Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Breaking: Homestead-Miami To Host 2026 NASCAR Championship & Rotational Model Will Be Used | Charlie Marlow Show

Transcript

Breaking: Homestead-Miami To Host 2026 NASCAR Championship & Rotational Model Will Be Used | Charlie Marlow Show · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  All right everybody, we are live Charlie Marlow here on the Kenny
• 0:04
  Wallace YouTube channel and also re podcasted on Kenny Wallace
• 0:08
  media breaking news. Now this story was reported a
• 0:13
  few weeks ago, but now it's official via NASCAR
• 0:18
  vianascar.com. You see the title breaking news,
• 0:23
  Homestead, Miami Speedway to host 2026 NASCAR championships
• 0:31
  and now moving forward, a rotational model will be used.
• 0:36
  So again, I think most people realized it was going in this
• 0:40
  direction, but now it's official from NASCAR.
• 0:43
  I think this is a really, really smart move.
• 0:46
  By the way, in the article, you can go to nascar.com and read
• 0:50
  it. It's about a 5-6 minute article,
• 0:52
  whatever it is. They also say that Phoenix will
• 0:55
  be in the rotational model moving forward.
• 0:59
  So let's just say the next 3-4 years, whatever it is, obviously
• 1:03
  this year Phoenix still the championships 20252026 announced
• 1:10
  it's going to be Homestead Miami.
• 1:12
  And then there will be this rotational model used moving
• 1:16
  forward. We don't know which other tracks
• 1:19
  though. So you got to think, look, you
• 1:21
  got to think Miami. Obviously you got to think you
• 1:24
  got to know Phoenix because they said Phoenix will be in the
• 1:29
  rotational model, What else? Vegas, Remember, weather plays a
• 1:34
  factor in this. We discussed this yesterday.
• 1:37
  We did a live stream as well talking about the Texas race.
• 1:41
  But we all know that Kansas Speedway, where NASCAR will be
• 1:45
  this upcoming weekend, is one of the best, if not the best tracks
• 1:50
  out there in terms of pure racing.
• 1:52
  Just your raciest track. But we're talking early November
• 1:57
  weather in Kansas City, Kansas, you just can't depend on it.
• 2:01
  Obviously weather in Miami, weather in Vegas, weather in
• 2:05
  Phoenix, different story. We got about 49 of you, 50 of
• 2:09
  you watching live. Appreciate that.
• 2:11
  Got some comments coming in. Get your comments in and I will
• 2:16
  read those as well. We'll have a little back and
• 2:18
  forth here, but I'll go back to this article.
• 2:21
  It's funny too, because I was reading some of the comments on
• 2:24
  X and already people are already saying what do you think they're
• 2:28
  saying with Miami hosting 2026? A bunch of people were like
• 2:34
  congratulations to your 2026 champion Kyle Larson.
• 2:38
  We know Kyle Larson runs really, really well there.
• 2:41
  But also, look, you got to get there and Kyle Larson does
• 2:45
  usually last couple years Next Gen. era, get to the
• 2:48
  Championship 4, but you got to get there first.
• 2:51
  Also look in the next genera, this is year 4 and we've had
• 2:57
  three champions in the next genera and they've all been
• 3:01
  Penske drivers. Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Joey
• 3:05
  Logano, and who knows, could it be Logano or Blaney again this
• 3:10
  year? Clearly the Penske drivers, the
• 3:13
  Penske teams have have what it takes.
• 3:17
  They've figured it out at Phoenix in terms of that setup.
• 3:20
  So anytime you go into Phoenix for the championship right now,
• 3:24
  you got to think a Penske driver, if they're in there, is
• 3:27
  the favorite. And, and I don't think NASCAR
• 3:30
  should should do the rotation just because of that, but I
• 3:35
  think it just, I think it adds to the sport and the spectacle.
• 3:38
  To me, it's kind of like a Super Bowl or a Final Four.
• 3:42
  And if you want to have three races in there and you rotate it
• 3:46
  every three years or they can mix it up and do some different
• 3:49
  things moving forward, right, with different tracks, if they
• 3:52
  race different and all of a sudden you're thinking, hey, in
• 3:55
  the next couple years you have repaved here.
