NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race


The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race currently held at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Ryan Blaney is the defending winner of the event.
In 2002, Homestead–Miami Speedway would host the season finale for the NASCAR Cup Series, a position it would hold until 2019, during which it was also the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from 2004 to 2019. As the season finale, it was also part of the NASCAR Championship Weekend, which consisted of two other races: the Ford EcoBoost 300 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the Ford EcoBoost 200 for the NASCAR Truck Series. In 2020, the race was moved from November to March meaning it no longer served as the championship race. The fall race at Phoenix Raceway, which had been the second-to-last race of the season, became the new championship race for the Cup Series.

Current Venue

Homestead

History

was the original finale until 2019, as its current predecessor, Phoenix Raceway, received renovations to host the finale. It would be that way until 2025, as on May 5, 2025, it was announce that Homestead would become the championship race in 2026, replacing Phoenix.

Past winners

Multiple winners (drivers)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

Former Venue

Phoenix

The former venue was Phoenix Raceway. The race is one of five NASCAR races run with a length measured in kilometers; the Shriners Children's 500 and three of the Cup Series' road course events are the others.

History

After previously being the second-to-last race of the NASCAR Cup Series season for several years, the event became the last race of the season for the Cup Series starting in 2020, replacing the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the fall race at Martinsville replaced this race as the second-to-last race of the season. In 2020, the race did not have a title sponsor and was named the Season Finale 500. NASCAR has not used the name from 2021 onwards and is instead called the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. However, the Season Finale 500 logo still appears on the race winner's trophy. In 2023, Ross Chastain won the event, when he became the first non-eligible championship driver to win the final race of the season since Denny Hamlin won the 2013 Ford EcoBoost 400.