When Guillermo Santa Cruz took over as president of Homestead-Miami Speedway in July 2024, he took on a monumental task. He had to bring NASCAR's championship weekend back to South Florida.
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Two years after taking the job, he has delivered. And Santa Cruz is not shying away from the importance of this moment or the emotions due to the time and effort invested in the project.
"Honestly, there were many days when it looked like we weren't going to get it," Santa Cruz told FanBuzz during a recent sitdown. "I've been through that before with getting rights for something like the World Cup. And you think you're going to get these rights that are important, and then you don't get them, and it's a disappointment.
"So yes, life would have gone on, and we would have delivered great races, and we would have focused on the job at hand. But it does change everything once you know the championship is coming your way."
Reports surfaced in April that NASCAR would finally take the championship weekend back to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the first time since Kyle Busch won his second title in 2019. Yet, NASCAR didn't confirm these reports until May.
Bringing champ home. pic.twitter.com/jms8dCGg5i
— Homestead-Miami Speedway (@HomesteadMiami) August 20, 2025
Santa Cruz actually heard the news from Chief Track Properties Officer Chip Wile, who retired after Kyle Larson won the 2025 Cup Series championship.
Wile made the phone call while Santa Cruz was driving back to his house, which made the track president realize his life had completely changed.
Santa Cruz no longer had to think about hosting a spring race or a standard playoff race. He and his staff had to put their focus on closing out the season in the most epic way possible.
But first, Santa Cruz had to take some time to celebrate this career achievement in a truly unique way, which he had set the stage for in October 2024.
"So when I had to address the crowd at my very first race, they asked me to pick a song to come up to," Santa Cruz said. "So I thought about it for a second, and I kind of had it in the back of my mind, but I picked a Phil Collins version of 'Signed, Sealed, and Delivered.' It's a song he used to come out to.
"And I thought, that's my goal in this championship. I have to bring championship. I have to get it signed, sealed, and delivered. So, I did two races, both times, that's a song I played. Nobody knew the reason why. It just actually just sounds good.
"And I had told my wife that I had done that (played that song). So when I came home that afternoon, as soon as I walked in, I connect my phone to the home speaker, and I start playing 'Signed, Sealed, and Delivered.' And my wife freaked out. She was a bit emotional. She goes, 'You got it!'"
Getting the championship back to Homestead-Miami Speedway was step one. Celebrating with Phil Collins music was step two. Step three is delivering on what Santa Cruz calls a massive responsibility.
So how exactly does he do that? One way is embracing the market. The track has to do that with the food offered in the fan zones and the music that plays before and after the races making up the final weekend of the season.
The team has to embrace the fact that this is Homestead. Think less about "Miami Vice," "Bad Boys," "Burn Notice," or Will Smith songs. Focus more on the motorsports aspect and a different lifestyle than the hustle and bustle of Miami.
As Santa Cruz says, come for the racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It's the main attraction, after all. But stay for the food.
"I feel like that's my mandate," Santa Cruz said. "It's not reflecting necessarily South Beach or parts of South Florida that are not really true to Homestead. We're much more about the tropics, the Keys, relaxed chill, relaxed vibe.
"We have an interesting task at hand in Homestead because we find that people who come from outside Miami expect something with a certain Latin flair because it's Miami and because it's South Florida. And then people who come locally expect something very American because it's NASCAR. So, we have to find that balance between those two things. How do we cater to everyone?"
Finding a way to sincerely embrace the Homestead feel while putting the racing front and center will go a long way to creating fans, which Santa Cruz says is his job as track president. Other people can sell tickets. He has to get people to fall in love with stock car racing and the magic of drivers ripping the wall.
This is not a simple task considering all of the attractions in South Florida. Miami proper has South Beach, Little Havana, and countless areas to explore. It has other sports teams such as the Heat of the NBA, the Marlins of MLB, the Panthers of the NHL, the Dolphins of the NFL, Inter Miami CF of MLS, and multiple college teams.
The racing of Truck Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Cup Series drivers will bring in some dedicated fans. Santa Cruz and his team will also have to find a way to draw in the more casual viewers who may not be as familiar with NASCAR.
Working with South Florida celebrities and influencers is one way to approach this task, which Santa Cruz has done in the past to success. He saw the track's earned media value increase from less than $900,000 in October 2024 to $2.6 million in March after working with members of this group.
But using these big names to get people to the track is only one step in the process. Homestead-Miami Speedway then has to deliver a perfect race weekend, which the former TV producer feels confident about despite having a limited amount of time to make some cosmetic upgrades to the Champions' Club and other areas.
"It's no different than when I produced FIFA World Cup or when I produced the Olympics," Santa Cruz said. "You have a long time to prepare for a big event, and you only have one chance to get it right. So, in the time leading into it, yes, there are good days, bad days, some things go your way, some things don't go your way, but it's eyes on the prize.
"When I was a producer, it's the air date. As a track president, it's that green flag. When the green flag drops on the Truck race Friday night, that's the end game. That's the goal. So, everything else has to lead to that. You have to put away all the distractions and all the noise. Focus on what's important. Focus on the fans and the people who are coming and the drivers who are the stars of the sport and just be like a laser beam on that green flag dropping Friday night."