• 3:57
  Oh, you look, all of a sudden this is an intriguing track for
• 4:01
  the championship. We think this could play really
• 4:03
  well in November for the championship.
• 4:05
  I think this is really, really smart.
• 4:07
  I think NASCAR needs to do everything possible.
• 4:11
  And I'm not saying NASCAR is getting stale, but you also have
• 4:14
  to get ahead of the game. And I think the rotational model
• 4:19
  is really, really smart, even if it's every three years.
• 4:23
  Vegas, Miami and and Phoenix, I just think that adds a little
• 4:29
  bit of a of a difference that every year you can look forward
• 4:33
  to something a little bit different and folks don't get
• 4:36
  kind of stuck in their ways. And I think it's very important
• 4:39
  also just for the overall schedule of NASCAR to make it
• 4:44
  different, especially in the playoffs, right?
• 4:46
  Do you want, do you want the playoff races to always be the
• 4:50
  same races, the 10, the 10 races?
• 4:53
  Look, you also have to make it so you throw a road course in
• 4:56
  there, you throw a superspeedway in there.
• 4:59
  Do you want too many of those superspeedways where there's
• 5:02
  more volatility? How many Rd. courses do you want
• 5:06
  in the in the championship 10 races and then coming down to
• 5:10
  the end, look, especially your last four races, you want them
• 5:14
  to be the most pure raciest tracks.
• 5:18
  And that's what NASCAR has been going for.
• 5:21
  And I think that's really smart. And I think it's the most fair.
• 5:24
  Look, if you're saying I don't love, I don't love the fact that
• 5:28
  all comes down to one race, I get that.
• 5:31
  But the playoff points you accumulate over the course of
• 5:34
  the season. And then if you get down to the
• 5:36
  end there and they're at tracks where the best drivers, the best
• 5:40
  teams usually rise to the occasion, right?
• 5:43
  Not as much luck involved on a superspeedway.
• 5:46
  And I'm not saying that that road course drivers, that
• 5:50
  there's luck there. Those guys are, are clearly
• 5:53
  skilled if you're a road course specialist.
• 5:56
  But I think for your champion, determining your champion, you
• 5:59
  want your best overall driver. And that's the guy that over the
• 6:03
  course of a full season and the playoffs does the best at all
• 6:06
  the different types of tracks, the short tracks, the
• 6:09
  intermediates, the superspeedways, the road course
• 6:11
  is just your best overall driver.
• 6:13
  I think this will help that and I think you'll have a little
• 6:17
  more variance, right, with different teams figuring out
• 6:22
  Phoenix, figuring out Miami Homestead, right?
• 6:25
  You, you hear from these teams saying, look, in the off season,
• 6:29
  we already start putting a bunch of our time into Phoenix to
• 6:33
  figuring out Phoenix, knowing that's going to determine the
• 6:36
  champion. And now these teams can do the
• 6:37
  same with Miami Homestead. I want to hear from you guys.
• 6:41
  What do you think? Let's see, we got a bunch of
• 6:45
  comments coming in here. Wesley Shaw says smart move.
• 6:52
  He also says rotate between Homestead, Phoenix and Las
• 6:56
  Vegas. That's what I'm saying.
• 6:57
  I think those tracks make the most sense right now.
• 7:01
  Mike Fritz says great. A boring race track in my
• 7:04
  opinion. Come on, you can't please
• 7:06
  everybody. Let's see.
• 7:08
  Steven Feldmaton says. I've always thought Daytona
• 7:13
  would be a great finish to end the season.
• 7:16
  OK, in theory that that works in theory, just because Daytona is
• 7:22
  the epitome of NASCAR tracks. Daytona 500 to start the season.
• 7:26
  And at Daytona, the way Daytona races, it just wouldn't be fair.
• 7:31
  There's way too much volatility, big, big racks wiping out half
• 7:35
  the field. You just, you can't determine
• 7:38
  your champion at Daytona. You just can't.
• 7:40
  I love it for the pageantry and it makes sense in theory.
• 7:45
  It doesn't make sense in practice.
