Date: 10-23-2022.

Name of the race: Dixie Vodka 400.

Track: Homestead Miami Speedway.

Laps: 267.

Pole winner: William Byron.

Outside pole: Christopher Bell.

Stage 1 winner: Kyle Larson.

Stage 2 winner: Kyle Larson.

Stage 3 winner (won the race): Kyle Larson. 

Top 5: Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, and Brad Keselowski. 

FYI: Miami! Best known for its spectacular beaches, non-stop nightlife, luxurious hotels, and gorgeous sunny weather, it is also the home of Homestead Miami Speedway which the NASCAR Cup series now visits once a year. Homestead used to host the championship race for years, taking the duty away from Atlanta in 1999 and would host the Championship race until 2020, when Phoenix would take over. Since then, Homestead has held regular points-paying races right in the middle of the round of 8 this year. Going into the race, there was a lot of buzz among fans, particularly about Bubba Wallace, who was suspended a week prior after intentionally wrecking Kyle Larson in Las Vegas. William Byron (playoff driver) won the pole, with Christopher Bell (also a playoff driver) starting to his outside, both having dreams of winning and joining Joey Logano in the final four. That would quickly change when Kyle Larson took the lead from William Byron midway through the first stage. No matter what team Larson has driven for, he has come close to earning multiple victories at the 1.5-mile track but has fallen short again. The #5 Hendrickcars.com Chevy team would win the first stage with Byron trailing in 2nd and Martin Truex Jr., still looking for his first win of the year, in his Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, finishing in 3rd. Throughout the second stage, Larson would continue to lead and dominate the race. Larson, taking a page out of his dirt racing book, would run the faster top groove of the track for the entirety of the day, running mere inches away from the outside wall and carrying as much speed as possible off the corners onto the straights. Larson would also win the second stage with Truex and Byron running 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott would finish 4th and 6th, both of which still looking for a win to secure a spot into the Championship 4 at Phoenix, and after both coming off an uneventful Las Vegas race, they would both need as many playoff points as possible. During green flag pit cycles, Ryan Blaney would spin and bring out a caution, jumbling up the field a bit and putting himself and Elliott a lap down after they had both exited the pit area and shuffling them both back towards the middle of the pack. Going into the final stage Larson and Truex (who benefitted the most from the caution) would race for the lead into stage three. Truex, who had managed to pass Kyle Larson, was looking like he might be able to steal the win right out from under the 5 team when another late race caution hit with only 23 to go. The leaders would like all pit, with the setting sun right in the eyes of everyone entering pit road. Truex, who had entered pit road ahead of Larson, was having trouble seeing hit pit box with the sun in his eyes and was looking like he would miss his pit altogether. Truex would brake late and begin to turn in on his pit stall when Larson, not anticipating the 19 to turn in as late as he did, would hit Truex, sending him spinning across pit road, somehow entering his pit stall perfectly, yet turned backward. Luckily, nobody in the 19 pit box was hit by Truex’s car, and he would lose a lot of positions after the incident, giving the lead back to the five car. After years of trial at Homestead, Kyle Larson would finally go on to win, having his best performance of the year and claiming win number three of 2022. Larson would say in post-win interviews it was “Definitely the best run we‘ve had all year long,‘‘ he added. “We‘ve been capable of it, I feel like many weekends, we just hadn‘t quite put it all together.” 

Next race: Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon for not only the final race of the round of eight but also the last race before the championship at Phoenix.