In NASCAR terms, seven-time NASCAR Cup champion and current team co-owner Jimmie Johnson would rather have a day at the beach than a day in the desert.
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What that means is Johnson is totally behind NASCAR’s decision to move the final race of the season — the Championship 4 event — from the desert-like atmosphere of Phoenix back to Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, just a hop, skip, and jump from arguably the most famous beach in the world, Miami Beach. That move would go into effect next year.
There is also speculation that NASCAR may eventually move the season finale around to different venues every year, but for now, there’s been no definite announcement regarding that.
“I think moving the championship race around is a good idea,” Johnson said on this week’s edition of the Rubbin’ Is Racing podcast. “Whenever you come to a new market and have such a moment taking place, you get a lot of interest and people want to come see it. So I think that’s a good move.”
Johnson also has a more personal reason to see the season-ending race in all three series held at Homestead-Miami. “I clearly am very biased for Homestead,” Johnson said. “I’ve had so much success down there and won all seven of my championships there.”
The 2024 NASCAR Hall of Famer also had a racing reference for the finale. “Watching (the NASCAR All-Star Race last week at) North Wilkesboro, that was a damn good show, and I think that’s what people want to have for a championship race,” he added.
For Johnson, some tracks should never host the Championship finale
But Johnson cautions if NASCAR does eventually move into a rotating cycle of a different track to host the final race of the season every year, that the chosen track(s) must be fair and equitable, rather than some of the more unpredictable tracks like Daytona, Talladega, and especially road courses.
Johnson pondered the fairness of choosing specific track types to decide a championship. He discussed whether it was better to race at a road course — where drivers can slam into and spin each other freely — or a short track, where chaos is also likely, or at a place where the field gets strung out and the best car and team genuinely earn the win.
“I think that a superspeedway race would be the one where (a championship-deciding race) shouldn’t happen, there’s just so much outside of a driver’s control,” Johnson added, saying how he would “hate to see” a championship determined by wrecks caused by drafting. To him, a cutoff race is the farthest a superspeedway should be pushed on the calendar.
Johnson was at a recent NASCAR owners meeting where suggestions were solicited about other potential season finale locations. He did have one track in mind, but its location and potential weather issues in early-to-mid November could be a problem.
“I didn’t get too far down the road but when I think about Kansas and how racy that mile and a half is. That’s one that came to mind quickly,” Johnson observed. “We seem to have really good finishes there, so maybe that’s it for now — but I need to do some more thinking about it.”
In any case, the difficult part makes the decision to rotate venues easier to defend. “It’s hard to pick one so I do like the idea of moving it around,” Johnson opined.
