Speed Racers

November 14, 2008 7:50pm CST

Is this a sign of things to come?

As the last race of the season looms, some of the newest generation of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers took center stage at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The front row will be made up David Reutimann and Scott Speed, both of whom earned career-best starting positions.

On the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup front, Carl Edwards will do his part to stay in the title picture and he started on the right foot with a fourth-place qualifying mark, while point leader Jimmie Johnson will start 30th.

Starting toward the front will be an asset for “Concrete Carl.” Last season, Matt Kenseth won after he qualified fourth. In fact, of the nine senior-circuit races that have been held at Homestead, five have been won from the top five, and seven winners have come from the top 10. Since the new banking was installed in 2003, only Greg Biffle has been able to pull off the victory from lower than a seventh-place starting spot.

Sam Hornish Jr., who was in the hunt for the Rookie of the Year title, will not make this week’s show. He will have Ken Schrader and Max Papis to keep him company.

Pole
#44 David Reutimann
171.64 mph

Friday’s fast lap was a bit of a surprise. Last year, Reutimann qualified 35th, but managed to finish a respectable 25th. He has been much better in 2008 and his qualifying runs have progressively been getting better, too. After starting 26th at Martinsville Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, he qualified 12th at Texas Motor Speedway on a weekend that saw him finish 10th. Just last week, he managed a fourth-place starting position at Phoenix International Raceway, though he went home 25th.

Outside Pole
#83 Scott Speed
171.46 mph

Team Red Bull injected some “Scott” speed into the No. 83 this week. In an effort to make sure the youngster made the final show of the season, Brian Vickers moved into the No. 84 Toyota that sits outside the top 35 in owner points, while Speed took over the No. 83. It worked out well enough for everyone. Speed will make the best start of his young career while Vickers was able to power the 83 into a 20th-place qualifying spot.

Third
#17 Matt Kenseth
171.43 mph

Kenseth enters Homestead as the defending champion of this race and he is looking to keep his title. He will roll off the starting grid third, which is one place higher than he qualified in 2007. This will make for just his second career top-10 start at Homestead, but his finishes have been much better. Heading into Sunday, he has three consecutive results of sixth or better at the Florida high-bank.

Fourth
#99 Carl Edwards
171.42 mph

“Concrete Carl” is doing all he can to stay in contention for the Sprint Cup Series title. During his current streak of two wins and four straight top-fives, he has started two of those events from fourth position. The first was at Martinsville Speedway and he went home third. The next time was at Atlanta on a weekend in which he went to victory lane. This is his best starting position at Homestead since he held the pole in 2005 and he finished a career-best fourth that day.

Fifth
#29 Kevin Harvick
171.04 mph

“Happy” has his act together when it comes to Homestead. Before his 19th-place finish there last season, he had a four-race top-10 streak on the Florida high-bank. What should make fantasy owners like his qualifying position this week is that he started three of those four races from the top 10. Of course, qualifying has not been his problem lately; he has started three of the past five races from sixth, but he has slipped slightly during the event.

Sixth
#6 David Ragan
170.92 mph

Qualifying has not been Ragan’s strong suit this year. He has not started this high since he qualified sixth at Daytona International Speedway in July, though it should be noted that he finished the race fifth. Where he might not qualify well on the other tracks, he cracks the top 10 in Homestead. Just last season, he started seventh on the high bank and rolled on to a 10th-place result.

Seventh
#26 Jamie McMurray
170.85 mph

If there is anyone who is not ready for the season to end, it’s McMurray. He has been at his best at the tail end of 2008, and keeps getting better. For the past two weeks, he has finished in third-place at Texas and Phoenix. Both of those races were started from the top five, so his seventh-place qualifying position looks appealing for him this week. Don’t overlook the fact that one of his best career finishes at Homestead—a ninth in 2003—was earned after he started from the pole.

Eighth
#18 Kyle Busch
170.73 mph

Earlier this season, it was commonplace to see Busch starting toward the front of the field. Over the last eight races, however, it has become a rare sight. In that span, he has started just one race from the first five rows; he started ninth at Martinsville. Things have been clicking for him in recent weeks, though, as he has three consecutive top-10 finishes, so be on the lookout for him this weekend.

Ninth
#41 Reed Sorenson
170.63 mph

This is the kind of race that has underdog written all over it. On the final week of the season, those with the most to prove go all out to get a top-10. Sorenson fits that category. He will be driving for Ray Evernham in 2009, but he needs a solid run to prove that he still has what it takes to succeed at NASCAR’s highest level. This is the first time he has ever qualified inside the top-10 at Homestead, where he has only one career top-20.

10th
#1 Martin Truex Jr.
170.54 mph

Truex has a great record at Homestead. In his two starts there after securing a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride, he was second in 2006 and sixth in 2007. Those quality results were both earned after starting inside the top 20. He has been on a tear lately, having earned two top-10s and four top-20s in the past five weeks. That gives him the momentum he needs to earn another top-five and, if his lucky numbers come up, a victory.

Starting Grid (Averages based on two or more starts)