Last year, Joey Logano’s championship win, with the lowest average finish among all Cup titleholders, sparked a debate across the NASCAR community. The outcome opened the floodgates for commentary, especially from vocal veterans like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick on their respective platforms. Logano, too, didn’t shy away from weighing in.
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A common thread in their discussions was the suggestion to rotate the finale venue to keep the championship weekend from growing stale and to preserve the competitive edge for both drivers and fans. It now appears that NASCAR may have taken those words to heart, with early signs pointing to a potential format shift as soon as 2026.
Denny Hamlin had proposed the shake-up to transform the championship decider into a three-race series, mirroring a mini-playoff round. He emphasized that pinning an entire title on a single race leaves too much up to fate, with one untimely incident, often beyond a driver’s control, capable of derailing a season’s worth of hard work.
On the other hand, Joey Logano, largely supportive of the current playoff format for its unpredictability, acknowledged that introducing a rotating finale venue could be a game-changer. He suggested that such a shift would bring fresh energy to the title race.
Echoing that sentiment, Kevin Harvick argued that the existing setup falls short of building the kind of suspense and drama the championship deserves. He proposed a three-year rotation for the finale venue, believing it would address several shortcomings and breathe new life into the season’s climax.
Now, heeding the drivers’ counsel, multiple reports suggest that Homestead-Miami Speedway is scheduled to host NASCAR’s national championship weekend in 2026. However, this return to Homestead is not a permanent shift but rather the opening act of a new rotational model, under which a different track will take the stage for the finale each year beginning in 2027.
According to sources, Phoenix Raceway will remain in the mix as part of this rotation and will continue to hold two Cup races annually, maintaining its presence on the schedule.
The South Florida track served as the grand stage for NASCAR’s championship weekend across all three national series — Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks — from 2002 through 2019 until the season finale was relocated to Phoenix Raceway. Since then, Homestead has played musical chairs on the NASCAR calendar, shifting between a spring race date and a spot in the playoffs. This season, it returned to an early-season slot in March.
Hosting the finale at different locations would also boost the economy of various regions. For instance, according to the Homestead’s Vice Mayor Sean Fletcher, hosting NASCAR’s title-deciding weekend delivers an estimated $350 million shot in the arm to the region’s economy.
