NASCAR Cup Series at Homestead–Miami

Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Cup Series has been held at the Homestead–Miami Speedway since 1999. The race is currently held as a 267 lap, 400.5 mile (644.542 km) race under the moniker Straight Talk Wireless 400.

Straight Talk Wireless 400
NASCAR Cup Series
VenueHomestead–Miami Speedway
LocationHomestead, Florida, United States
Corporate sponsorStraight Talk Wireless
First race1999
Distance400.5 miles (644.542 km)
Laps267
Stage 1: 80
Stage 2: 85
Final stage: 102
Previous namesPennzoil 400 (1999–2000)
Pennzoil Freedom 400 (2001)
Ford 400 (2002–2011)
Ford EcoBoost 400 (2012–2019)
Dixie Vodka 400 (2020–2022)
4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 (2023)
Most wins (driver)Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin (3)
Most wins (team)Joe Gibbs Racing (9)
Most wins (manufacturer)Ford
Toyota (8)
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Turns4

Tyler Reddick is the defending winner of the event.

History

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The inaugural race was held in 1999. This race was the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series season from 2002 until 2019, as well as the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series' NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from 2004 to 2019. As the season finale, it was also part of the Ford Championship Weekend, which consisted of two other races: the Ford EcoBoost 200 (now the Baptist Health 200) for the NASCAR Truck Series and the Ford EcoBoost 300 (now the Contender Boats 300) for the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

In 2020, the race was moved from November to March after the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, meaning it no longer served as the championship race. The fall race at Phoenix Raceway, which had been the second-to-last race of the season, became the new championship race for the Cup Series.[1] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 race ended up being postponed from the original March 15 date to June 14, 2020. In 2021, the race was held in February. In 2022, the race was moved again from February to October as the third-to-last race of the season, and this is where it is on the Cup Series schedule today.

Ford ended their title sponsorship of this race and the Xfinity and Truck Series races at Homestead-Miami after they were moved from the last races of the season to March. Dixie Vodka became the title sponsor of the Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami in 2020 and remained for the next two years. In 2023, Mobil 1 became the title sponsor of this race and they decided to name the race in tribute to their driver, Kevin Harvick, as it was his final season as a full-time NASCAR driver.[2]

