According to reports from Sports Illustrated and The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, IndyCar and NASCAR are considering pulling their series finales out of Homestead in 2011.

SI is reporting that IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard is involved in negotiations with officials at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to make that the location for the series finale in 2011.

Citing unnamed sources, the Observer reported NASCAR could make Las Vegas its final stop, too, in part because it could make it more convenient for fans, teams, media and others to attend NASCAR's season-ending awards events and banquet, which was held in that city last year.

Last weekend, NASCAR CEO Brian France told reporters changes to the 2011 schedule, which will be announced next month, will be ``impactful'' and ``good for NASCAR fans.'' But will that affect Homestead?

Matt Becherer, president of Homestead-Miami Speedway, said he doesn't believe it will. But when asked Thursday, he couldn't guarantee Homestead's race would remain in its spot on the calendar, either.

``I'm not going to comment on the date moving because I'm not expecting it to,'' Becherer said Thursday.

``There have been a lot of the conversations I've had with NASCAR, and there hasn't been one iota of dialogue between them and us about a move. The Charlotte Observer covers a huge NASCAR market. But somebody wrote a story on sources that have no credibility.''

TRACK OWNERS INITIATEThe Observer reported changes are expected to the 2011 NASCAR schedule because of requests from major track owners International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc.

 

ISC, which owns Homestead, has requested a second race date for its Kansas track, and SMI has requested second dates for Las Vegas or Kentucky -- or both.

Although France provided few specifics when he spoke to reporters last weekend in Indianapolis, he said the move would make things easier for fans to get to events.

All of that has led several NASCAR reporters to believe that the Homestead race could become the second race of the season in February, right after the Daytona 500. Las Vegas then would likely hold the final race because of its proximity to Phoenix, the site of the next-to-last race of the season, and because the season-ending banquet is held there.

But Robin Braig, president of Daytona International Speedway, said that plan doesn't make much sense to him.

``I think as a promoter and anybody doing a business model, there are a lot of reasons NASCAR would want to keep finishing its season in Homestead,'' Braig said, citing South Florida's warm November weather and track surface as the main reasons he believes the race will remain in Homestead.

``I don't think it makes sense either because the last thing you want at the end of the year is to have the final two races in the same market. That's the same problem we had when NASCAR was confined just to the Southeast.''

Although NASCAR representative Ramsey Poston hinted NASCAR is not inclined to take its final racing weekend out of Homestead, he -- like Becherer -- stopped short of guaranteeing the speedway would remain the final stop on the tour.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/30/1752957/reports-homestead-miami-speedway.html#ixzz0vBI2Ejty