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New York Times
a few seconds ago
- New York Times
NASCAR's 2026 Cup Series schedule: The changes we love, and those we don't
NASCAR officially unveiled its 2026 Cup Series schedule Wednesday, one day after The Athletic broke the news, and the latest edition has some notable changes. Among them: The San Diego street course race on a U.S. Navy base, the resurrection of Chicagoland Speedway, the departure of the Mexico City and Chicago street races, a return to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the championship race, Dover hosting the All-Star Race and North Wilkesboro's first points race since 1996. Below, The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck react to the 2026 NASCAR schedule news. Many of the major elements of the schedule had already been revealed. Now that everything is out there, what are some of your biggest takeaways? Gluck: NASCAR has continued to keep the schedule fresh with new or revitalized events that give people something to look forward to, which is a big plus for someone who lived through an era of extremely stale schedules. The biggest changes back in the day used to be moving one race by a few weeks, and there were rarely any new races. Advertisement But in the Next Gen Era alone, we've seen races at the Los Angeles Coliseum, in the streets of Chicago, on a Mexico City road course, and in Iowa, along with a return to North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray Stadium. And although Chicago and Mexico are off the schedule next year, that San Diego race is probably going to be one of the coolest things NASCAR has ever done. Plus, a return to Chicagoland should get NASCAR's core fans excited because the Next Gen car puts on a terrific show at intermediate tracks. Those same fans will love a points race at North Wilkesboro. The downsides — like the All-Star Race moving to Dover or Watkins Glen hosting a race on Mother's Day, when the weather in upstate New York is questionable — aren't great, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Bianchi: Expanding into San Diego (and on a military base), the return of Chicagoland and North Wilkesboro hosting its first points race in 30 years are all welcome additions, continuing NASCAR's emphasis on making sure there are notable new events each year. This is a long way removed from the days when the schedule was basically copied and pasted from season to season. There is a nice balance between 'old' and 'new.' Old-school fans will be happy that North Wilkesboro is back to hosting a points race and Bowman Gray still has a date, while new-school fans will likely love the temporary circuit in San Diego. Having 38 races on your schedule affords you such flexibility, something NASCAR has learned to manage well. What is your favorite change? Gluck: I'm going to speak out of both sides of my mouth here. The San Diego race sounds incredible, and that could be an iconic event for NASCAR, so that has to be my favorite change. At the same time, I'm happy there is one fewer road course race and one additional intermediate track race on the schedule. Advertisement If only Marcus Smith — CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns Charlotte Motor Speedway and several other tracks — had been willing to part with the Roval, Charlotte Motor Speedway's road course, and make that into an oval playoff race, it would have been a home run. But let's hope the days of having six road/street course races with the Next Gen car are over. Bianchi: It's hard not to be enthused about San Diego, a novel idea that should be quite the scene next June that translates well to television and gives the race a big-event feel. Another bonus: It also returns NASCAR to the coveted Southern California market. Chicagoland's resurrection is also a check on the positive side. Intermediate tracks are where the Next Gen car shines, and the expectation is that the mile-and-a-half oval should produce a high-quality race that NASCAR can never have enough of and, again, should translate well to television. Also, it's great to see Bowman Gray back to host the Clash. The environment there this year was electric, and the historic short track deserves the opportunity to again kick off the season. What is your least favorite change? Gluck: I'm disappointed to see race fans in the Northeast get shafted. Dover already lost one of its two dates and now gets the All-Star Race instead of a points race? I'm pretty sure not a single Dover fan asked for the All-Star Race to move there. Plus, that May date is paired with Watkins Glen on back-to-back weeks (and bundle up if you're headed to the Glen; upstate New York sometimes gets snow in May). Then New Hampshire moves out of the playoffs as well — which is fine with me, but when you lump it in with the other hits to Northeastern fans, they probably don't love that. Bianchi: Watkins Glen is not a place that should be hosting a Cup race in early May. The weather is simply too unpredictable; NASCAR is