2005 Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway

We started this journey in Daytona more than nine months ago. Now it all comes down to this. One last race in each of the top three series to determine the Championship. On Friday the Craftsman Truck Series Champion will be crowned after the Ford 200. Saturday will see the Ford 300 decide Busch Series Championship. Finally, the Ford 400 on Sunday will determine the 2005 NEXTEL Cup Champion.

Speedway ticket office (305) 230-RACE

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Homestead-Miami Speedway is a one and a half mile oval that features computer-designed progressive banking in the turns. This race track easily supports side-by-side racing all the way around the track which makes for a great show all day long. There are multiple grooves to choose from and the fast, wide race track is a fitting tribute to motorsports. This is a fabulous place to decide the Championships.

267 Laps = 400.5 Miles

Tony Stewart leads Jimmie Johnson by 52 points If Tony finishes ninth or better he wins the Cup regardless of what Jimmie does. Mathematically, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle still have a shot, but the 2005 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup is really a two man race.

Top Ten

1. Tony Stewart -0
2. Jimmie Johnson -52
3. Carl Edwards -87
4. Greg Biffle -102
5. Mark Martin -162
6. Ryan Newman -207
7. Matt Kenseth -228
8. Rusty Wallace -399
9. Kurt Busch -441
10. Jeremy Mayfield -476

The Chase is the big story of the week but there are other things to talk about.

On Friday Ted Musgrave and Dennis Setzer will decide the Truck title. If Ted finishes tenth or better he is the Champion.

On Saturday Martin Truex Jr. can claim his second Busch Series title in-a-row with finish of 12th or better.

Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd will both have the final starts of their historic careers on Sunday. As both of these drivers drift away from the sport they deserve a fond farewell.

TV: NBC Sunday, November 20th, 3:00PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and XM Satellite

Actual Race: 4:10 p.m. Eastern

$5,174,014

Last year Kurt Busch started on the pole en route to a fifth place finish which was just enough to squeak the Championship win by eight points over second place finisher Jimmie Johnson.

Greg Biffle won the race that day and lead the most laps but his Victory Lane celebration was overshadowed by the heart-stopping Championship Chase.

This is a difficult one to predict. With so much on the line nearly anything can happen.

In the beginning of the year Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racing dominated, winning 13 of the first 15 races. Now at the end of the season they have won 10 of the last 12 races. I'm going to stick with the favorites.

For my top pick this week I'm going with Greg Biffle to repeat his dominating performance from 2004. Although he hasn't won since June, his team has the tools to get the job done and Biffle runs well on this race track.

My backup pick this week will be Jimmie Johnson. Second in the points Jimmie needs to pull out all the stops and gain as many points as he can to keep the pressure on Tony Stewart. The best way to apply pressure? Win and lead the most laps. I think Jimmie will have a good day.

Championship Picks

Let me finish up this week by making predictions for all three Championships. I'm going to go with Ted Musgrave to become the oldest Truck Series Champion in history. I also think Martin Trues Jr. will do exactly what he needs to to win the Busch Series title.

Finally, I predict that Tony Stewart will very quietly have a top ten finish and close out any opportunity that Johnson has to steal the Championship away.

Regardless of how it all turns out I guarantee that this weekend of racing will be exciting.