After Sunday’s terrific South Point 400, one thing has become perfectly clear: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which has been rumored as a possible venue for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, has more than proven itself worthy of being a future host for NASCAR’s Championship Weekend. In a sport that often thrives on drama, unpredictability, and emotional payoff, the 1.5-mile intermediate oval delivered all of that and more, and anyone who questioned whether LVMS deserved a spot in the upcoming yearly rotation need not worry.

Sunday’s race had it all: a late-race charge from Denny Hamlin to earn his milestone 60th career win, emotional storylines, hard-fought battles throughout the field, and spectacular on-track incidents with high-stakes Playoff implications that shuffled the Playoff Grid. More importantly, the racing product in Sin City was exceptional.

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Multiple grooves came into play, tire strategy actually mattered, and comers-and-goers, which led to 21 lead changes among 11 drivers, kept the outcome of the race in doubt until the final laps of the event. In an era where fans have become fatigued by the Playoffs and forced “game 7 moments”, Sunday’s race at Las Vegas delivered what the fans have been craving: a thrilling finish minus the gimmicks.

Next year, the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway will take over as the championship venue, an honor Phoenix Raceway has held since the 2020 season. Unlike Phoenix Raceway, where drivers often get stuck following one another, Homestead and Las Vegas are multi-groove race tracks, where passing is very possible, and three-wide battles do occur.

While the championship format for next season remains undecided, and schedules beyond the 2026 season have yet to be officially announced, NASCAR has stated a commitment to a rotating Championship Weekend model going forward.

The change in philosophy tied to the championship weekend venue is designed to shake up what had become a stagnant situation in the championship-deciding event. The rotation will also showcase different tracks on the sport’s biggest stage.

Among the tracks mentioned as possible destinations for the season finale is Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

When asked about whether NASCAR would consider Las Vegas as a championship venue in May, Ben Kennedy explained that “Anything is on the table” and alluded to NASCAR’s great partnership with Speedway Motorsports, which owns LVMS, as a path to make that happen.

Not only would Las Vegas Motor Speedway bring quality racing, as we saw on Sunday, but it would bring just about everything you could ever want in a championship venue.

The track offers a big-market appeal, world-class entertainment, and infrastructure capable of elevating NASCAR’s crown jewel weekend to the next level.

In addition to the entertainment away from the race track, the amenities at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including the famed Neon Garage, which allows fans an up-close look at teams working on their cars throughout the race weekend, make it an excellent location for a championship-deciding event for the sport’s passionate fans.

And in addition to close racing on track, Las Vegas is a track that has proven to allow strategic calls to take place over the course of a 400-mile race, even with the pre-planned NASCAR Stage Breaks baked into things. The strategic element adds a level of unpredictability to the race, which would make a championship race ultra-compelling.

Overall, there are many things that set Las Vegas Motor Speedway apart from the pack of tracks in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025, and if Sunday was an indication, LVMS is ready for the spotlight. The track may just be the high-stakes, high-energy setting the championship weekend has been waiting for.

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