NASCAR - Sprint Cup - Ford EcoBoost 400

The Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway is the 36th and final race on the 2014 Sprint Cup Series schedule.

This race will decide the Sprint Cup title. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman advanced into the championship round of the Chase. The highest finisher among the Chase final four at Homestead will win the title. Each of these four drivers had his points reset to 5,000 following Phoenix International Raceway -- the elimination race in the Eliminator Round.

Originally named Homestead-Miami Dade Motorsports Complex, groundbreaking for this racetrack, which is located roughly 40 miles southwest of downtown Miami, began on Aug. 24, 1993. The first race held there was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Nov. 5, 1995, won by Dale Jarrett. The original configuration was a four-turn, rectangular oval based on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's layout.

This 1.5-mile racetrack was reconfigured in 2003. All four of its turns were changed from 6 degrees of banking to 18-20 degrees of variable banking. The banking on the straights are 4 degrees. The lengths of the frontstretch and backstretch are 1,760 feet.

Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon are those drivers who have competed in each of the previous 15 Sprint Cup races at Homestead. Burton is not entered in this year's race.

Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart share the record for most victories at Homestead with three each. Stewart won the inaugural race there on Nov. 14, 1999, which was his rookie season in NASCAR's top series. His other wins at this track occurred in 2000 and 2011. Biffle scored three consecutive victories there from 2004-06.

Carl Edwards and Hamlin have two victories each at this track. Hamlin won last year's race there.

Jack Roush has the most car owner wins at Homestead with seven. Joe Gibbs is next in line with five.

Gordon leads all drivers with seven top-five finishes at this track. Harvick and Gordon share the record for most top-10s there with 11 each.

Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Edwards have won two poles each at Homestead. No driver has yet to win more than two poles at this track.

The race winner at this track has started from the pole position just two times: Bill Elliott (2001) and Busch (2002).

The furthest back a driver has started and won a Sprint Cup race at Homestead is 38th, accomplished by Hamlin in 2009.

Biffle beat Mark Martin to the finish line by only 0.017 seconds in the 2005 race at this track, which is the closest margin of victory there.

No driver has scored his or her first win in the series at Homestead.

Jamie McMurray (2008) is the only driver on the entry list that claimed his maiden pole in the series at this track.

Kurt Busch is the youngest driver to win a Sprint Cup race at Homestead. He won there on Nov. 17, 2002 when he was 24 years, 3 months and 13 days old. When Bill Elliott was 46 years, 1 month and 3 days old, he became the oldest driver to win at this track on Nov. 11, 2001.

The 2015 Sprint Cup Series season begins with the Feb. 22 Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the defending race winner. The Sprint Unlimited pre-season, non-points event at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled for Feb. 14.

Jeff Gordon edged Kurt Busch for the top starting spot in Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on ESPN), as three of the four contenders in the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualified in the top nine during Friday's time trials.

In the third and final round of the knockout qualifying session, Gordon covered the 1.5-mile distance in 29.876 seconds (180.747 mph), narrowly beating Busch (29.895 seconds/180.632 mph) for the top spot on the grid.

Championship favorite Kevin Harvick (179.946 mph) will start fifth, with fellow contenders Denny Hamlin (179.348 mph) and Joey Logano (179.259 mph) eighth and ninth, respectively. Ryan Newman (178.241 mph), the fourth driver eligible for the championship, failed to advance to the final round and will start 21st.

Matt Kenseth (180.294 mph) and Brad Keselowski (179.994 mph), both eliminated from the Chase last Sunday at Phoenix, qualified third and fourth, respectively, for the race.

In the 25-minute first qualifying round, Keselowski set a track record at 181.238 mph (29.795 mph), breaking the mark of 181.111 mph established by Jamie McMurray in 2003. No driver has won a Sprint Cup race at Homestead from the pole since Busch accomplished the feat in 2002.

Gordon, eliminated from the Chase by one point last Sunday, moved toward the top of the track for his Coors Light Pole Award-winning run.

"The bottom just wasn't the perfect place for us to run," Gordon explained. "I could feel the tires going away, and then we needed to move up. So when we saw some of those guys running fast laps a little bit higher up, I was looking forward to making that last lap.

"The guys made some great adjustments. We unfortunately had a tire going down on the left front, so I don't know if that helped us or hurt us, but it was pretty nice to get that pole. That's awesome."

Gordon's Coors Light Pole Award—his first at Homestead, his third of the season and the 77th of his career—also was the 200th for Hendrick Motorsports.

