NASCAR drivers, despite soft spot for Homestead, agree championship site should ‘move around’
The countdown has begun.
South Florida’s hold on NASCAR’s biggest weekend is reaching its final days.
Homestead-Miami Speedway’s run of 18 consecutive championship weekend, this Friday through Sunday, will come to an end as NASCAR shifts to a rotating championship location — similar to the Super Bowl.
When will NASCAR’s finale return to South Florida? It’s unsure at this point.
NASCAR’s championship weekend will be at the ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Homestead will host the sixth round of races in the 2020 season, with the NASCAR Cup Series race being held on March 22 and dubbed the Dixie Vodka 400.
Sites for the finale beyond the 2020 season have not been determined, but Homestead will likely be included in the rotation at some point.
“It needs to move around,” said Martin Truex Jr., one of this year’s Championship 4 along with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. “No question.”
But that doesn’t mean drives don’t still have a soft spot for Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I would say as drivers, I think it’s unanimous we love the racetrack,” Hamlin said. “I think the racetrack is phenomenal. I believe as a driver you can really make a difference here. Even if your car is lacking a little bit, you can move around and change the characteristics of your car, the handling of your car through different lines and whatnot.
For Truex, it’s the unpredictability of the track. Only four drivers have won the Ford EcoBoost 400 multiple times during the race’s 20 years and just two — Tony Stewart in 1999 and 2000 and Greg Biffle from 2004 to 2006 — have won at Homestead in consecutive years.
“It’s the only mile-and-a-half track that’s a true oval. It’s a lot different than really anywhere else that we go,” Truex said. “I like that it’s something different. We’re all going to get surprised a little bit, but at the same time, it’s a really fun track. It’s a track where, as a driver, you feel like you can make a difference.”
For Hamlin, who is in contention to win his first NASCAR Cup Series title, it starts the moment he drives through the tunnel.
He sees the palm trees on the back straightaway. He feels the sellout crowd.
“To me,” Hamlin said, “it just feels like a championship race track.
“When I go there, it gets the juices flowing even if I’m not part of the Championship 4 because the stage is big and there’s a lot of eyes on it.”
But the drivers also understand the need for change.
It spreads the love to other cities, other fan bases and helps to grow the sport in other markets.
It also rewards race tracks that have improved their facilities and gives NASCAR a chance to highlight other tracks that might not be regularly seen by less casual viewers.
“To me, what happens in the race is irrelevant. It’s great that we’re going to crown a champion. We all love Homestead, but the event and the market and the notoriety, the new things that come to a new market that help carry that race track for a number of years to come are important,” Harvick said. “We have to use our championship event to rebuild enthusiasm in markets. I think that will be the first step to doing that.”
Logistics will play a factor, though. Championship weekend is in mid-November, which would make it difficult for race tracks in northern states to host.
“There’s only a handful of tracks that kind of the weather will cooperate this time of year,” Hamlin said.
And then there’s the competitive advantage factor.
“We’re going to go [to Phoenix] in spring, and someone is going to get a leg up on the competition, right?” Truex said. “Or maybe it’s a track where someone’s really good and the same guy wins five out of 10 races or something. The difference with [Homestead] is ... we race it one time a year, and look at the different winners we’ve had. That’s what I like about it.”
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