HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) The Latest on NASCAR’s championship weekend (all times local):
2:15 p.m.
NASCAR championship contender Kyle Busch topped the speed chart in the first practice for Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Busch turned a lap of 172.695 mph and was followed by fellow title contenders Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. Busch, Truex and Harvick all turned seven laps. Brad Keselowski, the fourth driver in the field, was 21st on the chart after just five laps.
Kyle Larson had the fastest 10-lap average at 165.012 mph.
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1:15 p.m.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran into problems in the first practice session of his final race weekend.
Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet had engine problems that will require a new motor before NASCAR’s season finale Sunday.
Earnhardt, who drives the Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, will retire after the Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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12:30 p.m.
Tony Stewart has enjoyed his first year of retirement.
The three-time NASCAR Cup champion kept busy running Stewart-Haas Racing and has driver Kevin Harvick racing for the championship Sunday.
Stewart has won championships as a driver and an owner at SHR. This is the first time in the Cup series he’ll be rooting for a title from the pit box.
Stewart has continued to run dirt track races and attends most Cup races. SHR won the Daytona 500 with Kurt Busch.
”There was one person over the course of the winter that told me this was going to be a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” Stewart said Friday. ”I looked him and said, `You’re crazy. I already feel the weight off my shoulders.’ But as the year’s gone, they’re right. It has been a lot bigger challenge than I thought it would be. I’ve been busier than I’ve been the last five years.”
Stewart owns race tracks, teams, a sprint car series and did what he wanted this year in NASCAR on his own terms.
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11:45 a.m.
Martin Truex Jr. will have his race team owner cheering him on from afar.
Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser is sidelined in Colorado, recovering from surgery and unable to travel after suffering his own heart attack a week ago.
”I am linked together with text messages with him,” FRR president Joe Garone said. ”It was a tough operation. It’s going to take time to where he can move around.”
Garone said Visser will likely watch from his home.
The Denver-based Furniture Row runs its final race as a two-car operation. Erik Jones will move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018 and FRR will continue to run with Truex.
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10:30 a.m.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he’s at peace with his decision to retire.
Earnhardt is calling it a career after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Earnhardt says he’s been touched by the well-wishes and video tributes in his honor. The 14-time winner of NASCAR’s most popular driver award says he’s healthy and hopes to finish the race on his terms.
”It would be a bit of a heartbreaker if we have the kind of issue that would take us out of an event and we couldn’t finish,” he said Friday.
Earnhardt is rooting for long-time friend Martin Truex Jr. to win the Cup championship Sunday.
”I’m Team Martin this weekend, for sure,” Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt was also set to pose for team photos with friend Matt Kenseth, also on his way out of NASCAR. Kenseth has no ride lined up for 2018
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10:15 a.m.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he would consider returning to Homestead-Miami Speedway next season to drive in the Xfinity Series finale.
Earnhardt is set to retire from the NASCAR Cup Series after of Sunday’s season finale. Earnhardt had committed to two or three races next year in NASCAR’s second-tier series.
Earnhardt won consecutive Xfinity Series championships in 1998 and 1999.
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10 a.m.
Defending Truck Series champion and 2017 title contender Johnny Sauter posted the fastest lap at 169.629 mph in the first practice of the day. Christopher Bell, also among the four championship contenders, had the best 10-lap average at 165.967 mph.
Austin Cindric was sixth and Matt Crafton 13th. Cindric, Bell, Crafton and Sauter are in the winner-take-all championship race Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Crafton is a two-time series champion, and Sauter won the title last year.
The trucks qualify in the afternoon and the championship race begins at 8 p.m.
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9:30 a.m.
Johnny Sauter signed a contract extension with GMS Racing the same day he was set to defend his NASCAR Truck Series championship.
The 39-year-old Sauter will race for the championship Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Sauter, Matt Crafton, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric are vying for the title on the 1 +-mile track.
Sauter says ”to be able to compete at this level, where you know you could win any given weekend, is incredible and I’m excited to be able to continue with the No. 21 team next year.”
Sauter joined GMS last year, won three races and the championship.
This year, the journeyman won a career-best four races and has a shot to become the second Truck Series driver to win back-to-back titles.
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