Homestead-Miami Speedway was the venue for the Cup and XFINITY Series races this past weekend. The Camping World Truck Series will return to action on March 5 with the Bucked Up 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. William Byron, after leading a race-high 102 laps in Sunday’s Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400, became the youngest winner in Homestead’s history. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for XFINITY and NASCAR feeder series are also included below as well as details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, Feb 28, Dixie Vodka 400 – Homestead-Miami Speedway – 267 laps.
– No practice or qualifying held for this event. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set Sunday’s lineup based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota Camry) P1 on the starting grid. Joey Logano (#22 Ford Mustang) shared the front row in the P2 spot. #20 Christopher Bell, #4 Kevin Harvick, #1 Kurt Busch, #34 Michael McDowell, #2 Brad Keselowski, #37 Ryan Preece, #19 Martin Truex Jr. and #41 Cole Custer, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 38 entries.
– William Byron (#24 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his 2nd victory in 112 NCS races. This is his 1st victory and 1st top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 2nd top-10 finish in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tyler Reddick (2nd) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in three Homestead races and his 1st top-10 finish in 2021. Martin Truex Jr. (3rd) earned his 11th top-10 finish in 18 races at Homestead. Chase Briscoe (18th) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Polesitter Denny Hamlin, who had to drop to the rear of the field before the start of race after his #11 Toyota was found to have unapproved adjustments, finished in 11th place. Byron – 23 years 2 months 30 days – is the youngest winner in Homestead-Miami Speedway history.
– NCS points leader: Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 20 points over Kevin Harvick (finished 5th in the race).
TOP 16 – NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kevin Harvick +1
3. Joey Logano -1
4. Michael McDowell +2
5. Chase Elliott
6. Kurt Busch +2
7. Christopher Bell -3
8. Kyle Larson +4
9. Martin Truex Jr. +5
10. Brad Keselowski
11. Austin Dillon -2
12. Ryan Preece -5
13. William Byron +16
14. Cole Custer -3
15. Chris Buescher +3
16. Bubba Wallace -3
– Next: Sun, Mar 7, Pennzoil 400 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 267 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, Feb 27, Contender Boats 250 – Homestead-Miami Speedway – 167 laps (+12 laps OT).
– No practice or qualifying held for this event. The starting lineup was set based on a combination of race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) P1 on the starting grid. Daniel Hemric (#18 Toyota Supra) shared the front row in the P2 spot. #20 Harrison Burton, #19 Brandon Jones, #10 Jeb Burton, #02 Brett Moffitt, #68 Brandon Brown, #11 Justin Haley, #51 Jeremy Clements and #2 Myatt Snider, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: #77 Ronnie Bassett Jr. and #31 Jordan Anderson.
– Myatt Snider (#2 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his 1st victory in 37 NXS races. This is his 2nd top-10 finish in 2021 and his 2nd top-10 finish in four races at Homestead-Miami. Brandon Jones (2nd) posted his 5th top-10 finish in eight races at Homestead. Daniel Hemric (3rd) earned his second top-10 finish in five Homestead races. Josh Berry (10th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter Austin Cindric led a race-high 63 laps and finished 5th.
– NXS points leader: Austin Cindric by 29 points over Myatt Snider.
TOP 12 – NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Austin Cindric
2. Myatt Snider +3
3. Daniel Hemric
4. Jeb Burton +2
5. Brandon Jones +5
6. Justin Haley +3
7. Harrison Burton -5
8. Jeremy Clements -1
9. Brandon Brown -5
10. AJ Allmendinger +8
11. Riley Herbst +11
12. Landon Cassill +3
– Next: Sat, Mar 6, Alsco Uniforms 300 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 200 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
– NTS points leader: Ben Rhodes by 9 points over John Hunter Nemechek.
TOP 10 – NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Ben Rhodes
2. John Hunter Nemechek +1
3. Sheldon Creed -1
4. Chandler Smith
5. Matt Crafton +11
6. Carson Hocevar +3
7. Raphael Lessard +1
8. Codie Rohrbaugh +2
9. Johnny Sauter +6
10. Ryan Truex -3
Next: Fri, Mar 5, Bucked Up 200 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 134 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Sat, Feb 13, Lucas Oil 200 – Daytona Int’l Speedway – 80 laps (+2 laps OT).
Winner: Corey Heim – P1: Drew Dollar – Points Leader: Corey Heim
Next: Fri, Mar 12, * Phoenix 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
* Combo race with ARCA Menards West
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Feb 27, Pensacola 200 – Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps.
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Sat, May 8, Nashville 200 – Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville – 200 laps.
ARCA Menards West:
Season opener: Fri, Mar 12, * Phoenix 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
* Combo race with ARCA Menards Series
Whelen Modified Tour:
Season opener: Thu. Apr 8, TBA – Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 23, TBA – Sunset Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Season opener: Sun, Apr 11, TBA – Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera
Track Details
Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera – 0.79-mile oval – Queretaro
Daytona Int’l Speedway – 2.5-mile tri-oval – Daytona Beach, Florida
Fairgrounds Speedway – 0.596-mile oval – Nashville, Tennessee
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Homestead-Miami Speedway – 1.5-mile oval – Homestead, Florida
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 1.5-mile tri-oval – Las Vegas, Nevada
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
New Smyrna Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario