In last year’s final race in the Chase for the Cup, Matt Kenseth dominated to the tune of 214 laps led at the track that had previously belonged to Greg Biffle. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson coasted to a seventh-place finish, basking in his second straight Cup championship.

Kenseth has flipped a switch at the 1.5-mile oval in South Florida. During his first five races at the track, the 17 car bombed, averaging a 30th-place finish, with zero top-15 runs. But in his last three, Kenseth has third-, sixth- and first-place finishes, setting a record for most laps led in last season’s event.

There hasn’t been a more impressive driver than Biffle, however. The Washington state native took three consecutive checkers at Homestead from 2004–06 before a 13th in ’07 derailed the run.

Ford has won five of the six races since it started sponsoring the season finale in 2002. Kurt Busch started the trend while at Roush Racing with a win in ’02. He has been hit-or-miss ever since — with a runner-up last year, a fifth in ’04, a 36th in ’03, a crash in ’06 and a missed race after being released by Roush at the end of the 2005 season.

In their third seasons, Denny Hamlin (third in ’06 and ’07) and Martin Truex Jr. (second in ’06, sixth in ’07) could make a splash in Miami in 2008.

No driver has ever won at Homestead to cap off a Cup title season, although four Cup champs — Tony Stewart, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte and Busch — have won the race.

FANTASY STALL
Looking at Checkers
First Greg Biffle, then Matt Kenseth. It’s Carl Edwards’ turn now.
Pretty Solid Pick
Martin Truex Jr.
Good Sleeper Pick
If Scott Wimmer runs this race for RCR — and that’s a big if — he could impress.
Runs on Seven Cylinders

Brian Vickers
Insider Tip
The smart money stays with the Roush machines.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Carl Edwards It’s a Ford track (more specifically, a Roush track) and the 99 is the prototypical Roush team, one that thrives on aero-dependent speedways. And one that has yet to finish outside of the top 15 at Homestead.

Denny Hamlin Denny finished 33rd in his first career start at Homestead. Not good. Since, he has consecutive third-place runs and, considering JGR’s performance in the CoT events, we see no reason for a letdown.

Kasey Kahne After his ’06 intermediate-track performance, Kahne, who finished fourth at HMS that year, would seem to be a no-brainer at a track such as this. However, a disastrous year for Ray Evernham’s organization has everyone wondering if this group still has the intermediate magic.