2026 NASCAR Cup Series: Difference between revisions

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===Driver changes===

===Driver changes===

* [[Justin Haley (racing driver)|Justin Haley]] will not return to [[Spire Motorsports]].<ref name=”Haley” /> Haley joined [[Kaulig Racing]] in the [[2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series|Craftsman Truck Series]].

* [[Justin Haley (racing driver)|Justin Haley]] will not return to [[Spire Motorsports]].<ref name=”Haley” /> Haley joined [[Kaulig Racing]] in the [[2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series|Craftsman Truck Series]].

* [[Daniel Suárez]] will move from [[Trackhouse Racing]] to Spire Motorports.<ref name=”SuarezSpire”/>

* [[Daniel Suárez]] will move from [[Trackhouse Racing]] to Spire Motorports.<ref name=”SuarezSpire”/>

Latest revision as of 17:43, 31 October 2025

78th season of NASCAR Cup Series racing

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series will be the 78th season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 55th season for the modern-era Cup Series. The season will start with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 1 at Bowman Gray Stadium, followed by The Duel at Daytona on February 12, and the 68th running of the Daytona 500 (the first points race of the season) on February 15, both at Daytona International Speedway. The season will end with the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead–Miami Speedway on November 8.[1]

This will be the first season for Freeway Insurance as a premier partner of the Cup Series, replacing GEICO, who left at the end the 2024 season.[2]

Non-chartered teams

[edit]

For details about the ongoing antitrust lawsuit between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR, and why these teams are currently non-chartered, see 23XI Racing v. NASCAR.

Manufacturers

Crew chief changes

Rookies

  • Connor Zilisch signed a multi-year contract with Trackhouse Racing to replace Suárez in 2026.[24]
  • On October 8, 2025, NASCAR announced it will increase the horsepower from 670 to 750 to tracks under 1.5 miles and road courses.[46]

The 2026 schedule was released on August 20, 2025, and consists of 31 oval races, 4 road course races, 1 street track race, and four non-championship races to be held on ovals.[1]

Notes: Race names and title sponsors are subject to change. Not all title sponsors/names of races have been announced for 2026. For the races where a 2026 name and title sponsor has yet to be announced, the title sponsors/names of those races in 2025 are listed.[1]

Bolded races indicate an event generally known as a Crown Jewel race.

 O  Oval track R  Road course S  Street course

No Race name Track Location Date TV Radio
Regular Season
Cook Out Clash  O  Bowman Gray Stadium Winston-Salem, North Carolina February 1 Fox Sports MRN
The Duel at Daytona  O  Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida February 12
1 Daytona 500 February 15
2 Autotrader 400[47]  O  EchoPark Speedway Hampton, Georgia February 22 PRN
3 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix  R  Circuit of the Americas Austin, Texas March 1
4 Shriner’s Childrens 500  O  Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona March 8 MRN
5 Pennzoil 400  O  Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada March 15 PRN
6 Goodyear 400  O  Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina March 22 MRN
7 Cook Out 400  O  Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia March 29
8 Food City 500  O  Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee April 12 PRN
9 AdventHealth 400  O  Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas April 19 MRN
10 Jack Link’s 500  O  Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama April 26
11 Würth 400  O  Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas May 3 PRN
12 Go Bowling at The Glen  R  Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York May 10 MRN
NASCAR All-Star Open  O  Dover Motor Speedway Dover, Delaware May 17 PRN
NASCAR All-Star Race
13 Coca-Cola 600  O  Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina May 24 Prime
14 Cracker Barrel 400  O  Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee May 31
15 FireKeepers Casino 400  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan June 7 MRN
16 The Great American Getaway 400  O  Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania June 14
17 Anduril 250  S  Coronado Street Course San Diego, California June 21
NASCAR In-Season Challenge[48]
18 Toyota/Save Mart 350  R  Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California June 28 TNT MRN
19 TBA  O  Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, Illinois July 5
20 Quaker State 400  O  EchoPark Speedway Hampton, Georgia July 12 PRN
21 Window World 400[49]  O  North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro, North Carolina July 19
22 Brickyard 400  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana July 26 IMS
Regular Season
23 Iowa Corn 350  O  Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa August 9 NBC Sports MRN
24 Cook Out 400  O  Richmond Raceway Richmond, Virginia August 15
25 Mobil 1 301  O  New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire August 23 PRN
26 Coke Zero Sugar 400  O  Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida August 29 MRN
NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs
Round of 16
27 Cook Out Southern 500  O  Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina September 6 NBC Sports MRN
28 Enjoy Illinois 300  O  World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois September 13
29 Bass Pro Shops Night Race  O  Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee September 19 PRN
Round of 12
30 Hollywood Casino 400  O  Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas September 27 NBC Sports MRN
31 South Point 400  O  Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada October 4 PRN
32 Bank of America Roval 400  R  Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) Concord, North Carolina October 11
Round of 8
33 Freeway Insurance 500[50]  O  Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona October 18 NBC Sports MRN
34 YellaWood 500  O  Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama October 25
35 Xfinity 500  O  Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia November 1
Championship 4
36 Straight Talk Wireless 400  O  Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida November 8 NBC Sports MRN

Confirmed schedule changes

[edit]

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  2. ^ Srigley, Joseph (October 31, 2025). “Freeway Insurance Named Premier Partner of NASCAR”. TobyChristie.com. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  3. ^ “Cole Custer to drive for Haas Factory Team in 2025”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Crandall, Kelly (September 5, 2025). “Haas NASCAR team reuniting with Chevrolet in ’26”. Racer. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  5. ^ “Kyle Larson, HendrickCars.com extend with Hendrick Motorsports through 2026”. NASCAR. September 16, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  6. ^ “Chase Elliott signs contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. February 20, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  7. ^ “Hendrick Motorsports, William Byron agree to four year contract extension”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. May 23, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  8. ^ “Alex Bowman signs three year contract extension; Ally signs five year extension with Hendrick Motorsports”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. February 15, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  9. ^ “Ricky Stenhouse Jr signs contract extension with JTG Daugherty Racing UPDATE”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. May 5, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  10. ^ “Justin Haley on the hot seat”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 29, 2025. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  11. ^ Christie, Toby (September 2, 2025). “Stenhouse Confirms Return to HYAK Motorsports for 2026 Season”. TobyChristie.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h “2026 NASCAR Cup Series Team / Driver Chart”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  13. ^ “Kaulig Racing says A.J. Allmendinger will return to Cup next season”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 1, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  14. ^ “Kyle Busch signs one year contract extension with Richard Childress Racing”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. May 24, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  15. ^ a b “Jim Pohlman to serve as Kyle Busch’s crew chief next year”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. October 16, 2025. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  16. ^ a b “Spire Motorsports, Justin Haley to part ways at end of season”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. October 14, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  17. ^ a b “Daniel Suarez signs with Spire Motorsports for 2026”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. October 22, 2025. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  18. ^ “Michael McDowell leaving Front Row Motorsports at season’s end: UPDATE: Moving to Spire”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. May 8, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  19. ^ “Carson Hocevar to drive No. 77 for Spire Motorsports next season”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. October 10, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  20. ^ DeGroot, Nick (February 16, 2023). “Ross Chastain signs multi-year contract extension with Trackhouse”. Motorsport Network. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  21. ^ “Trackhouse to pair Chastain with McSwain | RACER”. racer.com. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
  22. ^ “Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing announce multiyear contract extension”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 8, 2025. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  23. ^ “Daniel Suarez not returning to Trackhouse Racing in 2026”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  24. ^ a b “Connor Zilisch to drive Trackhouse Chevy in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 23, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  25. ^ a b “Randall Burnett to crew chief for Connor Zilisch in 2026”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. September 23, 2025. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  26. ^ “Brad Keselowski headed to Roush Fenway Racing in driver-ownership role”. NASCAR. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  27. ^ a b “T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 26, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  28. ^ “Austin Cindric say changes in Penske IndyCar program will not impact him UPDATE”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 1, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  29. ^ “Ryan Blaney Signs Long-Term Contract Extension with Team Penske”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 17, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  30. ^ “NASCAR Champion Joey Logano and Team Penske Agree to Contract Extension”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 24, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  31. ^ “Josh Berry to drive for Wood Brothers Racing next season after signing multi-year deal”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  32. ^ “Denny Hamlin signs contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. July 25, 2025. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  33. ^ Weaver, Matt (July 25, 2025). “Denny Hamlin inks multi-year NASCAR extension with Joe Gibbs Racing”. The Sporting News. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  34. ^ “Chase Briscoe joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 25, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  35. ^ “Rheem Returning to Sponsor Christopher Bell”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. September 29, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  36. ^ Konenski, Austin (October 14, 2022). “NASCAR: Christopher Bell signed ‘long-term deal’ with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2022”. Sportsnaut. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  37. ^ “Erik Jones signs multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 13, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  38. ^ “Jimmie Johnson could run more races in 2026”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  39. ^ “Noah Gragson signs multi-year deal with Front Row Motorsports”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. July 10, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  40. ^ “Todd Gilliland signs extension with Front Row Motorsports”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 5, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  41. ^ “Zane Smith returns to Front Row Motorsports, will drive No. 38”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. January 2, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  42. ^ “Bubba Wallace signs multi-year contract extension with 23XI Racing”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. September 18, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  43. ^ “23XI Racing expanding to three teams with Riley Herbst”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. November 20, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  44. ^ Ramalingam, Gowtham (October 2, 2025). “Chevrolet’s New Cup Series Car Gets Green Light for Daytona 2026”. Athlon Sports. Parade Media. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  45. ^ “Kaulig Racing adds Daniel Dye and Justin Haley to RAM 1500 roster”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  46. ^ “Teams to run 750hp engines at road courses and tracks shorter than 1.5 miles in 2026”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. October 8, 2025. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  47. ^ “Autotrader 400”. EchoPark Speedway. July 21, 2025.
  48. ^ “In-Season Challenge returns to Cup Series schedule in 2026”. NASCAR. August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  49. ^ “Window World 400 Marks North Wilkesboro’s First NASCAR Cup Series Points Race Since 1996”. North Wilkesboro Speedway. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  50. ^ “Freeway Insurance joins NASCAR as fourth Premier Partner of the NASCAR Cup Series”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. October 31, 2025. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  51. ^ “NASCAR Championship Weekend to return to Homestead in 2026”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. May 7, 2025. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  52. ^ Crandall, Kelly (July 18, 2025). “Chicago street circuit dropped from NASCAR schedule for 2026”. Racer. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  53. ^ “San Diego to host NASCAR’s latest cup series innovation with a street race at Naval Base Coronado”. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. July 23, 2025. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  54. ^ Bianchi, Jordan (July 30, 2025). “Mexico City is out for NASCAR’s 2026 schedule; Chicagoland likely in: Sources”. The Athletic. New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2025.

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