NASCAR: History of the Cup Series Championship 4
By Asher Fair
The sixth NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 is scheduled to take place this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. How did the first five play out?
Homestead-Miami Speedway is scheduled to play host to the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season finale this Sunday, November 17.
This season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 400, is the Championship 4 race, and it marks the sixth Championship 4 race of the current playoff era, which started in the 2014 season.
Following the first 35 races of the 36-race season, the four drivers who are set to compete in this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway oval in Homestead, Florida with championship aspirations are Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick.
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Every Cup Series Championship 4 that has ever been contested has taken place at Homestead-Miami Speedway. How did the first five turn out?
2014
Four drivers representing four different teams competed in the Championship 4 in 2014. These four drivers were Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Team Penske’s Joey Logano. Harvick won the season finale ahead of Newman in second place to win the championship, also ahead of Newman in second. Hamlin and Logano finished in seventh and 16th to finish the season in third and fourth in the championship standings, respectively.
2015
Once again, four drivers representing four different teams competed in the Championship 4 in 2015. Harvick returned and was joined by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. Busch won the season finale and the championship while Harvick finished in second place in both. Gordon finished the race in sixth to finish in third in the championship standings while Truex finished in 12th to finish in fourth.
2016
For the first time, two drivers from the same team competed in the Championship 4 in 2016. Busch was joined by teammate Carl Edwards, and they competed against Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson and Team Penske’s Joey Logano. Johnson won the season finale and the championship. Logano and Busch finished in second and third place in the championship standings after finishing the race in fourth and sixth, respectively. Edwards finished the season in fourth after crashing out and finishing the race in 34th.
2017
Truex, Busch and Harvick returned to the Championship 4 and were joined by Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski. Truex won the season finale to win the championship ahead of Busch in second place, Harvick in third and Keselowski in seventh. Busch, Harvick and Keselowski finished the season in second, third and fourth in the championship standings, respectively.
2018
For the fourth time in five seasons, four drivers representing four different teams competed in the Championship 4 in 2015. These four drivers were Logano, Truex, Harvick and Busch. For the fifth time in five seasons, the champion was crowned with a driver winning the season finale, but for the first time ever, they all finished the race in the top four. Logano won the race to win the championship while Truex, Harvick and Busch finished the race in second, third and fourth place, respectively, to round out the top four in the championship standings.
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How will this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 play out? NBC’s live broadcast of the season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 400, from Homestead-Miami Speedway is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, November 17.