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New York Times
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
NASCAR announces 2026 championship return to Homestead: ‘Right time to do it'
Homestead-Miami Speedway will host NASCAR's 2026 championship weekend for its Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series, the league announced Tuesday, returning the championship finales to the South Florida track that previously hosted the races for nearly two decades in a move that will likely be celebrated across the sport. Homestead, a mile-and-a-half oval located just south of Miami, hosted championship weekend for its three national series beginning in 2002 through the 2019 season before NASCAR shifted the event to Phoenix Raceway, which has served as host ever since. The Homestead race moved out of the playoffs entirely in 2020 and 2021, then served as the second of three semifinal-round races from 2022 to 2024 before moving to March this season. Regarded as one of NASCAR's most competitive tracks, Homestead is widely popular among fans and competitors alike, with both camps frequently voicing their support for the facility to host championship weekend again. This support, along with continued great racing there and renowned enthusiasm within the South Florida community championed by Homestead track president Guillermo Santa Cruz, has created a groundswell of support that compelled NASCAR to bring back its championship weekend to Homestead. The three title races will occur Nov. 6-8, 2026. 'We talked about it for quite a while, but we felt this was the right opportunity, the right time to do it,' said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president, chief venue and racing innovation officer. 'We have a great new president down there with Guillermo taking the lead; (the track) has put on some amazing races, and this was a big opportunity for us to shake things up.' Homestead's return as host for the 2026 championship weekend, which The Athletic reported last month, coincides with NASCAR rolling out a new rotating model where the event will shift tracks from year to year, similar to how several marquee annual sports championships are moved to different sites. The details are still being determined, Kennedy said, but the rotation will consist of tracks in weather-friendly locales. In addition to Homestead, Phoenix will be included in the rotation. Phoenix's annual date will also stay in the playoffs and is set for a spot in the semifinal round next year. 'It is a change,' Kennedy said of NASCAR departing from its tradition of a single host for the championship. 'We've also made a handful of other pretty bold changes to the schedule — we've gone to new venues, we've shook up the Clash (exhibition race), we've changed the playoff schedule — and one of the remaining things that we have on our checkoff list is to also begin a rotation of our championship and move it to different venues. So glad we were able to deliver on that one.' The league isn't ready to announce the host for the 2027 championship weekend. Ideally, NASCAR wants future championship venues to be unveiled well in advance. 'If we can continue to bump forward the announcement year after year, I think it's going to help all of us from a planning perspective and from a promotion perspective because that just gives us a much longer window to be able to talk about these events,' Kennedy said. 'It'd be great to plan a few years out as that gives us opportunities to engage the local community, gives us opportunities to promote the event and have a lot of bites at the apple and really create a lot of anticipation. A lot of other sports are planning their finals and their big events years in advance, and we'd like to eventually do the same.' But before the 2027 championship weekend comes next year's championship. This puts Homestead on the clock; in 18 months, it will again host NASCAR's biggest race weekend outside of the Daytona 500. And there is much to do to get the track ready. Plans are underway to make infrastructural improvements to the facility, which opened in 1995 and has begun to show its age. One of the reasons Phoenix secured the championship beginning in 2020 was due to massive renovations that elevated it into a top-class venue. 'We have a very long menu list of items that we could do to (Homestead),' Kennedy said. 'I think a lot of it is going to be looking to expand our hospitality footprints to make the midway and activation areas more user-friendly. And then we've also looked at some options in the infield, as well. 'We just really want to overall enhance some of the elements for the fan experience.' NASCAR has been working with state, county and city officials and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau to put together a financial incentive package to assist in any capital improvement projects undertaken. These efforts, while still ongoing, have thus far not materialized. Still, returning championship weekend to Homestead was an opportunity NASCAR could no longer resist, even if the league might end up on the hook for the expenses. 'We're doing the right thing for the right reasons, we're bringing the championship back,' Santa Cruz said. 'And we're talking to everybody. But it was really about doing what's right for the sport and right by the fans more than anything. We still have a strategy to work with our community, to work with local government and get some support, but we're very happy with the fact that we're doing the right thing.' Regardless of any improvements to the Homestead facility, the track itself won't be changed, meaning the great racing that has long defined the track should continue when NASCAR returns to crown a champion in November 2026. 'We worked so hard, we wanted this so bad, and we're just thrilled enough to be entrusted with our responsibility of hosting the championship again and knowing that we're going to do a great job,' Santa Cruz said. (Top photo of Kyle Busch securing the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
