NASCAR Cup Series | 3 takeaways from Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway | The State

Martin Truex Jr. won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which gave him his first title, but there are other implications from the race as well. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 race:

1. What does the title do for Truex’s legacy?

This is the boost Truex always needed on his resume. Think about it: he already had two championships in the Xfinity Series, plus numerous wins and poles and just about everything you could accomplish on a race track. After coming up short in 2015, Truex said earlier this week he’s been working to get back to the championship ever since then, and that showed on Sunday. He finished the year with eight victories, more than any other driver, and he should be in contention for more titles in the years to come. Truex’s legacy now has the piece it was always missing; the only place for him to go from here is up. That means more wins, more championship berths, and if this year’s dominance was any indication, more titles for Truex.

2. As for the legacies of the losing three...

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No, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick didn’t win their second championships, but they also put up a heck of a battle against Truex on Sunday. Busch especially was the closest to stealing the title away from Truex, but ultimately he ran out of time. All three are still terrific drivers, and they should have more opportunities to challenge for championships in the future. Still, them not coming out on top means Jimmie Johnson is still the only active multi-time champion in the Cup Series, and that’ll remain the case potentially until this time next year. If any of them want to truly lock down a Hall of Fame bid, a second championship is probably the clearest and easiest way to do so – unfortunately for Harvick, Keselowski, and Busch, that dream will have to wait at least until 2018.

3. Talent (and star power) drain will hurt the sport

You could argue Sunday’s race was primarily about naming a season champion, but you could just as easily say it was about celebrating Dale Earnhardt Jr. one final time. Ever since Earnhardt’s April announcement that he would retire at season’s end, we’ve been waiting for this moment to finally come. Now he’s gone, and the legions of fans who showed up each and every weekend just for Earnhardt will have to find a new driver to support – or else the sport is going to suffer some. It doesn’t help that former champion Matt Kenseth or Danica Patrick, who has remained popular despite her poor performances this season, are also done. Essentially, that’s a lot of star power and talent scurrying out of the sport at once. If younger drivers don’t step up and stake their claims for those fans, those fans might leave the sport, and that’s the last thing NASCAR needs right now.

TableStyle: SP-nascarresultsfullCCI Template: SP-nascarresultsfull

	St	Driver	Car	Laps	*	Rating
1	2	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	267		40
2	3	Kyle Busch	Toyota	267		35.
3	7	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	267		54.
4	9	Kevin Harvick	Ford	267		33.
5	18	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	267		39.
6	19	Joey Logano	Ford	267		36.
7	5	Brad Keselowski	Ford	267		30.
8	4	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	267		33.
9	1	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	267		32.
10	21	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	267		27.
11	17	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	267		26.
12	16	Clint Bowyer	Ford	267		26.
13	13	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	266		24.
14	26	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	266		23.
15	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	266		22.
16	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	265		21.
17	30	David Ragan	Ford	265		20.
18	20	Aric Almirola	Ford	265		19.
19	12	Trevor Bayne	Ford	265		18.
20	29	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	265		17.
21	14	Erik Jones	Toyota	265		16.
22	8	Kurt Busch	Ford	265		24.
23	28	Landon Cassill	Ford	265		14.
24	23	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	265		13.
25	24	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	264		12.
26	32	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	264		11.
27	22	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	264		10.
28	33	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	264		9.
29	11	Ryan Blaney	Ford	264		8.
30	31	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	263		7.
31	34	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	261		0.
32	36	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	259		5.
33	27	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	234	1	4.
34	10	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	225	2	3.
35	37	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	212	3	2.
36	38	David Starr	Chevrolet	175	2	0.
37	25	Danica Patrick	Ford	139	1	1.
38	39	Ray Black Jr	Chevrolet	49	4	0.
39	35	Joey Gase	Toyota	4	1	0.

*Reason out: 1-accident, 2-brakes, 3-engine, 4-garage.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 131.893 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 2 minutes, 11 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.681 seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 26 laps.

Lead Changes: 13 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 0; M.Truex 1-12; K.Larson 13-82; B.Keselowski 83; K.Larson 84-121; Ky.Busch 122-123; K.Larson 124-145; Ky.Busch 146; K.Larson 147-161; M.Truex 162-175; Ky.Busch 176; M.Truex 177; Ky.Busch 178-216; M.Truex 217-267

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Larson, 4 times for 141 laps; M.Truex, 4 times for 74 laps; Ky.Busch, 4 times for 39 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 0 laps; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 0 laps.

Wins: M.Truex, 8; Ky.Busch, 5; K.Larson, 4; J.Johnson, 3; B.Keselowski, 3; D.Hamlin, 2; K.Harvick, 2; R.Stenhouse, 2; R.Blaney, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; A.Dillon, 1; K.Kahne, 1; M.Kenseth, 1; J.Logano, 1; R.Newman, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. M.Truex, 5040; 2. Ky.Busch, 5035; 3. K.Harvick, 5033; 4. B.Keselowski, 5030; 5. C.Elliott, 2377; 6. D.Hamlin, 2353; 7. M.Kenseth, 2344; 8. K.Larson, 2320; 9. R.Blaney, 2305; 10. J.Johnson, 2260; 11. A.Dillon, 2224; 12. J.McMurray, 2224; 13. R.Stenhouse, 2222; 14. Ku.Busch, 2217; 15. K.Kahne, 2198; 16. R.Newman, 2196.