Nov 15, 2014; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Matt Kenseth celebrates in victory lane after winning the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Kenseth ushered out Nationwide as title sponsor of the Nationwide-to-be-renamed-Xfinity Series on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway by winning the final race under the Nationwide Series banner — the Ford EcoBoost 300. It was his first win of 2014 in any of NASCAR’s national divisions.
“It’s been a long time since I won a race in anything, so just happy for Kevin (Kidd, crew chief),” Kenseth said. “He’s been trying to get a win over here for a long time, and he’s going on to something different next year. Happy to send him off with a win here; that was pretty good.”
Chase Elliott, who clinched the Nationwide Series drivers’ championship a week earlier at Phoenix International Raceway, officially celebrated his championship after a 17th-place finish at Homestead.
Meanwhile, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford team celebrated the owners’ championship after Brad Keselowski drove the No. 22 to an eighth-place finish. Keselowski needed only to finish 22nd or better in the No. 22 to claim that championship over the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team that had Kyle Busch behind the wheel. Busch finished the race second.
“Brad ran a great race, and when you think about five different drivers, it’s really a credit to (crew chief) Jeremy Bullins and the job he’s done in preparing the car for different drivers, and with six wins, one with Ryan Blaney, it’s obvious that Nationwide means so much to us.”
A third-place finish by Kyle Larson cemented the owners’ championship for Chevrolet.
“Chevrolet is honored to win the 2014 Bill France Performance Cup in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the 16th time,” U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports Jim Campbell said. “This is the first ever manufacturers’ title for Chevrolet with the Camaro in the Nationwide Series, which makes it even more special.”
Larson dominated the first half of the race, leading a total of 111 laps after taking the lead from pole sitter Keselowski on lap six. Keselowski dropped back through the field in the first half of the race after an issue of low voltage.
Kenseth took the race lead soon after a restart that followed a lap 143 caution led most of the remainder of the race. He did lose the lead during a caution with 38 laps to go when Paul Menard stayed out and inherited the top spot. But as soon as the race restarted, Kenseth was back up front.
“Kyle (Larson) got around me on that second-to-last restart, but when he chose the bottom there and I had Kyle (Busch) behind me, I knew that we had a shot. I just had to do a better job than I did the time before,” Kenseth said.
Kenseth lost the lead again to Larson on a restart with two laps remaining in the race’s 200-lap scheduled distance, but another caution, the 11th of the race, led to a green-white-checker restart with Kenseth retaking the front position. Busch also got by Larson for second.
Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-five. Sixth through 10th were Regan Smith, Ty Dillon, Keselowski, Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott.
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