NASCAR Championship Weekend
Since 2002, NASCAR's top three racing series have closed their season with a weekend designed to crown each series' champion, officially known as NASCAR Championship Weekend. The weekend has taken place at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which hosted it from 2002 through 2019 and will again beginning in 2026, and at Phoenix Raceway, which held it from 2020 through 2025.
History
NASCAR decided after the 2001 season to move the final Truck and Cup Series races of the season to the same track so all three series could conclude in the same place in the same weekend. Prior to this, each series ended its season at a different track. The Cup Series had run its final scheduled race at Atlanta Motor Speedway since 1987. The Truck Series had always ended its season in the western United States, with Phoenix hosting that event in 2001. The then-Busch Series' finale helped open what was then referred to as the Homestead Motorsports Complex in Florida in 1995, and NASCAR had run its final race there ever since. Ford Motor Company was signed on to be the title sponsor for the three races, and the weekend was referred to as Ford Championship Weekend. This remained in effect until 2019.The races are run over three consecutive days, with the Truck Series running on Friday, the second tier series race on Saturday, and the Cup Series on Sunday. When the races were initially run at Homestead, the Truck Series ran for 200 miles, the Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series race for 300 miles, and the Cup race for 400 miles. At Phoenix, those distances were set at 150 miles, 200 miles, and 312 miles/500 kilometers.
After each race, an official ceremony is conducted in victory lane where the final points leader in each series is given his championship trophy.
In 2016, NASCAR adopted a championship format that is similar in function to one used by the National Hot Rod Association. Over the course of the final races of the season, qualifying drivers are eliminated from championship contention if they are not above a certain threshold following a specific event. Once the field for each series is reduced to four contenders, the Championship Weekend races are then run with the highest finishing driver among the four in each series being crowned champion.
Pre-playoff history
Prior to 2004, when the first Chase for the Nextel Cup was conducted, all three series' championships were decided over the course of the entire season. The driver that was able to accumulate the most points over the course of the season was declared champion. However, the old system had the chance that one driver would be so dominant over the course of the season that he would clinch the championship before the final race; this was especially the case during the era of Cup Series drivers running the full season in the second tier series in addition to the entire Cup schedule, as the championship was clinched six times prior to the finale before the now-Xfinity Series adopted its own playoff format.In the pre-playoff era, there were a total of four occasions where a series points leader entering the race did not end it as champion. The first two occurrences happened during the Ford 200 Truck Series race. In 2003, Brendan Gaughan crashed out of the event late, finished 29th, and fell from first to fourth in the standings while Travis Kvapil won the championship. In 2007, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner were separated by 29 points going into the race, but points leader Skinner had a problem with one of his truck's tires and axles and finished 35th. Hornaday finished seventh and won the title by 54 points. In 2010, 46 points separated first place Denny Hamlin, second place Jimmie Johnson, and third place Kevin Harvick in the Sprint Cup standings. At various times in the Ford 400 each driver held the points lead, but in the end Johnson clinched his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship by finishing second in the race. Hamlin fell to second place, 39 points behind Johnson, with his 14th-place finish. Harvick finished 3rd in both the race and the points, 41 points behind Johnson. In 2011, Tony Stewart entered the race three points behind Carl Edwards for the Sprint Cup lead. Stewart won the Ford 400 with Edwards finishing second and the points race ended in a tie. However, due to Stewart holding more victories than Edwards over the course of the season, Stewart won the tiebreaker and became series champion for a third time.
Television and radio coverage
Current
The Truck Series race is carried by Fox Sports, which has the exclusive rights to air Truck Series events. The race is aired on Fox Sports 1, which has aired the event since 2013; under its previous branding, Speed Channel, it aired the race from 2003 until 2012.The Xfinity Series race is carried by CW Network, which has been the exclusive home to the second tier series since 2025.
NBC Sports, under the terms of the current broadcasting contract, has had the broadcast rights to the Cup Series race since 2015.
