Kevin Harvick Calls for NASCAR Finale Overhaul As He Floats Big Idea

Veteran NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick is calling for a change to the season finale venue of the NASCAR Cup Series. As the 2024 season is set to conclude at the Phoenix Raceway in Arizona, a track that has hosted the finale since 2020, Harvick proposes a rotation of the championship race.

Harvick's idea involves rotating the final race location between Phoenix, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and possibly adding Las Vegas Motor Speedway to the mix.

Harvick, who claimed the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2014, is well-known not just for his achievements on the track but also for media duties. Speaking on the Happy Hour podcast, Harvick explained the benefits of alternating championship race locations:

"I hope at some point we start cycling these championship races of Phoenix to Homestead, even if it's just those two racetracks. What a great cycle of events that we could go back and forth on to have two championship tracks. I really hope that we get back to that because I think that Homestead is such a unique place.

Retired NASCAR Cup Series driver, Kevin Harvick speaks to the media during the media scrum at Music City Center on November 30, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. Kevin Harvick calls for NASCAR finale change. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

"If you had three, do you need more than three in that rotation? If you had Las Vegas, Phoenix, Homestead that rotated that championship race, every three years you went to those locations...You want the weather to be good, but I'd love to see Las Vegas Motor Speedway have a championship race. What a great city to be able to host a championship race."

Historically, Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the season-ending race from 2002 until its replacement by Phoenix in 2020. Harvick argued that Homestead-Miami has a different feel to what Phoenix has to offer:

"I'm not saying anything against Phoenix. I think Phoenix has done a great job. I think Homestead just always had that feel of... It felt different at Homestead than it does at Phoenix, and I think Phoenix has a different vibe than Homestead had. There's good from both."

By alternating the championship venue, NASCAR can avoid alienating fans from specific regions, such as those who favor either Phoenix or Homestead.

This comes as Harvick has also teased an appearance at the Indy 500 in 2025. Speaking on his podcast, he commented, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:

"When you look at the Indy 500 and everything that comes with the Indy 500, that is an experience from the open wheel side of that, that hopefully I get to experience this year.

"I don't have anything to do that weekend, so I'd love to experience what heaven might be like."