2010 Ford 400

The 2010 Ford 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 21, 2010, at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The 267 lap race was the thirty-sixth in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as the final race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Carl Edwards for the Roush Fenway Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Kevin Harvick clinched third.

Pole position driver Kasey Kahne maintained his lead on the first lap of the race. Edwards started in the second position on the grid, and became the leader of the race on the fourth lap. Shortly after a restart on lap 22, championship leader Denny Hamlin spun sideways, resulting with damage to his splitter. Martin Truex Jr. took the lead on lap 73, but after the final pit stops Edwards was first. He maintained the lead to win the race, having led it for 192 laps.

A total of 67,000 people attended the race, while 5.605 million watched it on television. There were ten cautions in the race, as well as twenty-five lead changes among nine different drivers. Edwards' victory was his second win in the 2010 season, with the first coming the previous week at the Kobalt Tools 500. Jimmie Johnson won the Drivers' Championship, 39 points ahead of Denny Hamlin. Johnson's team owner Rick Hendrick won the Owners' Championship. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer Championship with 261 points, 44 points ahead of Toyota.

Homestead Miami Speedway is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race was held on the standard track at Homestead Miami Speedway; a four-turn oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. The track's turns are banked from 18 to 20 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at three degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a three degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 65,000 spectators.

Heading into the final race of the season, Toyota driver Denny Hamlin was leading the Drivers' Championship with 6,462 points; Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson was second with 6,447 points, 15 points behind Hamlin. A maximum of 195 points were available for the final race. Behind Hamlin and Johnson in the Drivers' Championship, Kevin Harvick was third with 6,416 points in a Chevrolet, and Carl Edwards was fourth with 6,198 points. Chevrolet had already secured the Manufacturer's Championship, and entered the race on 255 points, 42 points ahead of Toyota on 213 points, with a maximum of nine points available at the Ford 400. Hamlin was the race's defending winner, after his victory at the 2009 race.

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon. The first Saturday practice lasted 45 minutes, while the second lasted 60. Edwards was quickest with a time of 30.710 seconds in the first session, 0.134 seconds faster than Kyle Busch. Johnson was just off Busch's pace, followed by Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, and Jeff Gordon. Kasey Kahne was seventh, still within a second of Edwards's time.

Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kahne clinched the 20th pole position of his career, with a time of 30.525 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards. McMurray qualified third, Bill Elliott took fourth, and A. J. Allmendinger started fifth. Johnson, David Reutimann, Mark Martin, David Ragan and Regan Smith rounded out the top ten. Hamlin only managed 37th, having getting close to the wall. The two drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Patrick Carpentier, and Michael McDowell. Once the qualifying session completed, Kahne commented, "That was the best qualifying run by far since I joined Red Bull. I look forward to Sunday’s race. It’s going to be exciting being up front now, being in the mix with Denny [Hamlin], Kevin [Harvick] and Jimmie [Johnson]. They’re all going to be fast throughout the race. I’m just glad we are so far. Hopefully we can stick with it tomorrow, have a good practice and be competitive in the mix on Sunday."

In the second practice session, Busch was fastest with a time of 31.425 seconds, less than five-hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Jeff Burton. Gordon took third place, ahead of Greg Biffle, Martin and Hamlin. Johnson only managed 11th place.