NASCAR Championship Weekend
Since 2002, NASCAR's top three racing series have closed their season with a weekend designed to crown each series' champion, officially known as NASCAR Championship Weekend.[1]
From 2002 until 2019, the final race weekend of the season was run at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Ford Motor Company became the title sponsor for all three races, and the weekend became known as Ford Championship Weekend. During the most recent round of ongoing schedule adjustments in NASCAR, the championship weekend races were moved. Beginning in 2020, the championship races will be held at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.[2]
With the removal of Homestead from the final race weekend, some drivers have stated that the championship races should rotate between tracks every year instead of being held at one particular facility, similar to the Super Bowl.[3]
History
NASCAR first decided to conclude its respective seasons on the same weekend at the same track in 2002. Prior to that, all three series finished at different tracks. The then-Craftsman Truck Series' final event was at Phoenix for the previous several years and had always been held in the western United States. The then-Busch Series' final event had been held at Homestead-Miami Speedway since 1995 (in fact, the 1995 race was the first major race ever conducted at what was then Homestead Motorsports Complex). The then-Winston Cup Series had held its final race at Atlanta Motor Speedway from 1987 onward with one notable exception; the 2001 race actually served as the penultimate event due to the 9/11-related rescheduling of the fall race at New Hampshire International Speedway.
It was decided to hold the championship races at the Homestead facility in Florida, which had been on all three series' schedules since 1999 once the track received its Cup Series event. As mentioned previously, the events were held there until the end of the 2019 NASCAR season when the decision was made to move them to Arizona.
After each race, an official ceremony is conducted in victory lane where the final points leader in each series is given his championship trophy.
In 2016, NASCAR adopted a championship format that is similar in function to one used by the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series to determine their Champions. Over the course of the final races of the season, qualifying drivers are eliminated from championship contention if they are not above a certain threshold following a specific event. Once the field for each series is reduced to four contenders, the Championship Weekend races are then run with the highest finishing driver among the four in each series being crowned champion.
Pre-playoff history
It was previously possible for a driver to clinch the championship before he even reached the final weekend. This happened a total of nine times, with each series having it occur at least once. The Xfinity Series saw it happen the most, on six occasions. The Truck Series saw it happen twice, while the Cup Series did so only once. When this happened, the champion would be presented with his trophy in an informal postrace ceremony with the official crowning happening following the final race.
In the pre-playoff era, there were a total of four occasions where a series points leader entering the race did not end it as champion. The first two occurrences happened during the Ford 200 Truck Series race. In 2003, Brendan Gaughan crashed out of the event late, finished 29th, and fell from first to fourth in the standings while Travis Kvapil won the championship. In 2007, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner were separated by 29 points going into the race, but points leader Skinner had a problem with one of his truck's tires and axles and finished 35th. Hornaday finished seventh and won the title by 54 points. In 2010, 46 points separated first place Denny Hamlin, second place Jimmie Johnson, and third place Kevin Harvick in the Sprint Cup standings. At various times in the Ford 400 each driver held the points lead, but in the end Johnson clinched his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship by finishing second in the race.[4] Hamlin fell to second place, 39 points behind Johnson, with his 14th-place finish.[4] Harvick finished 3rd in both the race and the points, 41 points behind Johnson.[4] In 2011, Tony Stewart entered the race three points behind Carl Edwards for the Sprint Cup lead. Stewart won the Ford 400 with Edwards finishing second and the points race ended in a tie. However, due to Stewart holding more victories than Edwards over the course of the season (Stewart's win gave him five while Edwards only won once), Stewart won the tiebreaker and became series champion for a third time.
Multiple event winners
Several drivers have won more than one race held during this weekend. Todd Bodine, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth are the only drivers to win the same event more than once, while Busch and Edwards are the only two drivers to win multiple races in the same weekend. Bodine won the Truck race in 2005 and 2008, while Busch won the Nationwide races in 2009 and 2010. Biffle won the Cup race in 2004, 2005, and 2006, Edwards won in 2008 and 2010, and Kenseth won the Ford 300 in 2006 and 2014 and the Ford 400 in 2007. Edwards won the Ford 300 and Ford 400 in 2008 and Busch won the Ford 200 and 300 in 2010. In his two wins Busch accomplished a rare feat in that he clinched multiple owners' championships with his wins. His victory in the Ford 200 won Busch the Truck Series owners' championship for his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, while his 13th victory of the season in the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide Series car clinched the series' owners' championship for JGR. (Busch did not win the drivers' championship, as he had not run the full schedule and it had been clinched before the Ford 300 even if he had, but despite only running 28 races his 13 wins helped propel him to a third-place finish in the final standings. Busch was one of three drivers that season who finished in the top ten without running a full schedule; his teammate Joey Logano finished eighth while only running 25 races and Kevin Harvick finished sixth with only 28 races under his belt. Further, this was the last year that NASCAR allowed drivers to earn points in multiple series as a rule was implemented for 2011 in which a driver had to declare which series he would race in for points, although he could continue to run in other series and accumulate owner points for his team.)
