As my Twitter followers know, last weekend I headed south to Miami to attend the final NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the year, the Ford EcoBoost 300 with Alliance Truck Parts.
The No. 12 Alliance car, owned by Penske racing and driven by three-time Indy Racing League (IRL) and 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr., entered the final race of the year at Homestead just eight points behind circuit leader Austin Dillon.
Hornish opened the race on the pole and led throughout the early stages before settling in top 10 for much of the race. Dillon’s No. 3 car, owned by his grandfather’s Richard Childress Racing started the race 12th.
Though Dillon spent much of the race navigating congestion just outside of the top 10, a late crash and corresponding pit stops allowing him to pull within two cars of Hornish entering the final green flag on lap 196 of 200.
Late surges by Sprint cup veterans Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano eventually knocked Hornish to eighth at the finish line. Dillon was still unable to pass him, but his 11th place finish gave him the regular season series title by a three-point margin (1180-1177) over Hornish.
