Denny Hamlin Wants NASCAR to Choose Phoenix Over Homestead for Championship Race: “Regardless of What You Think…”

Denny Hamlin makes no bones about it: he believes Homestead-Miami Speedway should be part of the 10-race NASCAR Cup playoffs.

But the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver questions if Homestead-Miami or NASCAR can convince city officials in Homestead, FL, to financially get behind a movement to return HMS not only to the Cup playoffs but also potentially to its former place on the schedule as the season-ending and championship-deciding races for NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks.

“I think some of the talk was, will Homestead be… In the last week, surely that they’re going to announce that this is going to be the championship race, hopefully, one of three championship races in 2026,” Hamlin said Monday on his weekly Actions Detrimental  With Denny Hamlin podcast. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed for that.”

“But at least be the finale, finale for next year. But it seems like things got hung up a little bit and (Homestead) needs to chip in some money to make that happen — and it sounds like they’re waffling a little bit.”

Citing a report in The Athletic, Hamlin said Phoenix Raceway and the Phoenix area reportedly chip in between $5 and $10 million per year to own entitlement rights to host all three of NASCAR’s championship races.

Homestead-Miami Speedway, which sits about 30 miles south of world-famous Miami Beach, hosted the season finale for all three series’ championships on the schedule from 2002 through 2019. But the 1.5-mile oval struggled in its latter years as the season finale to receive attention and, more importantly, ticket sales.

Hence the move from HMS to Phoenix.

However, NASCAR has somewhat of a conundrum on its hands: it owns both racetracks.

Hamlin: Phoenix Has an Edge Over Homestead: ‘It’s Got Everything’

Phoenix, which also hosts a spring NASCAR weekend, became the season-ending and championship-deciding location starting in 2020. And while Hamlin is a proponent of HMS returning to the 10-race Cup playoffs, if not the season-ending race, he also admits the Phoenix atmosphere is hard to beat.

“I do believe that the Phoenix atmosphere and infield is a little better than Homestead’s,” Hamlin said. “Homestead, I think it’s time for some upgrades there to that facility… It’s NASCAR’s show. Are they willing to invest in the facility to make it up-to-date with championship venues of other sports or not? That’s TBD (to-be-determined).”

“But Phoenix, regardless of what you think about the racing there, it has all the things it needs to be a championship weekend.”

“That’s the one thing that Phoenix fans have always done is supported that racetrack, spring, summer, whatever it is, they always come out in great numbers… The fans just feel like they’re closer (to the action), it’s more intimate… You’re surrounded by these mountains. It’s got everything,” he concluded.

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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