Truex Wins First Cup Championship, But Day Belongs To Earnhardt

Martin Truex Jr. earned his first NASCAR Cup championship yesterday with a win in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was the "eighth win of the season for Truex and first championship for Denver-based Furniture Row Racing." It was the "second title in three years for manufacturer Toyota." Missing from the race was FRR Owner Barney Visser, who "suffered a heart attack two weeks ago." Visser watched the race on TV (AP, 11/19). Truex also "became the first Cup champion from New Jersey" (USA TODAY, 11/20).

Despite Truex' win, it was "another Junior who won the hearts, and the day." Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s farewell race "topped the Homestead marquee in terms of emotion and historical heft." A "huge, pulsing crowd of media and fans with pit passes crowded his red No. 88 Chevrolet as he finished the race and climbed from his cockpit to cheers" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/20). The event "felt more like a Sunday joy ride than a final race for NASCAR's most beloved driver" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 11/20).