Previous
When Championship Weekend began, the Truck Series race was carried by ESPN2 as ESPN retained the rights to the series after losing its NASCAR broadcast rights following the 2000 season. Speed Channel took over all rights beginning in 2003; the network became Fox Sports 1 in August 2013.When Homestead first received a Cup Series race in 1999, NBC struck a deal to televise both it and the pre-existing race in the then-Busch Series, which had launched in 1995 and was previously covered by CBS and ESPN. When the 2001 television contract took effect, NBC kept the rights to the Cup Series event and shared the second-tier race with its then-cable partner, TNT.
As part of the 2007 television contract, ESPN took over exclusive coverage of what was still the Busch Series and thus aired every race in that series over the course of the season on either ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC. ESPN also had rights to the Cup Series race during this time, airing many of the same races that NBC and TNT had been airing during the previous contract.
Race results
As noted above, final races were run at Homestead-Miami Speedway from 2002 until 2019 and at Phoenix Raceway from 2020.Truck Series
Playoff era
Highest finishing driver among four eligible for championship wins series championship.| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Championship Runners-Up | Notes |
| 2016 | William Byron | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch Motorsports Timothy Peters, Red Horse Racing | Sauter becomes the fourth Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the championship. |
| 2017 | Chase Briscoe | Brad Keselowski Racing | Christopher Bell | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing | |
| 2018 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Justin Haley, GMS Racing Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch Motorsports | |
| 2019 | Austin Hill | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Stewart Friesen, Halmar Friesen Racing Ross Chastain, Niece Motorsports Brett Moffitt, GMS Racing | Crafton was the first Truck Series Champion to win the Championship without winning a race in the season he won the Championship in. Championship is Crafton's third as a driver. ThorSport Racing ties Hendrick Motorsports for most championships as a Truck Series team with three. |
| 2020 | Sheldon Creed | GMS Racing | Sheldon Creed | GMS Racing | Brett Moffitt, GMS Racing Zane Smith, GMS Racing Grant Enfinger, ThorSport Racing | |
| 2021 | Chandler Smith | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch Motorsports Zane Smith, GMS Racing | ThorSport Racing wins its fourth Truck Series championship, setting a new team record. |
| 2022 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ty Majeski, ThorSport Racing Ben Rhodes, ThorSport Racing Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch Motorsports | Front Row Motorsports' first championship in NASCAR. Last Camping World Truck Series champion. |
| 2023 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Corey Heim, Tricon Garage Carson Hocevar, Niece Motorsports Grant Enfinger, GMS Racing | Eckes' fourth win of the season. Rhodes' second championship, and fifth overall for ThorSport Racing. First champion crowned under return of Craftsman sponsorship to the Truck Series. |
| 2024 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Grant Enfinger, CR7 Motorsports Christian Eckes, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Corey Heim, Tricon Garage | Majeski wins first championship; ThorSport wins sixth Truck Series championship. |
| 2025 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Kaden Honeycutt, Halmar Friesen Racing Ty Majeski, ThorSport Racing Tyler Ankrum, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Tricon Garage wins first ever Truck Series championship. Three-time champion Matt Crafton retires following the race. |
Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series
Playoff era
Highest finishing driver among eligible drivers for championship wins series championship.| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Championship Runners-Up | Notes |
| 2016 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Elliott Sadler, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing | Suárez becomes the first driver of Mexican descent to win a NASCAR top three series championship. |
| 2017 | Cole Custer | Stewart Haas Racing | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Elliott Sadler, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing | |
| 2018 | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Cole Custer, Stewart Haas Racing Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing | Reddick becomes first driver in Xfinity Series history to win championships in back to back years with two different teams. |
| 2019 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Cole Custer, Stewart Haas Racing | Reddick becomes first driver in Xfinity Series history to win championships in back to back years with two different teams. |
| 2020 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing Chase Briscoe, Stewart–Haas Racing | |
| 2021 | Daniel Hemric | Joe Gibbs Racing | Daniel Hemric | Joe Gibbs Racing | Austin Cindric, Team Penske Noah Gragson, JR Motorsports A. J. Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing | Hemric's championship race win was also his first career race victory in NASCAR's top three series. |
