{"id":23019,"date":"2018-11-15T17:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T23:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=23019"},"modified":"2018-11-19T13:41:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T19:41:00","slug":"can-one-of-the-nascars-big-three-cap-off-the-season-with-a-second-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/15\/can-one-of-the-nascars-big-three-cap-off-the-season-with-a-second-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Can one of the NASCAR\u2019s Big Three cap off the season with a second title?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2013 As the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway approaches, it\u2019s only natural for each of the title competitors to express confidence about the prospects in Sunday\u2019s Ford EcoBoost 400.<\/p>\n

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Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota talks to the media during media day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Miami Beach EDITION on November 15, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

But with all the success they\u2019ve enjoyed this year, do any of NASCAR\u2019s \u201cBig Three\u201d drivers really have an edge in the season finale (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)?<\/p>\n

That depends on your perspective. Kyle Busch won the final event in the Round of 8 last Sunday at ISM Raceway in Phoenix to lock up his spot in the championship race. But that win came on a relatively flat one-mile track, a far cry from the banked 1.5-mile intermediate speedway that will determine this year\u2019s champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, any time you can go to Victory Lane, it certainly means that you’ve been the latest winner, and you can go on into the next week kind of riding a high, but it’s a totally different track, totally different everything,\u201d Busch said on Thursday during Championship 4 Media Day at The Miami EDITION.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent circumstances on the line this weekend, obviously. A great final four here, one of the best we’ve seen, I think\u2014kind of the entirety of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Martin Truex JR., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops \/ 5-hour ENERGY Toyota talks to the media during media dy for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Miami Beach EDITION on November 15, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Indeed, Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.\u2014the Big Three\u2014have combined to win 20 of the 35 events contested so far this year. Busch and Harvick have claimed a series-best eight victories each, and Truex, the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, has taken a checkered flag four times.<\/p>\n

But Truex hasn\u2019t won since he beat Ryan Blaney to the finish line at Kentucky Speedway on July 14, and Harvick\u2019s Nov. 4 victory at Texas was his first since Aug. 12 at Michigan. Since then, Brad Keselowski, who was eliminated from the Playoffs in the Round of 12, posted three victories, tops in the series over the last 12 races.<\/p>\n

Collectively, the Big Three won 17 of the first 23 races, a pace that has fallen off to three of the last 12, with Busch winning Playoff races at Richmond and Phoenix and Harvick winning at Texas (though he lost the benefits of the victory because of an infraction with the rear spoiler).<\/p>\n

Accordingly, the only driver who didn\u2019t have to fight for his place in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix was Martinsville winner Joey Logano, who hopes to be a very different kind of spoiler come Sunday, when he can win his first series title by topping the Big Three.<\/p>\n

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Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford talks to the media during media day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Miami Beach EDITION on November 15, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Logano is the only driver among the four who doesn\u2019t have a title at NASCAR\u2019s highest level on his resume. Harvick won the Cup championship in 2014, the first year of the elimination format. Busch followed in 2015, despite missing the first 11 races of the season because of injuries sustained in the February NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona.<\/p>\n

Truex won his first title last year, holding off Busch in the closing laps to prevail at Homestead. In fact, Logano is the only one of the four who didn\u2019t race for last year\u2019s championship. Brad Keselowski, Logano\u2019s teammate at Team Penske, was the fourth driver in the mix in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the exact same four organizations that were here last year,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cThree of the four (drivers).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it just depends on whether Brad or Joey are better drivers,\u201d Truex quipped. \u201cI’m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey both run into you a lot,\u201d added Busch, referencing some on-track incidents between Truex and the Penske drivers, most recently when Logano moved Truex out of the way in the final corner to win at Martinsville.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably best I keep my mouth shut on this one,\u201d Logano chimed in.<\/p>\n

Though the four Championship 4 races to date have produced four different winners (including 2016 champion Jimmie Johnson), there has bee a consistent theme: the winner of the championship has also won the final race.<\/p>\n

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Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Ford talks to the media during media day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Miami Beach EDITION on November 15, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Will that be the case when the Big Three and Logano take to the track on Sunday?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know,\u201d said Truex, who will drive with the added weight of list last start with the Furniture Row Racing team, which will close its doors after Sunday\u2019s race. \u201cI mean, that’s why we race, to find out. It’s hard to say, but it’s going to take a great effort. I feel like you’re going to have to run first or second. From what Harvick said, he reminded me about (Kyle) Larson (who has mastered the high groove at Homestead). So, yeah, first or second is probably what it’s going to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, for me last year, that situation required me to put in perfect laps, with Kyle chasing me down. I knew he was faster. He was faster in the long run all night long, so I had to do something, find something, and one mistake, it was going to be over. So when you’re put in those positions\u2014and that’s what I think was really cool for me personally about winning that race was the situation I was put in, I was able to overcome it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t fold. I didn’t buckle under pressure. I didn’t let it get to me. I was able to take care of it and get the job done. So that was really cool to beat somebody like Kyle in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch would prefer to avoid a similar result this year. Scoring his 51st<\/sup> Cup victory at Phoenix, Busch surpassed NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson on the career win list. But Busch also craves a second title.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you kind of see it right now with this group of four,\u201d Busch said. \u201cYou’ve got three one\u2011timers and a zero-timer. But that will allow either another one\u2011timer, which only leaves Jimmie (Johnson) as the only repeat champion, or finally you see another guy kind of step into his own with being able to win two.<\/p>\n

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The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy on display during media day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Miami Beach EDITION on November 15, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere’s been a lot of great champions in our sport, and many of them only have that one championship. I think it would solidify the first in making your history in this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvick won\u2019t have the services of crew chief Rodney Childers or car chief Robert \u201cCheddar\u201d Smith his weekend. Both were suspended as part of the L1 penalty for the illegal spoiler. But Harvick has a history of overcoming adversity, even under unlikely circumstances.<\/p>\n

The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford faced a must-win scenario at Phoenix in 2014. He won and advanced to the Championship 4 Round. Harvick then won again in the final race to secure his title.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, there’s always some incentive in proving people that you can do something that isn’t what they think you should do,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cI think as you look\u2014you can look at my whole career. \u2018You shouldn’t win. You couldn’t win. Then you did.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week it was, \u2018This penalty is going to slow them down.\u2019 Like I told you last week, when they take 10 away, we find 20. It’s just the mentality of the race team. It’s always push the limits. When they back you against the wall, make it better than it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Big Three and Logano race at Homestead this weekend, it won\u2019t be a matter of who\u2019s better. It will be a matter of who\u2019s best. With the race still three days away, all four drivers can make a case for their respective superiority.<\/p>\n

On Sunday\u2019 they\u2019ll get a chance to prove it.<\/p>\n

Championship 4 Press Conference – <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kyle Busch – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miami_MENCSChamp4_KyBusch_111518.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kevin Harvick – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miami_MENCSChamp4_Harvick_111518.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joey Logano – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miami_MENCSChamp4_Logano_111518.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Martin Truex Jr. – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Miami_MENCSChamp4_TruexJr_111518.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2013 As the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway approaches, it\u2019s only natural for each of the title competitors to express confidence about the prospects in Sunday\u2019s Ford EcoBoost 400. But with all the success they\u2019ve enjoyed this year, do any of NASCAR\u2019s \u201cBig Three\u201d drivers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":23021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[154,95,59,244,16],"class_list":["post-23019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-joey-logano","tag-kevin-harvick","tag-kyle-busch","tag-martin-truex-jr","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/358610-e1542655783804.jpg?fit=640%2C426","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-5Zh","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23019"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23030,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23019\/revisions\/23030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}