"To be the 200th pole for Hendrick Motorsports is really cool," Gordon said. "I think the way we're looking at this weekend is we want to close out the season the absolute best we can. It's been a tremendous season. The No. 24 team has been incredible this year.

"We're disappointed that we aren't in this thing for the championship, but that's not going to stop us from trying to go out to win the pole and win the race."

For Harvick, the most gratifying thing about Friday's qualifying session was beating the three other championship contenders—not to mention earning a top-five starting position.

"This is going to be a race that you are going to go through some changing conditions," Harvick said. "Today was really about trying to get a solid starting spot. And we were able to do that.

"Just really proud of my guys. We had a really good day today. Just got to keep doing what we have to do and see where it all falls on Sunday."

NASCAR : Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500

With just this week’s race at Phoenix International Raceway remaining for drivers to make the cutoff for the season-ending championship finale, tensions are running high. Last week’s race in Texas sparked a flashpoint between Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon while Jimmie Johnson pulled ahead to victory.

Unlike the past few races, Phoenix’s unique track doesn’t put a hefty premium of qualifying. Less than 50% of the 31 races held at the track have been won from the top 10 starting positions, but just three have been won from someone starting outside of the top 20. Kevin Harvick has won three of the last four races at the track, and will likely be the early favorite after another strong race last weekend in Texas. The last driver to win at Phoenix from pole was Carl Edwards in 2010, and since then just two wins have come from starting positions inside the top 10. This week’s race has the potential to repeat the drama that has been building, but will definitely produce four championship contenders who will risk it all in a one-race showdown.

Kevin Harvick – One week after dusting off the disappointment of Martinsville, Harvick stormed back to a second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. The Stewart Haas Racing driver still finds himself on the outside of the four championship transfer spots, but shaved off an impressive portion of the points deficit holding him back and is now just six points behind the magic fourth position. Harvick has also won the last two Phoenix races, leading 224 of the 2014 spring race’s 312 laps in one of his strongest efforts of the season. It would be a shame not to see Harvick battling it out in Miami as fast as he has been all season, and Phoenix is where he has to make that happen.

Jeff Gordon – Despite not being able to convert his strong car into a victory last week, Gordon demonstrated the speed that could win him another championship. Gordon led 49 laps last week in Texas, and has been one of the fastest cars in the field recently. At Phoenix he boasts a finishing average of 11.3 in 31 career starts. His last five races at the track have produced three top-10 finishes, and his last win there came in 2011. He slipped from first to fourth in the standings in the Chase, but is still in a good position to advance with a top run this week. Gordon’s driver rating of 92.3 at the track should give fantasy owners confidence for Phoenix.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – The No. 88 team appears to have rediscovered its mojo after elimination from the Chase. Earnhardt not only scored his first Martinsville win, but then ran to a meaningful sixth-place finish last week at Texas Motor Speedway. The team now has consecutive top-10 finishes under its belt and can extend that streak in Phoenix where Earnhardt has a driver rating of 90.4. He has two Phoenix wins to his credit in the early stages of his career, but more importantly has three consecutive top-5 finishes at the track heading into this week’s race. Earnhardt started 2014 strongly, and is ending the season in similar fashion. Fantasy players can continue to rely on him until that tide reverses.

Carl Edwards – Still alive in the Chase, but currently outside of the top four contenders, Edwards is eyeing Phoenix as an opportunity to win his way into the Miami finale. He won the 2013 spring race at the track and finished eighth there earlier this season after starting 23rd. The success Edwards has earned in Phoenix is evidenced by his driver rating of 96.9, putting him firmly in the top-10 active drivers at the track. His ninth-place finish in Texas last week was his third top-10 result in the last five races, and puts him right on the cusp of heading to Miami remaining in the championship battle. There have been better drivers for fantasy players this season, but Edwards should confidently produce a top finish this week.

Denny Hamlin – Hamlin’s results late in the 2014 season are eclipsing his finishes from earlier this year. If that trend is anything to go on, fantasy players should reasonably expect the No. 11 to finish Sunday’s race higher than the 19th position he scored here in the spring. At Phoenix Hamlin’s average finish is among the best at 11.3, and his driver rating is 93.8. His last five races include just one finish outside of the top 10, at Talladega Superspeedway, and he has been more of a contender recently than he has most of the season. Hamlin has one Phoenix win and nine top-10 finishes from 18 career starts. Fantasy players looking for a driver with upward momentum should consider Hamlin this week.

