NASCAR's 2026 schedule shake-up: New street race, Chicagoland's return, and more
The schedule released Wednesday includes two off weekends on a calendar that stretches from February to November. It begins with the exhibition Clash on Feb. 1 at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem for the second consecutive year, with the season-opening Daytona 500 to follow on Feb. 15.
The season ends Nov. 8 in Florida at Homestead, which hosted the championship-deciding finale for 18 consecutive years before NASCAR shifted it to Phoenix Raceway in 2020. The race at Phoenix was given a different date in the playoffs and NASCAR is expected to rotate the season finale to various venues in ensuing years.
Chicagoland is reopening after a six-year hiatus and a switch back to the track located in suburban Joliet after three seasons on a temporary street circuit in downtown Chicago. The San Diego event will be held on a military base in Coronado.
To add Chicagoland and San Diego, NASCAR dropped the Chicago street race and will not return to Mexico City, where it held the first international Cup Series points race since the 1950s. A return to Mexico City in 2026 became difficult to schedule because of soccer's World Cup.
NASCAR also moved Watkins Glen in New York from its traditional August date to Mother's Day weekend and the all-star race from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Dover so that North Wilkesboro will be a points-paying Cup race, and New Hampshire lost its playoff race to become the penultimate race of the regular season.
There also are two off weekends after just one this season, which ends with 28 straight races.
The 2026 Cup Series schedule:
Feb. 1 — Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
Feb. 15 — Daytona 500
Feb. 22 — Atlanta
March 1 — Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas
March 8 — Phoenix
March 15 — Las Vegas
March 22 — Darlington, South Carolina
March 29 — Martinsville, Virginia
April 5 — off weekend
April 12 — Bristol, Tennessee
April 19 — Kansas
April 26 — Talladega, Alabama
May 3 — Texas
May 10 — Watkins Glen
May 17 — All-Star Race (Dover)
May 24 — Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
May 31 — Nashville, Tennessee
June 7 — Michigan
June 14 — Pocono in Long Pond, Pennsylvania
June 21 — San Diego
June 28 — Sonoma, California
July 5 — Chicagoland
July 12 — Atlanta
July 19 — North Wilkesboro
July 26 — Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)
Aug. 2 — off weekend
Aug. 9 — Iowa
Aug. 15 — Richmond, Virginia
Aug. 23 — New Hampshire
Aug. 29 — Daytona, Florida
Sept. 6 — Darlington
Sept. 13 — Gateway in Madison, Illinois
Sept. 19 — Bristol
Sept. 27 — Kansas
Oct. 4 — Las Vegas
Oct. 11 — Charlotte Roval
Oct. 18 — Phoenix
Oct. 25 — Talladega
Nov. 1 — Martinsville
Nov. 8 — Homestead
___
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