Did You Notice? … NASCAR has taken a first step toward reworking its playoff system? Beginning in 2026, the Championship Race will return to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the first time in seven years. It’s where every champion was crowned for the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series from 2002-2019.
The difference this time is the championship race won’t stay there. Just like the NFL’s Super Bowl, NASCAR will do a rotation of its best tracks on the schedule going forward, ensuring its finale will pose a different challenge for teams and drivers every year.
Homestead-Miami’s one of the best to have on that schedule, but there’s plenty more we’ll see on the list. Since NASCAR didn’t announce the rotation yet (although Phoenix Raceway is guaranteed to stay on), here’s my five must-have tracks that would be great to have going forward.
Kansas Speedway
Ten years ago, you’d have me committed if I put Kansas Speedway on any type of racing list other than potential demolition. It was one of the sport’s underachieving 1.5-mile ovals, right up there with sister track Chicagoland Speedway as two NASCAR construction projects which masqueraded as large tubs of money lit on fire.
But a funny thing happened as the pavement at both speedways wore out. The racing at both tracks improved dramatically, producing a couple of nail-biting last-lap finishes during the 2010s. Unfortunately, Chicagoland never could get the fans to come support it, leaving Kansas standing alone as the Next Gen chassis has made it, dare I say, the best intermediate track on the schedule.
Let the stats speak for themselves. There have been six different winners in the last six Kansas races, four of them decided with a pass within the last 10 laps. Three of the last four have produced the most lead changes in track history, with a record-setting 37 in May 2023.
That race was also the one Denny Hamlin snagged by making contact with Kyle Larson on the last lap.
One year later, it was Larson prevailing, nipping Chris Buescher to the line by .001 seconds in what remains the closest finish in NASCAR history. It’s that type of close quarters, high drama racing Kansas has been defined by in the Next Gen era, what this sport needs in deciding a champion. It’s also a track non-playoff drivers can contend at: in the midst of his worst season, Kyle Busch wrecked while leading last fall in a wild final stage Ross Chastain wound up winning.
NASCAR in the Next Gen era needs to lean on this car’s strengths: intermediate ovals are at the top of the list. And Kansas City is a big enough market to produce quality media coverage in this fractured era of modern journalism.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Speaking of major markets, how about the seventh-largest one in the country: Atlanta. Another 1.5-mile tri-oval, Atlanta has NASCAR history on its side: it hosted the sport’s season finale from 1987-2000.
While drafting races have come under scrutiny in the Next Gen era, Atlanta’s been a bright spot. Who can forget the three-wide finish Daniel Suarez eked out in February of last year?
The sport was on track for a similar ending this year, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Carson Hocevar running three-wide until a last-lap wreck handed the win to Bell under caution. I think it’s hard to produce a better Game 7-type moment that could also come with the championship on the line.
People tend to shy away from drafting tracks for winner-take-all because of the element of luck involved. I get that, but Atlanta brings handling into play during long green-flag runs, a trend that will only increase as the new-ish pavement continues wearing out. Ask yourself which you would rather have: a Phoenix event that produced 16 lead changes last November or February’s Atlanta race that had 50?
Watkins Glen International
As we saw at Circuit of the Americas this March, NASCAR road course racing is on the upswing after a rocky Next Gen start. So why not have a year-end event at the best one on the schedule?
Watkins Glen International is a fan favorite, a nearly guaranteed yearly sellout that’s produced an incredible Overtime duel as recently as last year. Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen went at it; after slamming fenders, the race ultimately went Buescher’s way. The race proved to also be the most challenging ever for NASCAR’s Round of 16 playoff field, as only two drivers finished inside the top 10. Seven dropped outside the top 20, many dealing with crashes that left them limping home.
It’s that type of curveball that will add some oomph to a championship, validating NASCAR’s recent push toward road and street courses. And after the Glen and other right-turn tracks were dominated by Chase Elliott in the late 2010s, parity has returned: five different drivers won at five Cup races on this track type in 2024.
One downside to this plan: Watkins Glen is hours away from any meaningful media market. November weather could also foul things up in an area that suffers through lake effect snow. As Frontstretch’s Stephen Stumpf reported earlier, NASCAR’s Ben Kennedy listed specific criteria for what makes a championship race, and it feels like there’s at least two strikes against the Glen.
My alternate would be COTA, then, with the Austin media market a stone’s throw away. I just don’t know if we have enough history yet to guarantee quality competition there every time out.
Rockingham Speedway
What better way to reintroduce Rockingham Raceway as a Cup racing staple then by granting it a championship finale. No matter what, successful Xfinity and Truck Series races this year have added confidence the track will eventually be granted a Cup date anyway.
The one-mile track was always known for being rough on tires, much needed during an era where shooting nails into these Goodyears won’t cost you a tenth of a second. We’ve seen what tire management races can do for the Cup Series (Bristol 2024, anyone?), and the relative newness of this renovated racetrack levels the playing field.
With Rockingham so close to so many other places on the Cup schedule, though you could also limit exposure. How about only including it as a points-paying race in the year it decides the championship? Feels like Rockingham could rotate with North Wilkesboro Speedway as the All-Star Race every other year.
I don’t think doing that would kill off Rockingham; Instead, the lack of experience for race teams would maximize the excitement for November and also attract extra entries to NXS and Truck races in off years, making them strong standalone events for those series.
Darlington Raceway
It’s a tough call between Darlington Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s hard to not have Thunder Valley on the list, but with the Next Gen car, you just can’t trust the short tracks to provide what you need for the championship. One weird race with a tire that fell apart by mistake doesn’t fix the problems that have been gnawing at Bristol for nearly a decade now.
Darlington had its own share of issues during the race this spring, William Byron lulling everyone to sleep until a few accidents set up a chaotic finish, allowing Denny Hamlin to steal one. But some previous races in the Next Gen era give enough confidence Goodyear can find the right combination here. Who could forget the crazy 2023 spring race where Chastain wrecked Larson, causing owner Rick Hendrick to issue some critical comments that have (mostly) changed the way Chastain has raced ever since.
The history of the sport’s Southern 500 should always keep that event on Labor Day weekend. The year Darlington hosts the championship race, simply move the spring race down into November and make the Southern 500 the regular season finale. It would be neat to have that become a precursor to what teams will face just 10 races later while battling for the title itself.
My only worry with Darlington is the same as Watkins Glen and Rockingham: small-town tracks with limited media coverage and lodging close by the track. You want to make a big splash for your sport’s Super Bowl, right? You don’t see the NFL holding its championship in Bismarck, North Dakota or the middle of nowhere Idaho. The off-track events of championship week matter, too.
Did You Notice?… Quick hits before taking off…
- Michael McDowell, in the last two years, feels like he’s lost almost double the NASCAR races he’s won in his career (two). You wonder how things might have changed if he cashed in on just one of those opportunities, including Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. At some point, the lovable underdog has to produce.
- Say what you want about Texas but it’s produced nine different winners in the last nine Cup races down there. More than ever, it’s a wild card on the schedule where survive and advance brings some surprising names to the front. Does it need a redesign? Yes, badly. But it’s far from the worst race on the current schedule.
- Just wanted to mention this wild NTT IndyCar Series stat: 339 straight laps and nearly four full races without a caution flag. There have been three straight caution-free races there for the first time since 1986. Could you imagine that ever happening in NASCAR, ever again? I think the rules would be changed after two races.
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.