NASCAR’s lower-tier national series will be feting their champions at a slightly later date in a new location this season.
NBC Sports has learned the awards ceremony for the Xfinity and Camping World Truck series will be moved to Charlotte in December this year after a run of several years in South Florida on the day after the Cup Series season finale. NASCAR is expected to announce the move early this week, according to track sources who shared the information on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.
The awards ceremony will be held Dec. 9 at the Charlotte Convention Center ballroom, which is where the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held. It will follow the NASCAR Whelen and All-American Touring Series “Night of Champions” ceremony on Dec. 8. The Night of Champions event has been held in Charlotte since 2010.
The Xfinity and Truck series combined ceremony most recently was held Nov. 21 at the Loews Miami Beach hotel. It was the second consecutive year in South Beach after NASCAR moved it from the Trump Doral because of sponsor pressure.
The move to North Carolina is intended to save money on travel costs for Xfinity and truck series teams, many of which are based in the Charlotte area. It also would avoid being overshadowed by the media blitz to promote the Cup Series champion.
Over the past decade, the Xfinity and truck awards ceremony had been held in various locations around the Miami area.
Asked for comment on the move, NASCAR released a statement: “NASCAR continues to enhance its annual Awards for industry stakeholders and partners across all national, touring and weekly series. Any final plans or details related to those events will be announced at an appropriate time.”