2019 Ford EcoBoost 400

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2019 Ford EcoBoost 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Race 36 of 36 in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date November 17, 2019 (2019-11-17)
Location Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Average speed 142.654 miles per hour (229.579 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time N/A
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 120
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Nielsen Ratings 3.737 million[8]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2019 Ford EcoBoost 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on November 17, 2019, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) oval, it was the 36th and final race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report[edit]

Background[edit]

Homestead-Miami Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the Verizon IndyCar Series, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the Championship Cup Series.

Since 2002, Homestead-Miami Speedway has hosted the final race of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Ford Motor Company sponsors all three of the season-ending races; the races have the names Ford EcoBoost 400, Ford EcoBoost 300 and Ford EcoBoost 200, respectively, and the weekend is marketed as Ford Championship Weekend. The Xfinity Series (then known as the Busch Series) has held its season-ending races at Homestead since 1995.

Championship drivers[edit]

Martin Truex Jr. was the first of the four drivers to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, winning the first race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville.

Kevin Harvick clinched the second spot in the Championship 4, winning the second race of the Round of 8 at Texas.

Denny Hamlin clinched the third spot after winning the final race of the Round of 8 at Phoenix.

Kyle Busch clinched the last spot in the Championship 4 based on points.

Entry list[edit]

  • (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (CC) denotes championship contender
No. Driver Team Manufacturer
00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet
1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick (CC) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford
8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 Denny Hamlin (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Martin Truex Jr. (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
27 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
36 John Hunter Nemechek (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford
37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 J. J. Yeley (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford
52 Josh Bilicki (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford
53 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota
77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota
96 Drew Herring Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
Official entry list

Practice[edit]

First practice[edit]

First practice session scheduled for Friday was cancelled due to rain. Final practice session was postponed to Saturday in place of qualifying also due to rain.

Final practice[edit]

Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 31.959 seconds and a speed of 168.966 mph (271.924 km/h).[9]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.959 168.966
2 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.055 168.460
3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.090 168.277
Official final practice results

Qualifying[edit]

Qualifying for Saturday was cancelled due to rain on Friday. Points leader Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole as a result.[10]

Starting Lineup[edit]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 11 Denny Hamlin (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2 4 Kevin Harvick (CC) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
3 19 Martin Truex Jr. (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4 18 Kyle Busch (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
6 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
7 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
8 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
9 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
12 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
13 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
14 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford
16 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
17 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
18 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
19 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford
20 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
21 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota
22 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
24 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet
25 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
26 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
28 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
29 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford
30 36 John Hunter Nemechek (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford
31 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
32 15 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
33 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet
34 51 J. J. Yeley (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford
35 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
36 27 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
37 96 Drew Herring Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
38 52 Josh Bilicki (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford
39 53 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
40 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota
Official starting lineup

Race[edit]

  • Note: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr. are not eligible for stage points because of their participation in the Championship 4.

Stage results[edit]

Stage One Laps: 80

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 19 Martin Truex Jr. (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0
2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 9
3 18 Kyle Busch (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0
4 4 Kevin Harvick (CC) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 0
5 11 Denny Hamlin (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0
6 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 5
7 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 4
8 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2
10 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1
Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 80

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 18 Kyle Busch (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0
2 4 Kevin Harvick (CC) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 0
3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 8
4 19 Martin Truex Jr. (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0
5 11 Denny Hamlin (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0
6 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 5
7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 4
8 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2
10 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1
Official stage two results

Final stage results[edit]

Stage Three Laps: 107

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 4 18 Kyle Busch (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 40
2 3 19 Martin Truex Jr. (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 35
3 16 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 37
4 2 4 Kevin Harvick (CC) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 33
5 5 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 36
6 10 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 36
7 15 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 30
8 22 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 30
9 12 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 28
10 1 11 Denny Hamlin (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 27
11 7 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 266 36
12 25 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 25
13 18 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 28
14 17 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 266 23
15 11 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 22
16 20 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 266 21
17 19 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 266 20
18 8 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 265 19
19 23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 265 18
20 21 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 265 17
21 13 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 265 16
22 14 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 264 15
23 30 36 John Hunter Nemechek (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 264 0
24 24 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 263 13
25 26 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 263 12
26 28 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 11
27 31 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 10
28 33 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 262 0
29 37 96 Drew Herring Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 262 8
30 34 51 J. J. Yeley (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 262 0
31 29 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 261 6
32 39 53 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 256 0
33 40 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 248 0
34 27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 243 3
35 36 27 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 242 -481
36 38 52 Josh Bilicki (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 240 -491
37 35 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 236 1 / -491
38 32 15 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 227 -491
39 9 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 215 4
40 6 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 209 18
Official race results