New York Times
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
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. Advertisement 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.' Advertisement 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)
Miami Herald
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
It's a NASCAR Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Yes, they know it's only March
There are two ways to look at NASCAR's early spring visit to Homestead-Miami Speedway, which starts Friday with the Craftsman Truck Series Baptist Health 200 at 8 p.m., continues Saturday at 4 p.m. with the XFinity Series Hard Rock Bet 300 and finishes with the NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400 Sunday at 3 p.m.. Beautiful Days for Motor Car Races: this NASCAR weekend kicks off a glorious time for motor racing in South Florida that will continue with Homestead hosting the Formula E racing series' return to Miami on April 12 and climaxing in Miami Gardens with the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend May 2 through 4. Why, the only thing missing is an IndyCar race! Clouds and Smoke: NASCAR's as out of place at Homestead in March as turn signals in Hialeah. South Florida's sports calendar says March is for international coolness at Miami Open tennis, gauging the Panthers' and/or Heat's playoff prospects, the Marlins opening their season and arguing over who the Dolphins should draft, not some early season NASCAR rollarounds. Miami's an event town and 'NASCAR in Homestead' should mean something big, like the Championship or at least a Chase race. However you personally view it, Homestead-Miami Speedway president Guillermo Santa Cruz acknowledges the shift back to spring creates a marketing and sales challenge. Santa Cruz said ticket sales are on track to hit the speedway's target sales, but will be less than last October's NASCAR weekend. Their strategy was as wide open as Junior Johnson's throttle in both social media and traditional media. 'We do radio, we do television, our billboards have been all over town since January,' Santa Cruz said. 'We've been very aggressive in promoting that we're racing in March, and that it's a quick turnaround from October, but I think we've done a very good job of communicating that to our fans here in South Florida. 'Certainly, last week, I couldn't turn on the TV without seeing my face on one of the local newscasts.' At least Friday, the racing smells of burning rubber and exhaust must compete with smoke from the not-so-distant brush fire that has been burning for days near the 18-mile Stretch and Card Sound Road. Despite warnings about power outages, Homestead city government says there's still a green flag for NASCAR events remaining on schedule. READ MORE: Fire spreads to Homestead, as 20,000-plus acres burn. No threat to neighborhoods: authorities 'Smoke from the ongoing grass fire may impact air quality, especially fr those with respiratory conditions,' Miami-Dade County warned. NASCAR arriving early, not on Miami time From 2002 to 2019, before the Chase for the Cup and through the first couple of Chase formats, the NASCAR season ended with all three series championships decided on NASCAR Championship Weekend in November. The 2020 race weekend, planned for March, got kicked to June by the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the nation. The 2021 race went off in February as scheduled, but from 2022 to 2024 Homestead was returned to late in the Chase playoff. Once one of his June podcasts, Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. lamented the move back to March for NASCAR's weekend in Miami-Dade. 'We ran Homestead years ago early in the season,' Earnhardt said. 'It was weird. After having the season finale there for so, so long, it just doesn't feel right to put it anywhere else in the season.' The only way he saw a March race as right is if it's a one-shot deal. 'They want to give some of these other tracks a little bit of the experience what it's like being in the playoffs,' he said. ''Homestead, you're going to be the finale. We're going to stick you over here in March. You're going to get back to the finale. Go sit over here for a bit, while we entertain these other tracks in the playoffs.'' Santa Cruz would be good with that. 'I think it would be very good for the sport to embrace a rotation when it comes to the championship,' Santa Cruz said during a Zoom call with media on Monday. 'I've made no secret about the fact that I would love for the championship to come back to Homestead.' Miami-Dade County Commission Vice Chair Kionne McGhee, who represents Homestead, didn't mention the flow of the racing at Homestead during Tuesday's commission meeting as much as the flow of dollars. NASCAR in March brings people while South Florida's still in the thick of tourist season and the Spring Break sub season. In October and November, tourist season's still doing shakedown laps. McGhee said NASCAR Championship Weekend brings a $200 million economic impact houseguest present when it comes. The commission passed McGhee's policy proposal that if NASCAR brings the 2026 Championship Weekend back to Homestead, the count would talk with NASCAR about providing services and available tourism tax money. 'We're just trying to get NASCAR to bring its Championship Weekend to Miami-Dade County, specifically the South Miami-Dade district at the Homestead Motor Speedway,' McGhee said.
