Christopher Bell Chases More Homestead Memories as NASCAR Finale Returns Nov. 6-8

NASCAR's championship weekend is coming back to South Florida for the first time since 2019, and Christopher Bell is hoping Homestead-Miami Speedway delivers one more big moment. All three of NASCAR's national series will crown their 2026 champions at the Homestead track from Nov. 6 to 8, with the Cup Series title decided in the season finale on Sunday, Nov. 8.

Bell, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who sits third in the Cup Series standings with two races left, brought the championship trophy to Local 10's studios this week and talked about returning to a track where he has a long record of success, WPLG Local 10 reported on Oct. 27.

The finale comes home to Homestead

Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted NASCAR's season-ending championship races for years before the finale moved to Phoenix Raceway in 2020. Local 10 described the return of championship weekend as a major moment for the 1.5-mile oval in south Miami-Dade County, which last hosted the finale in 2019.

The championship weekend schedule, according to published series schedules:

Tickets are sold through the speedway's website, Local 10 noted.

No Championship 4 this year: the Chase is back

Fans who remember the Championship 4 format from the last stretch of Homestead finales will see something different this year. NASCAR scrapped its elimination playoff for 2026 and brought back the Chase, a 10-race postseason that began at Darlington on Sept. 6. Sixteen drivers qualified on points, with no automatic berths for race winners, and there are no eliminations along the way. Points were reset once at the start of the Chase, and whichever of the 16 drivers has the most points after Homestead is the champion, according to the format NASCAR announced in January.

Race wins are also worth more. A victory now pays 55 points, up from 40, and stage points still count, according to the format details reported when NASCAR unveiled the change.

That means the title will not necessarily be settled by a winner-take-all race among four drivers. It could even be decided before the series gets to South Florida.

Where the Chase stands

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the defending Cup Series champion, rallied from 11th place on the final lap to win at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 25. The win stretched his lead from five points to 73 with two races remaining, according to multiple standings reports.

The top of the unofficial standings after Talladega:

Several contenders lost ground in wrecks at Talladega, according to Yahoo Sports, including Briscoe and Logano, who were caught in a late crash.

Larson could clinch his third Cup Series championship at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 1, if he scores enough points, according to championship scenarios published after Talladega. If he does, he would become the first driver in Chase history to lock up the title before the finale, and the Homestead race would be a victory lap rather than a title fight.

Bell's history at Homestead

Few drivers in the field have a stronger connection to the South Florida track. Bell has three top-10 finishes in Cup Series races at Homestead and won the 2023 playoff race there, the 4EVER 400, according to Local 10. That win clinched a spot in that season's Championship 4.

His ties to the track go back further. In 2017, Bell clinched the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at Homestead, finishing second in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 200 behind Chase Briscoe, who won his first career Truck Series race that night. Bell won a series-high five races that season.

Bell told Local 10 that the track is fun to race and that its return as the final race of the year makes it especially important. He said he has had many triumphs at Homestead and is eager to make more memories there.

Bell's view: pressure on the No. 5

Bell said the championship picture will depend in part on how Martinsville unfolds, and he pointed to a tight battle behind Larson. He described the drivers from second through sixth as bunched together in "a wad of cars," making the outcome difficult to predict, according to Local 10.

He also said it is up to his team to put pressure on Larson's No. 5 team so that it cannot arrive in Miami and start celebrating early.

The math is daunting. Bell trails Larson by 74 points, and Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, sits one point ahead of him in second. To keep the title alive for Homestead, the chasers need Larson to stumble at Martinsville while they score big.

What it means for South Florida

The return of championship weekend puts Homestead back in the national spotlight and brings three days of racing to the southern tip of Miami-Dade County. Ryan Preece of RFK Racing told Local 10 earlier this month that drivers love the track because there are so many different options, and that drivers run inches from the wall after just a few laps.

For local fans, the weekend is also a rare chance to see all three national series champions crowned on consecutive days at a track in their own backyard.

What's next

The Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 1, for the next-to-last race of the season, where Larson could clinch the title. Championship weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway follows, with the Truck Series finale on Friday, Nov. 6, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series finale on Saturday, Nov. 7, and the Cup Series championship race at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, on NBC.