NOTE: On November 27, 2019, NASCAR revised the official race results and penalized four teams—15 (Premium Motorsports), 27 (Premium Motorsports), 52 (Rick Ware Racing), and 77 (Spire Motorsports)—with 50-point penalties for teams. As all but one of the drivers was ineligible for points, NASCAR assessed the 50-point penalties for teams (as listed), and no drivers were penalized. The four teams were charged with race manipulation. According to NASCAR officials, the match fixing was deliberately aimed to allow the Premium Motorsports No. 27 team to claim the most owner points of all teams not holding a charter, surpassing the Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 team in points, which is worth $175,000 more to the team in question. In the scheme, the 15, 77, and 52 teams all pulled their cars off the track early so the 27 could pass the 96 team in points.[11]

Race statistics[edit]

  • Lead changes: 14 among 5 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 3 for 15
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 2 hours, 48 minutes and 47 seconds
  • Average speed: 142.654 miles per hour (229.579 km/h)

Race manipulation[edit]

A race manipulation scheme late in the race was uncovered by NASCAR officials involving four teams (three chartered, one open) with end-of-season points and financial bonus payments. This was announced on November 27, 2019, by NASCAR's Scott Miller, who explained after reviewing data during the race, including radio communications among drivers and teams, including interviewing various competitors, that they had uncovered a deliberate race manipulation scheme to help teams with financial bonuses.

The Premium Motorsports No. 27 team was competing with the Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 team to be the highest placed non-charter team, enabling them a higher end of season cash bonus for the teams. Heading into the race, the 27 car was 7 points ahead of the 96 car. According to the official NASCAR statement, they had found that the Spire Motorsports No. 77, Rick Ware Racing No. 52, and Premium Motorsports No. 15 and No. 27 teams deliberately manipulated the finish of the race to allow the No. 27 team (an open team) to score more points than the No. 96 team to claim the Open teams championship, and the financial bonus. Before the race manipulation occurred, Chastain was running 38th around 24 laps back and getting close to being passed by Bubba Wallace in the #43 (which did occur) while the 96 car was running in 29th at 5 laps back. If the fix had not occurred, the 96 would have defeated the 27 by a tiebreaker based on the best finish (with the #96 having a best finish of 15th at the 2019 Daytona 500 and the 2019 1000Bulbs.com 500 and the #27 having a best finish of 18th at the 2019 GEICO 500). The No. 15, 77, and 52 teams each deliberately parked their cars within a 15-lap span near the end of the race in order to ensure the No. 27 team would score two points instead of one, which would have beaten the No. 96 team by one point in the end-of-season results. Spire Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson was heard ignoring multiple calls to pit on the radio before finally obliging, and the team subsequently retired the car for "mechanical issues".

NASCAR fined Scott Egglestone (Premium Motorsports) and Kenneth Evans (Rick Ware Racing) $25,000 each and suspended both indefinitely. All three team owners were fined $50,000, and all four cars were assessed a fifty-point penalty.[12] The same day, Spire Motorsports released a statement saying they would not appeal their penalties, while Premium and RWR did not comment.[13]

Media[edit]

Television[edit]

NBC covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race. While the race itself aired on NBC, NBCSN aired NBCSN NASCAR Hot Pass, a simultaneous live feed dedicated to each of the Championship drivers, with commentary by Leigh Diffey and Dale Jarrett. Also, three different angles from in-car cameras and a track map tracked the driver's position and changes throughout the field. This will be the last time that NBC broadcast the race as this race moves to March and will be broadcast by Fox in 2020.

NBC
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte
Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dave Burns
Parker Kligerman
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio[edit]

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace called the action of the race for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN in turns 1 & 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the action from turns 3 & 4. Winston Kelley, Steve Post, Kim Coon, and Dillon Welch covered the action of the race for MRN on pit road.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Alex Hayden
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley
Winston Kelley
Steve Post
Kim Coon
Dillon Welch

Standings after the race[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2019 schedule". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. May 5, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  2. ^ "Homestead-Miami Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  4. ^ "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  6. ^ "Ford EcoBoost 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  7. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  8. ^ "2019 Ford EcoBoost 400 ratings". ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  9. ^ Utter, Jim (November 16, 2019). "Kyle Busch tops Truex and Hamlin in final Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Homestead, Florida: Motorsport Network. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  10. ^ DeGroot, Nick (November 15, 2019). "NASCAR cancels Cup qualifying; title contenders to start 1-2-3-4". Motorsport.com. Homestead, Florida: Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  11. ^ Long, Dustin (2019-11-27). "NASCAR fines three car owners $50,000 each for manipulating Miami result". NBCSports.com. Comcast. NBC Sports. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  12. ^ Albert, Zach. "Four teams penalized for manipulating results of Homestead-Miami finale". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  13. ^ "Owner points manipulations at Homestead draw penalties". RACER. 2019-11-27. Retrieved 2019-11-29.


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Next race:
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