|
The Homestead- Miami
Speedway opened in 1995, but the first Sprint Cup race
wasn’t run until 1999. Six different drivers have won at
Homestead, but Greg Biffle is the only multiple winner
with three. Homestead is one of only two tracks that
Jeff Gordon has never won at. Tony Stewart won the very
first race here in November of 1999 and Matt Kenseth won
last year.
2009 Ford 400 Championship Odds
The tracks original
configuration was a flat oval with short "chute"
straightaways between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4.
Five years later, an $8 million renovation turned the
track into a more conventional oval with 6 degrees of
banking in its turns.
Then, in 2003, Homestead-Miami Speedway took on its
current shape. The tracks turns were rebuilt with
variable banking from 18 degrees in the bottom groove to
20 degrees near the outside wall.
That project cost another $12 million and set
Homestead-Miami Speedway up to host to Ford Championship
Weekend, a climactic tripleheader featuring the season
finales in all three of NASCAR top national series ý
Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck.
Homestead-Miami Speedway Track Specs
Track length: 1.5 miles
Banking: Corners — 18-20 degrees (variable); straights —
4 degrees
Front stretch: 1,760 feet
Backstretch: 1,760 feet
Race length (Sprint Cup): 400 miles (267 laps)
Grandstand seating capacity: 65,000
Opened: 1995
2009 Ford 400 Winner
Denny Hamlin won the FORD
400 Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his
4th win of the season and 8th of his career. It is the
first win for Toyota at Homestead. Hamlin started 38th,
the farthest a driver has started and won at Homestead.
Burton finished 2nd, followed by Harvick in 3rd, Busch
came in 4th, and #48-Johnson, became the 2009 Sprint Cup
Champion. This was Johnson 4th NASCAR Sprint Cup
Championship in a row, the first driver ever to so in
NASCAR's 61 year history.
|
