NASCAR announced major changes to its schedule for the 2020 season on Tuesday, and for the first time since 2001, the final race of the season will not be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.
NASCAR moved its finale to Homestead-Miami in 2002, and the race has since become a pivotal title-decider due to changes to the playoff format. The final race of each NASCAR season is a winner-take-all contest between the four remaining eligible championship contenders. If you struggled at Homestead-Miami, you had no chance of winning a title.
Beginning in 2020, the season finale will move to ISM Raceway in Phoenix – and two perennial contenders in particular will be overjoyed by the news.
Kevin Harvick, the 2014 champion, has dominated Phoenix more than any other driver in the Cup Series. He has nine total wins at ISM Raceway, more than any other driver, and from November 2013 to March 2016, he won five of six races and finished second in the only race he didn’t win. No driver owns a track the way Harvick owns Phoenix – and though he hasn’t won at ISM in his last two visits, he’s finished inside the top 10 in 14 of the last 15 races.
Harvick’s biggest competition? 2015 series champion Kyle Busch, who has won back-to-back races at ISM Raceway. Busch dominated the first Phoenix race with the new aero package just a few weeks ago, leading 177 laps on his way to victory lane. Busch has finished fourth or better in seven of his last eight races at the track.
Other leading title contenders haven’t fared so well at ISM Raceway in recent years. Joey Logano has finished 10th or worse in each of his last five races, but he did win in November of 2016. Martin Truex Jr. has a trio of top fives in his last five races, but was inconsistent in years prior. Brad Keselowski has finished 14th or worse in five of his last seven. Denny Hamlin has a win at Phoenix back in 2012, but has been hit-or-miss at the track.
