Plenty up for grabs for non-Chasers in finale (NASCAR)

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Another Day, Another Dollar
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http://www.nascar.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- While the focus of this weekend's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be squarely on the drivers contending for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, the unique format allows for a race within a race.

So while Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon fight for the right to be called Nextel Cup champion, several other drivers will fight for the right to be called a race winner in 2004.

Only three non-Chase drivers -- Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Greg Biffle -- have won this season, but several others were darn close and probably should have won a race or two.

Only Jeff Gordon has more top-10 finishes than Jamie McMurray, but McMurray is without a victory. Kasey Kahne has finished second five times -- including two close losses to Matt Kenseth at Rockingham and to Elliott Sadler at Texas -- but has no victories.

Bobby Labonte has won a race in nine consecutive seasons, but not in 2004. Dale Jarrett's streak of 11 years in a row with a victory will end if he doesn't win Sunday.

Kevin Harvick has won every year he's raced in Cup -- except this one. Jeff Burton has seen his season turn around since he became Harvick's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, but a victory has eluded him.

"Unfortunately, it's been awhile since I have won in a Cup car, and that's driving me crazy, but we can't change what we do because of that," Burton said. "Every week we have to work hard and race hard and be smart. We have to put ourselves in position to win and when the time is right, the time will be right.

"We can't make something happen that we haven't already been trying to make happen just because it's the last race of the year."

McMurray has made things happen, especially late in the year. McMurray has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the past 13 races, helping him lock up 11th place in the points standings and the nearly $1 million bonus that goes with it.

"It's pretty cool to head into this race knowing that we have 11th place in the points locked up," McMurray said. "This team has shown over the last 10 races that we're definitely going to be a contender for the championship next year. Hopefully we can end this season with a victory this weekend."

That's the goal for everyone who makes the race Sunday, for if the old saying, "You're only as good as your last race" means anything, the Ford 400 winner will be good for a long time.

"It's important to get a win, not so much for keeping a streak alive or anything like that, but more just to get a win," said Labonte, the defending race winner. "We've struggled this year, obviously, and it'd be nice to finish out strong. We entered the '96 and '97 season finales without wins and won both of those races, so I'd like to do that again."

This weekend's race will also help jump-start a driver's 2005 campaign. Win Sunday and you can say you have the momentum heading into the offseason.

Kahne has worn the rookie label well all season, narrowly missing on a few victories and on reaching the Chase. His performance has made Kahne one of the leading contenders to break into the Chase in 2005, and he knows it.

"I definitely will have higher expectations, and I think our whole team will," Kahne said of 2005. "I will go in expecting to run in the top 10 more consistently, have more opportunities to win races, be in the top 10 at the end of the year and be able to run for the points championship.

"It's going to be tough again. Everybody gets better year after year. I'll be better as a driver and my team will be better as far as working with me."

Harvick, however, doesn't look forward to the beginning of 2005 as much as he looks forward to the end of 2004.

"I'm probably more ready than ever for the season to end," Harvick said. "It just seems like it's lasted a lot longer than it has in the past. I don't know if it's all the racing I've done this year or what. This racing team has had a pretty up-and-down season. We've run some good at some tracks and also had some unfortunate circumstances come our way.

"I still don't think our team will change that much next year. We've been consistent, from pit stops to setup. We just couldn't seem to put up anything in the win column. It seemed like there was always something preventing us from reaching our bigger goals."

Several drivers might agree with him after Sunday. One, though, might not.

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Another Day, Another Dollar
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Busch gets Ford pole

Kurt Busch will start in great position on Sunday as he tries to wrap up the Nextel Cup drivers championship. Busch has won the pole for the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, posting a lap of 179.319 miles-per-hour Friday.

Four drivers are within 82 points of Busch. Jimmie Johnson is second, 18 points off the lead. But he had a poor run Friday and will start 39th on Sunday.

Jeff Gordon qualified fifth, Dale Earnhardt was 16th and Mark Martin took the eleventh spot. Gordon is 21 points behind Busch. Earnhardt is 72 points back and ten ahead of Martin.

http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=59343&SecID=2
 

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This is the greatest sporting event of the year. I'm totally pumped, it's all been able to think about all week. I'm suprised I still have my job. Only 18 points seperate the 97 and the 48 for the last race and cup championship. Busch could finish 4TH and lose the championship.

Kinda tired of the Dale Jr. and Hendrick popularity. I will be rooting for Las Vegas native Kurt Busch.

GO TEAM 97 !!!!!!!!!!!!! :suomi:
 

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From Stat Fox - Nascar Ford 400 write up

Curtesy of Stat Fox: http://www.statfox.com/


With the 2004 Nextel Cup Championship race hanging in the balance, the circuit moves on to Miami-Homestead Speedway for the season's final event, the Ford 400. The "Chase for the Championship" has essentially come down to three drivers with Kurt Busch leading Jimmie Johnson by 18 points and Jeff Gordon by 21 points. Fourth place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and fifth place Mark Martin are still mathematically alive at 72 & 82 points pack, but they each face long odds to come out on top after Sunday. The drama will focus on 267 laps around the 1-1/2 mile oval that has recently undergone a drastic transformation, with banking having been increased from 8 to 20 degrees prior to last year's race. Essentially, the venue went from being a "flat track" to a genuine superspeedway in the matter of a year, so the initial four races run here from '99-'02 have little bearing on the prospects for this weekend's event. Miami-Homestead Speedway now closely resembles the tracks at Atlanta and Charlotte, and not surprisingly, the top three in the 2003 Ford 400 were Bobby Labonte, Kevin Harvick, and Johnson, all three of which are known for their success at those latter establishments. Therefore, with the "Chase" standings in mind, fans of Johnson and the Lowe's #48 machine have to be excited about their prospects for taking home the series title. Here are the current standings heading into Sunday's race:
Place Driver Pts PtsBehind
1 Kurt Busch 6346 PtsBehind
2 Jimmie Johnson 6328 18
3 Jeff Gordon 6325 21
4 Dale Earnhardt, Jr 6274 72
5 Mark Martin 6264 82
6 Tony Stewart 6161 185
7 Ryan Newman 6102 244
8 Matt Kenseth 5963 383
9 Elliott Sadler 5963 383
10 Jeremy Mayfield 5942 404
If the early indications of the StatFox race simulator hold true, Johnson will be the one celebrating on Sunday, not only a victory in the race, but a first series championship as well. He is certainly deserving of the honor as without question he has been the circuit's most dominant driver over the full 36 race span. His win last week at the Southern 500 in Darlington was the third year driver's eighth trip to victory lane this season in Nextel Cup racing. A win on Sunday would guarantee him at least 185 points, and with Busch projected in fifth, his final point margin would be at least 2 points, factoring in all combinations of laps led bonus scoring. Rest assured though, Johnson's teammate and car owner Gordon, the current third place chase contender and would be champion under normal season circumstances, will have something to say about the outcome.


wil.
 

Another Day, Another Dollar
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Let's get this over. Damn, what a season. LOL

Could be an exciting day
 

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