• 7:46
  You just, you don't want your championship to be determined
• 7:48
  out of Talladega, out of Daytona, even even in Atlanta
• 7:52
  these days. My opinion, Elise, I think most
• 7:55
  would agree. Taylor Green says hi from
• 7:57
  Oakville. Let's see Joe Tompkins.
• 8:01
  Homestead will put on a good show, but I'd love to see the
• 8:03
  season end at Atlanta again someday.
• 8:05
  I think Atlanta would be on the table, superspeedway esque, but
• 8:10
  not a a true superspeedway. Some really great finishes, some
• 8:14
  really great races. I think Atlanta, the weather
• 8:18
  obviously, which we've talked about earlier, I think Atlanta
• 8:21
  could be on the table down the road moving forward.
• 8:24
  We'll see about that. Definitely not off the table.
• 8:28
  Andy Mack also asking why not finish that Daytona?
• 8:31
  I just gave my opinion on that. Matthew Womack says, what does
• 8:36
  Chipper think? Chipper Jones, how about that?
• 8:38
  Chipper Jones and Joey Logano also with a truce.
• 8:42
  You got to love that you saw the picture of Joey Logano taking a
• 8:45
  picture with the trophy after winning this past weekend at
• 8:51
  Texas. Had the Atlanta Braves hat and
• 8:53
  Chipper Jones congratulated him and Joey Logano said, hey,
• 8:57
  thanks. How about a truce?
• 8:58
  Good ending to a story that provided us with a little little
• 9:02
  drama, a little fun during the midweek from race to race.
• 9:06
  We got to have something to talk about, right?
• 9:09
  Yeah. How about now talking about
• 9:11
  Atlanta? I think Atlanta is certainly on
• 9:13
  the table. Let's see.
• 9:15
  Ken Ruggles says rotate every year.
• 9:20
  Not every 3. Fords have proven that.
• 9:23
  Yeah. I don't think it'll be.
• 9:26
  Well, now we'll see if NASCAR was smart, which they are.
• 9:30
  I don't think they're going to go, OK, it's going to be
• 9:31
  Homestead for three years. Then it's going to be Phoenix
• 9:34
  for three years. Then it's going to be Vegas for
• 9:36
  three years. That's not the way this should
• 9:38
  go. If you're asking me, it should
• 9:39
  just be if you want to set it forward for the first whatever,
• 9:42
  six years, let's say plan the schedule out for six years
• 9:45
  because scheduling matters with these tracks.
• 9:47
  I would just say, look, so we're starting right now, 2025.
• 9:50
  Let's just say hypothetically we're going with Phoenix, Miami
• 9:54
  and Vegas. I would I would just announce it
• 9:56
  whenever they figure this out, Just go, look, we're going to go
• 9:58
  2025 Phoenix, 2026 Miami, 2027 Vegas, 2028 back to Phoenix,
• 10:06
  2029, back to Miami, 2030 back to Las Vegas.
• 10:12
  That would be and then they can figure it out, right?
• 10:14
  They can see how things go over the next six years.
• 10:17
  If they want to change tracks moving forward, whatever it is,
• 10:19
  that's what I would do if I was running NASCAR.
• 10:21
  I'm not, but that's what I would do.
• 10:24
  Let's see, Kathy Wooden says, I think changing up the tracks for
• 10:28
  the final race is good. Keep the teams on their toes.
• 10:32
  I agree with you. Joe Cujo says your 3 tracks make
• 10:36
  sense. Thank you.
• 10:38
  I think that's what most people think.
• 10:39
  Also after Sunday's race, Brian Anderson, I think you could
• 10:44
  throw Texas in there. Did you think Texas was that
• 10:47
  great of a race? I thought Texas was bailed out
• 10:51
  by a good finish. I didn't see a ton of passing
• 10:54
  there. I, I don't know, what do you
• 10:56
  guys think? I I don't think right now Texas
• 10:59
  could be in there. Maybe you guys disagree with me.
• 11:02
  I didn't think Texas was super racy.
• 11:05
  Even Logano said after the win you couldn't pass there.
• 11:08
  Get racing off the streets. Go back to Chicagoland.
• 11:13
  That's from Donnie Danny Dunn Narnie at 1086.
