NASCAR Reveals 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule
After several months of anticipation and rumors swirling around the industry, NASCAR officially unveiled the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedules on Wednesday, (August 20).
The NASCAR Cup Series schedule will once again feature 36 points-paying events in 2026, like it has since the most-recent increase at the start of the 2001 season. In addition to those championship contributing races, there will also be a pair of exhibition races.
As previously announced in July, the NASCAR Clash will be kicking off the season at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, February 1. The historic racetrack returned to the schedule of NASCAR’s National Series in 2025, with a wildly successful pre-season event.
The first points-paying event of the year remains the DAYTONA 500, on Sunday, February 15.
Darlington Raceway will see the first significant date change on the schedule for next year, moving from the first weekend in April to the tail-end of March, with the event set to take place on Sunday, March 22.
For the second straight year, the NASCAR Cup Series will not compete on Easter Weekend.
Kansas Speedway jumps from Race No. 12 on the schedule (the second weekend in May) to the middle of April. The 1.5-mile racetrack will host its first of two races on April 19.
Quite possibly the biggest move, in terms of a date shift, on next year’s schedule is a jump for Watkins Glen International from the middle of August to Mother’s Day Weekend in May, to spread out some of the road course races, and not have them all be clumped together in the Summer.
The NASCAR All-Star Race is also a major talking point when it comes to the 2026 schedule, with North Wilkesboro receiving a points-paying event in the middle of July (July 19), while Dover Motor Speedway becomes the host of the mid-season exhibition event (May 17).
San Diego’s Street Race at Naval Base Coronado, as previously announced, will take place on Father’s Day Weekend (June 21), with Sonoma Raceway moving to the weekend directly afterwards, creating a mini “West Coast Swing” of sorts.
Chicagoland Speedway is back in business when it comes to NASCAR’s National Series, taking over the Chicago Street Course date on the Fourth of July Weekend. Atlanta Motor Speedway gets pushed back two weeks to follow what is destined to be an exciting start to July for TNT Sports, with North Wilkesboro to follow.
Iowa Speedway, despite rumors suggesting the 0.875-mile racetrack might be in trouble, returns to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2026, just one week later on August 9.
New Hampshire is removed from the postseason, in favor of the finale being at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a fan-favorite move that will end the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign with a bang. Phoenix Raceway, the track that has hosted the finale for the last half-decade, will be moved ahead to the first race in the Round of 8, on October 18.
2026 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule:
Race # | Date | Race | TV | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
-- | Sunday, Feb. 1 | The Clash (Bowman Gray) | FOX | 8:00 PM |
-- | Thursday, Feb. 12 | Duels at Daytona | FS1 | 7:00 PM |
1 | Sunday, Feb. 15 | Daytona 500 | FOX | 2:30 PM |
2 | Sunday, Feb. 22 | EchoPark Speedway | FOX | 3:00 PM |
3 | Sunday, Mar. 1 | Circuit of The Americas (COTA) | FOX | 3:30 PM |
4 | Sunday, Mar. 8 | Phoenix Raceway | FS1 | 3:30 PM |
5 | Sunday, Mar. 15 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | FS1 | 4:00 PM |
6 | Sunday, Mar. 22 | Darlington Raceway | FS1 | 3:00 PM |
7 | Sunday, Mar. 29 | Martinsville Speedway | FS1 | 3:30 PM |
8 | Sunday, Apr. 12 | Bristol Motor Speedway | FS1 | 3:00 PM |
9 | Sunday, Apr. 19 | Kansas Speedway | FOX | 2:00 PM |
10 | Sunday, Apr. 26 | Talladega Superspeedway | FOX | 3:00 PM |
11 | Sunday, May 3 | Texas Motor Speedway | FS1 | 3:30 PM |
12 | Sunday, May 10 | Watkins Glen International | FS1 | 3:00 PM |
-- | Sunday, May 17 | NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover | FS1 | 3:00 PM |
13 | Sunday, May 24 | Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte | Prime Video | 6:00 PM |
14 | Sunday, May 31 | Nashville Superspeedway | Prime Video | 7:00 PM |
15 | Sunday, Jun. 7 | Michigan International Speedway | Prime Video | 3:00 PM |
16 | Sunday, Jun. 14 | Pocono Raceway | Prime Video | 3:00 PM |
17 | Sunday, Jun. 21 | San Diego Street Race | Prime Video | 4:00 PM |
18 | Sunday, Jun. 28 | Sonoma Raceway | TNT | 3:30 PM |
19 | Sunday, Jul. 5 | Chicagoland Speedway | TNT | 6:00 PM |
20 | Sunday, Jul. 12 | EchoPark Speedway | TNT | 7:00 PM |
21 | Sunday, Jul. 19 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | TNT | 7:00 PM |
22 | Sunday, Jul. 26 | Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis | TNT | 2:00 PM |
23 | Sunday, Aug. 9 | Iowa Speedway | USA | 3:30 PM |
24 | Saturday, Aug. 15 | Richmond Raceway | USA | 7:00 PM |
25 | Sunday, Aug. 23 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | USA | 3:00 PM |
26 | Saturday, Aug. 29 | Daytona International Speedway | NBC | 7:30 PM |
27 | Sunday, Sept. 6 | Southern 500 at Darlington | USA | 5:00 PM |
28 | Sunday, Sept. 13 | World Wide Technology Raceway | USA | 3:00 PM |
29 | Saturday, Sept. 19 | Bristol Motor Speedway | USA | 7:30 PM |
30 | Sunday, Sept. 27 | Kansas Speedway | USA | 3:00 PM |
31 | Sunday, Oct. 4 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | USA | 5:30 PM |
32 | Sunday, Oct. 11 | Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL | USA | 3:00 PM |
33 | Sunday, Oct. 18 | Phoenix Raceway | USA | 3:00 PM |
34 | Sunday, Oct. 25 | Talladega Superspeedway | NBC | 2:00 PM |
35 | Sunday, Nov. 1 | Martinsville Speedway | NBC | 2:00 PM |
36 | Sunday, Nov. 8 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | NBC | 3:00 PM |
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Joseph Srigley covers NASCAR for TobyChristie.com, Racing America, and OnSI, and is the owner of the #SrigleyStats brand. With a higher education in the subjects of business, mathematics, and data analytics, Joseph is able to fully understand the inner workings of the sport through multiple points of perspective.
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