Ford 400 Race Review

Homestead-Miami Speedway -- 11/16/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Nov 16 2008 10:31pm

My recap of this race last year began with this summary:

`Homestead 2007: Matt Kenseth won the battle. Jimmie Johnson won the war. All along, it had seemed unlikely that Jeff Gordon would be able to pull off what one broadcaster called the 'Miami Miracle' - making up an 86-point deficit in one race to pass Johnson for the championship.`

Funny how history repeats itself.

The exact same words could be used to describe the 2008 season finale at Homestead by just swapping out a few names - in this case, Carl Edwards for both Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon - and changing the points deficit from 86 to 141.

As I'm sure you've heard umpteen times already, both Johnson and Edwards `did what they needed to do` to try and win the title. Edwards led the most laps and won the race, but Johnson finished 15th, well ahead of the 36th-place finish he needed to lock down the championship.

The drawback for Edwards was that he not the captain of his own ship tonight. It would have taken his victory, combined with a profound failure by the 48 team, to shift things his way. Though Edwards narrowed the points gap from 141 to 69, Johnson's steady-as-she-goes performance was all he needed to win his third straight Cup series title.

The race itself was not very exciting from a competition perspective. Roush drivers were predicted to do well here, having won four straight at Homestead (now five), and six of the last seven. Edwards and Roush teammate Matt Kenseth were the only drivers to lead more than a smattering of laps - 157 for Edwards and 73 for Kenseth, combining for a total of 230 of 267 laps.

The race was relatively caution-free, with no major crashes, just three yellows for debris, and a few others for minor one- or two-car mishaps involving Aric Almirola, Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Burton, Reed Sorenson and Kurt Busch.

The only other drivers to lead more than one lap were Jeff Gordon, who led 16, Tony Stewart, 11, Jimmie Johnson, 6, and Juan Pablo Montoya, 2.

The finish came down to fuel mileage, with Carl Edwards once again seemingly stretching the fumes in a near-empty gas tank further than most of his competitors. Matt Kenseth, for example, was in the lead when he was forced to pit for fuel, finishing 25th, while Edwards stayed out and won the race.

Crossing the finish line behind Edwards were Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer.

Rounding out the top 10 were Kasey Kahne, Travis Kvapil, Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, and Martin Truex Jr.

In terms of points, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who suffered a parts failure) fell out of the top 10 and finished 11th and 12th respectively.

The final Chase points standings, with team owners listed, are as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick)
2. Carl Edwards (Roush)
3. Greg Biffle (Roush)
4. Kevin Harvick (Childress)
5. Clint Bowyer (Childress)
6. Jeff Burton (Childress)
7. Jeff Gordon (Hendrick)
8. Denny Hamlin (Gibbs)
9. Tony Stewart (Gibbs)
10. Kyle Busch (Gibbs)
11. Matt Kenseth (Roush)
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick)