Two new names already listed on this season’s Playoff picture, who’s next?

Who is next up to win for first time?

While there still may be 24 more races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season to decide who will qualify for the Playoffs, two new names that will be making the postseason debuts this year – Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell – have already locked themselves in. Looking ahead to this weekend’s race, the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) there are 15 different drivers entered that have won at least one NASCAR national series race at the famous 1.5-mile South Florida track and all 15 are hoping to etch their name on the postseason list.

Two drivers looking for their first win this season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, are the only two drivers entered this weekend that have won in all three NASCAR national series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch has scored two wins (2015, 2019) in the NASCAR Cup Series, two in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2009, 2010) and three in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2010, 2013, 2020). Harvick has collected one victory in each series (Cup 2014, Xfinity 2004, Truck 2009). In last season’s Homestead Cup race, Busch finished posted his ninth career top-10 finishes (sixth) at the track and Harvick finished 26th, his first finish outside the top-10 at the 1.5-mile track since 2007 (19th).

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin is the early favorite for this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chesterfield, Virginia native is tied with Greg Biffle and NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart for the series-most wins with three each. Plus, he is the defending winner of this race. He took last season’s checkered flag from the pole after leading a race-high 137 laps. In total, Hamlin has made 16 series starts at Homestead-Miami posting three wins, five top fives and 11 top 10s.

The next most recent winner in the NASCAR Cup Series at Homestead-Miami was Team Penske’s Joe Logano, who took home the series title after winning the 2018 season finale. Logano has made 12 starts at the South Florida track posting one win, four top fives and six top 10s. The 30-year-old, Logano, finished 27th in the Homestead-Miami race last season, his first finish outside the top-10 since 2014 (16th).

Like Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. won the 2017 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Furniture Row Racing and also collected a series title in the process. Truex finished 12th in last year’s Homestead-Miami race, breaking a streak of 1-2 finishes dating back to 2017 (2017 first-place; 2018 and 2019 runner-up finishes). In 16 starts at Homestead, Truex posted one win, six top fives and 10 top 10s.

The sixth active driver to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway is Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch, who won back in 2002 driving for Roush Fenway Racing. In total, Busch has made 20 series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway putting up one win, four top fives and seven top 10s. He finished 17th in last season’s event.

Seven additional NASCAR Cup Series drivers entered this weekend have won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series; including Brad Keselowski (two wins: 2011, 2013), Chase Briscoe (2020), Tyler Reddick (2019, 2018), Cole Custer (2017), Daniel Suarez (2016), Kyle Larson (2015) and Ryan Newman (2005). Briscoe is the only driver of the seven to win at Homestead in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2020) and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2017).

Two additional NASCAR Cup Series drivers entered this weekend have won at Homestead-Miami Speedway solely in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – William Byron (2016) and Bubba Wallace (2014).

 

NASCAR Cup Series Driver Playoff Outlook Following Race No. 2 of 36
Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Race Wins	Stage Wins	Playoff Pts	Pts From Cutoff
1	Christopher Bell	82	2	1	0	5	In On Wins
2	Michael McDowell	75	2	1	0	5
3	Denny Hamlin	104	2	0	3	3	69
4	Joey Logano	92	2	0	0	0	57
5	Kevin Harvick	83	2	0	0	0	48
6	Chase Elliott	79	2	0	1	1	44
7	* Ryan Preece	74	2	0	0	0	39
8	Kurt Busch	65	2	0	0	0	30
9	Austin Dillon	64	2	0	0	0	29
10	Brad Keselowski	64	2	0	0	0	29
11	Cole Custer	54	2	0	0	0	19
12	Kyle Larson	53	2	0	0	0	18
13	Bubba Wallace	52	2	0	0	0	17
14	Martin Truex Jr.	47	2	0	0	0	12
15	Corey LaJoie	38	2	0	0	0	3
16	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	38	2	0	0	0	3
17	Kyle Busch	35	2	0	0	0	-3
18	Chris Buescher	34	2	0	0	0	-4
19	Ryan Blaney	34	2	0	0	0	-4
20	Ross Chastain	33	2	0	0	0	-5