NASCAR moved Championship Weekend to Phoenix Raceway after Homestead-Miami Speedway held the honor from 2002 to 2019. While Homestead is considered one of NASCAR’s best race tracks, Phoenix has been on the other side of the spectrum over the years due to its layout and hard nature of passing.
Many have expressed their desire to move Phoenix away from Championship Weekend and return it to Homestead. As of now, Phoenix will return as the venue that decides the 2024 NASCAR champions but nothing has been confirmed beyond that point. Yet, there could be a better idea as NASCAR could start a rotation of tracks when the new TV deal begins in 2025.
This is something that the NFL does with its Super Bowl. The biggest sporting event in the world moves from stadium to stadium while other sports use team-based stadiums for those in the championship. In NASCAR, it has been Homestead and now Phoenix for the last four years. Quite frankly, a rotation sounds much better than letting one area repeat the finale.
A final lap @Blaney will never forget.
Presented by @CreditOneBank pic.twitter.com/dScwdUrlmz
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2023
It wouldn’t allow one specific driver or team to have a major advantage every year. NASCAR’s playoff system is good for the sport but this is a major flaw. In fact, it is a flaw that changes the course of history. NASCAR shouldn’t decide the title at one race track because of the advantage issue. This would be taken away with a track rotation.
As for which tracks would make sense on paper without digging too deeply into the logistics, there would be three good options with Homestead, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. This entire idea of rotating tracks isn’t to dismiss Phoenix’s ability to hold a championship event. The venue should still be a part of the mix but there needs to be more hands in the pot.
As stated above, the earliest this can happen is 2025 due to the new TV deal. If NASCAR truly wants to modernize its playoff system even more, this should be a serious consideration moving forward. If not, NASCAR should move Championship Weekend to a different location for a few years and allow the tracks to hold the date for a couple of seasons instead.
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