“The Road to a Miami Championship” Rolls Into Phoenix Tomorrow

Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart bring their Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship battle to Phoenix. Edwards continues to hold a three-point advantage over Stewart with just one race left before Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20. Edwards, a Roush Fenway Racing driver, has maintained his position on top of the Chase – despite being winless – by recording a string of consistent finishes. Stewart doesn’t underestimate his opponent either but is also confident about his ability and the Stewart-Haas Racing team’s talents that have added up to four wins in the last eight races.

After his latest triumph last week at Texas, Stewart’s surge has put the two-time champion on pace to become the first owner-driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat in 1992. Stewart’s Championships in 2002 and 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway make him the only driver to win NASCAR’s biggest prize in both the pre-Chase and Chase era.

However the reigning Ford 400 winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway and most recent winner at Phoenix, Edwards, has finished in the Top 10 in five of his last seven starts in the desert.

Every point matters and could be huge when it comes down to the Championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20. Here’s a look at some notable Chase drivers and how they have fared on the “Road to a Miami Championship”:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. The season won’t end as well as he had hoped, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver has begun to show improvement in recent weeks, scoring his second consecutive Top 10 last week at Texas. If he can duplicate his 10th-place run from the spring Phoenix race, Earnhardt Jr. will continue his bid to be the highest finishing Hendrick driver in points.

Carl Edwards The defending Ford 400 winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway is also the defending fall race winner at Phoenix after leading 93 laps from the pole.

Matt Kenseth The driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford has posted an average finish of 8.3 in his last three starts at Phoenix. Kenseth finished 12th at Phoenix in the spring race to go along with eight Top-10s in 18 career starts. Kenseth is going to need some help this week if he hopes to cling to his fading Chase chances.

Tony Stewart “Smoke” finished seventh in the spring at Phoenix and led testing on the new configuration last month with a lap of 137.762 mph. Stewart’s four Chase wins came on a variety of tracks – two 1.5-milers, 1-mile Loudon and the half-mile of Martinsville.

Expect these drivers to take this momentum into Phoenix this weekend. The drama, excitement and anticipation of NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup Championship is winding down — the winner of which will be crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend for a 10th consecutive season Nov. 18-20.

HMS PR