Auto Racing: Rebuilt Homestead to end season

One spindly, bearded man said that for three months, he'd worked long hours in the heat and rain at the makeshift batch plant in the parking lot outside the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It was on that smooth, finished, high-banked asphalt that the group leaned together three weeks ago to have their picture taken with NASCAR racing hero Dale Earnhardt Jr. The young star was more than happy to oblige.

He thanked them for all they had done behind the scenes to make the 1.5-mile oval a motorsports showplace not only for the drivers and teams to enjoy, but the thousands of race fans who will take in today's Ford 400 as well.

"I hope I can get some tickets to the race," another paver said.

"I'm proud of this place. It was a lot of work."

Job well done, men. Racing veteran Bobby Hamilton summed it up best following his victory in Friday's Craftsman Truck Series event, calling the new track "the cat's meow."

With fast cats Jamie McMurray and Bobby Labonte leading the 43-car field to the starting line, the fruits of the six-month, $10 million reconfiguration will be born out in side-by-side racing the likes of which Winston Cup drivers have never experienced inside the distinctive art-deco walls.

The 167-lap, 400-mile chase will put the finishing touches on Ford Championship Weekend at the track and the 2003 Winston Cup season as well. Some 80,000 will attend the 36th race of the year.

The weary teams have been going at it each weekend for the past 20 weekends in a row. The irony might be that the first Cup event on the new 20-degree banking will ring in the end of Winston's 33 years of sponsorship of stock car racing's premiere division. The competition will be called the Nextel Cup Series in 2004.

While titles in the Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series were decided earlier this weekend, it was a week ago in Rockingham, N.C. that Matt Kenseth wrapped up the 2003 Winston Cup crown.

He has been the points leader since the fourth race of the sea son. His lone win of the year came in the third race of 2003 at Las Vegas. With 11 top-5 finishes and 25 top-10s this season, Kenseth has earned $3,975,459. But just 137 points separate second through fifth.

The final financial rewards will be affected when they are passed out at the season-ending gala in New York. Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon round out the top five in the points standings, respectively. Newman has won 11 poles and eight races in 2003.

The defending champion of the race is Bill Elliott, last Sunday's winner at the North Carolina Speedway. It might well be "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville's" final start. He has not revealed his plans for 2004.

The new track resulted in increased speeds and plenty of passing in the NCTS and Busch events. Today's event should produce the same. In winning his first-ever Bud pole on Friday,

McMurray posted a lap of 181.111 miles per hour. Labonte went 180.879 and this will be his third top-10 start in the six races he has run at Homestead. He has finished third or better in all six.

With the new banking, where is the best place to pass?

"Well, let's see -- the pits have usually been the best place to pass for the past three years now, so I don't see where that's any different," Labonte deadpanned.

"Track position, fuel mileage and all that stuff will still play into it again."