BY THE NUMBERS

1 – Number of times Carl Edwards has made it to the Championship 4 in the new Chase format.
2 – Number of wins Carl Edwards has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2008 and 2010) – most among the Championship 4
3 – Number of wins Carl Edwards has posted during the 2016 season; including one during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – (Bristol-1, Richmond-1 and Texas-2).
5 – Number of top-five finishes Carl Edwards has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
6 – Number of Coors Light poles Carl Edwards has posted during the 2016 season (series-most).
7 – Number of top-10 finishes Carl Edwards has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
9 – Number of top-five finishes Carl Edwards has posted during the 2016 season.
9.2 – Edwards’ average finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway (best among the Championship 4)
13.3 – Edwards’ average finish during the entire 2016 season.
14.9 – Edwards’ average finish during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
18 – Number of top-10 finishes Carl Edwards has posted this season.
93.0 – Carl Edwards’ driver rating during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase.
109.4 – Carl Edwards’ career driver rating at Homestead-Miami Speedway (best among the Championship 4).
568 – Total number of laps led at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Carl Edwards (leads the series).

Edwards Looking For Redemption In Miami
Carl Edwards heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway attempting to win his first career Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with redemption on his mind.

During the 2011 season, Edwards was denied the title in one of the most exciting season finales in NASCAR history. Edwards finished second in the race to Tony Stewart, but the duo ended the season tied in points. In a heart-breaking tiebreaker, Stewart won the championship after recording the most wins in the season of the two (Edwards had one to Stewart’s five).

On Monday night, NBCSN replayed the 2011 race – and while live-tweeting the event under the hashtag #NASCARthrowback, Stewart tweeted the following to fans hoping to see Edwards on the victorious side of history:

And 2016 is a different story – points and tiebreakers don’t matter on Sunday. Edwards just needs to post the highest finish among the Championship 4 drivers to earn his first championship.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3
In October, NASCAR held an organizational NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Among the drivers who took part in the organizational test? Carl Edwards.

Edwards was the only Championship 4 driver at the test, which could pay huge dividends. (Brad Keselowski represented Penske Racing while Chase Elliott tested for Hendrick Motorsports.)

When asked about testing at Homestead-Miami, Edwards was confident in his ability to race well at the 1.5-mile track.

“This is a neat opportunity for me. This place, especially in the sun, you drive in the corners and slide up by the fence. I really feel like I am driving a race car here. I was just telling my spotter it’s a really fun place to drive.”

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Racing Get Chance To Repeat
If Carl Edwards wins his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it will be the second-consecutive title for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. JGR captured its fourth Sprint Cup Series crown last season with Kyle Busch, while Toyota captured its first driver championship.

It would mark the first time since 2010 that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has seen back-to-back team and manufacturer driver championships. Jimmie Johnson last accomplished the feat from 2006 – 2010 when he won his five consecutive championships for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet.

Toyota is also on the verge of history. If the top finishing Toyota finishes 26th or better, it will clinch its first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series manufacturer’s championship.

No Ordinary Beginning
In his debut season as crew chief with Carl Edwards, Dave Rogers has the chance to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. This would be the second-consecutive season that a crew chief and driver have won the title in their freshman season together (Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Adam Stevens, 2015).

A Marshfield, Vermont, native, Rogers began his crew chief career working for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2006, where he won the 2008 NASCAR XFINITY Series owner title with the No. 20 team.

Rogers moved up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009 and worked as Kyle Busch’s crew chief until 2014, where he made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in four of five seasons. He then moved over to Denny Hamlin’s team in 2015, where the duo posted two wins and finished ninth in the Chase.

Atop the pit box, Rogers has 18 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins, three of those with Edwards.

Heating Up At Homestead
For Carl Edwards, it’s home sweet Homestead.

In addition to leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Homestead (568), he leads the Championship 4 drivers in wins at Homestead with two (2008 and 2010). Kyle Busch is the only other Championship 4 contender who has registered a win at Homestead (2015) – Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano have never won at the 1.5-mile track.

He leads the Championship 4 drivers in driving rating at Homestead – owning a 109.4 driver rating in 12 starts. Additionally, Edwards is the only driver among the Championship 4 to ever register a perfect driver rating in a race at Homestead (2010).

He also leads the Championship 4 drivers in average finish (9.1 in 12 starts) in Miami.

Here are how the Championship 4 drivers’ average finishes at Homestead stack up against Edwards:

Joey Logano (17.7 in seven career starts)
Jimmie Johnson (14.1 in 15 career starts)
Kyle Busch (21.1 in 11 career starts)

If we’re going strictly by statistics at Homestead, advantage Edwards.

#CarlEdwards no more?
If you like social media, you should be rooting for Carl Edwards to win the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship this weekend at Homestead.

Why?

