Homestead 101: Round of 8 update, trends to watch, tire info
Just three races remain in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. Three spots are still up for grabs between seven drivers after 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson clinched his Championship 4 spot last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Now, it’s off to the 305 at all about precision in Homestead-Miami Speedway, but before the action heats up this weekend, get an update on the Round of 8, see trends to watch for Sunday’s 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), and take note of Goodyear tire info.
RELATED: See paint schemes for Homestead | Betting favorites for Sunday’s Cup race
HOMESTEAD HISTORY 🌴
Homestead opened in 1995, hosting the Xfinity Series for its first NASCAR points event. The first Cup race was held on Nov. 14th, 1999, won by Tony Stewart in his rookie season.
The track was reconfigured from a flat oval to the current progressive banking in the corners in 2003.
From 2002-2019, Homestead hosted the season-ending race in the Cup Series. It oversaw multiple eras of postseason formats from season-long points, the Chase and the current playoff format before the title race was moved to Phoenix Raceway in 2020.
(Via Racing Insights)
TAKING THE HIGH GROUND 🪨
Speaking of that precision at Homestead, the high line is the preferred groove at the South Florida oval due to the progressive banking in all four turns. That plays into the hand of Larson and Tyler Reddick, who’s yet to win at Homestead in the Cup Series but owns two top-five finishes in three career starts.
Martin Truex Jr., who currently sits just two points above the elimination line, has been stellar at the 1.5-mile oval with top-three finishes in four of the last six races. He’ll enter the weekend with momentum after nabbing his first top 10 of the playoffs last Sunday.
Entering the Round of 8, it appeared Chris Buescher would have his back against the wall, with intermediate tracks being the biggest question mark for RFK Racing’s speed, and that was the case at Las Vegas as the No. 17 team finished 11th and no finds themselves 23 points below the elimination line. Buescher has yet to break through at Homestead with no top-10 results in seven starts.
MORE: Racing Insights’ projections for Sunday
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— The last seven Homestead races were won by different drivers.
— The last three Homestead races were won by current playoff drivers.
— The driver who led the most laps won the last five Homestead races.
— Martin Truex Jr. was passed for the win in three of the last five Homestead races.
(Via Racing Insights)
CLASSIC HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY RACES 🎥
1999: Homestead hosts first Cup Series race | WATCH
2011: Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards’ two-man race for the championship | WATCH
2016: Johnson wins seventh title amid Champ. 4 chaos | WATCH
2018: Logano wins first Cup championship | WATCH
ON-TRACK SCHEDULE 🗓️
Saturday, Oct. 21
— 9:05 a.m. ET: Practice (NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
— 9:50 a.m. ET: Qualifying NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday, Oct. 22
— 2:30 p.m. ET: 4EVER 400 (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
MORE: Full weekend schedule at Homestead
RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞
Goodyear will run the same tire setup at Homestead that was used in last year’s playoff race. Homestead is one of the highest tire-wear tracks on the circuit, right up there with the likes of Darlington Raceway. The abrasive track surface leads to a lot of comers and goers throughout the race. This is the same tire setup used at the Coca-Cola 600 and Darlington this season, while the right-side tire itself was used at all other intermediate tracks this season.
Cup teams will be allotted one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying, and an additional nine sets for Sunday’s race.
(Via Goodyear Racing)
RELATED: See rules changes for 2023
FAN REWARDS 🫵
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There‘s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop, and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise, and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
FOLLOW THE RACE 📲
NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn‘t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.
How to access Live Activities on iPhones:
Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of the screen.
Select “Follow the Race.”
Swipe up to access the home screen, and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
Lock the device, and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
To turn it off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu, and “Unfollow the Race.”
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM 💻
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week, a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter, and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
