Season finales will decide point battles

MIAMI -- In the world of big-time stock car racing, little happens by accident. Everything from sponsorship deals to a car's color is coolly calculated to guarantee the biggest, most beneficial public-relations boost possible.

And so it is with NASCAR's four-day Championship Weekend, which begins Thursday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For the first time, all three of NASCAR's premier circuits -- the Craftsman Truck, Busch Grand National and Winston Cup -- will end their seasons at the same track.

The hope was that all three points titles would be decided on the same weekend.

"That's what we want," says Kevin Triplett, NASCAR's managing director of business operations. "It's designed to go down to the last race. Every sport does things to make its sport more interesting. It's not always going to be what we want, but over the years the majority of times it will go down to the last weekend."

In two of the three series -- Busch driver Greg Biffle can relax after clinching the title at Phoenix -- that's exactly what will happen this weekend.

Winston Cup driver Tony Stewart leads Mark Martin by 89 points coming into Homestead, which he calls "my track" after winning two of the three races held there. On Sunday, if Stewart finishes 22nd or better, the title is his, no matter what Martin does. That would make him the first driver to win a Winston Cup title while on NASCAR probation.

Roush Racing's Martin, who has never won a title but has finished second three times, has avoided questions about the points race recently, but car owner Jack Roush said his driver is feeling the pressure.

"I'm just trying to keep Mark focused," he said. "Mark, from time to time, gets down on himself to the point of destruction, to the point of not being productive. It would be great if he could win another race. It would be great if he could close on Tony, but Tony definitely has the edge."

And Stewart, too, is feeling the pressure, says Jeff Gordon, a four-time Winston Cup champion.

"This week, if I were Tony, I wouldn't open a newspaper. I wouldn't watch a TV," Gordon said. "I'd go away and maybe spend some time with my team, pump them up. And I'd just go to Homestead and run my race."

That's what Craftsman Truck driver Rick Crawford plans to do. In that series, only 71 points separate three drivers -- points leader Mike Bliss, Crawford and Ted Musgrave.

"This race is probably the most important race of my career so far," says Crawford, who has started 148 Craftsman Truck races but made it to the winner's circle just once -- a 1998 win at Homestead-Miami. "It's been a good track for us. We've been really competitive down there. That (1998) race just happened to be a perfect day for us. And I can't wait to win again."

Close, pressure-packed finishes are nothing new for NASCAR. This will the 19th time since 1975 that the Winston Cup championship will be determined on the final weekend. The Craftsman Truck title has gone down to the last race six times in its eight-year history, and four of the past six Busch championships have been decided on the last weekend of the season. Concluding all three series at one spot on the same weekend seems to be a winner, too.

"I think it's good for NASCAR, and it's good for the fans," says driver Jack Sprague, a three-time Craftsman Truck series winner who also has raced on the Busch and Winston Cup circuits. "They get to see champions crowned in all three series."

And fans can expect more tripleheaders next season.

Although staging three races at the same track on the same weekend isn't the norm for NASCAR -- it has never happened at Homestead, for instance -- there have been nine tripleheaders this season, and 12 are scheduled for 2003.

All of which should benefit the Craftsman Truck series.

"We've found that with the exposure the truck series gets, people are finding out it often is the most exciting race of the three series," Gray says.

The crowds at Homestead have come to expect big races, if not championships. Two of the past three Winston Cup titles were decided at the track, with Bobby Labonte clinching in 2000 and Dale Jarrett in 1999.