Homestead-Miami_Speedway

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Homestead-Miami Speedway

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race track in Homestead, Florida southwest of Miami. It plays host to Ford Championship Weekend, the final races of the season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Craftsman Truck Series. These races are currently all sponsored by Ford Motor Company, taking the names Ford 400, Ford 300, and Ford 200, respectively.

Beginning in 2009 Homestead will be home to four season-ending racing series events, with the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 for the IRL IndyCar Series moving to October from its traditional early season slot.

History

The speedway was constructed, with the efforts of promoter Ralph Sanchez, as part of a plan to help Homestead rebound after the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew. Groundbreaking began August 24, 1993, less than a year after the hurricane. It opened in November 1995 with a NASCAR Busch Series race. In the spring of 1996, the CART series held its first race there.

The facility is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful in the country. Though located southwest of Miami, the track reflects the art deco district of downtown Miami with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver, among other colors.

However, the racing at Homestead was initially not considered very good. The track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's layout. The sharp, flat turns and aprons made passing difficult and lowered overall speed. The geometry also created unfavorably severe crash angles. In 1996, track management attempted to correct the problems by widening the aprons of the turns by as much as 24 feet. In the summer of 1997, an $8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a rectangle to a traditional, continuous turn oval.

In 2003, the track was reconfigured once again. The turns were changed from mostly flat to steep variable banking. Shortly afterwards, lights were installed to allow night racing for the first time. The renovations were praised by fans, and the track has produced a number of close finishes, including 2005's last-lap battle between Greg Biffle and Mark Martin.

On March 26, 2006 Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana suffered fatal injuries in the warm-up session before the race when he was involved in a high-speed collision with Ed Carpenter at over 215 mph. Other drivers to suffer fatal injuries at the speedway areJohn Nemechek in a Craftsman Truck Race in March 1997, and Jeff Clinton who died in a Grand Am sports car event at the track in March 2002.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Records

As of 11/18/07

Most Wins - (3) - Greg Biffle
Most Top 5's - (4) - Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon
Most Top 10's - (7) - Jeff Gordon
Starts - (9) - 7 Drivers
Poles - (2) - Kurt Busch
Laps Led - (330) - Tony Stewart
Avg Start (Minimum 3 starts) - (2.8) - Kasey Kahne
Avg Finish (Minimum 3 starts) - (7.8) - Carl Edwards

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Winners

- Race extended due to Green-White-Checker Finish

Season	Date	Official Race Name	Winning Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Make	Distance	Margin of Victory
1999	November 14	Pennzoil 400 presented by Kmart	Tony Stewart	20	Home Depot	Pontiac Grand Prix	400.5 mi	5.289 sec
2000	November 12	Pennzoil 400	Tony Stewart	20	Home Depot	Pontiac Grand Prix	400.5 mi	4.561 sec
2001	November 11	Pennzoil Freedom 400	Bill Elliott	9	Dodge/UAW	Dodge Intrepid	400.5 mi	1.42 sec
2002	November 16	Ford 400	Kurt Busch	97	Rubbermaid	Ford Taurus	400.5 mi	2.070 sec
2003	November 16	Ford 400	Bobby Labonte	18	Interstate Batteries	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	400.5 mi	1.749 sec
2004	November 21	Ford 400	Greg Biffle	16	National Guard/Subway	Ford Taurus	406.5 mi *	0.342 sec
2005	November 20	Ford 400	Greg Biffle	16	National Guard/Post-it	Ford Taurus	400.5 mi	0.017 sec
2006	November 19	Ford 400	Greg Biffle	16	National Guard	Ford Fusion	402 mi *	0.389 sec
2007	November 18	Ford 400	Matt Kenseth	17	DeWalt Nano	Ford Fusion	400.5 mi	0.852 sec

Records

IndyCar

Type	Distance (miles / km)	Date	Driver	Chassis / Engine	Time	Average Speed (mph / km/h)
Qualifying (1 lap)	1.485 / 2.390	March 25, 2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Dallara / Honda	0:00:24.462	218.539 / 351.704
Race (200 laps)	297.000 / 477.975	March 26, 2006	Dan Wheldon	Dallara / Honda	1:46:15.530	167.730 / 269.935

NASCAR

Record	Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Time	Average Speed (mph)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Qualifying	2003		Jamie McMurray	Dodge	29.816	181.111
Race (400 miles)	1999	November 14	Tony Stewart	Pontiac	2:51:14	140.335 (before reconfiguration)
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Qualifying	2004		Casey Mears	Dodge	30.348	177.936
Race (300 miles)	2001	November 10	Joe Nemechek	Chevy	2:16:10	132.191 (before reconfiguration)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Qualifying	2007	November 16	Jon Wood	Ford	31.180	173.188
Race (200 miles)	2002	November 15	Ron Hornaday	Chevy	1:30:30	133.260 (before reconfiguration)