According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Homestead-Miami Speedway will return as the site of NASCAR’s championship weekend in 2026. Homestead was the site of NASCAR’s finale every year from 2002 until 2019. In 2020, NASCAR’s championship weekend shifted to the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., where it has stayed since.
Homestead held its one NASCAR race weekend in the regular season in 2020 and 2021 before being added back into the playoffs in 2022. From 2022 to 2024, Homestead was featured as the second race in the penultimate round of the playoffs.
This year, however, Homestead’s date reverted to the regular season, holding its lone Cup Series race on March 23. In hindsight, moving the race from October to March may allow the facility to renovate the venue and make various, much-needed changes in regards to the relatively sparse and outdated amenities present at the 1.5-mile track.
This lack of amenities is believed to be a major reason why Phoenix, a track with a less intriguing on-track product but much better fan and industry amenities, was given the championship date in 2020.
According to Bianchi, Homestead has only nailed down the championship race for 2026, as NASCAR is expected to rotate the venue for its finale over the coming years. Phoenix Raceway will retain two races on the Cup Series schedule in the coming years, and is reportedly one of the tracks that will be featured in the rotation of the championship race.
After five years — and one more on the horizon — of relatively lackluster championship races at Phoenix, recent barn burners at Homestead — see Tyler Reddick’s last-lap pass for the win in October 2023 — have only bolstered fan support for a return to Homestead for championship weekend.
Phoenix may be a world-class facility from the perspective of fan amenities, but the racing product on track has never been able to match that of Homestead. NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which tends to race worse on short ovals and better on intermediates such as Homestead, has only served as fuel to the fire regarding the argument that Homestead should replace Phoenix as the finale.
With Homestead now back as the finale, the question is where NASCAR slots in a second Phoenix date for 2026. Before becoming the finale in 2020, Phoenix held its second race of the year in the penultimate round of the playoffs, serving as the elimination race for the Round of 8 from 2014 to 2019.
For years, Homestead’s facilities fell behind even while hosting NASCAR’s championship weekend. Now, the facility will hopefully have plenty of modern amenities to suit the fans at the track and will still be able to provide the great racing that it features, no matter where it falls on the schedule.
