Stenhouse, Roush score Nationwide titles as Keselowski wins at Homestead

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clinched the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2011 championship within the first 40 laps, but that didn't mean he spent the rest of the season-ending Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on cruise control. Stenhouse nearly tracked down Brad Keselowski to score the race win, but it ended up with the 2010 series title-winner ahead of the newly crowned champ.

Keselowski's win was his fifth of the season, and came after holding off Carl Edwards and later Stenhouse once he passed him in the final few laps.

“It was tough but man, this Dodge was powerful,” he said. “The Fords are lighter and are tough to beat, and we didn't handle as well. Honestly I was blocking as hard as I could to win. I don't think Carl was too happy about it, but I'm not gonna give up a win.”

Edwards finished third but the result was enough for his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to earn the season-long owners' championship, giving team owner Jack Roush a sweep of the two respective titles.

“Congrats to Ricky and it's great how he's come so far,” he said. “My guys have done a great job all year. It did get pretty exciting toward the end, and I knew if Brad blocked, I'd bump him. But it hurt me more so. It was aggressive but respectful, and a really fun race.”

Stenhouse clinched in a rather anticlimactic fashion as enough cars went to the garage within the first 40 laps. He needed to finish only 37th to take the title. Still, he remained a fixture in the top-five all night, and nearly tracked down Keselowski for the win.

“We sure tried, and I gave it all I had,” he said. “Brad did a good job and the crew did theirs.”

A difficult rookie season, although he won 2010 rookie-of-the-year honors, included a fraught first half littered with accidents and one non-qualification at Nashville.

“We were down in the dumps last year but pulled through. This crew sure didn't give up. Plus, my family sacrificed everything they had.”

“He wanted it so bad, he just couldn't figure out how big of a box to be in,” Roush said. “He was ready to make a comeback.”

The final points margin of 45 markers over Elliott Sadler was unreflective of how close the two were for most of the year, although Stenhouse won twice (both at Iowa Speedway) and Sadler didn't record a single win.

Following his Phoenix win last week, Sam Hornish Jr. posted another top-10 result in seventh place, while Danica Patrick hit the wall late in the going to fall from a top-15 position down to 32nd. Ex-Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. made his Nationwide Series oval debut and finished 25th.

Largely out of sight, Timmy Hill (LEFT) secured Rookie of the Year honors for 2011 by just one point. Hill, 18, ran the full season for Rick Ware Racing and posted a better set of his best 16 race finishes compared to Blake Koch for MacDonald Motorsports, and Ryan Truex who ran for both Michael Waltrip and Joe Gibbs Racing in a partial schedule. Hill posted a best finish of 11th on the road course at Road America in June.