"I really hope we get back" - Kevin Harvick suggests proposition to NASCAR between Homestead and Phoenix

Kevin Harvick recently shared his thoughts on Homestead Miami, the racetrack that plays host to the penultimate NASCAR race of the season, just before Phoenix. Homestead was the venue for the last race of the calendar all the way from 2002 to 2019.

Since 2020 onwards, it has been Phoenix Raceway which has hosted the last race of the year, which in the modern era, is also the race to decide the Cup champion. However, Phoenix being the championship race is a subject that has divided opinion among NASCAR fans and insiders.

Kevin Harvick is one of the latest to have shared his views on this topic. The former SHR driver spoke about his admiration of Homestead and proposed an "everyone wins" idea regarding Miami and Phoenix on his podcast. He said,

"Homestead is... I hope at some point we start cycling these championship races from Phoenix to Homestead, even if it is just those two racetracks. What a great cycle of events that we could go back and forth on to have two championship tracks. And I really hope we get back to that because I really think that Homestead is just a such a unique place. You have to run up against the wall in [turns] three and four. You have some options in turns one and two"[30:00].

Notably, earlier this year Dale Earnhardt Jr. also expressed hopes of Homestead returning as the championship race hosting venue.

After the racetrack announced it's new president, Guillermo Santa Cruz, Junior said on his podcast:

"As much as I think we all would want this to have been the news, that Homestead may be returning to the finale at some point down the road…Don’t dismiss this piece of information, ’cause this could be one of the dominoes in that process."

Earnhardt added that a lot of people would love to see Homestead as the season finale again.

He added that this move would get things rolling and headed "in that direction."

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Kevin Harvick opens up on racing at Homestead in the Next Gen era, his three picks to win this Sunday

Talking about the racing at Homestead to come, Kevin Harvick said that the two drivers who in his opinion are good at running against the fence are Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick. Harvick said that running up against the wall is "very line sensitive" and the Next Gen car is "very forgiving" with that as long as one doesn't break the toe link.

"You can be a little more aggressive in being up there and rubbing against the wall. But in [turns] one and two, you can run the bottom of the racetrack, I think it's detrimental to the right rear tire on this car with the transaxle and everything that happens in the back of this vehicle compared to the old car.

"So you can run all over the racetrack in one and two but at some point it's going to cycle to the top of the racetrack being the dominant lane on both ends if you're going to keep up with Larson and Reddick"[30:50].

Harvick added that going into Homestead, the three drivers who would be favorites for the win are Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell. The former NASCAR driver added, however, that at this point of the season and given how the playoffs have been so far, it doesn't matter who the fastest or the best is.

To Kevin Harvick, every week the playoff drivers "shoot themselves in the foot," so a favorite not performing well won't be an abnormal situation.