No Doubt About It, the Finale Belongs at Homestead

1. Sorry, Phoenix: South Florida’s The Perfect Place to Crown a Champion

If you came of age as a race fan in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, seeing a champion crowned at Atlanta Motor Speedway was what you came to expect. But once the late 1990s started a brief shuffling of the season finale, NASCAR did the next best thing: move the last race of the season southward to Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The South Florida track is intermediate in length, but also just different enough from a standard quad-oval that it’s enough of a change-up for drivers. That combination made it a natural place to host the last race of the season and crown a champion, and its layout lends itself to racing on multiple grooves.

What we saw on Sunday was no fluke — it’s the racing that we’ve come to expect at Homestead. Phoenix Raceway? Generally, the key to winning there is getting a car hooked up in clean air or making sure you are the first car off of pit road late in the race, something that at times goes a long way toward determining a championship.

Phoenix is one of the most postcard-worthy settings in racing with its backdrop against the desert sun, but this sport needs to be about what showcases the sport’s best, and what you saw this past Sunday (Oct. 27) reinforced that.

If NASCAR truly wants to adjust the schedule for the betterment of the sport, it should move the final race of the season to Homestead.

2. Kyle Larson Needs a Win to Prevent Tarnished Season

Outside of 2021, it’s hard to argue with the fact that this season has been the most impressive one for Kyle Larson. With six wins on a wide range of tracks, it’s difficult to be let down with this season if you’re a fan of the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

That is, of course, unless you look at the current playoff standings. After Sunday’s up-and-down day, Larson not only finished 13th but also failed to earn a single postseason point, placing him seven points shy of the cut line entering Martinsville Speedway.

Simply stated, Larson likely needs to win to advance to the Championship 4. It’s hard to argue with recent odds going into this weekend. Like many to have raced for Hendrick Motorsports, running well at Martinsville is no issue. In the past four races at the paperclip-shaped track, Larson has one win and just one finish worse than second.

So the job is simple going to this weekend for Larson: win.

If not, this season will…