Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin leads Jimmie Johnson by 15 points with Kevin Harvick lurking just 46 points back in the closest NASCAR Sprint Cup challenge in history. The trio will battle for the championship in the final race of the season in the Ford 400 on Sunday from the Homestead-Miami Speedway on ESPN at 1 p.m. The crew chief for the No. 11 Toyota piloted by Hamlin is veteran Mike Ford.
Talking to Ford, he feels a certain confidence as he prepares his crew and his driver for one more race.
Ford on his strategy » You have to race hard. If you’re in a position to where you can run in front of the 48 and the 29, then you’ll do that. But you won’t take chances if you are in that situation to be able to outrun those guys. As long as we lead a lap and finish second, we still win. This is about running a smart race. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t do anything stupid. If we don’t have to go win the race, then don’t take chances. It is great to have a 15-point lead, so the key is don’t make mistakes that take yourself out of contention at the end of the day. I won’t say that you can play defense in this situation because you’re not sitting on a huge lead. So you just have to be open-ended and paying attention to what others are doing and don’t let them get anything over on you.
Ford on what his driver does best » He stays calm and works through issues. I think that’s what Denny has really come to do well this year. I won’t say better than the 48. I think the difference between the 48 and the 11 right now is in equipment. I think the competition level is very similar, how both teams race is very similar. Denny’s winning races now when he may not have the best car, but he will figure a way out. That’s been a strong point to Jimmie over the last few years. So I think toe to toe if you are drawing a comparison between the 48 and the 11, it’s almost in my opinion a mirror of the two, just we’re on the up cycle of it right now. So strong suit for us, I think Denny stays calmer. Strong suit for them is I think they’ll take chances and make it work.
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