NASCAR officials have confirmed that Homestead-Miami Speedway will once again serve as the host venue for the season finales of all three national series in 2026. The 1.5-mile South Florida track, which hosted the championship events from 2002 to 2019, is scheduled to hold its tripleheader weekend on November 6-8 next season, marking a significant step in NASCAR’s plan to implement a rotation model for Championship Weekend.
Ben Kennedy, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer, expressed his enthusiasm for the decision, stating, “This has been a while coming. It’s been since 2019 since we’ve had the championship race at Homestead. We moved it out to Phoenix for the past several years, which has been great for us. It’s been an amazing market. We’ve seen some great racing there, and we’ve crowned some of our biggest champions, but we’re excited to go to Homestead-Miami Speedway. I can tell you from a few people that I’ve talked to so far across the industry, through our partners, they’re over the moon about it. And from our fans, it’s the No. 1 asked-about championship venue as well. So we’re excited to finally get the news out there.”
Homestead-Miami Speedway, celebrating its 30th season this year, has a rich history of hosting NASCAR championships. The track has been the site of memorable title-clinching moments for several NASCAR legends, including Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano, among others. The venue’s well-worn surface and progressive banking have consistently produced thrilling finishes and multiple racing grooves, making it a true test of driver skill.
Kennedy, who made five national-series starts at Homestead-Miami during his driving career, praised the track’s unique characteristics, saying, “I think it’s really a racer’s race track. … I think the beauty of it is its age now. The asphalt continues to wear every single year it bakes in the sun. There’s a ton of sand, and it’s really turned it into this multi-groove race track. You see drivers will start in the bottom, they migrate to the middle, some of them will go to the top, so I think it’s going to put on some really exciting finishes for our championship and I think it’s going to be fun to see the drivers’ reaction from it, too.”
Guillermo Santa Cruz, the newly appointed track president of Homestead-Miami Speedway, expressed his excitement about the announcement. “The kind of racing that this track puts on, we talk about it all the time,” Santa Cruz said. “Here in Homestead, the track is the star, and that’s something that we lean into in our messaging, but also it comes from the drivers. They’re the ones who tell us that, and they’re the ones who really go on about how much they enjoy the racing here. In my 10 months here, as I’ve traveled around the country, I’ve met drivers, people in the industry, crew chiefs, spotters, things like that, and I hear it regularly — love Homestead, love the track, and it’s because of the kind of racing that we put on, and that makes a big difference.”
While Homestead-Miami Speedway prepares to host the championship events in 2026, Phoenix Raceway, which has hosted the season finales since 2020, will continue to play a prominent role in the NASCAR Playoffs. The 1-mile Arizona oval will maintain its position in the Round of 8 and remain under consideration for future championship weekends as part of the rotation model.
Kennedy commended Phoenix Raceway’s efforts in creating a big-event atmosphere and promoting the championship races, stating, “Every time I’ve gone to Phoenix over the past few years that we’ve had our championship race there, Julie and then Latasha have built such strong relationships with the city and a lot of local community leaders to have this race transcend the Phoenix market in a different way. If you go into that market, whether it’s the local activations, the promotion that you see in and around the Phoenix area and out toward the track, it’s really unparalleled to what we’ve seen in the past. So it’s been great, and for that, we wanted to continue to have them in the playoffs, later on in the playoffs and in that Round of 8.”
As Homestead-Miami Speedway gears up for its return to the championship spotlight, the track is set to undergo various improvements to enhance the fan experience and create a memorable atmosphere befitting a major league championship event. Santa Cruz emphasized the importance of these upgrades, stating, “So it’s a fair-sized list of things that we need to do. Luckily, we have time to address many of them, and we’re excited to do that, and we look forward to working with our design and development team to address these things. But I’m sure that by the time that green flag drops in November 2026, this jewel is going to be sparkling.”
The return of Championship Weekend to Homestead-Miami Speedway not only celebrates the track’s rich history but also marks the beginning of a new era for NASCAR’s season finales. As Santa Cruz aptly put it, “So knowing what came here before, knowing the history, knowing the significance of holding a championship, yes, it’s a homecoming and it’s a return, but at the same time it’s a springboard. It’s the start of something new, of the championship rotation, of approaching the championship with a fresh set of eyes.”
