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May 6, 2025
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
There’s a homecoming in the offing for Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After a five-year absence, NASCAR Championship weekend will return to the 1.5-mile venue in South Florida, heralded as one of the most exciting venues in the sport from a racing standpoint.
In 2026, championships in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will be decided at Homestead, which hosted Championship Weekend from 2002 through 2019.
The season finales of all three national series are scheduled for Nov. 6-8, 2026 as NASCAR begins a rotation of championship races that will move between marquee venues and key markets.
“Homecoming is a good word,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR Executive Vice President, Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer. “We can’t wait to get back there. It’s a great race track. I mean, we’ve crowned a lot of Legends there, a lot of Hall of Famers.
“We’ve had some amazing championship races. And undoubtedly, it’s going to deliver in 2026 so we can’t wait to be there in November 2026, and we’re really excited to be able to press the button and announce this thing.”
Phoenix Raceway, host site for the deciding races from 2020 through 2025, will remain in the Championship Weekend rotation and will be part of the Round of 8 in next year’s Playoffs. Other venues that will be part of the title rotation from 2027 and beyond will be announced later.
“Weather is a big part of it,” Kennedy said. “Being in early November, we want to make sure we’re in a warm-weather climate and that it’s an atmosphere that a lot of our fans can come out and enjoy and not get the risk of a snowstorm or anything.
“We want to make sure that we’re in a big market, a large metro (area) that can really embrace us. We want to make sure it’s marketed and promoted the right way, that it feels like a world-class championship facility. And Phoenix was that for a number of years. We’re going to be putting some capital into Homestead-Miami as well.”
The South Florida track hosted NASCAR Championship weekend from 2002 through 2019, though the creation of the Chase in 2004 and the evolution to the elimination format introduced in 2014.
According to track president Guillermo Santa Cruz, the track will make significant improvements between Tuesday’s announcement and the arrival of transporters at the track next November.
“We’ve got to look at the facility—it’s a fresh coat of paint, a few other improvements in our hospitality areas,” Santa Cruz said. “Here in South Florida, even though that time of the year tends to be wonderful, you still want some shade and things like that to make our guests a bit more comfortable. So we’re going to be looking at all those things to make sure that people have the best possible experience.
“In that regard, Phoenix has set a very high bar. They do a fantastic job. So we know we’ve got to step up our game. The good news is, when it comes to the racing, there’s not much we need to do. The track is in excellent shape, puts on some great racing. I’m often reminded by people in the industry not to touch it. So I will not be touching the track, but other areas will get some sprucing up.”
Santa Cruz expects a sell-out for Championship Weekend, which will serve as the capstone for South Florida’s sports-rich environment in 2026.
“For South Florida, for Homestead, it’s a huge deal,” Santa Cruz said. “This track means a lot to this community, and they’ve been really clamoring to have the championship back. And certainly for South Florida, it’s an incredibly big deal, because 2026, which we already knew was going to be a wonderful year in sports for Miami-Dade County, now gets even bigger.
“We will have the NCAA Football Championship. We’ll have the Winter Classic from the NHL. We’ll have World Baseball Classic, Formula One, FIFA World Cup, and then cap off the year with the NASCAR Cup Series championship. All we need is for the Dolphins to make it to the Super Bowl.”
Three full-time active drivers have been crowned champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway: Kyle Busch (2015 and 2019), Brad Keselowski (2012) and Joey Logano (2018). Logano added titles in 2022 and 2024 at Phoenix.
Extensive promotion of Championship Weekend will follow Tuesday’s announcement.
“We’re going to promote it in a big way,” Kennedy said. “Starting (Tuesday), we have a lot of content—social, digital—that is all going to go out promoting this event and starting to begin the renewal process for a lot of our fans. And then there’ll be a lot of bites at the apple that we’ll have ahead of time, things like the logo for the weekend and entertainment that we’re going to have throughout the weekend.
“We want to have as many moments in the sun that we can between now and our Championship Weekend. So I think you’ll see a big announcement today, and it might go quiet for a little bit as we go through the summer and through this season, and then after the Phoenix race, we’re really going to be ramping up a lot of that promotion for the Championship.”
Tickets for 2026 NASCAR Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway can be purchased at 866-409-7223 or online at www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com. Fans can stay connected to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