Besides the drivers listed above, several others have won more than one event in the Ford Championship Weekend during their racing careers. Kasey Kahne won the 2003 Ford 300 and the 2004 Ford 200, Jeff Gordon won the Busch race in 2000[5] and the Cup race in 2012; however, back in 2000, only the Cup and Busch Series raced that weekend and it wasn't the final races of the season for the two series. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch are the only drivers to win all three Ford Championship Weekend events in their racing careers. Harvick won the Ford 300 in 2004, the Ford 200 in 2009, and the Ford EcoBoost 400 in 2014. Kyle Busch won the Ford 200 in 2010 and 2013, the Ford 300 twice in 2009 and 2010, and the Ford EcoBoost 400 in 2015.
Television and radio coverage
Current
Since the championship weekend festivities fall during the second half of the NASCAR season, the Xfinity and Cup Series races are carried by the television entity that is contracted to air that portion of the season. As of 2015, the rights are held by NBC Sports. The exception is the Truck Series race, as Fox Sports owns the exclusive rights to all Truck Series events. The Truck races air on Fox Sports 1, the successor to its former home Speed Channel, while the Xfinity and Cup races air on either NBC or NBCSN. The Xfinity race was on NBC in 2015 and on NBCSN all other years; the Cup race has been on NBC since 2015.
All championship races are carried over radio by Motor Racing Network.
Previous
When Championship Weekend began, the Truck Series race was carried by ESPN2 as ESPN retained the rights to the series after losing its NASCAR broadcast rights following the 2000 season. Speed Channel took over all rights beginning in 2003; the network became Fox Sports 1 in August 2013.
Since NBC was already contracted to air the Busch and Cup races at Homestead once it acquired rights to the latter race, they continued to carry the races in conjunction with TNT, their broadcast partner. The networks shared coverage of the Busch race (NBC from 2002 to 2004, TNT in 2005 and 2006) while NBC aired the Cup race.[6]
In 2007, ESPN returned to covering NASCAR and began carrying their championship weekend events over ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2. The ESPN family of networks actually had two separate contracts with NASCAR at the time; the Busch/Nationwide race aired on ESPN2 as ESPN was the exclusive television rights holder for the series under their contract. The Cup series race was carried by ABC until 2009 and ESPN until the contract ended in 2014 as part of ESPN's rights to the second half of the Cup season.
Race results
As noted above, final races were run at Homestead-Miami Speedway from 2002 until 2019 and at Phoenix Raceway in 2020.
Truck Series
| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Ron Hornaday Jr. | Xpress Motorsports | Mike Bliss | Xpress Motorsports | |
| 2003 | Bobby Hamilton | Bobby Hamilton Racing | Travis Kvapil | Kvapil won the championship after NASCAR reviewed and upheld a black flag given to Ted Musgrave for attempting to pass Kvapil under caution. Had the penalty been reversed, Musgrave would have been granted a sixth-place finish and won the championship over seventh-place Kvapil.[7] He is also the second Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the Championship. | |
| 2004 | Kasey Kahne | Ultra Motorsports | Bobby Hamilton | Bobby Hamilton Racing | Hamilton became the first owner/driver to win a Truck Series Championship. |
| 2005 | Todd Bodine | Germain Racing | Ted Musgrave | Ultra Motorsports | Musgrave's championship was Dodge's last in the Truck Series; the company pulled out of most NASCAR competition following the 2012 season, by which time the Ram Trucks brand had replaced Dodge's on its line of trucks. |
| 2006 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Todd Bodine | Germain Racing | Bodine won Toyota's first NASCAR championship. |
| 2007 | Johnny Benson Jr. | Bill Davis Racing | Ron Hornaday Jr. | Kevin Harvick, Inc. | This was Hornaday's third Truck title and his first since 1998. |
| 2008 | Todd Bodine | Germain Racing | Johnny Benson Jr. | Bill Davis Racing | Last Craftsman Truck Series champion. |
| 2009 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick, Inc. | Ron Hornaday Jr. | Kevin Harvick, Inc. | Hornaday had clinched the series points title following the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix. First Camping World Truck Series champion. |
| 2010 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Todd Bodine | Germain Racing | Bodine had clinched the series points title following the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix. Busch won the series owner's championship for his team with his victory. |
| 2011 | Johnny Sauter | ThorSport Racing | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Dillon became the youngest NASCAR top series champion ever. First season under current NASCAR points system. He is also the third Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the championship. |
| 2012 | Cale Gale | Eddie Sharp Racing | James Buescher | Turner Motorsports | |
| 2013 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Crafton won the Championship by simply starting the race. |
| 2014 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Crafton became the first driver in NCWTS history to win consecutive championships. | |||
| 2015 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Erik Jones | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Jones became the youngest champion in NCWTS history. Last season under normal points format, as the NCWTS adopted a Chase format in 2016. He is also the first Rookie champion in the history of the series therefore also winning the Rookie of the Year that season as well. |
Playoff era
Highest finishing driver among four eligible for championship wins series championship.
| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Championship Runners-Up | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | William Byron | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch Motorsports Timothy Peters, Red Horse Racing |
Sauter becomes the fourth Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the championship. |
| 2017 | Chase Briscoe | Brad Keselowski Racing | Christopher Bell | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing |
|
| 2018 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Justin Haley, GMS Racing Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch Motorsports |
|
| 2019 | Austin Hill | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Stewart Friesen, Halmar Friesen Racing Ross Chastain, Niece Motorsports Brett Moffitt, GMS Racing |
Crafton was the first Truck Series Champion to win the Championship without winning a race in the season he won the Championship in. | |
| 2020 | Sheldon Creed | GMS Racing | Sheldon Creed | GMS Racing | Brett Moffitt, GMS Racing Zane Smith, GMS Racing Grant Enfinger, ThorSport Racing |
|
Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series
| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Scott Wimmer | Bill Davis Racing | Greg Biffle | Roush Racing | Biffle had clinched the series points championship following the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix. |
| 2003 | Kasey Kahne | Akins Motorsports | Brian Vickers | Hendrick Motorsports | Vickers, at the time, was the youngest driver to win the series championship at 20 years old. |
| 2004 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick, Inc. | Martin Truex Jr. | Chance 2 Motorsports | Truex had clinched the series championship following the BI-LO 200 at Darlington. |
| 2005 | Ryan Newman | Penske Racing | |||
| 2006 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Racing | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick, Inc./Richard Childress Racing | Harvick had clinched the series championship following the Dollar General 300 at Charlotte. He had previously won the series championship in 2001. |
| 2007 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Edwards had clinched the series championship following the O'Reilly Challenge at Texas. Last Busch Series champion. |
| 2008 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | First Nationwide Series Champion. |
| 2009 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Busch's championship was the first for Toyota in Nationwide Series. |
| 2010 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Keselowski had clinched the championship after the O'Reilly Challenge at Texas. This marked the first Nationwide Series championship for Dodge and would prove to be their only championship in the series. This was also the last year that Sprint Cup Series drivers could compete in multiple series and earn points. | ||
| 2011 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | First season under current NASCAR points system. |
| 2012 | Regan Smith | JR Motorsports | |||
| 2013 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Dillon made history by becoming the first driver to win the championship without winning a race.[8] |
| 2014 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chase Elliott | JR Motorsports | Elliott had clinched the championship following the DAV 200 at Phoenix, making him the first driver to do so under the current points format. He broke Brian Vickers' record for youngest series champion and Austin Dillon's record for youngest ever NASCAR champion by winning title at age 18.[9] Last Nationwide Series champion. |
| 2015 | Kyle Larson | HScott Motorsports | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | First Xfinity Series champion. Last season under normal points system; the Xfinity Series adopted a Chase system in 2016. |
Playoff era
Highest finishing driver among eligible drivers for championship wins series championship.
| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Championship Runners-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Elliott Sadler, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2017 | Cole Custer | Stewart Haas Racing | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Elliott Sadler, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing |
| 2018 | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Cole Custer, Stewart Haas Racing Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing |
| 2019 | Richard Childress Racing | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Cole Custer, Stewart Haas Racing | ||
| 2020 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing Chase Briscoe, Biagi-DenBeste Racing |
Cup Series
| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Notes | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Kurt Busch | Roush Racing | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Stewart's first championship and the final Winston Cup title for Pontiac as they pulled out of NASCAR following the 2003 season. | Report |
| 2003 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Matt Kenseth | Roush Racing | Kenseth clinched the Winston Cup championship at the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at Rockingham. Last season under previous points format, last Winston Cup champion. Labonte's last win as a full-time Cup Series driver. | Report |
| 2004 | Greg Biffle | Roush Racing | Kurt Busch | Busch won the first Chase for the Nextel Cup. Biffle was the second of two drivers outside the Chase to win a Chase race in 2004. | Report | |
| 2005 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Stewart became the first driver to win championships under NASCAR's old points system and in the Chase format and is the only driver to do this as of the beginning of the 2016 season. | Report | ||
| 2006 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Biffle's second win in this race as a non-Chase driver. | Report | ||
| 2007 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Last Nextel Cup champion. | Report | ||
| 2008 | Carl Edwards | First Sprint Cup champion. | Report | |||
| 2009 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Johnson became the first driver to win more than three consecutive series championships with his win in the Chase. | Report | ||
| 2010 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Johnson joined Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers with more than four championships. | Report | ||
| 2011 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to win a Cup championship. Stewart finished one position in front of Carl Edwards, who entered the race as the points leader, and thus tied Edwards in the final standings. However, due to his five victories to Edwards' single victory, Stewart won the Sprint Cup on a tiebreaker.[10] | Report |
| 2012 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Keselowski won Penske's first ever NASCAR Cup championship and was the first Dodge driver since Richard Petty to win the Cup. This race marked the end of Dodge's return to full-time NASCAR racing after twelve seasons; Keselowski's title was their only Cup series championship in that span.[11] | Report |
| 2013 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Third win at Homestead by a non-Chase driver. | Report |
Championship Round era
Highest finishing driver among four eligible for championship wins series championship.
| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Championship Runners-Up | Notes | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Joey Logano, Team Penske |
Team owner Tony Stewart becomes the second owner-driver after Lee Petty to win championships as both a driver and an owner with Harvick's championship. | Report |
| 2015 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports |
Kyle Busch wins Toyota's first Cup Series championship. Busch only ran 25 races in 2015 after suffering a broken leg in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February; NASCAR issued him a waiver to allow him to compete in the Playoffs as long as he was in the top 30 in series points after the fall Richmond race and had won enough events to secure a wild card berth. Jeff Gordon retired from full-time competition following the race after twenty-three seasons. | Report |
| 2016 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports (7) | Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing Joey Logano, Team Penske |
Jimmie Johnson ties Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with his seventh series championship. | Report |
| 2017 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Brad Keselowski, Team Penske |
Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing's first championship victory. | Report |
| 2018 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing |
All three races saw one of the Championship 4 drivers win both the race and championship. Brett Moffitt in the Truck Series, Tyler Reddick in the Xfinity Series, and Joey Logano in the Cup Series. | Report |
| 2019 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing (2) | Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing Martin Truex, Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing |
Kyle Busch becomes the only other active Cup Series driver with more than one Championship. | Report |
| 2020 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Joey Logano, Team Penske |
Elliott and his father Bill become the third father-son pairing to win the Cup, joining Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson retires from full-time racing after the event. | Report |
References
- Bruce, Kenny (June 15, 2014). "FORD CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND SPONSORSHIP EXTENDED". NASCAR. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- none, NASCAR Official Release. "NASCAR, Dixie Vodka announce multi-year partnership". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2019/11/17/nascar-championship-weekend-moving-phoenix-2020-after-homestead/4223377002/
- "2010 Ford 400". Racing-Reference.info. November 22, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
- "The spoiler". CNN Sports Illustrated. November 11, 2000. Archived from the original on June 26, 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- "Homestead Brian Williams in the Booth". Motorsport.com. August 4, 1999. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- Associated Press (November 15, 2003). "Black flag costs Musgrave, helps Kvapil win truck title". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- Estrada, Chris (November 16, 2013). "Austin Dillon claims NASCAR Nationwide Series title with 12th place finish". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- Ryan, Nate (November 8, 2014). "Chase Elliott clinches Nationwide championship, makes history". USA Today. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- Sporting News (November 21, 2011). "HOMESTEAD COMEBACK COMPLETE CHASE COMEBACK FOR CHAMPION STEWART". NASCAR. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- Newton, David (January 18, 2013). "Dodge not expected back soon". ESPN. Retrieved October 20, 2015.