Guillermo Santa Cruz has yet to experience NASCAR championship weekend as the president of Homestead-Miami Speedway, but he’s already felt what it means for it to return to the speedway in the fall of 2026.

“You know the expression, ‘You don’t know what you have until you lose it’? Well, they lost the championship, and that hurt,” Santa Cruz said. “So, bringing it back is a big deal. It’s an opportunity to, I don’t want to say ‘correct’ some things, but make sure you’re doing things right, maybe you didn’t do before. Maybe you did things right for a long time and then stopped doing them. Or whatever the issue was at the time.”

Santa Cruz can’t count the number of events he attends in any given week in which he hears about the excitement surrounding next November. All three NASCAR national series will crown their champions at Homestead-Miami for the first time since 2019. The South Florida facility had previously hosted the sport’s season finale since 2002 before it was moved away.

NASCAR, however, has now committed to a rotation model for its championship race. That model begins next season with a return to a familiar and favorite location. 

Ironically, the idea of rotating the championship race was part of the reason it was moved away from Homestead-Miami in the first place. The industry had been calling on NASCAR for a change of scenery, and Phoenix Raceway had just been given a $178 million renovation. So, beginning in 2020, the West Coast became the new home of the title race. 

Then it stayed there for six years. Soon enough, those same calls for a change of scenery began again. 

They weren’t only coming from the industry, though. NASCAR executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovation officer Ben Kennedy admitted Homestead was the No. 1 championship venue asked about by race fans.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is an intermediate racetrack with progressive banking that many drivers have labeled their favorite. It has often produced memorable events and received rave reviews from drivers and fans.

“Next year is going to be the biggest sports year in the history of South Florida,” Santa Cruz noted. “We start out with the Orange Bowl (January 1), then we have hockey’s Winter Classic (January 2), the (College Football) National Championship game (January 19), the World Baseball Classic (March 6-11), the Miami Open (March 15-19), Miami Grand Prix (May 1-3), FIFA (June-July), and then to cap it all off, NASCAR championship (Nov. 6-8). 

“That is something, from my perspective, really important in joining that group of events as the capstone to the year. It’s incredible that one market, one city, is going to be hosting so many events in one year, and for us to be at the end of the conga line, to really celebrate a wonderful year, is a big deal. That is something people have latched onto.”

Santa Cruz took the reins at Homestead in 2024, meaning next year’s Championship Race will be the first with him at the helm. Jason Koerner/Getty Images

In the years after it lost the finale date, the Homestead-Miami race moved around the calendar. It went to the summer of 2020, the early spring of 2021, then into the fall for 2022, ’23, and ‘24, before going mid-spring in 2025. The dates might have kept changing, but the racing stayed top-tier.

But there was also an underlying worry about a racetrack that was experiencing so much change. The lack of race date consistency, especially when it’s a facility that only has one a year, is not good for attracting a crowd, and neither is running a race in South Florida when there are other attractions (like spring break) that can draw attention away. Homestead-Miami not being the championship race made it just another race weekend.

Santa Cruz was appointed the track president in July 2024. As such, he acknowledges the question about whether Homestead-Miami needs the championship weekend or whether it saves the track from falling into irrelevance is a good one, but he’s not sure he has the answer.

“My mindset from the get-go was to try to bring the championship back,” Santa Cruz said. “Nobody told me, ‘You have to try to bring the championship back. If you do a good job, you’re going to get the championship.’ There were no strings attached. I quit my job at IMG, and I took on this challenge, and I wanted to bring the championship back. Nobody told me to say that. 

“I think we can be a very successful track no matter when we race, because racing in March is challenging for a number of reasons, but it’s a great time to do things in South Florida. Obviously, having a playoff race is better from a promotional and sporting perspective, and having a championship is the ultimate. No matter what, I think we would always thrive. So, it’s a good equation, but the answer is that, well, we don’t have to worry about it because we’ve got the championship.”

There is no shying away from the greater responsibility a track faces as the championship host. It is not a regular race weekend; there are more fans to welcome, more media interest, and many others who will be coming through the door that might not have come otherwise. Homestead-Miami will represent the sport and its community, with the track and the race as the stars.

Although the mission of getting the championship race back was accomplished, the work isn’t done. Santa Cruz is ever-present in the community as the facility undergoes assessments for infrastructure upgrades (short- and long-term), and soon the time will come to step up and deliver.

“Like I said, it’s a big responsibility, but it’s also planning a big party,” Santa Cruz said. “We have to be and offer the best version of South Florida that we possibly can. The way I see it, we have to represent the South Florida I know and grew up in. Meaning it’s a multicultural community and has all these influences: it’s the most diverse market in NASCAR, the most cosmopolitan city in the rotation. We have to reflect that, and be welcoming and fun, and we’re working on all those different areas to do that. So, when people come to Homestead, it’s going to be unique or unlike anything else in NASCAR, and very authentic and true to who we are.

“That’s a guiding principle for us. Don’t try to be something that you’re not. We’re not South Beach. We’re not other parts of South Florida. We’re closer to the keys, we’re chill, relaxed, fun, and come have a good time. We put on great racing, everybody knows that. Now, come enjoy the rest of the things that we’re putting out there. 

“But it’s going to a party. It’s going to be fun. It’s the championship. Once that green flag drops on Friday night of the Truck Series race, hopefully everything at that point will have gone well and I can sit back and enjoy the ride.”