#CarlEdwards could be dropping the hashtag.

Edwards confessed in his media availability at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organizational test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October that he would join Twitter if he won the championship.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 – Number of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles Kyle Busch has won (2015).
1 – Number of wins Kyle Busch has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway – 2015 (second-most among the Championship 4)
2 – Number of times Kyle Busch has made it to the Championship 4 in the new Chase format (tied with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano for the most Championship 4 appearances).
2 – Number of top-five finishes Kyle Busch has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
4 – Number of wins Kyle Busch has posted during the 2016 season; none during the Chase (Martinsville-1, Texas-1, Kansas-1 and Indianapolis).
4 – Number of top-10 finishes Kyle Busch has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
7.3 – Busch’s average finish during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
11.6 – Busch’s average finish during the entire 2016 season.
17 – Number of top-five finishes Kyle Busch has posted during the 2016 season (most among the Championship 4).
21.1 – Busch’s average finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway (fourth-best among the Championship 4)
24 – Number of top-10 finishes Kyle Busch has posted this season.
95.5 – Kyle Busch’s career driver rating at Homestead-Miami Speedway (third-best among the Championship 4).
103.3 – Kyle Busch’s driver rating during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase.
278 – Total number of laps led at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Kyle Busch (second-most among the Championship 4)

Back-to-Back
After winning the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in dramatic come-from-behind fashion, Kyle Busch is looking to become just the 11th driver in series history to repeat as title holder.

The most recent driver to do so? Busch’s Championship 4 foe Jimmie Johnson, who won five consecutive titles from 2006-10. Busch would join Johnson as the only drivers to go back-to-back since the Chase was implemented in 2004.

Busch would be joining prestigious company:
Jimmie Johnson (2006-10)
Jeff Gordon (1997 & 1998)
Dale Earnhardt (1986 & 1987, 1990 & 1991, 1993 & 1994)
Darrell Waltrip (1981 & 1982)
Cale Yarborough (1976-78)
Richard Petty (1971 & 1972, 1974 & 1975)
David Pearson (1968 & 1969)
Joe Weatherly (1962 & 1963)
Lee Petty (1958 & 1959)
Buck Baker (1956 & 1957)

There’s something special to note about that list. All but Jeff Gordon (completed his final full-time season in 2015) and Jimmie Johnson (active) are enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Clutch Performance
Heading into the Championship 4 race in 2015, Kyle Busch had never won at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That all changed when he pulled away from Kevin Harvick, also contending for the title in 2015, on a late-race restart and captured the checkered flag and his first championship.

In fact, other than the storybook ending to last season, Busch has struggled in South Florida. He posts an average finish of 21.1 and in 11 races at the 1.5-mile track, Busch has two top fives and four top 10s to his credit, including the win last year.

Prior to the trip to Victory Lane, Busch’s best finish in Miami was fourth in 2012.

Déjà Vu All Over Again?
Excluding Talladega, where Kyle Busch netted a 30th place finish, he has finished ninth or better in each of the Chase races this year – posting an average finish of 7.3 through the nine races. However, Busch has yet to visit Victory Lane during the Chase while in contention for the title under the current playoff format.

He made his way into the Championship 4 in much the same way in 2015 – posting top-10 finishes at all but three tracks (New Hampshire, Charlotte and Talladega). His lone win in the 2015 Chase was the season finale.

His clutch performance in the Chase was further exhibited this fall in second place finishes in the cut-off races at Dover and Phoenix this season, which nearly mirrored the results at those tracks in 2015 (second and fourth, respectively).

Calling The Shots
The man atop the pit box for the No. 18 M&M’s Core Toyota, Adam Stevens, is chasing history alongside his driver. Stevens would be the second crew chief since the advent of the Chase in 2004 to win consecutive championships.

The other? His Championship 4 rival down pit road – Chad Knaus with Jimmie Johnson.

Overall in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history, only 10 other crew chiefs have helped their driver hoist the championship trophy in back-to-back seasons:

Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson, 2006-10)
Ray Evernham (Jeff Gordon, 1997 & 1998)
Andy Petree (Dale Earnhardt, 1993 & 1994)
Kirk Shelmerdine (Dale Earnhardt, 1986 & 1987, 1990 & 1991)
Herb Nab (Cale Yarborough, 1976 & 1977)
Dale Inman (Richard Petty, 1971 & 1972, 1974 & 1975)*
Jake Elder (David Pearson, 1968 & 1969)
Bud Moore (Joe Weatherly, 1962 & 1963)
Lee Petty (Lee Petty, 1958 & 1959)*
Carl Kiekhafer (Tim Flock, 1955 & Buck Baker, 1956)

* Enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame

In Leagues Of His Own
How do you follow-up a hall of fame football coaching career with three championships at the highest level of your sport?

