’ With 20 to go, I thought I was done. They were all better than me on the long run all day long. I just found a way. I found a lane that I could use and I found a lane that blocking enough of the air that they couldn’t use it. I just made it happen.”
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NOVEMBER 19: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, celebrates with teammates after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
As Truex drove his car down the front stretch of Homestead-Miami Speedway, fans and pit crews lined along the outside pit wall to congratulate the journeyman his share of frustration, heartache and tragedy. Even Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Director David Hoots told Truex, “Congrats, you finally did it.”
When he got out, he was swarmed by his overjoyed crew and he joined in the sea of emotion.
“It’s overwhelming. You think about all the rough days, the bad days, the days that we couldn’t run 20th to be here. I never thought this day would come and to be here is unbelievable!
“I can’t believe it. I’ve wanted it since I was a little kid. Just never give up. Just never give up on your dreams, no matter what happens, or what kind of crap you go through. Thank you Barney (Visser). I wish you were here buddy.”
Busch finished second and Kyle Larson rounded out the podium.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you lose in this format. But we gave it everything we had. We gave it our all. So congratulations to the 78 (Truex). They deserved it probably on every other race, but today, I thought we were better. Don’t matter though. They were out front when it mattered most. Just unfortunate for us that that caution came out and ruined our race strategy and we weren’t able to get back to where we needed to be and then I had to fight way too hard with some of those guys trying to get back up through there. But that’s racing.”
“Yeah, we had a great Credit One Bank Chevy today,” Larson said. “Throughout the first half especially. It seemed like the 18 and them guys were probably a little bit faster than me the first, I don’t know 15 laps a run and then I was really, really good. I was definitely better than them in front of me, but I was just stuck in their dirty air a little bit. I was going to race them, I just could never get close enough. I wanted to win the race bad, but a good way to end the year. It showed we had a lot of speed all year long and congrats to the No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) team they were the class of the field all year. It is pretty neat to see the top three there they were the three best cars all season. I wish I could have been a part of the final four, but had a little bit of bad luck here lately. It’s nice to see a checkered flag, it’s been about a month since I’ve seen one. That was good and yeah, we will try and make our stuff even better than next year just fine tune on little things and try and come back even stronger. Hats off to everybody on my Chip Ganassi Racing team. They busted their tails throughout the off season and that prepared us to be good this year. Thanks to them and thanks to all of our other partners, Target, wish they were still with us, but we will miss them. Looking forward to our future with all of our other partners. Good year all-in-all.”
Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five.
“We just got really loose and then got a hole in the nose and it started to get tight in. We got that fixed,” Harvick said. “We were pretty good on the next-to-last run and we were just really loose on the last run. I want to thank everybody on my Jimmy John’s, Busch Ford for everything they’ve done. It was great to have a chance. We were in the mix all day. Didn’t quite have what we needed at the end. I want to thank Mobil 1, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Morton Building, Textron, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. Thank you guys for everything you did all year. We’ll be back.”
Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10.
RACE SUMMARY
Hamlin led the field to the green flag at 3:15 p.m., but didn’t lead a single lap as Truex quickly took the lead in Turn 1. He led the first 13 laps, before Larson passed him in Turn 1 to take it. Aside from one lap by Keselowski during the first stage break and Busch during a cycle of green flag stops on Lap 122, Larson lead from Lap 13 to Lap 160, sweeping the stages in the process.
Truex exited pit road during the second stage break with the race lead and led the field back to green on Lap 166. Busch swung around him through Turns 1 and 2 to take the lead on Lap 179.
Keselowski hit pit road with 69 laps to go. Truex and Harvick pitted a few laps later.
Rather than follow suit, Busch elected to stay out until 55 to 50 to go to get within the 55-lap fuel window to one-stop the rest of the race. His plan went up in flames when Kurt Busch spun out in Turn 3 and laid debris on track, bringing out the caution with 39 to go and setting up the run to the finish.
NOTES OF INTEREST
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 25th in his final career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.
Jimmie Johnson’s 27th-place finish ended his 13-year streak of winning at least one race in the Playoffs.
Danica Patrick brought out the third caution of the race on Lap 142 when she got loose and slammed the Turn 1 wall, and was rear-ended by Kasey Kahne. She finished 37th.
NUTS & BOLTS
The race lasted three hours, two minutes and 11 seconds, at an average speed of 131.900 mph. There were 13 lead changes among four different drivers and five cautions for 26 laps.
Exactly one year ago, William Byron stood in victory lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway, having won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-finale the week after his title hopes went up in smoke with his engine. Today, a week after he punched his ticket with a victory in the Arizona desert, he dueled it out with JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler in the final laps of the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series season to claim the championship in his name.
