Homestead’s location helps race make top-5 list
- - seasons fighting for this. I wasn’t sure we were going to get it.”
There was no controversy, no finger- pointing, no arguments, and no high emotions.
Only a few weeks earlier, Logano used his No. 22 Ford to push Truex’s No. 78 Toyota out of the way for a last- lap victory at Martinsville Speedway.
With all the hype being blown into Homestead ahead of the championship showdown, the finish was a bit anticlimactic.
Over the last 12 laps, Logano built 1.725- second margin of victory ahead of 2017 Cup Series champion Truex. Then along came Harvick followed by Busch, who was not happy.
“Lots of wins and forget about it now, move on,” said Busch, who shared the season’s mostwins title with Harvick. Both drivers scored eight victories.
Since this one event determines the champion of a grueling 36-race schedule, that takes teams and drivers from one side of the country to the other in a 10- month time frame, then yes, Homestead needs to be on the list.
There were other parts and pieces that added to the intrigue — notably Truex, the No. 78 team and its owner Barney Visser, who raced on Sunday and closed on Monday.
Visser said he did not have enough sponsorship money to continue racing at a championship level and immediately shuttered the team.
“I’m going to miss these guys,” Truex said. “Wish we could’ve won it. We had it. We just couldn’t go over 15 laps. I knew that last restart was going to be tough. We were able to get the lead, I just couldn’t do anything.”