The host track of NASCAR’s finale changed often in its early years. It really wasn’t until the 1970s when the series began to see some sort of consistency, with Ontario Speedway hosting the final race from 1974 to 1980, and then Riverside International Raceway until 1986. From 1987 through the year 2000, the season concluded at Atlanta Motor Speedway. 2001 would be an outlier year due to the cancelled New Hampshire race following the tragic events of 9/11, which moved that race to the very end of the season. But between 2002 and 2019, the NASCAR season always concluded at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In 2020, NASCAR moved the ever-important final-four showdown to Phoenix Raceway, which will return to the end of the schedule again for a sixth consecutive season in 2025. The track made several impressive upgrades, the city did plenty of promotion, but the racing product has been criticized and incessantly compared to its former home — the brilliant Homestead.
People absolutely loved it there, and pleas for a return to the Southern Florida oval have only grown louder with every year that passes. While a return to only Homestead might be in the cards, a recent comment from NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell to the Sports Business Journal suggests that the finale may end up rotating between various tracks. That could certainly be interesting and would likely prevent a single organization from gaining a stranglehold on the title race like Penske has in recent years. But of course, the immediate question is where should they go? Here are my thoughts:
Homestead-Miami Speedway: An obvious answer. The track wants it. The fans want it. The drivers want it. Even if it’s for one year before going elsewhere, a return to Homestead would excite the entire sport and most definitely produce a thrilling finale.
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, gener8tor Ford Mustang, Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports, Chili’s Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet Camaro, Erik Jones, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, Dollar Tree Toyota Camry
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Las Vegas is a huge market with a lot of eyeballs, which is a major plus, but LVMS is also a thrilling intermediate track with great racing. The current generation of car races best at these 1.5-mile ovals, and Vegas has shown interest in hosting the finale before. There’s also minimal danger of a rainout, so it’s hard to envision a reason not…
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