Becoming Homestead-Miami Speedway Track President in July of this year, Guillermo Santa Cruz will oversee his first NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck weekend when Homestead hosts the midpoint of the Round of 8. But many — Santa Cruz included — would love to see the track return to its old position as NASCAR's season finale.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Santa Cruz expressed respect for NASCAR's scheduling decisions, but still spoke on a desire to return the track to its former role.
"We would love to have the championship back," Santa Cruz told Motorsport.com. "We make no bones about it. I'm very open about it and it takes a lot to bring a championship to any city. The fact that it was here for 18 years was obviously a plus because we have that tradition. We have the incredible weather that we typically have this time of year. We have the Florida Keys [a] 20 minute drive away. There's a lot to offer here -- not only for the drivers, but for the spectators and everybody who loves motorsports.
"Ideally in a perfect world, one day the championship will come back. And I'll tell you, I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't working on that and wasn't trying to make that happen. Yes, we want the championship to come back. That's not a secret," says Santa Cruz.
Guillermo is new to the NASCAR world, but he brings with him an impressive resume in the sports media world. He's worked in sports media for more than three years and has produced two FIFA World Cups on Univision, as well as the Olympics after moving to Telemundo. The bulk of his career was spent at IMG -- a global sports and culture company company -- spending 11 years there, where he even did some consulting for NASCAR. Motorsport.com was curious to learn why he chose to make this career change less than four months ago.
"I think one of the principle reasons why I took it is because I believe Homestead is really the future of south Florida," explained Santa Cruz, a Miami native. "There's so much happening here. There's so much going on. The time was right to make a change. I've had a long career in sports and this was a new challenge. The direction NASCAR is going was another appealing factor about it.
"More than anything: One, the challenge and two, I knew it would be fun. And fun it has been."
While he admits he is still learning the ropes of the stock car racing world, he is well aware of the fact that this is a track beloved by drivers and fans. It's often celebrated as one of the best for passing on the entire schedule, and that's a huge argument for why people want to see it take its place back as the finale, which has been held at Phoenix Raceway since 2020.
"From a marketing and product perspective, that took care of a lot of questions," said Santa Cruz when asked about the track's popularity. "The drivers like it and that means the product is good, the racing is good, so we don't have to worry about that," said Santa Cruz. "And to be fair to NASCAR and to me, that wouldn't be my expertise. I wouldn't know how to fix the track if that was an issue -- if the competition wasn't good. But the competition is good. The drivers love it. So in that regard, we're great."
Despite losing its place as the finale, Homestead still plays a pivotal role in deciding the 2024 champion. As one of three races in the Round of 8, a win at the 1.5-mile speedway means an automatic entry for any of the eight remaining title combatants.
"Homestead is wonderful test of skill and ability and strategy," he said of its current role in the playoffs. "It has done that throughout its history and we can expect that here on Sunday. Only three spots are left so if you're gonna make it move, you gotta make it now."
Another schedule move
Unfortunately, the Homestead date will move yet again in 2025. The track will be out of the playoffs completely, moved to an early season date similar to its placement as the third round of 2021.
When asked about discussions regarding the race's future and the possibility of moving it back into the playoffs in any way for 2026 or beyond, Santa Cruz provided a diplomatic answer.
"Were excited to have a race any time and we're ready to go a moment's notice," he told Motorsport.com. "We take a lot of pride in that here. This track is always ready to go."
He went on the praise the spring date while also looking towards the future, saying: "March is a great date ... we welcome that and we're happy to race in March. As far as the future after that, whether it's another playoff race or something else, we're open to that.
"There's a lot of decision-making that goes into those things. The weather has a lot to do with it, not only here, but in other parts of the country so it's a little bit of a chess move with how you do the schedule. We'll be ready to go whenever they [NASCAR] want us to race. We're good, but yes, we would love to have the championship back."
