NASCAR's grand finale at Homestead

As we learn that the Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ganassi Racing teams will merge for 2009, let's point out that this coming weekend will be NASCAR's grand finale for all three series and all will race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Craftsman Truck teams are preparing for the Ford 200 to be run on Friday evening. Only three points separate leader Johnny Benson (Tundra No 23) and Ron Hornaday (Chevy No 33). The race will be shown live on SPEED TV and Canadians J.R. Fitzpatrick (Chevy No 71) Mario Gosselin (Chevy No 12) will be part of it.

The Nationwide teams will be on the track for the Ford 300 at the end of Saturday afternoon, a race that will be seen live on ESPN and TSN2. Will points' leader Clint Bowyer (Chevy No 2) be able to keep runner-up Carl Edwards (Ford No 60 and only 56 points behind) in second place? Canadian D.J. Kennington (Dodge No 81) will be part of that race.

Finally, late Sunday afternoon, the mighty Ford 400 Sprint Cup race will go underway to determine if Jimmie Johnson (Chevy No 48) will be able to make it three championships in a row keeping Carl Edwards (Ford No 99) in second place. He will start the race with a 141-point handicap. This event will be shown live on ABC, TSN and RIS (French) at 3:30 pm.