Xfinity:
1. Christopher Bell — Bell has been the class of the field this season, winning 8 races and dominating in many others that he ended up losing. His issue is self-imposed penalties (such as crashes and pit road penalties), but if he can avoid that there is no reason he won’t be champion.
2. Tyler Reddick —Reddick stunned everyone by running the high line to a title last year at Homestead. He backed that performance up this season with 5 wins and a series-leading 23 top-5 finishes. But you need more than a top-5 to win the title — most likely the champ will be the driver in Victory Lane. Reddick has the ability to repeat, but in terms of raw speed, Bell’s car has just been faster all season.
3. Cole Custer — The General is never far from the front, even if he’s not always leading. And he’s been up front enough to earn 7 victories in 2019. He’s also strong at Homestead, so you can’t count him out.
4. Justin Allgaier —Fan favorite Allgaier drove his way into the final four with a win at Phoenix, but I don’t see him pulling out the championship for Jr. Motorsports unless some strategy comes into play, or the other contenders take themselves out with errors or wrecks.
Cup:
1. Martin Truex Jr. —Truex has won more races than anyone in the Cup series this year — that ould by 7 races if you’re counting. And he’s quite strong at the 1.5 mile tracks. Add all that up, and he is your favorite to win the title, after a very strong overall playoff performance has given him lots of momentum on top of his team’s already strong performance.
2. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin’s emotions will be high going into Homestead, after the big win at Phoenix that got him there. He also has 6 total wins, and 19 top-5 finishes. He is the only driver in the final four without a Cup title, so that will motivate him further, but he’ll have to get by Truex to do it, and that’s not going to be easy.
3. Kyle Busch — Busch ran strong at Phoenix, but was not as strong as Hamlin. In recent weeks, he’s been lagging behind Truex. He often struggles getting through traffic in this 2019 aero package, and only dominates when he’s in the lead. It would seem his teammates have taken over the position of team leader at Gibbs in 2019, and that will likely play out again at Homestead.
4. Kevin Harvick — Harvick is always a threat, everyone knows this. But the Toyotas are dominant this year. I just don’t see Harvick’s Ford going to town and putting a whooping on the Toyotas at Homestead in 2019, so he’s the longest shot to win it all.
Matt Myftiu can be reached via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or on Twitter @MattMyftiu.