With four – and counting – championships at the highest level of motorsports.

Coach Joe Gibbs led the Washington Redskins to Super Bowl titles in 1983, ’88 and ’92. His Joe Gibbs Racing stable has won NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships with Bobby Labonte (2000), Tony Stewart (2002, 2005) and Kyle Busch (2015). Toss in a NASCAR XFINITY Series crown in 2009 with Kyle Busch, and you can state a good case that he has had a second hall-of-fame-worthy career.

Coach Gibbs has two cars in the hunt for the title in Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Additionally, JGR drivers Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones are in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Championship 4 racing Saturday.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 – Number of times Jimmie Johnson has made it to the Championship 4 in the new Chase format.
2 – Number of runner-up finishes Jimmie Johnson has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway; it also is the career best-finish Johnson has posted at HMS (2004 and 2010).
3 – Number of top-five finishes Johnson has posted during the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
4 – Number of wins Jimmie Johnson has posted during the 2016 season; including two during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (Atlanta Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway).
5 – Number of top-10 finishes Jimmie Johnson has posted during the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
6 – Number of previous NASCAR Sprint Cup titles Jimmie Johnson has won (2006-2010, 2013).
10 – Number of top-five finishes Jimmie Johnson has posted this season.
11.7 – Johnson’s average finish during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase.
14.1 – Johnson’s career average finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway (second-best among the Championship 4)
14.3 – Johnson’s average finish during the 2016 season.
15 – Number of top-10 finishes Jimmie Johnson has posted this season.
96.8 – Jimmie Johnson’s career driver rating at Homestead-Miami Speedway (second-best among the Championship 4).
99 – Total number of laps led at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Jimmie Johnson.
107.2 – Jimmie Johnson’s driver rating during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase.

#Se7en On The Horizon
As the sun sets at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, Jimmie Johnson hopes to hoist the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy a record seventh time to tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Johnson notched five consecutive titles from 2006-10 and his most recent in 2013.

If Johnson were to win the title this weekend in Miami, 10 seasons after his first championship, it would be the shortest period of time between first and seventh titles out of the three. Petty was crowned champion for the final time in 1979, 15 seasons after his first title (1964); Earnhardt captured his seventh championship in 1994, 14 seasons after his first (1980).

The number seven also marks Johnson’s spot on the all-time Sprint Cup Series wins list; his 79th career victory came at Martinsville this fall and vaulted him into the Championship 4.

Hoping On Homestead
In the first two years of the current Chase format, the champion was crowned after winning the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway – one of the rare tracks where Jimmie Johnson has yet to win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Of active tracks on the Sprint Cup Series schedule, only Chicago, Homestead-Miami, Kentucky and Watkins Glen have yet to host Johnson in Victory Lane.

But that’s not to say it can’t be done, and prior to this Chase format, Johnson never needed a win to guaranteed a title. Johnson has posted 10 top-10 finishes in 15 races at Homestead-Miami, including four top-fives. He has captured a pair of Coors Light Pole Awards at the 1.5-mile oval and two runner-up finishes (2004, 2010), as well.

Additionally, his career record at similar-length tracks is record-breaking. He has a record 26 wins across five other 1.5-mile tracks (Atlanta, Charlotte, Kansas, Las Vegas, Texas) and has 70 top-5 and 106 top-10 finishes at all active mile and a half circuits.

Not Quite Cloud Nine
To win a seventh championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson is probably going to have to break a string of three consecutive ninth-place finishes at the track, going back to his last championship in 2013.

Although he was out of the hunt for the championship in 2014 and 2015 after being eliminated in the Round of 12 and Round of 16, respectively, his performances in those races would have fallen short of the title. In both 2014 and 2015, three of the four Championship 4 drivers finished ahead of him and the champion had to win the race both times.

Crew Chief Chasing History
It’s not just the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet who is chasing history at Homestead-Miami this weekend, crew chief Chad Knaus is looking to inch closer to the championship total of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Inman, who won eight.

Inman captained the teams who won seven championships with “The King” Richard Petty and then followed that up by winning a title with Terry Labonte in 1984. He also tallied a record 193 wins as a crew chief.

Knaus paired up with Johnson beginning with the 2002 season, when the duo won three races. He has been with Jimmie Johnson for all six of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships and has recorded 77 wins as crew chief, to date.

Adding To His NASCAR Hall Of Fame Resume
Rick Hendrick already has a prime seat reserved for the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony next January, as he will be one of five new members enshrined in the Class of 2017. But he is hoping to sit at the head table once again during the season-ending awards banquet in Las Vegas.

Hendrick looks to add to his tally of 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner championship titles, which already ranks as most all-time. All six of Jimmie Johnson’s titles have come under the Hendrick Motorsports banner, as did Jeff Gordon’s four and one from fellow Hall of Famer Terry Labonte. (Just for good measure, Hendrick also holds a trio of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner championships and one driver title in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.)

