Skip to content

In The Know – Homestead

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 (Round 34 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 22

●  Location:  Homestead-Miami Speedway

●  Layout:  1.5-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  267 laps/400.5 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps

●  TV/Radio:  NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

With 2023 being Kevin Harvick’s final season as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, “The Closer” has enjoyed a number of heartfelt tributes to his illustrious career. Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway will serve as another tribute, and it will leave everyone seeing red. Budweiser, the brand Harvick took to the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship when he clinched the title at Homestead by winning the race, will be back on his racecar for the 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1. The eye-catching red Budweiser paint scheme that Harvick drove to victory on Nov. 16, 2014 will be back at Homestead as Budweiser, Busch Light and Stewart-Haas Racing came together to surprise Harvick with the throwback Budweiser paint scheme and firesuit for his final race at the South Florida oval. Harvick has been an Anheuser-Busch partner since 2011, with Budweiser serving as a sponsor before Busch Light took the wheel in 2016. “Kevin Harvick has been an iconic Anheuser-Busch partner and cornerstone of our sports portfolio since we first started working together in 2011,” said Matt Davis, Vice-President of Partnerships at Anheuser-Busch. “Through our partnership with Kevin, we have been able to connect with 21+ NASCAR fans across the country, giving them unparalleled access to the sport. This surprise paint scheme is just another way we are celebrating Kevin, his loyal fans and his storied career on the track.” This special moment with Harvick is the latest program in Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing commitment to NASCAR. With driver partnerships, key event sponsorships and investments in the sport, Anheuser-Busch has proudly supported and elevated NASCAR through Budweiser and Busch Light for more than 40 years.

Aric Almirola:

 In 457 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 93 top-10s, five poles, and has led 1,081 laps.

Chase Briscoe:

There’s only one track on the NASCAR schedule where Briscoe has visited victory lane in both a truck and a car – Homestead. When he was driving fulltime for Brad Keselowski Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2017, he finished the season on a high note at the track, leading four times for a race-high 81 laps en route to his first win in a NASCAR national series. The win elevated him to sixth in the Truck Series championship standings and earned him Rookie of the Year honors to go with that year’s Most Popular Driver award.

Ryan Preece:

Sunday’s race will be Preece’s fifth on the 1.5-mile Homestead oval, his most recent coming in 2021 when he started eighth and finished 21st for JTG-Daugherty Racing. Outside the Cup Series, Preece has four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Homestead with one top-five, two top-10s and an average finish of 15. In the 2017 Xfinity Series race, he started and finished fifth, and the following year he started 12th and finished sixth, driving both years for Joe Gibbs Racing. In his lone career Truck Series start at Homestead, Preece started on the pole and finished fourth driving for David Gilliland Racing last year. Sunday’s race will be his first at Homestead behind the wheel of NextGen car.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

 

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Ford Mustang:

What was your greatest race?

“I think the single best race has to be Homestead of 2014, just with the way everything went and the great call and the race at the end and everything that happened with coming to Stewart-Haas Racing that first year. All the adversity that we had at the beginning of the year, how fast the cars were, and then putting it all together in one day to win the championship, I think that single race is probably the one that I would circle just because of everything that happened and everything that it summarized and wound up, ultimately, with a championship at the end.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

What has racing at Homestead over the years meant to you? 

“Homestead for me has been a great racetrack. It’s really how I got my start to go Cup racing. I filled in for Richard Petty Motorsports back in 2010 and I finished fourth after running up front. That opened some people’s eyes. Sure enough, I got my first start in the Cup Series because of it. I do think about that when I go there. It’s got a special place in my heart. It’s also a race in my home state and the Miami area has a lot of Cuban heritage that I’ve enjoyed over the years. The food scene in Miami is always good. We usually venture downtown and find a good Cuban sandwich and coffee. Going to Miami in October to race is always fun because you get a tropic feel before heading to Martinsville, where it’s usually cold. Hopefully, we can unload with balance to run the top well and bring home another top-five finish and get the momentum going for the last two races of the season. These last few races are some of my favorite.” 

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Magical Vacation Planner Ford Mustang:

You are one of four drivers to have won in the Truck and Xfinity series at Homestead, and there are only two drivers — Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick – who have won races at Homestead in all three of NASCAR’s top series. Is there something to be said for being one of just a few drivers who were able to find success in a truck, and Xfinity and Cup Series cars at one track?

“Homestead is a place where I feel like, as a driver, you can carry your car a little bit more, you can move around and figure out how to make more out of a car that maybe isn’t handling the best. It’s one of my favorite places to race. It’s where I got my first win in NASCAR. It’s a challenge but such a fun place to race, and to be on a short list with guys like Kyle and Kevin would be really cool.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang:

This is your first trip to Homestead since 2021. What’s on your mind as you prepare for your return to South Florida?

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to getting to Homestead. I haven’t been there in the NextGen car, yet, but I’ve had some really good runs at the track in other series, so I feel like I have a good understanding of the track. It’s a unique mile-and-a-half, so it’s hard to even compare it to the others we go to. The surface of the track is really worn, so you have to run that wall as best you can because that will be the sweet spot. The tire wear will be pretty substantial, so our team will focus on the tire strategy and taking care of our stuff. As always, we’ll want to qualify well so we can be upfront with track position just being everything.”