1378 November 8, 2026 NASCAR Championship Homestead-Miami Speedway
I started the day strong with a good walk. Tim suggested that I take the Jeep to the marina and walk there. This was a good idea. The mosquitoes were less bothersome!
The croc was swimming around on the marina. I could hear him growling.
There were lots of manatees in the water and I saw the bright flashes of tarpon fins as they splashed on the surface.
I have been trying to get a good picture of a dragonfly. There were large swarms of them this morning. I took this to remind me to write about how important the are here in the Everglades. They eat mosquitoes!
We prepped coolers with lunch and drinks and we drove out of the park. We drove to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the 2026 NASCAR Championship. This was Tim’s 70th birthday present. His driver, Denny Hamlin was one of three drivers eligible for the big season trophy. We ate lunch out on the parking lot and then walked the concourse. There were lots of exhibits and vendors and food trucks.
It was 84 degrees and in the full sunshine, it was HOT!! We saw people struggling with the heat and the paramedics were busy. Greasy food, beer, and heat and humidity are not such a good combination. We sought some shade and didn’t go out to the bleachers until shortly before drive introductions.
NASCAR knows how to put on a good show. There was pre-race entertainment. The race started with prayer as a NASCAR race always does. Veterans and active-duty military were asked to rise and the crowd stood on its feet in respect and cheered for those who have offered service to our country. The presentation of colors was followed by the singing of the National Anthem by the 4 Sergeants. The harmony was extraordinary; a beautiful rendition. There were fireworks and a flyover by 4 A 10’s…shivers! The pace car was delivered by a Chinook helicopter and then the first lap with the pace car was led by two Black Hawk helicopters. Such pageantry and patriotism.
The first time these powerful cars come around the track you can feel it in your feet and in your chest. The 400-mile race had begun. We met the people sitting next to us. People were friendly and accommodating. Several fans had accidentally sat in the wrong seats; no matter, don’t move, just tell us where your seats are and we will sit there!
Denny Hamlin had the lead for many many laps and we were hopeful that he would pull off the win…but it was not to be. Ryan Blaney won the race.
The way NASCAR had structured the points over the course of the playoffs, it was already pretty certain that Kyle Larson would be the 2026 champion and after phase 2 it was determined.
I didn’t care too much about who won or lost. I did a lot of people watching. I also tried to soak up as much of the experience as I could…the smell of the racing fuel, the roar of the crowd, the revving of engines, the sunsetting over the track. Such fun!
After the race, we got in the long line of cars to go back to Flamingo. There were traffic control cops at every single intersection. We know this area fairly well because we had spent lots of time here with Tim’s brother, Jeff. We knew exactly where to turn to get back but that option was blocked by traffic barricades, as were the next several routes we could have taken. The traffic was all funneled toward the Florida Turnpike…which we did NOT want to take. We finally ended up on a dirt crossover road that was rough and bumpy. A smaller car looked broken and stuck but we were fine.
I think that it took us about an hour to get back to the familiar. We were hungry and it was after 7:30pm. Tim remembered a small Mexican Restaurant in Homestead, Taqueria Morelia. They were open and we were happy!
We still had another hour of driving to get back to the campground. It was my turn to drive. We were thinking that we might see snakes on the road or maybe some other nighttime critters out and hunting. We did see one heron standing on the yellow lines in the middle of the road. There were few cars…just us in the very dark Everglades!
Today was a great day!