NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami: Playoff field tightens. Odds, how to watch

William Byron has been the most successful driver in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. But the three races left in the playoffs are all that matter to him now.

Despite his field-best six wins, Byron said his accomplishments don’t hold much meaning to him as he prepares for Sunday’s Round of 8 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2:30 p.m., NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR). He thinks about how he has performed — running toward the front and putting himself in good positions.

“In terms of being a favorite, I think all that stuff goes out the window now when you look at the points and how close we all are,” Byron told reporters Wednesday on a video call. “Everyone’s pretty much on equal footing right now. It’s not really about who’s the favorite or what-not, but just about who can perform in the next two races and who has the best cars at those two tracks.”

Byron, nine points above the elimination line, is in the most comfortable position of the seven drivers vying for the final three spots in the Championship Four. Kyle Larson already punched his ticket to Phoenix with his win at Las Vegas, and fellow heavyweights Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin each sit just two points above the cut line.

Christopher Bell, who came within a car length of ousting Larson from the checkered flag last week, finds himself two points below that cut line. Beyond him, Tyler Reddick is 16 points below, followed by Ryan Blaney (-17) and Chris Buescher (-23).

“If I had 18 opportunities at it, maybe I would have won the race,” Bell said this week. “But I had one opportunity, in a split-second decision, and I didn’t win the race.”

Said Reddick: “We’re definitely further behind than we wanted to be coming out of Vegas. ... But we can learn from that as we approach Homestead. It was a tough day for sure, but hopefully on the other side of it when we get to Homestead, we’ll just be better than we were coming into Vegas.”

So, what happened with Ryan Blaney?

After finishing sixth at Las Vegas, NASCAR announced that playoff driver Ryan Blaney had been disqualified for failing his post-race technical inspection, as the left-front shock on his No. 12 Ford Mustang did not meet the specified length.

On Monday, NASCAR rescinded its disqualification, releasing the following statement: “After further review of the inspection process throughout this weekend’s events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR has rescinded the No. 12 disqualification penalty.”

Competition officials discovered an issue with the damper template used for inspections at Las Vegas, NASCAR officials wrote in a release, adding that it has taken internal steps to remedy the issue moving forward after conducting a “detailed investigation” Monday morning.

“We are pleased with the decision by NASCAR to rescind the post-race disqualification to the No. 12 car following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,” Team Penske wrote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “NASCAR has shown a tremendous amount of integrity throughout the process which has led to this conclusion.”

Still, Blaney is seventh in the Round of 8 playoff standings, 17 points below the cut line.

The “4EVER 400”: Kevin Harvick is being honored at Homestead

Kevin Harvick will race at Homestead for the final time Sunday, and he’ll be driving a familiar car.

The retiring driver will be flying around Homestead-Miami Speedway — where he won the 2014 Cup Series championship — in a Ford Mustang draped in a throwback Budweiser paint scheme. Anheuser-Busch teamed up with Stewart-Haas Racing to surprise Harvick with the car design and fire suit.

“That’s pretty awesome,” Harvick said emotionally, smiling, as the car was revealed to him in the video. “That is a good one.”

Homestead has been a particularly strong track for Harvick outside his biggest moment there, too. Since 2007, Harvick has finished in the Top 10 in 14 of his 15 races at Homestead.

Odds for the 4EVER 400

Kyle Larson, last week’s winner at Las Vegas, is the favorite to win Sunday’s race at +270 odds, according to BetMGM. He also won last year’s race at Homestead. Larson is followed by Tyler Reddick (+600), Martin Truex Jr. (+600), Denny Hamlin (+600) and William Byron (+750).

How to watch the NASCAR playoffs at Homestead

Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway (Homestead, Fla.)

Race: 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1

Date: Sunday, October 22

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET

Purse: $7,634,143

TV: NBC, 2 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)

Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 80; Stage 2 ends on Lap 165; and the Final Stage ends on Lap 267