• 11:18
  They should bring back auto club Joshua Ray.
• 11:22
  Yes, for homestead back to the origin of the chase Kathy Wooden
• 11:27
  change it every year earn that championship.
• 11:29
  I agree Kathy Joe Tompkins says Chipper got his point across.
• 11:33
  He did, but it was a nice little back and forth and a good
• 11:36
  ending. 2 hall of farmers respecting each other in the end
• 11:40
  which is good to see. DG1 says have a weight addition
• 11:45
  schedule, take the current points and add weight
• 11:47
  accordingly. Good comments, appreciate them
• 11:50
  all from you guys. We got about 30-40 of you
• 11:56
  watching right now on YouTube and I appreciate that.
• 11:58
  I'm going to go back to thisnascar.com article.
• 12:02
  We got some quotes from Ben Kennedy and some NASCAR
• 12:05
  officials. By the way, before I do that, I
• 12:07
  was thinking again, because people are saying, oh Kyle
• 12:10
  Larson, you're 2026 champion now this is entering this year.
• 12:14
  You know who had the guys with the best average finish at
• 12:18
  Homestead since 2022, which is the inaugural year of the Next
• 12:22
  Gen. AJ Allmendinger and Christopher
• 12:26
  Bell? Best average finish 5.3.
• 12:31
  Now this is going back to March, OK, late March you would think.
• 12:36
  Obviously Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick has been really, really
• 12:40
  good there. But it's actually, this was in
• 12:42
  March, you had AJ Allmendinger and Christopher Bell tied for
• 12:46
  the best average finish at 5.3. So Christopher Bell definitely
• 12:51
  somebody who can get into the final four.
• 12:53
  AJ Allmendinger, Rd. course specialist.
• 12:57
  Don't think he's making the the final four obviously, but has
• 13:02
  been really good at Miami Homestead.
• 13:06
  OK, going back to thisnascar.com article, let's see, Matthew
• 13:13
  Womack says got to take the drag off these cars.
• 13:16
  Yes, let's see, Taylor Green. Can you imagine what the drivers
• 13:22
  would say if the championship actually did go back to Texas?
• 13:24
  Media day would be great. Yeah.
• 13:26
  Do you remember when? Remember Kyle Larson couple
• 13:28
  years ago essentially said you should just blow up the track,
• 13:31
  blow up, blow up Texas. I can't remember what year that
• 13:33
  was. It was either 22 or 23.
• 13:37
  I can go back. I remember posting that clip
• 13:39
  where he said something like, I think we should just blow up
• 13:41
  Texas. Let's see.
• 13:44
  OK, I want to find some quotes for you here from NASCAR, from
• 13:48
  this article basically officially announcing that
• 13:51
  Homestead Miami will be the championship weekend for 2026.
• 13:55
  So Phoenix still this year, 2025 Ben Kennedy, who's NASCAR's
• 14:00
  executive VP and chief venue and racing innovation officer.
• 14:04
  How about that title? He says this has been a while
• 14:06
  coming. It's been since 2019 since we've
• 14:09
  had the championship race at Homestead.
• 14:11
  We moved it out to Phoenix for the past several years, which
• 14:13
  has been great for us. It's been an amazing market.
• 14:16
  We've seen some great racing there and we've crowned some of
• 14:18
  our biggest champions. But we're excited to go to
• 14:20
  Homestead Miami Speedway. I can tell you from a few people
• 14:23
  that I've talked to so far across the industry through our
• 14:26
  partners, they are over the moon about it.
• 14:29
  And from our fans, it's the number one asked about
• 14:31
  championship venue as well. So we're excited to finally get
• 14:34
  the news out there. And Homestead Miami celebrating
• 14:39
  their 30th season this year. They hosted the championship
• 14:44
  first in 2002 when Tony Stewart won.
• 14:50
  And in this article, they basically say the intermediate
• 14:54
  size track has also been lauded as a true test of driver skill
• 14:58
  with a well worn surface and progressive banking that
• 15:01
  produces multiple racing grooves.
• 15:03
  That's important. That sense of history and the
• 15:05
  quality of the competition borne out by recent thrilling finishes
• 15:08
  there and multiple performance metrics to support it helped to
• 15:12
  inform the scheduling decision. So there you go.
• 15:18
  There you go folks. So Phoenix still in the rotation
• 15:23
  and Phoenix will be the championship this year, Miami
• 15:26
  the championship in 2026. They will move forward to the
• 15:29
  rotational model and we will learn more about that one moving
• 15:32
  forward. But I think I think it's a
• 15:34
  really smart move. We talked about weather.
• 15:37
  Another thing, let's let's be real, it's not just about
• 15:40
  weather. It's about a destination.
• 15:41
  It's about a destination for fans for that championship
• 15:44
  weekend. You want as many butts in the
• 15:46
  seats. Of course, it has to play well
• 15:47
  on television, but you want as many butts in the seats for that
• 15:51
  weekend. And if you're somebody who's
• 15:54
  looking for a vacation, quick little vacation, long weekend,
• 15:57
  big NASCAR fan and it's early November, mid November, maybe
• 16:02
  it's cold where you are. Don't you want to go to Miami
• 16:07
  for 3-4 days? Don't you want to go to Phoenix
• 16:09
  for 3-4 days? Don't you want to go to
• 16:11
  potentially Las Vegas for 3-4 days?
• 16:13
  That also all this plays into it, the race ability, fans, the
• 16:19
  weather and I think I think Homestead is is perfect for this
• 16:23
  rotational basis which will start moving forward.
• 16:27
  All right, couple more comments from y'all.
• 16:31
  Here we go. DG1, make the car 4 1/2 inches
• 16:35
  clearance in post race inspection.
• 16:36
  Give the engineers some work. Here we go.
• 16:41
  Noah's athletics. During the All Star race, the
• 16:43
  team should race the haulers for 10 laps.
• 16:45
  That would be fun. That sounds like something our
• 16:47
  guy Cletus McFarland should do. That sounds like fun.
• 16:50
  Ken Ruggles says shorten the season.
• 16:53
  It would open up other possibilities.
• 16:56
  Of course it all gets back to Cletus.
• 16:58
  I love it. You guys are always mentioning
• 17:00
  Cletus and we're doing videos on Cletus too.
• 17:03
  He's a big name. He's obviously a big name.
• 17:05
  Let Cletus make the All Star race rules.
• 17:07
  I like that he'd come up with something very fun and
• 17:10
  innovative. Noah's Athletics says butts in
• 17:15
  the seats is a used car salesman term.
• 17:17
  I like it right. Hey, also the the on track event
• 17:22
  is different than how it plays on TV.
• 17:24
  That's why I think with Texas, for example, it can be great at
• 17:27
  the race, great environment, great atmosphere, great crowd
• 17:31
  there. But it's got to play well at the
• 17:34
  track and on TV, and that's where I didn't think I'm
• 17:37
  watching at home on TVI didn't think Texas was a great race
• 17:41
  watching on TV. Pretty boring early caution
• 17:44
  stage 1, caution stage 2. Ton of cautions.
• 17:47
  But I do think it was bailed out by a pretty exciting finish and
• 17:51
  some good racing at the end. Logano McDowell and some
• 17:55
  research at the end and the overtime format.
• 17:58
  I think if you didn't have that at the end, we always go back to
• 18:01
  Jeff Clock's poll. I I don't think the percentages
• 18:03
  would have been 5050 if you didn't have that strong finish
• 18:06
  after, in my opinion, what was a pretty boring race.
• 18:09
  But that's just me. That's just me.
• 18:12
  You can disagree. North Wilkesboro is a fan's
• 18:15
  track. That's from DG1.
• 18:17
  Kathy Wooden. Here's a wild idea, the Roval.
• 18:20
  I like the Roval being in there for the playoffs, but not for
• 18:23
  the championship race. All right, I appreciate all you
• 18:27
  guys watching. Kenny Wallace is on the Kyle
• 18:30
  Petty charity ride. We're going to re release Kyle
• 18:33
  Petty's Kenny conversation on Dirty MO media.
• 18:37
  That'll come out tomorrow. You can always go back and
• 18:39
  watch. That's from September of 2023.
