Gas and Go--Homestead

Like NASCAR, the season's final Gas and Go boils down to Homestead, just outside Miami. This is the final pit stop of the season for this writer, who will take a much-needed break after the final Good, Bad, and Ugly of the season. As always, I will offer my insights and takes leading into the race.

1. Jimmie Johnson enters Homestead with a 108-point lead over Mark Martin. With a 25th place finish or better, Johnson enters the history books as the first-ever driver to win four consecutive championships in any NASCAR touring series.
2. Johnson has had mixed results at Homestead. In his first race at Homestead in 2001, Johnson finished 26th, the last driver on the lead lap. He does have one pole, in 2007, and has five top 10's, including a best finish of second in 2004. He finished 15th last year en route to joining Cale Yarborough in the record books.
3. Look for the Roushkateers to run strong, as Roush drivers have won the last five times at Homestead. (Greg Biffle from 2004 to 2006, Matt Kenseth in 2007, and Carl Edwards last year. Kurt Busch won in 2002 while driving for Jack Roush.)
4. With this being the last race of the season, look for perhaps the most exciting racing of the season, unless it becomes the Jimmie and Chad Show again. The teams from second back, and particularly those teams that have long winless streaks, will be ultra-desperate for a win.
5. It's become official: Jamie McMurray will be driving the #1 Chevrolet for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing and become a teammate of Juan Pablo Montoya. Welcome to the Bowtie Brigade, Cupcake! (Psst, between you and me, I wanted him and not Casey Mears in the #07.)
6. Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya made his Sprint Cup debut driving the #30 Dodge for Chip Ganassi at this race in 2006. He was running very well until a crash on Lap 251 ended his day. He finished 34th.
7. Speaking of Montoya, the progress he has made from his debut to the present is nothing short of amazing. He is this generation's Mario Andretti: he's won in Indy cars, he's won in Formula One, and he won at Infineon in 2007. His first NASCAR oval win is coming sooner rather than later. He struggled at the mid-point of the Chase, and Johnson took advantage of that. He'll learn and be a factor in future years.
8. Can Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin just meet up in an Octagon and settle their feud MMA-style? You can have nicknames for them: Keselowski is the Polish Pummeler and Hamlin is the Mouth of the South because of his propensity for yapping. (I can see the caricatures: BK has enormously large fists in proportion to the rest of himself and Hamlin has a gigantic mouth with a silly-&$$Ed grin in relation to his face.)

Predicted Race Winner: Kevin Harvick. Although he has never won at Homestead, he has several top 10's and has always raced well there. RCR as a whole has made tremendous strides since the Chase started. He brings home RCR's lone win this year.

Information cited is from www.racing-reference.info.