Homestead-Miami Speedway expected to host NASCAR title race in 2026: Sources
Homestead-Miami Speedway is expected to host NASCAR's national championship weekend in 2026, according to multiple sources briefed on the plans but not authorized to speak publicly, with an announcement tentatively planned in the coming weeks.
The 1.5-mile track in South Florida previously hosted the championship weekend for NASCAR's three national series — Cup, Xfinity and Trucks — from 2002 to 2019 before NASCAR shifted the November event to Phoenix Raceway.
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Homestead returning as the championship host for all three series will likely be well received by competitors and fans alike, with the track regarded as one of the best on the schedule due to its propensity for producing quality racing.
The title weekend moving to Homestead is just for the 2026 season, according to those sources, as another track will be selected to host in 2027, beginning a rotation in which a different venue is chosen each year. Phoenix is expected to be included in this rotation, the sources said, and the track will continue to have two races each season.
NASCAR declined to comment.
'It's definitely something I want to see happen,' Homestead track president Guillermo Santa Cruz said last month. 'And I'm hopeful in the not-too-distant future the championship will come back.'
Behind the scenes, Santa Cruz and NASCAR have been working for some time with elected county and city officials along with the state of Florida and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau to put together a financial incentive package that would assist in the promotion of championship weekend throughout the South Florida market and with infrastructural improvements the track needs.
These efforts, while still ongoing, have thus far not materialized. Still, the sources said, NASCAR recently decided that, despite the current lack of financial commitment from the local community, it is in the sport's best interest for Homestead to host championship weekend, with NASCAR covering the necessary expenses to ensure the event is a success.
Homestead vice mayor Sean Fletcher said last month that the track hosting championship weekend provides an estimated $350 million economic boost to the area.
'It's really a big deal for the city of Homestead,' Fletcher said. 'I think it's the perfect race for the drivers; they love the track. It's really a driver's racetrack. And that's a great time of year to be in South Florida.'
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Since Homestead last hosted championship weekend in 2019, the track has bounced around NASCAR's calendar. In different years it has been placed in the playoff portion of the schedule or at some point in the spring, as was the case this season when its race weekend was slated for March.
'I would certainly like to see (Homestead) play a bigger factor in our championship,' Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin said last month. 'Whether it's in the playoffs, just a part of the championship race or round, or whatever it might be, I'd like to see it be a part of that as, like we just talked about, the driver makes a bigger difference at this track compared to the car.'
(Photo of Joey Logano winning the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
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