• 18:41
  You can check that out on YouTube.
• 18:43
  Really good conversation. It's about an hour and 11, an
• 18:46
  hour and 12 minutes long. And then we'll have another
• 18:49
  video vault. We'll have another classic Kenny
• 18:51
  conversation coming out on Dirty MO Media on Thursday.
• 18:54
  I haven't decided that one yet, but we will over the next couple
• 18:58
  days. Let's see.
• 19:00
  Ken Ruggles says, I thought the Xfinity race at Texas was better
• 19:03
  than the Cup race. Isn't that the problem?
• 19:05
  Isn't that what all the drivers are saying?
• 19:07
  Denny Hamlin? Look, don't take my word for it.
• 19:11
  I'm just a fan. I'm just a fan watching, but
• 19:14
  hey, I'm entitled to my opinion. Take it from the drivers.
• 19:17
  If Joey Logano says he can't pass and Denny Hamlin says he
• 19:20
  can't pass and Kyle Busch is saying this is a kit car, you
• 19:22
  can't pass, maybe listen to the guys that have been in NASCAR
• 19:26
  and are champions. Denny Hamlin not but Hall of
• 19:29
  Famer, maybe listen to those guys, right?
• 19:32
  They're pretty smart. I think they want what's best
• 19:34
  for the sport. I don't think they're making
• 19:35
  this stuff up. That's all I'm saying, yes, Ken
• 19:39
  Ruggles says comes back to the design of the car.
• 19:42
  That's what I've been saying forever and that's what these
• 19:44
  guys have been saying forever. And look, saying that you're not
• 19:48
  ripping on NASCAR because guess what?
• 19:50
  Xfinity, That's NASCAR. You're saying NASCAR, you
• 19:53
  figured the car out for the Xfinity Series, let's figure it
• 19:56
  out for the Cup Series. You have the best drivers in the
• 19:59
  world and Cup, Let's have the best racing and Cup.
• 20:01
  That's all they're saying. That's not actually a knock on
• 20:03
  NASCAR when you're saying Xfinity, which is another one of
• 20:06
  your products, is the better racing.
• 20:09
  There you go, Noah's Athletics says.
• 20:12
  I know a way to sell out all tracks.
• 20:14
  Women wearing Daisy Dukes get free tickets.
• 20:17
  The others will follow. That's a pretty good idea.
• 20:19
  Pretty good idea. Pretty good idea.
• 20:22
  I think it would work. Noah's Athletics drivers will
• 20:25
  race anything, anywhere, anytime.
• 20:28
  Yes, they will. All right.
• 20:30
  I'm going to shut her down. Thank you all.
• 20:32
  Here we go. Ken Ruggles says NASCAR is
• 20:35
  working on their plans for the EV.
• 20:37
  Right, but not in the Cup Series.
• 20:38
  You might have some secondary series.
• 20:41
  They ain't going to no EV. They ain't going to no EV for
• 20:44
  NASCAR in the in the highest form of racing.
• 20:47
  I promise you that that ain't happening.
• 20:49
  All right, If I'm wrong, come back and tell me when I'm wrong.
• 20:52
  Let's see. Kathy Wooden, Xfinity.
• 20:55
  They spent more time in the grass than on the track.
• 20:58
  DG1. The cars are too air dependent.
• 21:01
  All right, I'm going to shut it down.
• 21:02
  Thank you guys so much. I like jumping on, doing these
• 21:04
  quick live streams, interacting with you guys.
• 21:06
  We'll have Kenny on as well moving forward.
• 21:09
  But I'm sitting here and there's some breaking news.
• 21:11
  Homestead Miami to host 2026 NASCAR championships, that is
• 21:15
  not this year, that is next year and a rotational model will be
• 21:19
  used moving forward for the championship races.
• 21:22
  Have a great day everybody. Noah's Athletics says have a
• 21:25
  good day. You too as well.
• 21:26
  Thank you very much. Please give us a comment a like
• 21:29
  a subscribe if you haven't. Appreciate you all.
• 21:32
  Yes Kathy, thank you. Appreciate you as well and I
• 21:35
  will see you soon. Charlie Marlowe signing off.