NASCAR insider names four tracks that should host championship race over Phoenix

A NASCAR insider believes the Cup Series Championship race should move out of Phoenix and be at a different track. On The Teardown podcast, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic revealed the four tracks that would be the best place to host the last race of the Cup Series season.

“You need to bring this race to a track that allows you to put on a great show and allow your drivers to showcase their ability the best,” Bianchi said to co-host Jeff Gluck. “That is a Homestead, that would be a Las Vegas or Charlotte, and honestly you’re gonna laugh at me for saying this, I’d even throw Texas in that conversation. That racing has gotten better there.

“…But you’ve got to figure out a way to put these guys in situations that allow them to show their ability. That was what we’ve seen the last few weeks like [Tyler] Reddick at Homestead or a [Ryan] Blaney last week. While I was impressed with what [Christopher ] Bell and Blaney were able to do [Sunday], it lacked that magical like whoa, these guys are really going after it hard.”

NASCAR is planning to have the 2025 Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix in 2025. But Bianchi isn’t the only one to see the race moved to a different location. Last month, NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick said NASCAR should rotate the championship track.

Should NASCAR rotate the championship race?

“Homestead has put on great races for years. I think it’s the thing of people wanting to see something different, and then it goes away for a while and people want to see it come back,” Harvick said on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour last month. “I think that’s the power of possibly rotating this race around. I’ve heard some people talk, ‘Well, we rotated the All-Star race around.’ The All-Star race is not the same as a full-length race.

“We’re talking great markets — Vegas, Homestead, Phoenix — to be able to rotate these races around. We’ve seen the high grove work great in Vegas and things have great finishes there. We’ve seen great finishes at Phoenix. I think we can have great finishes at any of the racetracks. We’ve had great racing on all different styles of racetracks. I think Homestead, that Miami market, warm weather, it just promotes a great place to end the season. Phoenix, the same way. There’s definitely something to that final race rotation and keeping it mixed up.”