All three national series of NASCAR are heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. For the Cup and Xfinity Series, their races are the second race in the Round of 8 of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Homestead is hosting the Truck Series’ elimination race that will decide the Championship Four. Each race this weekend is vitally important to the playoff drivers. It is obvious why an elimination race is important for the Truck Series drivers. For the Cup and Xfinity Series playoff drivers, winning at Homestead relieves any pressure heading their elimination race. An elimination race hosted at a short track where beating and banging cars is a guarantee.
It is refreshing to see Homestead-Miami Speedway return to a critical portion of the schedule. Over the past two years, the Homestead race was pushed forward in the schedule. 2020 saw the race ran in June while logistical reasons saw the track host its one and only race in the third race of the season. It was a shame to see Homestead be pushed so far forward in the schedule. From 2002 until 2019, the track was the host of the season finale of all NASCAR. When NASCAR switched the Championship Race from Homestead to Phoenix, it came as a shock to fans. It was a drastic shift in the NASCAR schedule that split some fans.
The past two seasons of Phoenix Raceway hosting the Championship Four race have been a mixed bag. For the Trucks and Xfinity Series, late race restarts have sparked some excitement. Daniel Hemric won the Xfinity Championship with a last lap pass last year. Sheldon Creed survived a chaotic green white checkered restart to secure his Truck Series Championship in 2020. Meanwhile, the Cup Series has had pedestrian finales. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson pulled away after the last restart. Other than Elliott driving through the field in Stage One in 2020, the racing itself is a bit boring. While the racing has not been awful, it is below the standards of a championship race. Hence why NASCAR should move the race back to Homestead-Miami Speedway.
History of Hosting Finales
Located in very south Florida, Homestead-Miami Speedway began construction in 1993. The track hosted its first race in 1995 with the Xfinity Series. After compiling success with the second tiered series of NASCAR, the Cup Series raced there for the first time in 1999. After only three seasons on the Cup Series schedule, NASCAR shifted the season finale of the Cup Series to Homestead in 2002. Though the Cup Series waited a few seasons, the Xfinity Series hosted their season finale at Homestead from the beginning.
NASCAR helped add more ambiance to Homestead in 2005 by adding lights. The season finale was now hosted under the lights near Miami. Along with the gradual banking added in 2003, it created an undeniable championship atmosphere for NASCAR.
Homestead-Miami Speedway’s claim to being racing’s finale host came to a head in 2009. Along with the three NASCAR series, IndyCar and the Rolex series hosted their respective last races of the season at Homestead. In addition to 2009, IndyCar used Homestead in 2010 as their season finale before ending their time at the track all together. Rolex’s 2009 finale was a one-off.
Phoenix vs. Homestead
Since the repaving/reconfiguration of Phoenix Raceway, how many exciting Phoenix races have there been? There have been memorable moments, but those had less to do with good racing rather than driver interactions. Perhaps the most memorable moment from Phoenix in the last few years is Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon fighting in the garage. There is also Ryan Newman pushing Kyle Larson out of the way to advance in the playoffs. Plus, Hemric’s last lap pass to secure his first win and championship last year in the Xfinity Series. All memorable moments, but not truly from great racing.
Meanwhile, Homestead’s racing has been consistently great, especially for an intermediate track. After the lights were installed, fans were witness to multiple closing laps of side-by-side racing between Greg Biffle and Mark Martin going for the win in 2005. Tony Stewart’s journey in the 2011 finale to secure his final championship was another great race for Homestead. Even last year’s race produced competitive racing. Other memorable moments include Kurt Busch’s save going onto pit road in 2004, Bill Elliott’s win in 2001, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman’s late lap battle in 2014, and Joey Logano powering around Martin Truex Jr in 2018.
When comparing moments between the two, Phoenix is at an unfair disadvantage. Homestead hosting 17 season finales, with all but two of them featuring a version of NASCAR’s playoff system, will provide more moments. With that said, Phoenix has hosted two races per year since 2005. Phoenix has the edge in number of races while Homestead has hosted more important races.
The issue with Phoenix is that it is in between three styles of tracks. While being sort of a short track, it is a bit too long to be truly considered one. The racing at Phoenix does not resemble short track racing either. However, it is too short to be considered a true intermediate. Plus, the track is a triangle. With the Next Gen car, Phoenix was the first race this season to receive a “meh” reaction from fans. Three drivers battled for the win late due to cautions, but everything before that was a bit of snoozer. Compare that to Homestead, an intermediate track that usually sees competitive racing. Even with the Gen 6 car, Homestead has been a favorite for fans.
For all of its flaws, the Next Gen car has provided solid-to-great racing on intermediates. There is no reason to think that Homestead will not be a better race than either Phoenix race this year.
Special Attraction
Ryan Vargas tweeted a “hot take” the other day. In his tweet, he said that the championship race should be hosted by a track with only one date. He is completely correct. The track that hosts the finale should only host that one race. Going to Phoenix twice in a year diminishes the specialty of the last race. This is especially true when considering the current playoff format. Fans have seen one race at this track already this year. Based on that race, there is already an idea of who is going to run well there in November. It leaves little room for suspense or surprise.
Imagine this season ending at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There would be increased excitement and intrigue heading into the weekend. None of the three series have raced a competitive lap at the track since last February. Especially with the Cup Series, a championship race on a new track for the new car would be special. NASCAR loves marketing “special” events. For this year, it could have been a marketing boom for NASCAR to push the “first time” nature of the race with the championship race. After this year, those special weekend vibes can still be pushed. Only running one race at the championship hosting track welcomes spectacle.
Even if NASCAR would not move the race from Phoenix, they should limit their races to this one weekend. Would they? Absolutely not. Money and contracts are already in place. But they should. In a perfect scenario, they reshuffle the schedule again to move Homestead where it belongs. Homestead-Miami Speedway is the home of NASCAR’s finale. Though the track lost that distinction in 2020, that does not change the perception. NASCAR would be wise to move the three finales back to Homestead.