Both drivers hit pit road to make their final stop of the Ford EcoBoost 300 on Lap 145, and Sadler exited in front of Byron. Byron caught and passed him going into Turn 1 on Lap 149 to take over the championship lead.
With 38 laps to go, when Sadler got loose in Turn 3 and sent Byron towards the wall. Whether he made contact with it can’t be determined. Eventually, Sadler passed him going into Turn 1 to take the lead in the championship fight.
Byron caught back up to Sadler with 24 to go, thanks to lap traffic, but couldn’t make the pass, thanks to making contact with the wall in Turn 4 with 22 to go.
“He was really good on the long run,” Byron said of his battle with Sadler. “We weren’t as good on the long run, but we had massive short-run speed.”
He finally caught and passed Sadler in Turn 3 with nine to go, after Sadler failed to complete a pass on Ryan Preece.
In an act of desperation, Sadler turned Preece in Turn 4 with five to go. But the race remained green and Byron drove on to a third-place finish, clinching the 2017 XFINITY Series championship.
“Just thankful for God giving me this opportunity and everyone around me to get me to this point. This is incredible and very thankful for everyone that’s supported me along the way.
“I went to Martinsville (Speedway) when I was seven years old, watching the 48 car (Jimmie Johnson) win the race, and dreamed about running for Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and I got that opportunity with Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. when I was 16 years old, and it just took off from there. Can’t not believe all the people around me that’ve helped made this happen, and thankful for this team. That’s what made it happen.”
After the race, Sadler quickly got out of his car to confront Preece and two XFINITY Series officials had to restrain him from doing anything other than yell.
“Well he cost us a championship, but he’s not even racing anybody,” Sadler said. If he wasn’t slowing us down, the 9 (Byron) never would have gotten to us. If you’re going to race people like that in this sport, you’re not going to make it very far. You gotta have respect. It’s definitely a shame to be that close and not pull it off. I just appreciate my race team. I let them down tonight. I should’ve took care of business when I got to Ryan.
“It was definitely a letdown to lose one like this.”
Preece responded to Elliott’s “he’s not racing anybody” claim with the fact that he was “hired to race this race for the owner championship.”
“We weren’t anywhere near the 22 (Sam Hornish Jr.), but we were racing the 9 (Byron),” Preece said. “It’s pretty much what I said. If it was the 7 (Justin Allgaier) and the 1 (Elliott Sadler) or anyone else that wasn’t in for that owner championship, probably, I definitely would have just laid right over. I’ve been an Elliott Sadler fan growing up, so if I wanted somebody to win that owner championship, or driver championship, it would have been him. Just, I can’t not listen to my owner. I can’t not listen to my, the guy who’s paying you in the end, so it’s just a tough deal. It’s crappy in the end – but I hate controversy.”
As for the “move” he made on Sadler…
“With what move? I was ahead of him,” he said. “If anything – if there was no contact, I was going to let him go that corner. I pulled down in the middle, not running the top because I was letting him go. I mean, I don’t know. The only thing I could’ve done different was realistically gave up second in the owner championship and finished third. You know, hindsight 20/20, we ended up there because of what happened, but I also – as soon as the 9 got me, I was going to let him go. I don’t know much more that I could really do, other than, than lay over on Joe (Gibbs) and Steve (deSouza, EVP of XFINITY and Development for Joe Gibbs Racing). If they came over the radio and said ‘hey, give up second in the owner championship and let these guys race,’ I would’ve done it. I’m just – team orders. I’m not afraid to lay over if it means – but just doing what I’m told.”
And as for what Preece could’ve done different…
“To be honest with you, if there’s a person you don’t want to cost a championship to it’s Elliott Sadler,” he added. “You know, I’m just trying to do team orders here. I was racing for an owner championship. Yeah, we weren’t racing for the win right there, but we were still racing the 9. I got to thank Joe Gibbs for giving me this opportunity, Safelite Auto Glass, Toyota, everybody involved there. It felt – just, you know it’s not where I want to be right there, but obviously I hate it, but can’t take it back.”
Cole Custer led all but 18 laps on his way to dominating and winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
He first took the lead from Tyler Reddick going into Turn 1 on the fifth lap, and aside from the one time Reddick exited ahead of him under the first stage break caution, he never lost it. Custer won both stages, led 182 laps and put all but eight cars a lap down on his way to scoring his first career victory in 38 XFINITY Series starts.