Kasey Kahne – Kahne finished 11th earlier this season at Phoenix, but hasn’t landed a top-10 in the latest three races on the calendar. In fact, the last two weeks have seen him unable to complete the full distance after multiple instances of contact on track. Kahne only has one top-10 finish since winning in Atlanta to earn a spot in the Chase. Since then the team has been in a reversal that feels like it is getting worse. Kahne does have three top-5 finishes in his last six Phoenix races, but given how he has been finishing recently it should be difficult for fantasy players to put their trust in him. Watch to see his practice and qualifying, but beware of his recent trend.

Brian Vickers – Vickers surprised fantasy players last week in Texas by putting his No. 55 car among the leaders in the closing laps of the race. He slipped in the closing laps, however, finishing 16th after an otherwise decent afternoon. In 15 races at Phoenix Vickers has only finished in the top 10 once, and that was all the way back in 2005. Since then his best finish at the track was 11th in 2006. His driver rating reflects that underperformance at 67.3. Vickers, like a handful of others, can often shine at a track he hasn’t found success at in the past, but that should be the exception rather than the expectation of fantasy players this week.

Clint Bowyer – Unfortunately, it would appear as though Bowyer is taking steps backward as the season winds down. He is 19th in the standings, and finished three of the last five races outside of the top 15. Last week was another tough day for the Michael Waltrip Racing driver, coming home in 28th position after starting 24th. He has just one top-10 Phoenix result in the last five, and brings an average finish at the track of 16.9 this week. His driver rating isn’t bad at 92.7, but is heavily weighted toward races earlier in his career at the track. Bowyer hasn’t shown the spark that indicates he is ready to win this season, and is running out of opportunities to prove otherwise.

Aric Almirola – Though Almirola has been a value for fantasy rosters many weeks this season, Phoenix shouldn’t be seen as one of those opportunities. Almirola has yet to score a finish better than 12th at the track, and is more regularly a top-20 driver here than a top-15 option. His average finish from seven Phoenix starts is 18.6. He scored a handful of top-10s this season, and even won his first race in the series. Unfortunately, he is on a string of six consecutive finishes not even outside of the top 10, but outside of the top 20. His last top-10 result was in September, and no past success at Phoenix makes him a driver to avoid this week.

A.J. Allmendinger – After making an unlikely appearance in the Chase, Allmendinger has continued to turn the tables with decent finishes. He started 23rd last week in Texas, and put himself among the top 15 in the closing stages to finish 14th. The team is learning how to make the moves necessary to run regularly near the top of the order, and that knowledge lends itself to top-10 and even top-5 finishes the more they’re able to do it consistently. He has three top-15 finishes in the last five races, along with one top-10. He hasn’t yet scored a top-5 at Phoenix, but this could be the week he accomplishes that, making him an attractive long shot option for fantasy rosters.

NASCAR Oral - B USA 500 At Atlanta

Sunday night's Oral-B USA 500 is not only the penultimate race of the regular season, but it takes place at one of the fastest, trickiest and oldest tracks that the Sprint Cup Series races on, Atlanta Motor Speedway. 

"The asphalt is worn out and the tires have a hard time maintaining pace,” former Atlanta winner Kurt Busch said in a pre-race media release. “Those factors combined make this a very challenging race.”

Busch won back-to-back races here in 2009-10. 

“It’s an intermediate track because of its size and the banking, but it really is more of a driver’s track because you have a lot to balance there—aerodynamics, pit strategy and tire management.”

Busch is in the Chase field, but he is also one of the favorites to win on Sunday. He is one of several drivers to consider when picking a winner.

Greg Biffle sits just inside the Chase cutoff, without the insurance of a win. Just outside the line is rookie sensation Kyle Larson, who could slide into the field of 16 should he either win or if one of the four drivers (Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Biffle) without one has a bad night on Sunday night.

Drivers outside the Chase have just two more chances to make it, and their next opportunity will come Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' best will look to conquer the fastest track on the circuit as they vie for supremacy in the Oral-B USA 500. The absence of restrictor plates at a track as big as Atlanta makes it one of the most exciting and unpredictable races on the schedule.

Many teams will have nothing to lose since they'll need to win one of the next two races in order to qualify for the Chase. That means there will be plenty of gambling and intriguing strategies throughout Sunday night's event.

Here is everything you need to know about the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta, including a look at which drivers have the best chance of reaching Victory Lane.