Should NASCAR Move the Championship Race Away From Phoenix?

Defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney will return to Phoenix this weekend, where he won his title last November. The Team Penske star is yet to find his way to victory lane in 2024 with his best finish being runner-up in Atlanta. Talking to Fox Sports about his mood going to the desert again, he opened up on shifting the venue for the Championship 4 finale away from Phoenix.

He mentioned to Bob Pockrass that he did not have a favorite when it came to the finale track. Both Homestead-Miami and Phoenix had impressed him in their times as the ultimate venue and he now believes that it would be good for the sport to move the finale now and then.

He said, “I’m fine moving it anywhere. I honestly think it’s good that it can get possibly moved around every few years. You give a venue a handful of good years there then hey, maybe you move it. You’re kind of limited that time of year to where you can go.” Blaney won his maiden championship in Phoenix last year and now heads to the track as one of the favorites to win.

He also expressed that it would be nice to head back to the place that had given him special memories and that he hoped to finally grab a win there. He finished in 2nd place in each of his last three appearances at the short track.

Other Cup Series drivers on moving season finale away from Phoenix

The Phoenix Raceway has served as the host for the Cup Series finale since 2020 and will do so in 2024. Before Phoenix, Homestead-Miami played the role till 2019. Although Phoenix has been successful in making for a good final race, many drivers feel that the venue ought to be changed at regular intervals.

In support of the idea and aware of the limited options, Kyle Larson said last year, “Homestead and Phoenix are good. Texas sucks, so you don’t want to go there. You hate to decide on a champion at Daytona. So it’s probably between Phoenix and Homestead.” 

Joey Logano added, “I do think the final race should move around. I think it’s like the Super Bowl. It doesn’t stay in the same city every year. It gets bidded out. Why can’t we do that?” However, Logano was sure as Larson had been in that they didn’t want the finale to be at a superspeedway like Daytona.

RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher was in alignment, saying, “I think if you change it up every couple of years you can bring fans to a location that may be closer to them for a finale that they can experience. You open up that opportunity for more people.” With more drivers seeing eye-to-eye with each other in this matter, NASCAR could potentially switch things in the coming years.