“We definitely had something to prove this weekend. We were so close to making it last weekend and (we) really wanted to end strong. We were really good this weekend. Our Haas Automation Mustangs are unreal. We wanted to really have a good showing on Ford Championship Weekend. Even though we weren’t in it, we wanted to win. Hopefully, we can sweep it tomorrow. Obvious we have some good cars in the hunt tomorrow.”
Sam Hornish Jr. finished second and William Byron finished third, clinching for him the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.
“I don’t know that I took a breath the last 20 laps,” said Byron. “That was incredible. I just have to thank this team. This is awesome. Elliott (Sadler, teammate) raced me clean and we just raced hard for it. I just can’t believe this. I’ve just got to thank God for giving me this platform to perform. I can’t believe this. I’m tired, whew. Thanks to all the fans here this evening, this is an unbelievable crowd, I just can’t believe it.”
Reddick and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-five.
Brennan Poole, Matt Tiftt, Elliott Sadler, Michael Annett and Ty Majeski rounded out the top-10.
NOTES OF INTEREST
Caution flew only three times: Two for stage breaks and one for a spin in Turn 2 on Lap 20 by JJ Yeley. Only six cars retired from the race.
Daniel Hemric’s chances at the title came to an end when he made an unscheduled stop on Lap 62 for battery issues. He rejoined the race 12 laps down.
One day after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, Christopher Bell retired from the race with engine issues on Lap 79.
With his runner-up finish, Hornish clinched the 2017 XFINITY Series owners championship for Roger Penske’s No. 22 team.
NUTS & BOLTS
The race lasted two hours, 12 minutes and 13 seconds, at an average speed of 136.140 mph. There were five lead changes among two different drivers and three cautions for 14 laps.
Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 31.543 and a speed of 171.195 mph. Clint Bowyer was second in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 31.804 and a speed of 169.790 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 31.807 and a speed of 169.774 mph. Erik Jones was fourth in his No. 77 Furniture Row Toyota with a time of 31.817 and a speed of 169.721 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 31.849 and a speed of 169.550 mph.
Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10. Brad Keselowski was 11th and Kevin Harvick rounds out the Playoff drivers in 18th.
Kyle Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average of 164.681 mph.
Denny Hamlin topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 31.555 and a speed of 171.130 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 31.638 and a speed of 170.681 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 31.761 and a speed of 170.020 mph. Kurt Busch was fourth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 31.850 and a speed of 169.545 mph. Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 31.958 and a speed of 168.972 mph.
Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10.
Kyle Busch was 16th and Kevin Harvick rounded out the Playoff drivers in 17th.
Hamlin posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 165.574 mph.
After posting a lap that was three-tenths faster than his closest competitor while he was on track, pole position all but belonged to Martin Truex Jr. But after time expired, Denny Hamlin edged him out by five-one thousandths of a second and took the pole for the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won the pole with a final round time of 31.038 and a speed of 173.980 mph.
“We had him there by a little bit. I messed up (Turns) 3 and 4 by a bunch, but honestly a great run. We did great adjustments there in between runs. Our FedEx Camry was obviously very fast that last run.”
It’s his 26th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole.
Truex qualified second with a final round time of 31.043 and a speed of 173.952 mph.
“It was a good effort today by everyone on the Bass Pro Camry team. Just come here, (with) a lot of pressure, a lot going on. And to be able to stay focused, have a solid day was important. Definitely wished we could’ve been first, five thousandths away from that. But the first two rounds were really good and just missed it a little bit that last one. Proud of everybody. We outran the other three guys, which is good. But I don’t think it’s a big deal, because we were all pretty tight together and this is a track you can pass on. All and all, successful day, and one spot from where we wanted to be.”
Kyle Busch will start third with a final round time of 31.047 and a speed of 173.980 mph. Matt Kenseth will start fourth with a final round time of 31.272 and a speed of 172.678 mph. Brad Keselowski will round out the top-five starters with a final round time of 31.313 and a speed of 172.452 mph.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Daniel Suarez will round out the top-10 starters.
Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.
Kyle Busch topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 31.269 and a speed of 172.695 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 31.299 and a speed of 172.529 mph. Kevin Harvick was third in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 31.420 mph. Kyle Larson was fourth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 31.539 and a speed of 171.217 mph. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 31.606 and a speed of 170.854 mph.
Trevor Bayne, Jimmie Johnson, Michael McDowell, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10.
Brad Keselowski rounded out the Playoff drivers in 21st.
During the session, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s engine malfunctioned — “something broke,” as he put it on Twitter afterwards — and he’ll start the race from the tail-end of the field.
Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 165.012 mph.
