Report: NASCAR championship weekend returning to Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2026

NASCAR is moving their championship weekend away from Phoenix Raceway. Homestead-Miami Speedway is expected to host once again in 2026, according to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic.

“Homestead-Miami Speedway is expected to host NASCAR’s national championship weekend in 2026, according to multiple sources briefed on the plans but not authorized to speak publicly, with an announcement tentatively planned in the coming weeks,” Bianchi reported. “The 1.5-mile track in South Florida previously hosted the championship weekend for NASCAR’s three national series — Cup, Xfinity and Trucks — from 2002 to 2019 before NASCAR shifted the November event to Phoenix Raceway.”

Homestead previously hosted NASCAR’s championship weekend from 2002 to 2019. Phoenix has taken the ball and ran with it over the past couple of seasons, but fans have been clamoring for change after some less than stellar racing in the desert.

With a return to Miami for the title-deciding race on the docket for 2026, fans will certainly be excited. However, it’s not a permanent decision. Bianchi added that there will be a rotation for championship weekend in NASCAR, as they originally intended when the event was moved away from Homestead in the first place.

“The title weekend moving to Homestead is just for the 2026 season, according to those sources, as another track will be selected to host in 2027, beginning a rotation in which a different venue is chosen each year,” Bianchi added. “Phoenix is expected to be included in this rotation, the sources said, and the track will continue to have two races each season.”

Regardless, fans, media member and drivers alike are elated with the change. Denny Hamlin’s comments from earlier this season echo that sentiment, as the veteran wheelman stated his yearning for a return to Homestead for championship weekend.

“I would certainly like to see (Homestead) play a bigger factor in our championship,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing co-owner said last month, per Bianchi. “Whether it’s in the playoffs, just a part of the championship race or round, or whatever it might be, I’d like to see it be a part of that as, like we just talked about, the driver makes a bigger difference at this track compared to the car.”

Time will tell what’s next for NASCAR’s championship weekend after Homestead, but 2026 returning to Miami will have a ton of people feeling exuberant. It’s the right decision, and the only gripe many will have is that it didn’t happen sooner.