| 2022 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Noah Gragson, JR Motorsports Josh Berry, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports | The morning following Gibbs’ championship victory, his father Coy died. |
| 2023 | Cole Custer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Cole Custer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Sam Mayer, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports John Hunter Nemechek, Joe Gibbs Racing | Stewart–Haas Racing's first Xfinity Series championship. |
| 2024 | Riley Herbst | Stewart–Haas Racing | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing A.J. Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Cole Custer, Stewart–Haas Racing | Allgaier's first championship comes on his eighth attempt in playoff era. Stewart–Haas Racing does not win the championship in its final season, they did however earn their final win in NASCAR as Herbst won the race, the team announced its dissolution earlier in the season. |
| 2025 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Carson Kvapil, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports | Final Xfinity Series champion. Zilisch does not win championship despite recording ten victories during season. |
Cup Series
Championship Round era
Highest finishing driver among four eligible for championship wins series championship.| Year | Race winner | Team | Series champion | Team | Championship Runners-Up | Notes | Report |
| 2014 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Joey Logano, Team Penske | Team owner Tony Stewart becomes the second owner-driver after Lee Petty to win championships as both a driver and an owner with Harvick's championship. | Report |
| 2015 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kevin Harvick, Stewart–Haas Racing Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports | Kyle Busch wins Toyota's first Cup Series championship. Busch only ran 25 races in 2015 after suffering a broken leg in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February; NASCAR issued him a waiver to allow him to compete in the Playoffs as long as he was in the top 30 in series points after the fall Richmond race and had won enough events to secure a wild card berth. Jeff Gordon retired from full-time competition following the race after twenty-three seasons. | Report |
| 2016 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing Joey Logano, Team Penske | Johnson's record-tying seventh and final championship. Edwards retired following the race. | Report |
| 2017 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart–Haas Racing Brad Keselowski, Team Penske | Martin Truex Jr.'s first Cup Series championship. Furniture Row's only Cup Series championship. | Report |
| 2018 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing | All three races saw one of the Championship 4 drivers win both the race and championship. Brett Moffitt in the Truck Series, Tyler Reddick in the Xfinity Series, and Joey Logano in the Cup Series. | Report |
| 2019 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing Martin Truex, Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch becomes the only other active Cup Series driver with more than one Championship. | Report |
| 2020 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Joey Logano, Team Penske | Elliott and his father Bill become the third father-son pairing to win the Cup, joining Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson retires from full-time racing after the event. | Report |
| 2021 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Martin Truex, Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports | Larson tied Tony Stewart's record of five victories during the Chase/Playoffs. The victory was his tenth of the season, making him the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to record double-digit victories in a single season. | Report |
| 2022 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports | Logano recorded his fourth win of the season to win the championship. He joined Kyle Busch as only the second active driver with multiple Cup Series championships. Elliott's No. 9 car did not contend for the owner's championship; Hendrick's No. 5 car, driven by Larson, was instead part of the owner's Championship 4. | Report |
| 2023 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports | Blaney finishes second in the race, marking the first time since the Championship Round was introduced that the Cup Series champion did not also win the race. Team Penske wins third Cup Series championship with third different driver. 2014 champion Kevin Harvick retires following the race. | Report |
| 2024 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Joey Logano, Team Penske Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports | Team Penske joins Hendrick Motorsports and Junior Johnson & Associates as the only teams to win three consecutive Cup Series championships. First time in Playoff Era that Joe Gibbs Racing does not qualify for Championship Round. 2017 champion Martin Truex, Jr. retires following the race. Two-time champion team Stewart–Haas Racing ceases operations after the event. | |
| 2025 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing | Larson finishes third in championship race. He joins Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as drivers who have won multiple Cup Series championships while driving for Hendrick Motorsports. |