Specific races

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  • 1999: Rookie Tony Stewart wins the inaugural event, and sets the record for most wins by a rookie in the modern era with his 3rd win, with Dale Jarrett clinching the 1999 Winston Cup Championship.
  • 2000: Stewart made it 2-for-2 as he won the race, with his teammate Bobby Labonte clinching the 2000 Winston Cup Championship.
  • 2001: Bill Elliott's 41st career win snapped his 226 race winless streak, the longest streak in between race wins, dating back to the 1994 Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington.
  • 2002: In the final race on the old configuration, Kurt Busch drove to his 4th win in a rain-delayed event, and Stewart won his 1st title.
  • 2003: In the first on a newly reconfigured track, Bobby Labonte's win was marked by a flat tire for leader Bill Elliott on the last lap. In the final race with Winston sponsorship, Labonte took what would become the final win in his Hall of Fame Career.
  • 2004: Fourteen cautions plagued the first race in which it was the final Chase event, and Greg Biffle held off Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in a Green-White-Checkered finish to win his first of three consecutive races, while his teammate Kurt Busch (who narrowly avoided disaster entering pit road when his right-front tire came off) won the title by 8 points over Johnson.
  • 2005: In the first night race at the track, Greg Biffle dueled teammate Mark Martin over the final 7 laps to edge Martin for the win by 0.017 of a second. Roush ended up with a sweep of the Top 4 spots (Kenseth was 3rd and Edwards 4th), and Stewart won his 2nd title. Greg Biffle's win was his 6th win of the season and he and teammate Carl Edwards were tied for second with both of them 35 points behind Stewart, but Biffle got second thanks to his six wins vs. Edwards four.
  • 2006: Greg Biffle scores his third-consecutive win, and completes the hat-trick for Roush. Mark Martin won the Truck event, Kenseth won the Busch race, and then Biffle winning the Cup event. Jimmie Johnson scores his first of five consecutive Cup titles.
  • 2007: Last race with the fourth-generation car. Matt Kenseth leads 214 of the 267 laps to score the final win before the COT went full-time in 2008, while Johnson goes back to back. It was also the last race Cup series race under Nextel sponsorship.
  • 2008: Carl Edwards scored his 9th win of the season but came up 16 points short of Jimmie Johnson for the Cup title as he stressed his last tank of fuel to the finish, and Johnson tying Cale Yarborough's record of three-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series titles.
  • 2009: Denny Hamlin wins from the furthest back anyone has at the track from 38th to his first win at the track, and Jimmie Johnson scores his record-setting 4th consecutive Championship.
  • 2010: Denny Hamlin came in with a slim lead and lost it after an early race spin. Carl Edwards led a whopping 190 laps on his way to winning the final two races of the season, but Jimmie Johnson scored his inconceivable 5th consecutive Championship.
  • 2011: Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards finished first and second in the race and in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, Stewart winning the latter due to a tiebreaker (five wins for Stewart, all in the Chase, to one win for Edwards, at Las Vegas the third race of the year).
  • 2012: Brad Keselowski wins the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, his first Cup title, and giving Dodge a going away gift. Jeff Gordon won the race beating Clint Bowyer who both fought the week before at Phoenix after crashing on fuel mileage, his first win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leaving only Kentucky Speedway as the only track he failed to win at in his career. This was also Dodge's last race for the foreseeable future, as they stopped in the NASCAR Cup Series after 2012.
  • 2013: Denny Hamlin ended a miserable 2013 by winning for the second time at Homestead, and Jimmie Johnson scoring his sixth-career Cup title.
  • 2014: With the new Chase Grid format where the top four in points have a shot at the title, the race became known as the Championship Round race, and whoever finished the highest would win the Championship. Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Ryan Newman were the ones who would have the shot at the title. At one point, all four drivers were running 1st–4th, but the race was dominated by pole-sitter Jeff Gordon, who led 160 laps. Due to pit strategy and crazy restarts, Harvick found himself battling Newman on a restart with three laps to go. Harvick in the No. 4 pulled off what his car owner Tony Stewart did three years prior, a Stewart-Haas Racing driver winning both the race and the championship, with Harvick becoming the 2014 champion. Newman would finish second, Hamlin seventh, and Logano 16th due to the jack slipping on a late pit stop.
  • 2015: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, and Martin Truex Jr. were the four drivers going for the title. For the second year in a row, and for the third time in the last five years, a driver won both the race and the championship. This time, it was Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch, who became the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion despite missing the first 11 races of the season due to an injury to his leg and foot that he suffered in a wreck during the first Xfinity Series race of the season at Daytona International Speedway. He held off defending champion Harvick in a seven-lap shootout. Also, Gordon, who led nine laps early, finished sixth in his final NASCAR Cup Series start before retiring from racing full-time and moving into the Fox NASCAR broadcast booth for the 2016 season. Truex would wind up finishing 12th, with the Penske guys of Keselowski and Logano being the dominators of the race leading 86 and 72 laps respectively.
  • 2016: This race was the last one under the Sprint brand before Monster Energy would take over for 2017. It was also the last race for Carl Edwards, three-time champion Tony Stewart, Brian Scott, and Greg Biffle. Defending champion Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards, and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson entered as the four who would compete for the title. Kyle Larson dominated the day, leading 132 laps. On a restart within the final laps, Edwards attempted to block an advancing Logano, but hooked himself into Logano's bumper, sending him careening back into traffic and hard into the outside wall, with the car becoming airborne briefly. Logano came up into his teammate Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr., with Truex's car catching fire. After a lengthy red flag for cleanup, another quick caution flew when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun coming onto the backstretch. On an overtime finish, Johnson blasted by Larson and held off Logano to hoist his seventh crown, tying him with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for most all-time in NASCAR's premier division.
  • 2017: For the fourth time using the format, the Championship 4 drivers were Keselowski, Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. For the second straight year, Kyle Larson led the most laps (145) and won the first two stages (NASCAR's new stage format) at laps 80 and 160. A final green-flag run saw Truex and Busch running 1-2 riding up against the wall, with Truex winning the race over Busch and scoring his first championship after leading 78 laps in the No. 78 car.
  • 2018: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr., and Joey Logano were the final four drivers in the championship round. Truex was in position to win in the final race for Furniture Row Motorsports (which was shutting down at the end of the season). However, a late-race caution with less than 20 laps set up a run to the finish that saw Logano win his first series championship. All four Championship 4 drivers swept the top four finishing positions: Logano-1st, Truex Jr.-2nd, Harvick-3rd, and Kyle Busch-4th. Logano led a race-high 80 laps to become the first driver to lead the most laps and win the race since Carl Edwards in 2010.

