NASCAR’s championship contenders ready to get down to business in South Florida

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Crispy Toyota and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, speak to the media during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship 4 Media Day at Westin Diplomat on November 19, 2015 in Hollywood, Florida
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Crispy Toyota and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, speak to the media during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship 4 Media Day at Westin Diplomat on November 19, 2015 in Hollywood, Florida
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, speak to the media during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship 4 Media Day at Westin Diplomat on November 19, 2015 in Hollywood, Florida

Whether fans and competitors like it or loathe it, NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup format has narrowed a field for 16 drivers down to four.  Now it comes down to one race, with those four drivers all racing for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. After the elimination races the four drivers now face the task of that one single race. Those four drivers met with the media Thursday in South Florida as they arrived to prepare for Sundays Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Each driver has his own agenda and each has a story that will make for some great headlines when it’s all over.  The winner of Sundays race might not be the biggest story. That will come from the Chase driver who finishes ahead of the other three and comes away with this year’s title.

Kevin Harvick is the favorite of many. He won the race at Homestead and the title last year by one point.  With his win here last season and experience winning a title, if Harvick can avoid trouble, he will be the driver to beat. He said Thursday that he embraces the role of favorite.

“It makes you feel good about the way that the team has run and the things that we have done,” Harvick said. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.