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The schedule and the weather are beginning to catch up with NASCAR drivers.
MIAMI — Some fans will be back. Some flags will be gone.
And after an exhausting few days, NASCAR is about to offer another daunting test at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Cup Series returns to the track for the third time in eight days Sunday at Homestead, which previously has played host to NASCAR only in November when the heat and humidity are less stifling than in June.
“This is kind of making history for the most grueling few weeks on a driver that I think the Cup level has ever seen,” said Brad Keselowski, who clinched his 2012 NASCAR title at Homestead. “So, you know, with respect to that, it’s the same for everybody . ... I think it’s a great test of will. It’s a great test to the drivers. I think it’s part of what makes these few weeks so compelling, not just as a participant in the sport but as a fan myself.”
He was talking about three races in short order during an already-compressed schedule.
But really, Keselowski’s words could be applied to almost any NASCAR plot point right now.
There’s the physical toll that left some drivers woozy when they finished a steamy race a week ago at Atlanta, followed by a sticky night of racing Wednesday at Martinsville, Va., where pit stops included gas for the tanks and in many cases ice packs for the cockpits.
There’s also the mental and emotional toll; Bubba Wallace, the only black fulltime Cup Series driver, has been in the media spotlight like never before after a week where NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from flying at events, and he adorned his car with the words Black Lives Matter. And several drivers, Wallace included, severed ties with a popular helmet designer this week over social media posts largely related to the flag.
“There’s a lot of support in my corner from all aspects, from sports, from just normal people, people that are wanting to stand up for what’s right,” Wallace said, when asked to describe a week he described as mentally taxing.
Fans — albeit a small number, just 1,000, almost entirely military members — will be back in the stands Sunday, the first time anyone has been on that side of the fence for race day since the pandemic began.
“Yeah, it’s great to have people back,” driver Alex Bowman said. “It’s been really different. I don’t think you really notice how different it is until postrace. Getting out of the cars to almost silence is just a really odd feeling.”
It’s the 22nd time that NASCAR will run at Homestead, and the first time that it’s happening in any month other than November. Sunday will be like most days at this time of year at Homestead — temperatures near 90, humidity making it feel worse, with potential for thunderstorms.
Denny Hamlin will start on the pole Sunday, followed by Joey Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. That’s significant, since six of the past seven winners at Homestead started fifth or better.
Xfinity Series
A late caution flag gave Harrison Burton new life, and he took advantage.
Burton took the inside line on the way to the lead in the final lap, and held on to win the Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway — denying, among others, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Noah Gragson, who seemed to be in full command with seven laps remaining.
Burton, Gragson and Austin Cindric were threewide going into that last lap, and it was Burton — the 19year-old son of former Cup star Jeff Burton, who wound up in front in a wild finish.
Cindric was second and Gragson third, two spots ahead of Earnhardt — part of his car’s JR Motorsports ownership.