Past winners

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Year Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Sponsor Race distance Race time Average speed
(mph)
Report Ref
Laps Miles (km)
Second 1.5 mile Layout (6 degree corner banking)
1999 November 14 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac The Home Depot 267 400.5 (644.542) 2:51:14 140.335 Report [3]
2000 November 12 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac The Home Depot Kids' Workshop 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:08:30 127.480 Report [4]
2001 November 11 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:24:36 117.449 Report [5]
2002 November 17 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford Little Tikes/Rubbermaid 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:26:20 116.462 Report [6]
Current 1.5 mile Layout (18 to 20 degree progressive corner banking)
2003 November 16 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:25:37 116.868 Report [7]
2004 November 21 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford National Guard/Subway 271* 406.5 (654.198) 3:50:55 105.623 Report [8]
2005* November 20 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford Post-It/National Guard 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:02:50 131.932 Report [9]
2006 November 19 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford National Guard 268* 402 (646.956) 3:12:23 125.375 Report [10]
2007 November 18 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford DeWalt Nano Technology 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:02:12 131.888 Report [11]
2008 November 16 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford Office Depot 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:05:36 129.472 Report [12]
2009 November 22 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Express 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:06:18 126.986 Report [13]
2010 November 21 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford Aflac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:09:50 126.585 Report [14]
2011 November 20 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet Office Depot/Mobil 1 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:29:00 114.976 Report [15]
2012 November 18 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont 20 Years Celebratory 267 400.5 (644.542) 2:48:56 142.245 Report [16]
2013 November 17 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Express 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:03:52 130.693 Report [17]
2014 November 16 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet Budweiser 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:16:31 122.28 Report [18]
2015 November 22 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota M&M's Crispy 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:02:23 131.755 Report [19]
2016 November 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's 268* 402 (646.956) 3:07:10 128.869 Report [20]
2017 November 19 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:02:11 131.9 Report [21]
2018* November 18 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford Shell/Pennzoil 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:00:36 133.056 Report [22]
2019 November 17 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota M&M's 267 400.5 (644.542) 2:48:47 142.654 Report [23]
2020 June 14* 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Office 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:08:06 127.751 Report [24]
2021 February 28* 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Axalta 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:12:45 124.669 Report [25]
2022 October 23 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Valvoline 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:05:24 129.612 Report [26]
2023 October 22 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Rheem/Watts 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:11:54 125.221 Report [27]
2024 October 27 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota The Beast 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:05:44 129.379 Report [28]
 
The start of the 2009 race

Notes

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  • 2004, 2006, and 2016: Races extended due to NASCAR overtime.
  • 2005: First race run under the lights, after being installed during the summer. Ford's last win with the Taurus before switching to the Fusion in 2006.
  • 2018: Ford's last win with the Fusion before switching to the Mustang in the Cup Series in 2019.
  • 2020: Race postponed from March 22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]
  • 2021: Race moved from February 21 to February 28 after the February 28 race at Auto Club Speedway was cancelled and replaced with Daytona Road Course on February 21.

Multiple winners (drivers)

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# of wins Driver Years won
3 Greg Biffle 2004-2006
Tony Stewart 1999, 2000, 2011
Denny Hamlin 2009, 2013, 2020
2 Carl Edwards 2008, 2010
Kyle Busch 2015, 2019

Multiple winners (teams)

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# of wins Team Years won
9 Joe Gibbs Racing 1999, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2023
7 RFK Racing 2002, 2004–2008, 2010
4 Hendrick Motorsports 2012, 2016, 2021, 2022
2 Stewart-Haas Racing 2011, 2014

Manufacturer wins

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# of wins Manufacturer Years won
8 Ford 2002, 2004–2008, 2010, 2018
Toyota 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024
7 Chevrolet 2003, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022
2 Pontiac 1999, 2000
1 Dodge 2001
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# of wins Sponsor Years won
3 National Guard 2004–2006
FedEx 2009, 2013, 2020
2 The Home Depot 1999, 2000
Office Depot 2008, 2011
M&M's 2015, 2019

References

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  1. ^ "Dixie Vodka to be Entitlement Sponsor of Homestead-Miami Speedway's 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Race". Homestead–Miami Speedway. November 13, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "Homestead honoring Kevin Harvick with entitlement sponsor of Cup race". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. October 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "1999 Pennzoil 400 presented by KMart". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  4. ^ "2000 Pennzoil 400 presented by Discount Auto Parts". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "2001 Pennzoil Freedom 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "2002 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  7. ^ "2003 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  8. ^ "2004 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "2005 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  10. ^ "2006 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "2007 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "2008 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  13. ^ "2009 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  14. ^ "2010 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  15. ^ "2011 Ford 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  16. ^ "2012 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  17. ^ "2013 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  18. ^ "2014 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  19. ^ "2015 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  20. ^ "2016 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  21. ^ "2017 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  22. ^ "2018 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  23. ^ "2019 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  24. ^ "2020 Dixie Vodka 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  25. ^ "2021 Dixie Vodka 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  26. ^ "2022 Dixie Vodka 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  27. ^ "2023 4EVER 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  28. ^ "2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  29. ^ "NASCAR postpones Atlanta, Homestead races". ESPN. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
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