Hauler Talk: Homestead-Miami likely to return as championship site in 2027
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NASCAR intends to rotate its season finale with the return of The Chase, but it's unlikely there will be a new championship venue next year.
The season finale returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway this season, and the 1.5-mile oval is expected to stay in that spot on the 2027 schedule despite a report Monday that the championship rotation would begin next year.
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"The plan would be to have the season finale again at Homestead in 2027, and then we'll see what the rotation looks like," NASCAR managing director of communications Mike Forde said on the latest episode of the "Hauler Talk" podcast that was released Monday.
Forde also addressed the news that Brad Keselowski had been cleared to return for the Daytona 500 from a broken femur he suffered in December. Keselowski completed a Monday evaluation session at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Forde said he practiced restarts and his fitness in getting out of the car. Forde said Keselowski actually had been cleared by NASCAR through his doctors, but requested the "medical test' that NASCAR can grant if requested by a team.
"It's not an automatic; NASCAR has to approve of a driver who has an injury to take a medical test," Forde said. "Some teams ask for it. Some teams don't. If they ask for it, it's largely to make sure that the driver can get in and out of the car, where their first foray isn't under competition circumstances and just make them feel a little bit more comfortable before the bright lights are back on them.
"He was already cleared to race at Daytona before today, but I think he was almost looking at it as an internal clearance from Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing. If he didn't feel like he was ready to go, he would have uncleared himself in a way. So he felt good, clearly."
Forde noted that when Chase Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident in 2023, the 2020 champion returned without a medical test.
"He was cleared by his doctors, and we work with their doctors, and then NASCAR clears him," Forde said. "It doesn't have to have a medical test attached to it. But in this case, Brad wanted it to just sort of feel that extra level of comfort because it was a pretty severe leg injury."
Keselowski is seeking his first win in the Daytona 500, which will be the first race under a new rule for 2026 in which NASCAR drivers are no longer allowed to deflect air during a qualifying lap. Though the rule applies to all tracks, Forde said it was tailored to Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway
"That's where we saw it," Forde said. "When you see a driver sticking their hand out the window or blocking air just to help get those thousandths of a second advantage. We just want to see both hands on the steering wheel. Obviously, they're going at high speeds, and it doesn't feel right that they're doing that."
NASCAR will use in-car cameras of the Cup Series to police the rule, which also applies to the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
"It might be a little bit tougher to police there, but they know that there are going to be ways to suss that out, so we'll see how it goes," Forde said.
Other topics covered by Forde and senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis during the 42nd episode of "Hauler Talk," which explores competition issues in NASCAR:
-- A change to how the Daytona 500 starting lineup will be ordered;
-- How NASCAR will handle waivers for drivers with the return of The Chase this season;
-- The A-post flap that will be on Cup cars at all tracks in 2026;
-- A tweak to the seeding process for the In-Season Challenge;
-- Lessons learned at The Clash and whether caution laps wouldn't be counted in future exhibition events.
Click on the embed below to listen or search for "Hauler Talk" wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device.