The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 is scheduled to take place this Sunday. Here is a brief history of the Championship 4.
The first 35 races of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season are in the books, meaning that only the Championship 4 remains on the schedule. It is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The Championship 4 race is the Ford EcoBoost 400. The four drivers who are set to compete to win the 2018 championship in this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway oval in Homestead, Florida are Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick.
Before this year’s Cup Series Championship 4 takes place, let’s have a look back at each of the four Championship 4 battles that have taken place since the Championship 4 was introduced to the schedule ahead of the 2014 season.
2014
In the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series season, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Team Penske’s Joey Logano entered the Championship 4 with a chance to win the championship.
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Harvick won the race to secure his first career Cup Series championship. Newman finished in second place to finish in second in the championship standings. Hamlin finished in seventh in the race while Logano finished in 16th. They finished in third and fourth, respectively in the standings.
2015
In the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. entered the Championship 4 with a chance to win the championship.
Busch won the race to secure his first career Cup Series championship. Harvick finished in second place to finish in second in the championship standings. Gordon finished in sixth in the race and third in the standings while Truex Jr. finished in 12th in the race and fourth in the standings.
2016
In the 2016 NASCAR Cup Series season, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards entered the Championship 4 with a chance to win the championship.
Johnson won the race to secure his record-tying seventh career Cup Series championship. Logano finished in fourth place while Busch finished in sixth and Edwards was involved in a late crash en route to a 34th place finish. They finished in second, third and fourth, respectively, in the championship standings.
2017
In the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski entered the Championship 4 with a chance to win the championship.
Truex Jr. won the race to secure his first career Cup Series championship. Busch finished in second place ahead of Harvick in fourth. They finished in second and third, respectively, in the championship standings. Keselowski finished the race in seventh en route to a fourth place finish in the standings.
What does the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 have in store? Tune in to NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 18 for the live broadcast of the Ford EcoBoost 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway to find out.