NASCAR gets it right with long-rumored location change

It doesn't seem like there are many decisions NASCAR makes these days that are well-received by fans – sometimes justifiably so, and other times not as much.

Give the sanctioning body credit for this latest one, though.

In 2026, the championship finale for all three national series is set to move back to Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Previously, Homestead occupied the final weekend of the NASCAR schedule between 2002 and 2019. It became synonymous with its championship-deciding slot on the calendar, particularly throughout the entirely of the original "Chase for the Cup" era prior to the current playoff format that was instituted in 2014.

Now, it is slated to return.

Homestead-Miami was meant to host championship weekend

Ever since NASCAR moved its title race to Phoenix Raceway in 2020, something about championship weekend just hasn't quite felt right. Phoenix can put on some exciting racing from time to time, but it's also prone to some snoozers, particularly with a Next Gen car that is simply not suited well for shorter ovals. It is also heavily setup-dependent, making it rather difficult for pure driver skill to rise to the occasion.

Homestead, on the other hand, has put on some of the best racing in NASCAR for many years and is the definition of a "driver's track". There are multiple grooves one can utilize, including right up next to the outside wall. It's one of the series' toughest circuits to win at, and the cream always seems to have a way of rising to the top.

Furthermore, Homestead has traditionally held only one race weekend per year, which makes it a unique challenge as the host of the season finale because teams can't use their notes from the previous race the way they can at Phoenix.

For the Phoenix finales, some teams – most notably Team Penske – have neglected consistency in the interest of pouring all of their preparation into championship weekend. It will be much harder to game the system that way at Homestead.

Additionally, due to being on the west coast, Phoenix's finales have been run in the early afternoon local time and ended in broad daylight. When Homestead was run in November, past the end of daylight savings, the race would generally finish at or past sundown.

Something about the title race concluding under the lights just feels right, providing a prime-time feel to the most important event of the year.

All in all, this was unequivocally the right move, and it is one that feels long overdue. It's been rumored that NASCAR may rotate its championship race between tracks starting in 2026, so fans shouldn't get too excited to see Homestead hosting the finale every year again. But at the very least, the track certainly deserves to be part of that rotation.