A snapshot of the final four Chase drivers

HARVICK, Gordon, Busch and Truex: sounds like a law firm. Except this "law firm" can outperform any its competitors, not in the courtroom but at high speeds.

Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. and their teams will have to be at their fastest and smartest Sunday in Homestead, Fla. They are the Chase's final four, and one of them will be this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

They don't have to win the race. The highest finisher among the four will be crowned champion. However, as NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte, a former crew chief, said Tuesday, "When you look at their statistics from Homestead Miami, it would really shock me if it doesn't take a win to win this championship."

A quick look at the final four:

* Harvick: he's the defending champion. In last year's Homestead race, he edged race runner-up Ryan Newman by one point to clinch the title.

* Gordon: the sentimental choice, because he is retiring after the race. A four-time Cup champion, Gordon's last championship was in 2001.

* Busch: remarkable that he is the final four after missing the season's first 11 races recuperating from a broken leg and foot suffered in the Xfinity series race at Daytona Feb. 21.

* Martin Truex Jr.: As the only single-car team in the final four, he is proudly carrying the underdog flag. If he wins his first title, he'll be the first driver with a single-car entry since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to celebrate.

Harvick's 7.6 average finish on 1 1/2-mile tracks is the best among active drivers. With his three wins this year, Harvick also has 12 runner-up finishes. In 10 starts at Homestead, Busch is winless, with only one top five. Truex also is winless in 10 starts at the South Florida track, but has three top fives, including one runner-up.

Since all four contenders are experienced Chasers, it's unlikely they'll be overwhelmed by stressful scene in Homestead. However, NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton thinks the final four racers will all feel the pressure.

"If you're not nervous, there's something wrong with you," said Burton, a former driver in his first season with NBC Sports. "If you listen to Kevin Harvick from last year, even though he was the one on the stage Thursday (final four news conference), kind of pushing buttons (of his competitors), but if you listen to his interviews, he talks about how nervous he was and how gut-wrenching it was.

"He did a better job of hiding it than everybody else. How you handle that nervousness is really important."

As always, the crew chiefs will be a factor. Rodney Childers, Harvick's crew chief, is the only one who has experienced final four stress.

Looking for a spoiler Sunday? Keep an eye on Joey Logano. He's surely upset about not advancing to the final four after sweeping the three Eliminator Round races. While leading at Martinsville, Logano was taken out by Matt Kenseth in retaliation for his bumping Kenseth out of the lead at Kansas. Logano has a series-high six wins this year.

I'd be comfortable selecting any of the four to win the title. However, Jeff Gordon's story line is too appealing: 93 career wins; in the last six Chase races this year, he has one victory (Martinsville), another top-five finish and four other top-10s. What a way for him to go out - collecting his fifth championship.

If Gordon wins Sunday, his 14-year gap between championships would surpass Terry Labonte's record 12-season drought between titles (1984-'96).

Asked before last Sunday's race Phoenix how satisfying it would be to conclude his career with another title, Gordon replied: "I'm a person that lives in the moment. Just like in Martinsville, I didn't go into that race expecting us to win or think about what that was going to be like if we did win.

"But you saw the raw emotion of what that win meant to me. That is nothing compared to what you will see in Homestead if we do that. I literally will be climbing the fences. I will be down with a bad back for the next week, but it will all be worth it."

THIS WEEK'S RACE

Ford EcoBoost 400

Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.

When: Sunday, 3 p.m.

TV: NBC10/WNPV (1440-AM), Sirius XM Channel 90

Course: 1.5-mile oval

Distance: 267 laps/400.5 miles

Forecast: thunderstorms, upper 70s

Last year's winner: Kevin Harvick

Last year's pole: Jeff Gordon, 180.747 mph

Track qualifying record: Brad Keselowski, 182.238 mph, in round one of last year's qualifying.

Track facts: All the drivers in the Chase final four have 5,000 points, seeded as follows: Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. ... Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart have three wins each at Homestead. Biffle won three in a row (2004-06). Stewart won the first two races (1999-2000), then won again in 2011 when he edged Carl Edwards for the title. Edwards and Denny Hamlin are two-time winners at the track ... Only two Homestead race winners started on the pole: Bill Elliott in 2001 and Kurt Busch in '02 ... Matt Kenseth returns to driving the No. 20 Toyota following his two-race suspension for crashing Joey Logano at Martinsville.

Wins: Joey Logano, 6; Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, 5 each; Kyle Busch, 4; Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3 each; Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, 2 each; Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon, 1 each.

Final Four in the Chase (drivers listed by seeding)

Kevin Harvick

2015 Chase wins: 1

Best Chase finish: 1st (2014)

Homestead wins: 1

Jeff Gordon

2015 Chase wins: 1

Best Chase finish: 2nd (2007)

Homestead wins: 1

Kyle Busch

2015 Chase wins: 0

Best Chase finish: 4th (2013)

Homestead wins: 0

Martin Truex Jr.

2015 Chase wins: 0

Best Chase finish: 11th (2007, 2012)

Homestead wins: 0

Up next: Daytona 500, Feb. 21, 2016.