NASCAR insider calls for Charlotte Motor Speedway to join championship rotation

NASCAR announced they’re moving towards rotating the championship-deciding race each season in an exciting revelation last week. While tracks like Phoenix Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway came to mind, there are some other contenders that could be in the mix.

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic had a discussion about the matter on the latest episode of The Teardown. They made the case for three of the more fascinating tracks that could be an option — Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

“100% on Charlotte. 100%. I don’t know the conversations you’ve had, but the conversation I’ve had with people about this and the reporting I’ve done, I actually wrote about this in The Athletic this week, and I would check that out, a lot of that stuff in there is actually from people I’ve talked to. I don’t understand why Charlotte hasn’t gotten more hype,” Bianchi stated, regarding the North Carolina-based track.

“The drivers talked about this weekend, but Charlotte is certainly deserving. It checks what you’re looking for. Great racing, major market, weather is good enough. Like, this does what you want. So, absolutely Charlotte should be part of the rotation.”

“I would expand it out and say, if you encompass the Hall of Fame and do some things with the shops and everything else, you could really make this a cool thing. Make it like this big, week-long championship celebration. So, yes on Charlotte.

Charlotte would certainly make a ton of sense, as it’s the epicenter of the NASCAR world. The Coca-Cola 600 later this month could make the case for the hotbed of the sport. Additionally, the racing is usually exciting at Charlotte, which is something that we haven’t been able to say about Phoenix in recent seasons.

Could Kansas or Texas join the NASCAR championship rotation?

As for Kansas, it didn’t receive a lot of love this past weekend, but Bianchi thinks it could be a wonderful spot for the NASCAR championship — the NFL would just have to help them out a bit: “I’m 100% on Kansas. I think you at least have to try it,” Bianchi added. “You need to get lucky in the weather, but it’s worth rolling the dice for.

“I would have a conversation with the NFL — if you’re doing this rotation years in advance, I’d have a conversation with the NFL and say, ‘Listen guys, can you help us out in 2028? We’re going to have the championship in Kansas. Can you maybe schedule the Chiefs for a Monday Night Football game, or an away game that weekend for us? Can you please do that? All right? Yeah, I’m 100%. I’m all on board in Kansas.”

Finally, everything is bigger in Texas, but how about NASCAR championship weekend? Bianchi isn’t opposed to the Lone Star State hosting the event, especially considering the attendance numbers from two weeks ago.

“I’m not opposed to it. I’m not opposed to it. I think it’s a worthy conversation,” Bianchi stated, regarding Texas hosting the NASCAR championship. “You just talked about attendance, right? Listen, no one has made fun of Texas more than me.

“Double-digit attendance, double-digit increase in attendance last week. Other key metrics are up, as I was told, for people who know these things. Big market. The racing is good enough. The track is challenging. I have no problem with it.”

All told, Charlotte, Kansas and Texas don’t immediately come to mind for hosting the NASCAR Cup Series title-deciding race, but they all make an interesting case to do so. Time will tell if the decision makers in the sport look towards these venues in the future, but there’s plenty of reasons to at least think about the idea.