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Champions crowned in Miami

Playoff weekend is over at Homestead-Miami Speedway and NASCAR has three new champions.

The Ford EcoBoost Championship weekend is always exciting and this year was no different. Four drivers in each of the three top traveling series go into the weekend tied and literally how they finish determines who will be named champion in the respective series.

First up was the Camping World Truck series on Friday evening for the Ford EcoBoost 200. Grant Enfinger fell just short of the final four so he came to race with no real pressure. He took the early lead and won stage 1. Stage 2 showed that Brett Moffitt was here to race for the title and he took the stage win. This set up the final stage and the race for the title. Brett Moffitt took the race win and gave the Japanese team Hattori Racing their first point’s championship. Enfinger finished second. Noah Gragson finished third. Stewart Friesen and rookie Sheldon Creed rounded out the five. The two other champion hopefuls finished with Justin Hayley eighth and Johnny Sauter 12th. Myatt Snider won the Rookie of the Year for the truck series. The top five in the Points were: Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Justin Hayley, Johnny Sauter, and Grant Enfinger. Congratulations to The Asin Racing team and driver for their title run.

On Saturday, the Xfinity drivers challenged the mile- and-a-half high-speed oval. Cole Custer threw down the gauntlet to the other championship contenders by putting his Stewart Haas Racing Ford on the pole and sweeping the first two stages. In the final run, it was Tyler Reddick in his Jr. Motorsports Chevy that was the spoiler and took the race win in the Ford EcoBoost 300 and the Xfinity series point’s championship. Custer finished second, just short of the title. John Hunter Nemechek ran strong in the Gannasi Racing Chevy car No. 42 finishing third. Daniel Hemric and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five. Top five in the points were, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric, Christopher Bell, and retiring veteran Elliott Sadler, who finished his last race in fifth. Tyler Reddick literally drove every lap right against the outside wall and was hammer down bouncing off those walls to the finish. Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the entire Jr. Motorsports race team, 2018 NASCAR Xfinity points champion Tyler Reddick.

On Sunday, the premier series of NASCAR took to the track to decide the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series points championship in the Ford EcoBoost 400. Kevin Harvick took the early lead and won stage 1. Kyle Larson was not in the hunt for the championship but he took the Gannasi Chevy to the stage 2 win. There was a late-race caution which set up a short run to the checkers and this played right into the strategy of the Penske Racing team of driver Joey Logano. He was able to power around Martin Truex Jr.to take the race win and the 2018 points Championship. This is Logano’s first points title. Truex Jr. was able to hold on to second place. Harvick was third and Kyle Busch finished fourth. This is also the top four in the point’s battle. Brad Keselowski took fifth in the race but Aric Almirola took fifth in the point’s title in the former Danica Patrick SHR Ford. The preparation of these teams are amazing, 30-plus races and it comes down through the playoffs to the final four drivers battling it out for the title and finishing up first through fourth. Wow, 2018 is in the books and three new drivers know what it means to be called champions! n n n

Our wwards banquet is coming up for the competitors at Elkins Raceway in a few weeks. The top 10 in each division will be honored at the Beverly Fire Hall on Dec 8. Check the track Facebook page for all the details and there will be no tickets sold at the door. I hope to see you there! We have a little winter break but before you know it at the end of the straightaway there will be Another Left Turn.

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