NASCAR releases 2026 schedules

NBC Sports

a day ago

North Wilkesboro will have a points race for the first time in 30 years next season, just one of the changes to the 2026 Cup schedule released Wednesday.
NASCAR also released the 2026 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series schedules Wednesday.
North Wilkesboro, which last hosted a points race in 1996, has been the site of the All-Star Race the past three seasons. Competitors said in May they wanted to see the historic track host a points race again.
Nate Ryan,
North Wilkesboro will get that chance when the series races there July 19. The All-Star Race moves to Dover Motor Speedway and will be held May 17. It will mark the first time Dover has hosted the exhibition race.
NBC and USA Network again will broadcast the final 14 Cup races of the season, beginning Aug. 9 at Iowa Speedway.
Other highlights of the 2026 Cup schedule:
— The season opens with the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Feb. 1
— The Daytona 500 will be held Feb. 15.
— Darlington moves to March 22, the first time since 2004 that the track's spring date has been in March.
— Watkins Glen moves to May 10, the earliest the track has hosted a Cup race.
— Cup will race on Naval Base Coronado June 21 in San Diego.
— Chicagoland Speedway returns to the schedule for the first time since 2019 and will host a Cup race July 5.
— New Hampshire moves out of the playoffs to Aug. 23.
— Homestead will host the championship race on Nov. 8. Phoenix will move to the opening race in the third round of the playoffs on Oct. 18.
Dustin Long,
Other notes on the 2026 NASCAR schedule:
— The only Saturday night Cup races will be Aug. 15 at Richmond, Aug. 29 at Daytona (the regular season finale) and Sept. 19 at Bristol, the cutoff race in the first round of the playoffs.
— The Knoxville Nationals are scheduled for Aug. 15 — the same night as the Richmond Cup race. That will prevent Kyle Larson from competing in the prestigious sprint car race. Larson has won the event three times (2021, '23 and '24). He has competed in the Knoxville Nationals A main the last five years and has made 10 appearances in that race since 2012.
— The Cup off weekends in 2026 will be Feb. 8 (between the Clash and Daytona 500), April 5 for Easter (between Martinsville and Bristol) and Aug. 2 (between Indianapolis and Iowa).
— The Cup playoffs begins with the Southern 500 on Sept. 6 at Darlington.
— There will be five Cup road course races: March 1 at Circuit of the Americas, May 10 at Watkins Glen, June 21 at San Diego, June 28 at Sonoma and Oct. 11 at the Charlotte Roval.
— The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series return to Rockingham Speedway for the second consecutive season. Those series will race April 3-4 at Rockingham.
— The Truck Series will compete in its first street race on Feb. 28 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after NNT IndyCar Series qualifying. The Trucks also will be a part, along Cup and the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series at Naval Base Coronado in June.
— Fox and FS1 will broadcast the Cup races from the Clash through the All-Star Race in May.
— Prime will broadcast five Cup races, going from the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 through the race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego on June 21.
— TNT will broadcast the in-season challenge again. The Challenge and TNT's broadcast begins June 28 at Sonoma and goes through Indianapolis on July 26.
— NBC and USA Network will broadcast the final four races of the Cup regular season, beginning with Iowa on Aug. 9 and also have all 10 playoff races.
2026 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
(Playoff races in bold)
2026 NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES SCHEDULE
2026 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE