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(Photo credit: Homestead-Miami Speedway)
Homestead-Miami Speedway has announced long-time sports and entertainment media executive Guillermo Santa Cruz has been named the new president of the South Florida motorsports facility. Santa Cruz brings extensive experience in live event production, sales, and business development in the U.S. and Hispanic media markets to the position.
Santa Cruz joins the Homestead-Miami Speedway team after spending more than 10 years at IMG, a leading global sports agency, where he served as vice president, Latin America, Mexico and U.S. Hispanic. In that role he managed sales, business development, and client relations – with a heavy focus in sports and entertainment programming – across the entire region of Latin America for IMG.
During that time, he represented and negotiated media rights for several highly sought-after sports properties, including Major League Soccer, Concacaf World Qualifiers, WWE, and Roland Garros (French Open).
“Guillermo’s vast experience in the competitive media market will help grow Homestead-Miami Speedway into its next phase as one of the preeminent motorsports facilities,” said Chip Wile, senior vice president and chief track properties officer at NASCAR. “He has a diverse background in sales, production, and promotion in a key market for HMS and will offer unique opportunities for the team to expand the track’s influence.”
Prior to his work at IMG, Santa Cruz spent more than a decade at Telemundo, including time as the executive producer of Olympics, and vice president for Special Events/News & Sports. He began his career in sports media at Univision Network, where he was the lead producer of two FIFA World Cup events.
Santa Cruz’s leading role on the 2004 Olympics won him a Sports Emmy Award during his time with NBC/Telemundo, and his contribution to coverage of the events surrounding Sept. 11, 2001, earned a special citation from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 1996, Santa Cruz was part of the Univision team that collected an Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast following its coverage of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta.
Santa Cruz’s ties to the greater Miami area are lifelong. The son of Cuban exiles, Santa Cruz was born in Puerto Rico and his family moved to Miami as he started middle school.
He has called the area home ever since. Staying in Florida for college, Santa Cruz is a graduate of Florida State University. He currently lives in Miami with his wife and two college-age children.
“It’s an exciting time to be a sports fan in South Florida, and having grown up here, and spending nearly my entire life working in sports, it’s a great honor to join the NASCAR family and be handed the keys to Homestead-Miami Speedway,” Santa Cruz said. “I believe in the future of Homestead, both the city and the track, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Santa Cruz takes over for long-time Homestead-Miami Speedway executive Al Garcia, who has served as the president since 2019. Garcia will remain with the track in a consultant position.
“Al has been a key part of Homestead-Miami Speedway literally since its inception in 1995,” Wile said. “We’re grateful for everything he has done to make HMS a premier sports facility in South Florida and look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.”
The NASCAR Playoffs race weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway begins with a doubleheader on Saturday, Oct. 26. The day begins with the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The NASCAR Cup Series will cap off the weekend’s action on Sunday, Oct. 27.
Tickets are available for purchase via phone at 866-409-7223 or online at www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com.
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