The inaugural race was held in 1999 in mid-November as the second to last race of the Cup series the season behind the
NAPA 500 and where it would remain that way as the second to third final race of the season until 2002. In
2002, the race was made the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series season, a position it would hold until
2019, during which it was also the final race of the
NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from
2004 to 2019. As the season finale, it was also part of the
NASCAR Championship Weekend, which consisted of two other races: the Ford EcoBoost 200 (now the
Baptist Health 200) for the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the Ford EcoBoost 300 (now the
Hard Rock Bet 300) for the
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. In 2020, the race was moved from November to March after the
Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at
Atlanta Motor Speedway, meaning it no longer served as the championship race. The
fall race at
Phoenix Raceway, which had been the second-to-last race of the season, became the new
championship race for the Cup Series. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 race ended up being postponed from the original March 15 date to June 14, 2020. In 2021, the race was held in late February as the third race of the season. In 2022, the race was moved again from February to October as the third-to-last race of the season. In 2025, the race was and was later moved to a mid-to-late March date as the sixth race of the season.
Ford ended their title sponsorship of this race and the Xfinity and Truck Series races at Homestead-Miami after they were moved from the last races of the season to March. Dixie Vodka became the title sponsor of the Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami in 2020 and remained for the next two years. In 2023,
Mobil 1 became the title sponsor of this race and they decided to name the race in tribute to their driver,
Kevin Harvick, as it was his final season as a full-time NASCAR driver. On May 5, 2025, it was announced that Homestead would become the championship race in 2026, replacing Phoenix.
Specific races •
1999: Rookie Tony Stewart wins the inaugural event, and sets the record for most wins by a rookie in the modern era with his 3rd win, with
Dale Jarrett clinching the 1999 Winston Cup Championship. •
2000: Stewart made it 2-for-2 as he won the race, with his teammate
Bobby Labonte clinching the 2000 Winston Cup Championship. •
2001: Bill Elliott's 41st career win snapped his 226 race winless streak, the longest streak in between race wins, dating back to the
1994 Mountain Dew Southern 500 at
Darlington. •
2002: In the final race on the old configuration,
Kurt Busch drove to his 4th win in a rain-delayed event, and Stewart won his 1st title. •
2003: In the first on a newly reconfigured track, Bobby Labonte's win was marked by a flat tire for leader Bill Elliott on the last lap. In the final race with
Winston sponsorship, Labonte took what would become the final win in his Hall of Fame Career. •
2007: Last race with the fourth-generation car. Matt Kenseth leads 214 of the 267 laps to score the final win before the COT went full-time in 2008, while Johnson goes back to back. It was also the last race Cup series race under
Nextel sponsorship. ==Past winners==