Winning time: Five things we learned in season finale at Homestead
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is officially in the history books, with Kyle Busch holding off Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. to win his first championship in NASCAR's top division.
The following are five things we learned at Homestead:
5. The future is bright: Chris Buescher sewed up the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship and Erik Jones the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title at Homestead and they certainly will be heard from in the future. And with other young drivers coming up like Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick and many, many more, the talent pool of young drivers is deeper than ever in NASCAR.
4. Furniture Row is the little team that could: In this age of the four-car megateams, nobody thought a one-car team could make a serious title run. Wrong. Martin Truex Jr., crew chief Cole Pearn and the rest of the small, scrappy, Furniture Row Racing team based out of Denver, put together a great season, with 13 top 10s in the first 15 races and, ultimately, a slot in the Championship Round at Homestead. Their performance was one of the highlights of 2015, for sure.
3. Kevin Harvick had a tremendous season: No, Kevin Harvick didn't win his second consecutive Sprint Cup championship. But he had a damned good season, nevertheless. In 36 races, Harvick had three victories, 23 top fives and 28 top 10s. The most impressive statistic, though, is that he had a record 13 runner-up finishes. That means Harvick finished first or second in more than 44 percent of the races this year. Those are unreal numbers and proof positive that crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team always fielded fast race cars.
2. Jeff Gordon went out in style: The Homestead weekend was all about Jeff Gordon, who competed in his 797th and final race, finishing sixth on the track and third in the championship. But Gordon's weekend was so much more than that, with an incredible outpouring of support from family, friends, fellow drivers and fans alike. Predictably, Gordon was gracious and appreciative, showing all the class you would expect. It was cool seeing Lewis Hamilton and Mario Andretti accompany Gordon to the grid; it was hugely emotional watching the hug Gordon and Rick Hendrick shared after the race.
1. Kyle Busch has the heart of a champion: After the first 11 races of the season, Kyle Busch didn't have a single point. None. That's because he spent those weeks rehabbing from brutal leg and foot injuries suffered at Daytona in the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race. After that crash, no one, Busch included, ever thought he'd win the Sprint Cup championship, but he did. It was a triumph of will and heart and effort that aligned perfectly with the tremendous talent Busch has always demonstrated. Not only did Busch take the championship, he won the final race, too. Congrats to Busch, his talented crew chief Adam Stevens and the entire No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
