NASCAR News: NASCAR releases 2026 schedules

NASCAR introduced another innovative national series schedule as the 2026 slates were announced for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly NASCAR Xfinity Series) and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

New and returning venues highlight next season’s schedule, including all three national series competing on the streets at Naval Base Coronado in NASCAR San Diego, NASCAR Championship Weekend homecoming to Homestead-Miami Speedway, the NASCAR All-Star Race moving to Dover Motor Speedway and Cup Series points races returning to Chicagoland Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway.

“This is a landmark schedule that demonstrates NASCAR’s continued innovation with a strong mix of beloved venues and exciting new and returning racetracks for race fans from coast to coast,” said Ben Kennedy, EVP, Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer. “The 2026 NASCAR national series schedules celebrate our nation’s 250^th anniversary with NASCAR San Diego, welcome back Cup Series points races to Chicagoland Speedway and North Wilkesboro, takes the NASCAR All-Star Race to the Northeast for the first time and brings the NASCAR Championship back home to Homestead-Miami Speedway.”

In celebration of the 250^th anniversary of the United States Navy, NASCAR will once again make history by hosting a brand-new street race at Naval Base Coronado as one of the many highlights of the 2026 schedule. NASCAR San Diego will be a three-day, full-throttle race weekend with all three national series on June 19-21, 2026. This second-ever Cup Series street race will be broadcast on Prime Video on Sunday, June 21, 2026, and will be the first NASCAR event on an active military base.

Along with NASCAR San Diego, two new points race events will be from returning venues — Chicagoland Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway. TNT Sports will broadcast both events. For the first time since 2019, NASCAR will return to Chicagoland Speedway for an Independence Day extravaganza (July 4-5), featuring the Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series racing just outside the city in Joliet, Ill. This will also mark the debut of the Cup Series’ Next Gen race car at the 1.5-mile oval.

After three successful years hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race, North Wilkesboro Speedway will host a Cup Series points race for the first time in 30 years on Sunday, July 19. This is a historic moment for one of NASCAR’s original racetracks as it returns as a points race three decades after its last, which was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.

The 42^nd NASCAR All-Star Race will move to Dover Motor Speedway. This will be the first time the All-Star Race has been run on a 1-mile racetrack and hosted at a venue in the Northeast. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will complete the weekend for a memorable event at The Monster Mile on May 15-17. The first Cup Series exhibition race of the 2026 season will return to another historic venue, Bowman Gray Stadium, with the Cook Out Clash on Sunday, Feb. 1. Both events will be broadcast by FOX Sports.

For the first time since 2019, NASCAR’s three national series will crown their champions at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The South Florida racetrack previously hosted the NASCAR Championship from 2002 to 2019. Next season’s NASCAR Championship Weekend will be held on Nov. 6-8, 2026.

“NASCAR is dedicated to building a bold and forward-thinking schedule each year—one that brings innovation to all three national series while celebrating the legendary tracks our fans have come to love,” said Jusan Hamilton, Managing Director of Competition Operations. “With new events in San Diego, Chicagoland and St. Petersburg, alongside our most iconic venues, the 2026 NASCAR schedule delivers a powerful mix of new experiences and cherished traditions for race fans. This dynamic blend also creates one of the most unique and challenging schedules for competitors in all of motorsports.”

As the most noted tradition in NASCAR, the regular season will officially commence with the 68^th running of the DAYTONA 500 on Sunday, Feb. 15, live on FOX. The next 12 Cup Series events will air on FOX Sports platforms, including Darlington Raceway on a new spring date (Sunday, March 22), Texas Motor Speedway on Cinco de Mayo Weekend (Sunday, May 3), iconic road course Watkins Glen International on Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 10), and culminating with the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover (Sunday, May 17).

Prime Video returns for its five-race Cup Series broadcast window starting with the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway (Sunday, May 24) followed by Nashville Superspeedway (Sunday, May 31), Michigan International Speedway (Sunday, June 7), Pocono Raceway (Sunday, June 14) and concluding with the second Cup Series street race in NASCAR history, NASCAR San Diego (Sunday, June 21).

TNT Sports will take the reins of the Cup Series broadcasts with the official start of the In-Season Challenge at Sonoma Raceway (Sunday, June 28). The In-Season Challenge events will take place throughout the entirety of the five-race TNT Sports portion of the season with races at Chicagoland Speedway (Sunday, July 5), EchoPark Speedway (Sunday, July 12), North Wilkesboro Speedway (Sunday, July 19) and culminating with the $1 million challenge winner being crowned on the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a memorable race on the famed oval in the Brickyard 400 (Sunday, July 26).

On Sunday, Aug. 9, NASCAR returns to Iowa Speedway, where Cup Series coverage shifts to NBC and USA Network for the last 14 races, including the final stretch of regular-season races followed by Saturday night racing at Richmond Raceway (Saturday, Aug. 15), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sunday, Aug. 23), and the highly anticipated Coke Zero Sugar 400 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway (Saturday, Aug. 29).

The Round of 16 in the Cup Series Playoffs begins with the crown jewel Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (Sunday, Sept. 6) followed by World Wide Technology Raceway for the second consecutive playoff year (Sunday, Sept. 13), and concluding with the Bristol Motor Speedway Night Race (Saturday, Sept. 19).

After six successful years hosting the NASCAR Championship, Phoenix Raceway returns to the Round of 8 with a berth in the championship on the line on Sunday, Oct. 18, followed by Talladega Superspeedway (Sunday, Oct. 25) and Martinsville Speedway (Sunday, Nov. 1) to set the Championship 4 competing for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Sunday, Nov. 8).

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series have exciting additions to their schedules, including both series returning to Rockingham Speedway over Easter weekend (April 3-4) for the second consecutive year.

The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will compete in its first two street races in the 30-plus year history of the series as it debuts at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Saturday, Feb. 28) and NASCAR San Diego (Friday, June 19). The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will be the feature event at Saturday’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg following NTT IndyCar Series qualifying for their season-opening race weekend. This will be the first street race in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series history.

Additional highlights in the 2026 NASCAR national series schedules include:

• Kansas Speedway (Sunday, Sept. 27) will shift to the opening race of the Cup Series Round of 12. Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Sunday, Oct. 4) will move to the second race of the round followed by the Charlotte ROVAL elimination race  (Sunday, Oct. 11).
• Lime Rock Park, one of the oldest continuously operating road racing circuits in the United States, will return to host its second CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race (Saturday, July 11).
• For the fifth consecutive season, the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will return to exciting Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (Friday, July 24) located 10 miles from downtown Indianapolis.
• Bristol Motor Speedway (Thursday, Sept. 17) will open the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs, along with Kansas Speedway (Saturday, Sept. 26) and Charlotte ROVAL (Friday, Oct. 9) in the Round of 10.

For tickets to 2026 NASCAR events, visit http://www.nascar.com/2026schedule.

FOX Sports, Prime Video, TNT Sports and NBC Sports will broadcast the 2026 Cup Series season. The CW will carry the entire O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season and FOX Sports will be home to the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Networks and start times will be announced at a later date.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

*Denotes playoff race

NASCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES

*Denotes playoff race

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES