As it had for much of the 21st century, NASCAR will once again end its season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2026, but it will not be a permanent move as NASCAR intends to rotate the Championship Round’s host race track each season.
Homestead was the final race for all three NASCAR national series (Cup, Xfinity, Truck) from 2002 to 2019, during which it became a fan favourite. Although technically an intermediate 1.5-mile oval not unlike the majority of tracks on the schedule at the time, it was beloved by fans and drivers alike for offering a different style of racing as a “true” ovoid course with high banking.
Drivers like Kyle Larson made races particularly exciting with their driving styles along the wall, usually a disadvantageous line but one that worked surprisingly well. However, Phoenix Raceway became the new season finale in 2020 after an extensive renovation process.
Although Phoenix’s new facilities and infrastructure have been praised, the racing product is regarded by many as lacklustre compared to Homestead. The championship races are also considered not as exciting as those at Homestead, and the sentiment was only exacerbated when the spring Phoenix race in March was remarkably uneventful at the front while Homestead’s event two weeks later saw a battle come down to the final laps.
Still, NASCAR wants to keep Phoenix in the mix for the championship race rotation. For 2026, it will be part of the playoffs’ Round of 8. Besides Homestead being considered one of the best ovals, other factors that went into its return as the final race include climate and marketing. After all, as exciting as a race at Pocono or Bowman Gray might be, those are liable to inclement weather in November.
“Fans ranked Homestead-Miami Speedway as number one on the list of where they’d like to see a championship in the future,” began NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovation Officer Ben Kennedy.
“From what you guys may have seen and some of the fan sentiment so far, it leans very positive, which is great to see. We listen to our fans. All of our partners who are broadcast partners, our teams, our drivers have input to where they’d like to see the championship in the future, a lot of industry stakeholders we’ll collaborate with.
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“As you think about a championship race, ideally a warm weather kind of climate location. You can’t race everywhere in the world, especially in early November, so there’s a handful of venues and properties that we tend to gravitate towards.
“We want to make sure it’s marketed and promoted the right way. Phoenix is a great example of this. You saw the kind of $100 million project we put into the reimagine of Phoenix Raceway. Homestead isn’t a Phoenix Raceway, and it probably won’t be to that level when we come for the championship next year, but we are going to be putting some capital in that facility to make sure it is a championship-calibre property when we show up to it next year.
“We’ve been at Phoenix for a number of years. We’ve made some changes in the playoffs. We haven’t made wholesale changes, but a few kind of minor changes to the playoffs to keep that level of unpredictability and parity through it.
“We have a lot of confidence when we go to Homestead-Miami Speedway, it’s going to deliver from a racing product perspective. It’s also going to create a good amount of unpredictability for many of our fans that come to that race or tune in on TV just going to a different championship venue and having it on the line. We’re excited to see all that.”
The other tracks within the rotation were not immediately revealed, though circuits in areas where weather is expected to be friendly come November will certainly be in the mix. Kennedy noted that whether the track is operated by NASCAR, “rival” operator Speedway Motorsports, or is independently owned is irrelevant.
On the other hand, superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega as well as road courses are unlikely to be included due to their unpredictability and high specialisation, respectively. Thus, one can expect the championship to be decided at intermediate and short tracks.
Logano: “Why should our Super Bowl stay in the same place every year?”
Joey Logano has won Cup Series championships at both Homestead and Phoenix, achieving the former in 2018 and the latter in 2022 and 2024. While he certainly likes Phoenix given his track record there, the thought of competing for a title at Homestead again excites him as much as the rotation.
“I think I love finishing the season in Miami,” Logano opined. “It’s something that I think as an industry all of us got so used to. End of the year, it’s cold in other places, you fly down to Miami, it’s nice and warm. We got used to what this weekend felt like under the lights, finishing the races. I always thought it was a really cool environment to do it in Miami. I look forward to going back down there racing for a championship. I like that part.
“I like the rotation as well. I like that we move it around. That was one of the things I thought would be a great idea if we were able to pull it off. The Super Bowl doesn’t stay in the same place every year.
“Why should our Super Bowl, our championship race, stay in the same place every year? Gives our fans a great opportunity to see the race. I know a lot of fans travel to the championship race already. There are also a lot of fans that are local that will get to have the opportunity to be able to make a weekend out of it with a short drive hopefully.”
Since the playoff format’s introduction in 2014, Logano made the Championship Round three times at Homestead (2014, 2016, 2018). Following the move to Phoenix, he did so thrice in 2020, 2022, and 2024.
Taking weather and tracks he likes into account, he has a few ideas for where he would like the final race to be while still keeping reasonable such as not including road courses and superspeedways.
“Richmond, that’s one that would stand out to me,” he started. “I think Vegas would probably be in the loop. Texas is possible, depending on the weather. The weather there is pretty good.
“I wouldn’t want to add into the rotation of a superspeedway. We should not end the season on a superspeedway, we should not end the season on a road course either. That’s my opinion. When you get down to the nitty-gritty of the playoffs, especially if it’s coming down to one race like it is right now, you don’t want an oddball race.
“You want it to be the grassroots of what our sport is built off of, which is ovals. Whether it’s a short track or mile-and-a-half, that’s what our roots really are. That is what built our sport. Throwing in a road course or any other oddball type racetrack, superspeedway, it’s too much by chance and it wouldn’t be ideal for our sport.”
