Master of Survival: Newman Can Capture Cup Title At Homestead: On the final lap of last Sunday's penultimate race at Phoenix, Ryan Newman found himself on the verge of elimination, needing to gain one more position from his 12th-place spot on the track. In a final move of desperation, Newman was able to force Kyle Larson into the Turn 4 wall and pass him for 11th-place - a performance that put him one point ahead of Jeff Gordon for the final berth in the Championship 4. Newman's Arizona effort was not the first time he rose to the occasion under pressure in this season's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Clinging onto the final position on the Chase Grid entering the Challenger Round cutoff race at Dover, the #31 Caterpillar, Inc./Quicken Loans driver produced an eighth-place finish to advance to the Contender Round. He also avoided "The Big One" at Talladega and registered a third-place showing in the process to solidify his spot in the Eliminator Round. The NASCAR world will see if Newman has one more clutch effort left in the tank for Sunday's Championship race at Homestead. A 13-year full-time veteran of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Newman can capture his first title in any NASCAR national series by finishing ahead of Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.
In 12 Homestead starts, Newman owns one top five and four top 10s. His highest finish at the Miami-area track was a third-place showing in 2012. One potential note of interest: Newman is the only one of the Championship 4 who did not test at Homestead at the end of October. Competing in his first season with Richard Childress Racing, Newman can earn the organization its first premier series title since 1994 when Dale Earnhardt captured RCR its sixth championship. Newman would be the only driver other than Earnhardt (six titles) to clinch a premier series crown with RCR.
Newman has proven to be the true underdog story in the Chase. Despite not winning a race during the regular season, the consistent 36-year-old racked up 10 top-10 finishes and placed lower than 30th only two times to clinch the 16th and final spot in NASCAR's playoffs. No matter how Newman fares at Homestead, he will achieve a career-best finish in the final standings. His previous high finish was sixth - a feat he has achieved three times (2002, '03, '06).(NASCAR)(11-13-2014)
Logano Looks For One More Large Performance In Chase: No driver has been better in this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup than Joey Logano. The 24-year-old has coasted his way to the Championship 4 behind a Chase-best 5.3 average finish and two victories. To earn his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, Logano likely needs to produce one more dominant effort in Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead. The #22 Team Penske driver does not need to win the event to take home the title, but instead must finish ahead of Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman - a task he has completed 10 times this season. Logano has the worst previous statistics at Homestead among the Championship 4 with one top 10 and an average finish of 20.8 in five starts there. The silver lining... he finished eighth at Homestead last season in his first campaign with Team Penske and has performed at an elite level on 1.5-mile tracks this year. In Logano's nine starts at 1.5 mile courses in 2014, he boasts two victories and leads all drivers with a 5.8 average finish and six top-five performances.
If Logano wins the championship, at 24 years, 5 months and 23 days, he would become the youngest driver to capture the series crown since Jeff Gordon in 1995 - and third premier series champion under the age of 25, joining Gordon and Bill Rexford, who was 23 years old when he won the title in 1950. A native of Middletown, Connecticut, he would be the first driver from the Constitution State to win a NASCAR premier series title.
In addition, a Logano championship would mark the second title for Team Penske, that claimed its first with the efforts of Brad Keselowski in 2012. Currently leading the NASCAR Nationwide Series owner standings by 29 points, Roger Penske's racing outfit has a legitimate chance of becoming the first team to win a NSCS, NNS and IndyCar championship in the same season.(NASCAR)(11-13-2014)