NASCAR at Miami-Homestead: What you need to know about the Cup Series championship

Race: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford Ecoboost 400.

Distance: 267 laps, or 400.5 miles.

Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway, a 1.5-mile, paved oval in Homestead, Florida.

When: 3 p.m. Sunday.

TV: NBC.

Radio: MRN.

Last year’s winner: Jimmie Johnson.

Also this week: Ford Ecoboost 300, Xfinity Series, Homestead-Miami Speedway, 3:30 p.m., Saturday, NBCSN.

Worth mentioning: Three of the four drivers competing for the Cup Series championship (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski) have already won a title. Martin Truex Jr. is the only one who has not.

Who’s Hot/ Who’s Not: Championship Edition

HOT

Kevin Harvick: Harvick won at Texas and sandwiched that victory between two top-five finishes. As if that wasn’t momentum enough, he has a strong history at Homestead.

Martin Truex Jr.: His third-place finish at Phoenix was his worst in four races, so ... yeah, he’s good. Homestead has been a challenge for him in the past, but he’s been so fast this year it’s hard to bet against him.

NOT

Kyle Busch: His win at Martinsville two weeks ago earned him a spot in Homestead, but since then he finished 19th at Texas and seventh at Phoenix. There’s a reason he’s in the final four, but he needs to improve to make a run.

Brad Keselowski: He sneaked into the final four for a whole lot of reasons other than his actual driving at Phoenix, but at least he’s in. It’ll take a lot of improvement before Homestead to be a legitimate title threat.

Brendan Marks

This story was originally published November 13, 2017 at 8:40 PM with the headline "NASCAR at Miami-Homestead: What you need to know about the Cup Series championship."