asking for Mother Nature to cause trouble. Plus, for a track that relies heavily on camping — and sells a good number of tickets as a popular stop on the circuit — it's hard to imagine such fanfare will greet NASCAR next year, especially on Mother's Day weekend. This is a head scratcher. Looking long term, you hope this is only a one-year thing with Watkins Glen returning to its August spot in 2027. Advertisement Another curious move is the Las Vegas-Charlotte-Phoenix playoff stretch to end Round 2 and start Round 3. That's a lot of crisscrossing the country at a time of the year when many within the garage are worn down, all while a championship is at stake. Scheduling Las Vegas and Phoenix back-to-back would've helped ease the burden. What would you have liked to see on the 2026 schedule that isn't there? Gluck: More regional diversity. There are 13 races — more than a third of the schedule — within roughly a four-hour drive of Charlotte. Meanwhile, many areas of the country don't have a single race within eight hours. NASCAR has many fans in the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountain region who would love to have a Cup race. Additionally, NASCAR has a significant and passionate Canadian fan base; the Cup Series would be a huge hit there. You'd hope Montreal would happen eventually, but it seems to be a constant tease for now. Bianchi: Most people within the industry would love to see both of Charlotte Motor Speedway's two races held on its oval that routinely produces highly competitive racing. Organizers, though, prefer to have one oval race (the crown jewel Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend) while its playoff race is held on the Roval, which often pales in comparison. Switching the playoff race to the oval would bring near-universal praise while also enhancing the playoff schedule with another compelling race — and an elimination race, too. This would be a home run decision. (Top photo of Alex Bowman celebrating his win at Chicagoland Speedway in 2019, the last time NASCAR raced at the Illinois intermediate track: Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Submit your questions for Scott Wheeler's first 2026 NHL Draft mailbag
The Athletic's prospects writer Scott Wheeler released his preseason 2026 NHL Draft ranking on Monday. Have a question about the 2026 class, prospects, or scouting? Submit them below for his upcoming mailbag.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
How to make bold (and smart) College Football Playoff predictions using the preseason Top 25
The most important thing to keep in mind as you put together your personal College Football Playoff predictions is they are all but guaranteed to be wrong. So don't sweat it. Nobody saw Indiana and Arizona State (combined six wins in 2023) as even long shots to make the first 12-team CFP. But if you were following along with me last year, before I joined The Athletic, you might remember I tried to warn you that history strongly suggested there would be at least a couple of surprise teams. Advertisement Not only is picking a chalky bracket boring, it's just about as likely to be incorrect. Using AP Top 25 preseason polls from 2014 to 2023 and comparing them to final CFP rankings over the same period, I came up with a very unscientific 'formula' for predicting a playoff bracket. In Year 1 of the 12-team format, it turned out to be pretty accurate. The formula doesn't identify specific teams to select. It guides you to choose a specific number of teams from five tiers using the preseason AP poll. Your 12-team bracket should include: Last year, the bracket included four of the preseason top five (Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas; Alabama missed out), two from six to 10 (Penn State and Notre Dame) and two from 11 through 20 (Clemson and Tennessee). There were no CFP teams ranked 21 through 25 in the preseason and four CFP teams that started the season unranked (Boise State, Arizona State, Indiana and SMU). Boise State and SMU at least showed up in the 'Others Receiving Votes' section. The point of the exercise is not necessarily to pick the bracket correctly as much as it is to get you thinking beyond the top 15 or so teams in the country. It's highly unlikely a team that won only three games last year will make the CFP this season. Oklahoma State, anyone? But you might want to be open-minded about Houston (four wins), Auburn (five), Washington (six) or Georgia Tech (seven). So have fun with it. In fact, use the formula to come up with several different combinations. Even tweak the formula a bit if you want — as long as you're stretching your imagination at least a little. For my own 'official' picks, I just couldn't comfortably eliminate one of the AP's top five (Texas, Penn State, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia). For this column, I'm sticking with the formula. Three unranked: Louisville, Nebraska, Tulane. And here's the bracket: Happy predicting! Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
