NASCAR Cup Series 2026 Schedule Unveiled

NASCAR revealed the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule on Wednesday, with several changes for the upcoming year.

Among the highlights of the schedule are the new NASCAR San Diego Weekend, a return to Chicagoland Speedway, and North Wilkesboro Speedway gaining a points-paying Cup Series event while the All-Star Race moves to Dover Motor Speedway.

As previously announced, the NASCAR San Diego weekend will take place on June 19-21, with all three of NASCAR’s National Series heading to Naval Base Coronado. That will replace the presence of a street circuit on the NASCAR calendar, with the Chicago Street Race on pause for 2026, with hopes of returning to the schedule in 2027.

The Chicago area will still get its NASCAR fix, as now Chicagoland Speedway will host the NASCAR Cup Series on July 5. The Joliet, Illinois 1.5-mile facility joined the NASCAR calendar in 2001 and remained a NASCAR fixture through the 2019 season. An event at Chicagoland scheduled for 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the series did not return in 2021 or beyond until now.

Meanwhile, the NASCAR All-Star Race moves to a new home in 2026, the Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Part of the NASCAR schedule since 1969, Dover will host its first All-Star Race on May 17.

In a corresponding move, the prior home of the All-Star Race, North Wilkesboro Speedway, gets its first NASCAR Cup Series points race since 1996. North Wilkesboro was part of NASCAR’s inaugural season of racing in 1947 until its closure in 1996.

The track sat dormant, aside from a handful of events by series such as the PASS Super Late Models and USAR Pro Cup Series in 2010 and 2011, until the month-long Racetrack Revival in August of 2022. Following the Racetrack Revival, the venue was heavily renovated and hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race for the past three years.

Now, North Wilkesboro Speedway will regain its points-paying regular season event on July 19.

The 2026 schedule confirms the NASCAR Championship Race moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway, scheduled for November 8.Phoenix Raceway remains in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, hosting a race on October 18.

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway now moves to the regular season, one week before the finale at Daytona International Speedway. New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Cup Series event is now scheduled for August 23.

Watkins Glen International’s NASCAR weekend moves to May for 2026, with the NASCAR Cup Series event scheduled for May 10.

Another shift in the schedule includes Darlington Raceway’s spring race moving from April to March 22. Kansas Speedway’s first race moves from the second weekend in May to April 19.

FOX Sports, Prime Video, TNT Sports and NBC Sports will broadcast the 2026 Cup Series season. Networks and start times will be announced at a later date.

-Photo credit: David Jensen/Getty Images

2026 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule