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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- While the focus of this weekend's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be squarely on the drivers contending for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, the unique format allows for a race within a race.
So while Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon fight for the right to be called Nextel Cup champion, several other drivers will fight for the right to be called a race winner in 2004.
Only three non-Chase drivers -- Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Greg Biffle -- have won this season, but several others were darn close and probably should have won a race or two.
Only Jeff Gordon has more top-10 finishes than Jamie McMurray, but McMurray is without a victory. Kasey Kahne has finished second five times -- including two close losses to Matt Kenseth at Rockingham and to Elliott Sadler at Texas -- but has no victories.
Bobby Labonte has won a race in nine consecutive seasons, but not in 2004. Dale Jarrett's streak of 11 years in a row with a victory will end if he doesn't win Sunday.
Kevin Harvick has won every year he's raced in Cup -- except this one. Jeff Burton has seen his season turn around since he became Harvick's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, but a victory has eluded him.
"Unfortunately, it's been awhile since I have won in a Cup car, and that's driving me crazy, but we can't change what we do because of that," Burton said. "Every week we have to work hard and race hard and be smart. We have to put ourselves in position to win and when the time is right, the time will be right.
"We can't make something happen that we haven't already been trying to make happen just because it's the last race of the year."
McMurray has made things happen, especially late in the year. McMurray has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the past 13 races, helping him lock up 11th place in the points standings and the nearly $1 million bonus that goes with it.
"It's pretty cool to head into this race knowing that we have 11th place in the points locked up," McMurray said. "This team has shown over the last 10 races that we're definitely going to be a contender for the championship next year. Hopefully we can end this season with a victory this weekend."
That's the goal for everyone who makes the race Sunday, for if the old saying, "You're only as good as your last race" means anything, the Ford 400 winner will be good for a long time.
"It's important to get a win, not so much for keeping a streak alive or anything like that, but more just to get a win," said Labonte, the defending race winner. "We've struggled this year, obviously, and it'd be nice to finish out strong. We entered the '96 and '97 season finales without wins and won both of those races, so I'd like to do that again."
This weekend's race will also help jump-start a driver's 2005 campaign. Win Sunday and you can say you have the momentum heading into the offseason.
Kahne has worn the rookie label well all season, narrowly missing on a few victories and on reaching the Chase. His performance has made Kahne one of the leading contenders to break into the Chase in 2005, and he knows it.
"I definitely will have higher expectations, and I think our whole team will," Kahne said of 2005. "I will go in expecting to run in the top 10 more consistently, have more opportunities to win races, be in the top 10 at the end of the year and be able to run for the points championship.
"It's going to be tough again. Everybody gets better year after year. I'll be better as a driver and my team will be better as far as working with me."
Harvick, however, doesn't look forward to the beginning of 2005 as much as he looks forward to the end of 2004.
"I'm probably more ready than ever for the season to end," Harvick said. "It just seems like it's lasted a lot longer than it has in the past. I don't know if it's all the racing I've done this year or what. This racing team has had a pretty up-and-down season. We've run some good at some tracks and also had some unfortunate circumstances come our way.
"I still don't think our team will change that much next year. We've been consistent, from pit stops to setup. We just couldn't seem to put up anything in the win column. It seemed like there was always something preventing us from reaching our bigger goals."
Several drivers might agree with him after Sunday. One, though, might not.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- While the focus of this weekend's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be squarely on the drivers contending for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, the unique format allows for a race within a race.
So while Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon fight for the right to be called Nextel Cup champion, several other drivers will fight for the right to be called a race winner in 2004.
Only three non-Chase drivers -- Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Greg Biffle -- have won this season, but several others were darn close and probably should have won a race or two.
Only Jeff Gordon has more top-10 finishes than Jamie McMurray, but McMurray is without a victory. Kasey Kahne has finished second five times -- including two close losses to Matt Kenseth at Rockingham and to Elliott Sadler at Texas -- but has no victories.
Bobby Labonte has won a race in nine consecutive seasons, but not in 2004. Dale Jarrett's streak of 11 years in a row with a victory will end if he doesn't win Sunday.
Kevin Harvick has won every year he's raced in Cup -- except this one. Jeff Burton has seen his season turn around since he became Harvick's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, but a victory has eluded him.
"Unfortunately, it's been awhile since I have won in a Cup car, and that's driving me crazy, but we can't change what we do because of that," Burton said. "Every week we have to work hard and race hard and be smart. We have to put ourselves in position to win and when the time is right, the time will be right.
"We can't make something happen that we haven't already been trying to make happen just because it's the last race of the year."
McMurray has made things happen, especially late in the year. McMurray has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the past 13 races, helping him lock up 11th place in the points standings and the nearly $1 million bonus that goes with it.
"It's pretty cool to head into this race knowing that we have 11th place in the points locked up," McMurray said. "This team has shown over the last 10 races that we're definitely going to be a contender for the championship next year. Hopefully we can end this season with a victory this weekend."
That's the goal for everyone who makes the race Sunday, for if the old saying, "You're only as good as your last race" means anything, the Ford 400 winner will be good for a long time.
"It's important to get a win, not so much for keeping a streak alive or anything like that, but more just to get a win," said Labonte, the defending race winner. "We've struggled this year, obviously, and it'd be nice to finish out strong. We entered the '96 and '97 season finales without wins and won both of those races, so I'd like to do that again."
This weekend's race will also help jump-start a driver's 2005 campaign. Win Sunday and you can say you have the momentum heading into the offseason.
Kahne has worn the rookie label well all season, narrowly missing on a few victories and on reaching the Chase. His performance has made Kahne one of the leading contenders to break into the Chase in 2005, and he knows it.
"I definitely will have higher expectations, and I think our whole team will," Kahne said of 2005. "I will go in expecting to run in the top 10 more consistently, have more opportunities to win races, be in the top 10 at the end of the year and be able to run for the points championship.
"It's going to be tough again. Everybody gets better year after year. I'll be better as a driver and my team will be better as far as working with me."
Harvick, however, doesn't look forward to the beginning of 2005 as much as he looks forward to the end of 2004.
"I'm probably more ready than ever for the season to end," Harvick said. "It just seems like it's lasted a lot longer than it has in the past. I don't know if it's all the racing I've done this year or what. This racing team has had a pretty up-and-down season. We've run some good at some tracks and also had some unfortunate circumstances come our way.
"I still don't think our team will change that much next year. We've been consistent, from pit stops to setup. We just couldn't seem to put up anything in the win column. It seemed like there was always something preventing us from reaching our bigger goals."
Several drivers might agree with him after Sunday. One, though, might not.
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