2019 Ford EcoBoost 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Race 36 of 36 in the2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	November 17, 2019 (2019-11-17)
Location	Homestead-Miami Speedway inHomestead, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Distance	267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Average speed	142.654 miles per hour (229.579 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	N/A
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	120
Winner
No. 18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Rick Allen,Jeff Burton,Steve Letarte andDale Earnhardt Jr.
Nielsen ratings	3.737 million[8]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth announcers	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle andRusty Wallace
Turn announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2) andMike Bagley (3 & 4)

The2019 Ford EcoBoost 400 was aMonster Energy NASCAR Cup Seriesrace that was held on November 17, 2019, atHomestead-Miami Speedway inHomestead, Florida. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) oval, it was the 36th and final race of the2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.Kyle Busch won the race, claiming his second Cup Series championship.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is amotor racing track located inHomestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, includingNASCAR, theVerizon IndyCar Series, the Grand-AmRolex Sports Car Series and theChampionship Cup Series.

From 2002 to 2019, Homestead–Miami Speedway hosted the final race of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: theCup Series, theXfinity Series, and theGander Outdoors Truck Series.Ford Motor Company sponsored all three of the season-ending races, under the namesFord EcoBoost 400,Ford EcoBoost 300, andFord EcoBoost 200, respectively. The weekend itself was marketed asFord Championship Weekend. The Xfinity Series held its season-ending races at Homestead from 1995 until 2020, when it was moved toPhoenix Raceway, along with NASCAR's other two series.

Martin Truex Jr. was the first of the four drivers to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, winning the first race of the Round of 8 atMartinsville.

Kevin Harvick clinched the second spot in the Championship 4, winning the second race of the Round of 8 atTexas.

Denny Hamlin clinched the third spot after winning the final race of the Round of 8 atPhoenix.

Kyle Busch clinched the last spot in the Championship 4 based on points.

• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (CC) denotes championship contender

First practice session scheduled for Friday was cancelled due to rain. Final practice session was postponed to Saturday in place of qualifying also due to rain.

Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 31.959 seconds and a speed of 168.966 mph (271.924 km/h).^[9]

Qualifying for Saturday was cancelled due to rain on Friday. Points leaderDenny Hamlin was awarded the pole as a result.^[10]

• Note: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr. were not eligible for stage points because of their participation in the Championship 4.

Stage OneLaps: 80

Stage TwoLaps: 80

Stage ThreeLaps: 107

NOTE: On November 27, 2019, NASCAR revised the official race results and penalized four teams—15 (Premium Motorsports), 27 (Premium Motorsports), 52 (Rick Ware Racing), and 77 (Spire Motorsports)—with 50-point penalties for teams. As all but one of the drivers was ineligible for points, NASCAR assessed the 50-point penalties for teams (as listed), and no drivers were penalized. The four teams were charged withrace manipulation. According to NASCAR officials, the match fixing was deliberately aimed to allow the Premium Motorsports No. 27 team to claim the most owner points of all teams not holding a charter, surpassing the Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 team in points, which is worth $175,000 more to the team in question. In the scheme, the 15, 77, and 52 teams all pulled their cars off the track early so the 27 could pass the 96 team in points.^[11]

• Lead changes: 14 among 5 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 3 for 15
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 48 minutes and 47 seconds
• Average speed: 142.654 miles per hour (229.579 km/h)

Arace manipulation scheme late in the race was uncovered by NASCAR officials involving four teams (threechartered, one open) with end-of-season points and financial bonus payments. This was announced on November 27, 2019, by NASCAR's Scott Miller, who explained after reviewing data during the race, including radio communications among drivers and teams, including interviewing various competitors, that they had uncovered a deliberate race manipulation scheme to help teams with financial bonuses.

The Premium Motorsports No. 27 team was competing with the Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 team to be the highest placed non-charter team, enabling them a higher end of season cash bonus for the teams. Heading into the race, the 27 car was 7 points ahead of the 96 car. According to the official NASCAR statement, they had found that the Spire Motorsports No. 77, Rick Ware Racing No. 52, and Premium Motorsports No. 15 and No. 27 teams deliberately manipulated the finish of the race to allow the No. 27 team (an open team) to score more points than the No. 96 team to claim the Open teams championship, and the financial bonus. Before the race manipulation occurred, Chastain was running 38th around 24 laps back and getting close to being passed by Bubba Wallace in the #43 (which did occur) while the 96 car was running in 29th at 5 laps back. If the fix had not occurred, the 96 would have defeated the 27 by a tiebreaker based on the best finish (with the #96 having a best finish of 15th at the2019 Daytona 500 and the2019 1000Bulbs.com 500 and the #27 having a best finish of 18th at the2019 GEICO 500). The No. 15, 77, and 52 teams each deliberately parked their cars within a 15-lap span near the end of the race in order to ensure the No. 27 team would score two points instead of one, which would have beaten the No. 96 team by one point in the end-of-season results. Spire Motorsports driverReed Sorenson was heard ignoring multiple calls to pit on the radio before finally obliging, and the team subsequently retired the car for "mechanical issues".

NASCAR fined Scott Egglestone (Premium Motorsports) and Kenneth Evans (Rick Ware Racing) $25,000 each and suspended both indefinitely. All three team owners were fined $50,000, and all four cars were assessed a fifty-point penalty.^[12] The same day, Spire Motorsports released a statement saying they would not appeal their penalties, while Premium and RWR did not comment.^[13]

NBC covered the race on the television side.Rick Allen,Jeff Burton,Steve Letarte andDale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race.Dave Burns,Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider andKelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race. While the race itself aired on NBC,NBCSN airedNBCSN NASCAR Hot Pass, a simultaneous live feed dedicated to each of the Championship drivers, with commentary byLeigh Diffey andDale Jarrett. Also, three different angles from in-car cameras and a track map tracked the driver's position and changes throughout the field. This will be the last time thatNBC broadcast the race as this race moves to March and will be broadcast byFox in 2020.

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast onSirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and NASCAR Hall of FamerRusty Wallace called the action of the race for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN in turns 1 & 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the action from turns 3 & 4. Winston Kelley, Steve Post, Kim Coon, and Dillon Welch covered the action of the race for MRN on pit road.

Pos Driver Points 3 1 Kyle Busch 5,040 1 2 Martin Truex Jr. 5,035 (–5) 1 3 Kevin Harvick 5,033 (–7) 3 4 Denny Hamlin 5,027 (–13) 5 Joey Logano 2,380 (–2,660) 1 6 Ryan Blaney 2,339 (–2,701) 1 7 Kyle Larson 2,339 (–2,701) 8 Brad Keselowski 2,318 (–2,722) 1 9 Clint Bowyer 2,290 (–2,750) 1 10 Chase Elliott 2,275 (–2,765) 2 11 William Byron 2,274 (–2,766) 12 Alex Bowman 2,257 (–2,783) 13 Kurt Busch 2,237 (–2,803) 14 Aric Almirola 2,234 (–2,806) 15 Ryan Newman 2,219 (–2,821) 16 Erik Jones 2,194 (–2,846) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 1,318 2 Ford 1,268 (–50) 3 Chevrolet 1,222 (–96) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

• 2019 controversies in the United States
• 2019 in sports in Florida
• 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
• Controversies in Florida
• Match fixing
• NASCAR controversies
• NASCAR races at Homestead-Miami Speedway
• November 2019 sports events in the United States
• Sports scandals in the United States

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