Ford 300 - Stacy Compton Notes

Stacy Compton
Homestead Preview

Compton's Kingsford Sure Fire/Bush's Baked Beans Ford Reminisces About Making 173rd Start for Kingsford

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - The streak started 172 races ago at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and will continue this Saturday at the season-finale Ford 300.

For Stacy Compton, the last five years have been a joyride like no other.

"I made my Busch Series debut with Kingsford at Homestead in 2001, so it's fitting that I make my final start with them at Homestead, too," Compton said. "While I'm eager to stay with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing and their truck series program, I have to say having the same sponsor for every week for more than five years always will be one of the greatest highlights of my career."

Compton will drive the No. 59 Kingsford Sure Fire/Bush's Baked Beans Ford Fusion on Saturday then turn the driving duties over to Marcos Ambrose, who is part of the team's driver development program. Compton will race in the truck series with hopes of elevating that program to the championship level.

Before Compton ends the current longest-running relationship between a Busch Series driver and a sponsor, he said there's still 300 miles of work to complete.

"It's not time to get sentimental yet," he said. "We've still got another race. When they re-built Homestead, they turned it into a unique speedway. You spend a lot of time in the turns there because it's a true oval, but the key is horsepower. You want to do everything you can to get that rear spoiler out of the air so you can generate speed. At the same time, you need enough to give the car some grip. It's a real tricky balance."

The Ford 300 is important to Compton for another reason. He's ranked 16th in the Busch Series standings, just 40 points from the Top 15.

"It's been our goal since the middle of the season to make the Top 15," Compton said. "We've worked hard to put ourselves in position to accomplish that. Of course, the best way to meet that goal is to win the race. That would satisfy a lot of goals."

Qualifying for the Ford 300 is at 3:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. The main event follows later that night at 7:10 on TNT.

Stacy Compton Fast Facts