Homestead qualifying moves to Friday

Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship race, the 2012 Ford EcoBoost 400, at Homestead-Miami Speedway has been moved to Friday, November 16.|Gatorade Pole Qualifying is now set for 6:10 p.m. Friday during Ford Championship Weekend. It was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Qualifying returns to the more traditional Friday and rounds-out that day’s activities. Friday’s NASCAR on-track schedule now includes: Nationwide Series practice (10:00 a.m.), Camping World Truck Series final practice (11:00), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Gatorade Pole qualifying (6:10 p.m.), and the Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 (8:00 p.m.).|The change in days also means fans at the track Saturday will be able to watch two separate Sprint Cup practices in the same afternoon – one starting at 1:00 and another at 3:00.

“This is great news for our fans attending the races," said Homestead-Miami Speedway President Matthew Becherer. “On Friday, fans can watch the Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 qualifying, followed minutes later by the Camping World Truck Series championship race – all at the most affordable prices of the weekend. Then, Saturday, they can watch the final Sprint Cup Series practices of the year, followed by the Nationwide Series championship race."

In terms of competition, it allows for greater consistency from track to track for Sprint Cup Series teams and provides the opportunity to focus on qualifying separate from race set ups for the cars.

The Ford Championship Weekend schedule is as follows (all times listed are local EDT):

Friday, November 16:

Saturday, November 17

Sunday, November 18