For the last 21 years NASCAR has closed out its Cup Series season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This year that plan changed with Homestead getting reshuffled toward the start of the season. Homestead’s originally scheduled March event – the Dixie Vodka 400 – was postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, and this week the Cup Series heads back to South Florida for the makeup.

NASCAR Dixie Vodka 400 Preview

Despite only having one victory in 19 starts at the track, Kevin Harvick has shown since the start of his career that Homestead-Miami Speedway is a place he knows how to get around better than anybody in the business.

Harvick (5.5-1) has only finished outside the top-10 twice in his 19 Cup Series starts at the track. His average finish of 6.4 leads all drivers all-time at the track and is three positions better than the average finish of any other driver in the history of Cup racing at the facility.

In the last six events at the track Harvick has a victory, a second place, two third place finishes and two fourth place finishes, so he’s looking like a strong contender for the Dixie Vodka 400.

Chase Elliott’s average finish of 9.5 at Homestead in four career starts at the track is second best all-time. But despite a strong average run at the track, Elliott (8-1) hasn’t come close to winning there, with a best finish of fifth. Elliott has been a contender to win in the last seven Cup Series events this season with a victory and four top-five finishes during that span.

Kyle Busch (6-1) is one of only two drivers all-time with more than one Cup Series victory at the track. Busch won last year’s season finale at Homestead to clinch his second Cup Series title. He also won at the track in 2015. Busch is still looking for his first victory in 2020 after 11 events.

Over 15 Cup Series starts at Homestead Busch has been leading the race for 463 laps, which equates to 12.4 percent of all the laps he’s run with the series there. But there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground for Busch at the track, where he’s either been on or way off. He has eight top-10 Cup finishes over his career, but also seven finishes of 19^th or worse at the track so given his recent form might not be the best bet online for the Dixie Vodka 400.

With two career victories at Homestead, Denny Hamlin (11-1) joins Busch as the only drivers ever to have multiple Cup Series wins at Homestead. Hamlin had wins at Homestead in 2009 and 2013. Since that win in 2015 Hamlin’s best finish in the last six events at the track has been a seventh. His 10.5 average finish in 15 starts at Homestead is fourth best of active drivers.

Martin Truex Jr. (5.5-1) rolls into Homestead carrying the momentum of his first victory of the season Wednesday at Martinsville Speedway. Truex has been ultra-comfortable at Homestead over the last three years with a win in 2017 and runner-up finishes in the last two events there. He has top-five finishes in six career events there and his 10.2 average finish over 15 career starts is third best of all-time in Cup Series action.

Joey Logano’s lone victory at Homestead came in 2018 to clinch his first Cup Series title. Logano (10-1) has six top-10 finishes in 11 career Cup Series starts at Homestead.

Brad Keselowski (11-1) rolls into Homestead riding the high of six consecutive finishes in the top-nine, which includes two victories and four finishes in the top-four. But Homestead and the Dixie Vodka 400 has never been all that friendly to the Penske Motorsports driver. In 12 starts there he has five top-10 finishes.