5 drivers feat. Chase Elliott who welcomed NASCAR’s Championship Race decision

NASCAR recently confirmed that Homestead-Miami Speedway will return as the host of Championship Weekend in 2026, marking a highly anticipated comeback for the fan-favorite venue. The announcement was met with widespread approval across the garage, including from Hendrick Motorsports star Chase Elliott, who voiced his support for the decision.

Phoenix Raceway has held the season finale since 2020, including this year, but the return to Homestead marks an exciting shift in next year's schedule. Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch secured his second Cup Series title at the coveted 1.5-mile intermediate track.

Let us hear what the Cup Series grid has to say about returning to Florida for the ultimate weekend of the season.

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5 drivers feat. Chase Elliott who welcomed NASCAR's return to Homestead-Miami

#1 Chase Elliott

Former Cup Series champion Chase Elliott expressed his enthusiasm for NASCAR’s decision to bring Homestead-Miami Speedway back as the Championship Weekend host in 2026. Elliott shared that he appreciates the idea of keeping the schedule dynamic and believes rotating the finale was always part of the original intent when the championship race shifted to Phoenix.

"I think it's great. When it moved from Homestead, I thought that was the plan in general. So I don't know how long it's been in Phoenix now, but seems like a long time so I'm glad to see it move around[...] I think it's important to you know to have that shift and you know not just be a one track." [8:59 onwards]

#2 Christopher Bell

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell also gave his seal of approval to the return of Homestead starting next year. Reports have also suggested that NASCAR will initiate a rotation between tracks for the championship weekend, which Bell expressed should have happened a 'long time' ago.

"I think yeah, there's a couple tracks, Vegas, Homestead, Phoenix being three that certainly make sense to rotate between the championship event[...] It should have happened a long time ago and I'm glad to hear that we're finally starting a rotation." [5:31 onwards]

Bell recorded his only Cup victory at Homestead-Miami in October 2023, where he finished the NASCAR Cup Series season with an overall P4.

#3 Bubba Wallace

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, who pilots the #23 Toyota also shared his enthusiasm to have Homestead Miami back in rotation for the Championship Race next season. Wallace has made two top-ten finishes in 7 starts at the 1.5-mile track, which he believes is a driver 'favourite' in the schedule.

"I know I support that 100%. I think it needs to continue to rotate. Obviously Homestead's pretty much every driver in the field's favorite track or one of their favorite tracks." [13:02]

#4 William Byron

Hendrick Motorsports driver and two-time Daytona 500 winner William Byron echoed the sentiments of JGR’s Christopher Bell, who also named his top three preferred venues for NASCAR’s Championship Weekend, with Homestead-Miami among them.

While Byron rooted for Charlotte Motor Speedway, his suggestions aligned with optimal climate conditions for a competitive race.

"Homestead's obviously great. Vegas is great, Phoenix is okay. So I think you have three or four there that you could choose from that are decent, climate wise." [00:43]

Byron, who finished P12 in this year’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead this season, is currently P2 in the Drivers' standings, only second to his HMS teammate Kyle Larson.

#5 AJ Allmendinger

Kaulig Racing veteran AJ Allmendinger welcomed the idea of rotating Championship Weekend venues on the NASCAR schedule, calling it 'cool' to see different tracks host the finale. However, the 43-year-old, who has over 450 Cup Series starts, humorously added that the most important part is 'making it' to that stage of the season first.

"I think it's cool to be able to move it around a little bit... Each person has their strengths and weaknesses of which tracks that they want in there but to me, you got to make it there first, so it's not that big of a deal." [14:43]