BY THE NUMBERS

1 – Number of top fives Joey Logano has posted at Homestead-Miami Speedway (fourth place, 2015).
2 – Number of times Joey Logano has made it to the Championship 4 in the new Chase format (ties with Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch for the most among the Championship 4) – Logano finished fourth in the 2014 Chase standings after finishing 16th in the race.
3 – Number of wins Joey Logano has posted during the 2016 season; including two during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (Michigan International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Phoenix International Raceway).
4 – Joey Logano’s career-best finishing position at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2015).
5 – Number of top-five finishes Joey Logano has posted during the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
7 – Number of top-10 finishes Joey Logano has posted during the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
7.9 – Logano’s average finish during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase
10.7 – Logano’s average finish during the 2016 season.
15 – Number of top-five finishes Joey Logano has posted this season.
17.7 – Logano’s career average finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway (third-best among the Championship 4)
25 – Number of top-10 finishes Joey Logano has posted this season.
72 – Total number of laps led at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Joey Logano.
83.5 – Joey Logano’s career driver rating at Homestead-Miami Speedway (fourth-best among the Championship 4).
107.1 – Joey Logano’s driver rating during the first nine races of the 2016 Chase.

Clutch Logano Lands Spot In Championship 4 With Phoenix Victory
In sports, greats elevate their game under intense playoff pressure. It’s hard to wear the crown if you wilt under the intense spotlight.

So, Joey Logano’s race in Phoenix should be considered one of the all-time great performances (and, yes, that might be a bit of a stretch … but hear us out).

It all started well before driving his No. 22 into Phoenix’s Victory Lane on Sunday.

It started after Texas, when one look at the standings and subsequent clinch scenarios showed that only a victory guaranteed entry into the Championship 4. Logano, officially, sat inside the cut-off line, but by only one point. The pressure was immediately on.

In continued in the closing laps, prior to the last caution that flew because Matt Kenseth’s car – and championship hopes – smashed into the wall.

Prior to that caution, Logano fought off Kevin Harvick, the king of Phoenix, lap after lap. That position was vital to Logano’s championship hopes. As they ran, had Harvick passed Logano, the driver of the No. 22 would not have made the Championship 4.

And finally, Logano shrugged off pressure a third time on the final restart at lap 323 at Phoenix, holding the lead and locking in the third spot in the Championship 4.

Logano Looking To Sing A Redemption Song
Above anyone, Joey Logano has experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows of this Chase format, which is now in Year 3.

In 2014, Logano made the Championship 4, only to have his title hopes dashed by a lengthy pit stop that helped lead to a 16th-place finish.

Last season, he swept the Round of 12, but the Martinsville wreck with Matt Kenseth proved the end of his title aspirations. Logano had a series-leading six wins last season.

Now, he’s back for redemption.

His Homestead numbers are solid, but not otherworldly. In seven starts, he has one top five (a fourth, last year) and two top 10s. He led 72 laps in last year’s season finale at Homestead.

Youth To Be Served?
At 26 years old (on Sunday, he’ll be 26 years, 5 months and 27 days, to be exact), Joey Logano wouldn’t rank as the youngest champion in series history, but he’d be the youngest in quite a while.

If Logano wins the championship, he’d be the youngest since Kurt Busch in 2004 (26 years, 3 months and 17 days). He also would join Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch as just the third under-30 champion since the turn of the century.

Anniversary Could Be Truly Golden For Penske
Team Penske owner Roger Penske began 2016 with a grand celebration honoring his 50th anniversary in racing. Now, he looks to end it with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

It would be the culmination of an outstanding year for one of NASCAR’s legendary owners.

His drivers Brad Keselowski (four wins) and Joey Logano (three wins) combined for seven wins and two berths in the Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup. Keselowski was eliminated from the Chase following the Round of 12.

On the IndyCar side, Penske captured the championship with Simon Pagenaud, who – coincidentally – also drives the No. 22.

If Logano can capture the title on Sunday, it would be Penske’s second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. The first came in 2012 with Brad Keselowski and the No. 2.

Gordon A Steady Hand Atop The Box
Driver-crew chief chemistry is a key ingredient to a championship season. And few have a better relationship than the steady Todd Gordon and the ultra-talented Joey Logano.

Though 21 years separate the two, the Gordon-Logano pairing have been a dream combo. The success is evident by taking one look at the stat sheet: 15 wins, 97 top 10s and four top 10 championship finishes.

More proof of Gordon’s success as a leader: Just three months after the heart-wrenching loss in the 2014 Championship Race due in part to a slow pit stop, the 22 team rebounded for their first Daytona 500 victory.