The homestretch is the straightaway portion of the track starting with the final turn and ending with the finish line. A stretch is one of the straight sides of the course, as heard in the common horse-racing announcement “Down the stretch they come.”
Homestretch is often used figuratively to refer to the final stage of a process.
Construction of Port Canaveral's massive Cruise Terminal 3 complex is entering the homestretch. So port and construction company officials were anxious to show off the progress Wednesday on the $163 million project — the largest in the port's history.
— Dave Berman, USA Today, 16 Jan. 2020