Racing fans now know that the 2026 championship weekend will take place at Homestead-Miami Speedway. They don't know where the finale heads in 2027 and beyond, but NASCAR has indicated that anything is on the table.
Why this matters is that NASCAR does not own all of the tracks on the schedule. The sanctioning body runs some of the tracks while Speedway Motorsports runs the others. Notably, SMI controls such tracks as Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.
"I think anything is on the table at this point, to be honest, whether it's a NASCAR property or elsewhere," Ben Kennedy, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer, told media members on Tuesday.
"And I think a great part about it is we have a good relationship with Speedway Motorsports, and they have many prominent events in the playoffs -- cut-off races at the Charlotte Roval in Bristol and a handful of others."
Now, while Kennedy noted that anything is on the table, that doesn't mean NASCAR is going to go wild with its choice of championship weekend venue. Daytona International Speedway is not going to kick off the year with the Daytona 500 and then close out the season with the championship.
Superspeedways, in general, will not be on the initial short list of championship venues as NASCAR builds out its future schedules. Road courses are also unlikely.
"I think we've unanimously agreed that it needs to look and feel like what we would expect traditional NASCAR racing to look and feel like," Kennedy explained. "So short tracks, intermediate tracks, mile tracks are all on the board.
"Superspeedways, I think we all feel like right now we wouldn't consider that as a championship venue. Not that Daytona isn't a championship-caliber venue. It is for sure."
Tradition aside, NASCAR will consider other variables when looking at possible locations for championship weekend.
One will be the weather. Northern states such as Michigan and New Hampshire will not be automatically out of contention. NASCAR will first examine historic weather data to determine if it would be possible to host a race weekend without weather delays.
Another variable will be the racing product. NASCAR wants to put on a compelling show, so certain tracks could rise above others based on the races they have hosted.
A third variable will be the atmosphere. This is something NASCAR President Steve O'Donnell mentioned back in February when discussing the concept of a championship rotation. He indicated that the host city needs to provide that championship atmosphere for the fans, teams, and entire industry.
This variable is one reason why Phoenix will remain in the rotation for future seasons.
"(Phoenix) is a championship-caliber market, championship-caliber city," Kennedy said. "And we'll be bringing the championship back to Phoenix sometime in the future, and Miami and Homestead is the same way.
"We want to find ways to partner up with the city, to partner up with the county, and not just have this be two or three days at the racetrack, but really turn this into more of a longer weekend, long event where we have a number of activations in and around the city and really paint the town, so to speak, to make sure that anyone that is in Miami that weekend knows that NASCAR is in town with their championship."