2026 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule Revealed (Including A Terrible Change To The All-Star Race)

Confirming the rumors.

There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule this past week or so, including a rumored change of venue for the All-Star Race that had fans scratching their heads…

Of course we already knew some of the changes coming next season. NASCAR had previously announced that the Chicago Street Race would be moving to San Diego next year for a race at Naval Base Coronado, and that Chicagoland would be making its return to replace this year’s race in Mexico City (and keep NASCAR in the coveted Chicago market).

NASCAR has also previously announced that the season finale would be moving back to Homestead Miami Speedway after being held at Phoenix Raceway since 2020, a popular change among fans after some pretty boring championship races the past few years.

Other than, there’s been a lot of speculation but nothing official until today, when Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic provided us with our first look at the 2026 Cup Series schedule.

The first major change that we see in the schedule is that the road course race at Watkins Glen moves from its traditional August date to mid-May, right before the All-Star Race.

Oh, and speaking of the All-Star Race, it turns out the rumors were true: The annual exhibition race, which has been held at North Wilkesboro Speedway the past couple of years, will instead be moving to…Dover.

Why?

Well it all comes down to ownership. Both Dover Motor Speedway and North Wilkesboro are owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. And if SMI wanted a points race at North Wilkesboro (which its made no secret about), it would need to move the All-Star Race to another track in its portfolio.

But Dover? Really?

As many have pointed out, the track doesn’t currently have lights. So unless they plan to install some in the next 10 months or so that means the All-Star Race will no longer be a night race and will instead have to be run during the daytime.

That also means, of course, that the race could end up being affected by weather should it rain during the day, a problem that’s helped when tracks also have the option to run at night.

The flipside, of course, is that North Wilkesboro will indeed be getting a points race, which is scheduled for July 19 – just two weeks after NASCAR returns to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019.

The rest of the schedule remains largely unchanged, with the exception of the championship race’s move from Phoenix back to its rightful home of Homestead Miami Speedway.

And there’s also good news for all of the road course haters out there: With Chicagoland replacing Mexico City in the lineup, that means there will only be 5 road course races as opposed to the 6 on the schedule this year, which seems like a win considering how bad the Next Gen car runs at road courses compared to the entertaining shows we get on intermediate tracks like the one in Joliet, Illinois.

Overall, aside from the All-Star Race move and running Watkins Glen in the spring (which just feels wrong), I can’t be too upset at the schedule. But I really hope NASCAR also has plans to fix the Next Gen car to run better on short tracks and road courses before 2026…

NASCAR 2026 Cup Series Schedule

Sunday, Feb. 1 – Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
Sunday, Feb. 15 – Daytona
Sunday, Feb. 22 – Atlanta
Sunday, March 1 – Circuit of the Americas
Sunday, March 8 – Phoenix
Sunday, March 15 – Las Vegas
Sunday, March 22 – Darlington
Sunday, March 29 – Martinsville
Sunday, April 12 – Bristol
SSunday, April 19 – Kansas
Sunday, April 26 – Talladega
Sunday, May 3 – Texas
Sunday, May 10 – Watkins Glen
Sunday, May 17 – Dover (All-Star Race)
Sunday, May 24 – Charlotte
Sunday, May 31 – Nashville
Sunday, June 7 – Michigan
Sunday, June 14 – Pocono
Sunday, June 21 – San Diego
Sunday, June 28 – Sonoma
Sunday, July 5 – Chicagoland
Sunday, July 12 – Atlanta
Sunday, July 19 – North Wilkesboro
Sunday, July 26 – Indianapolis
Sunday, Aug. 9 – Iowa
Saturday, Aug. 15 – Richmond
Sunday, Aug. 23 – New Hampshire
Saturday, Aug. 29 – Daytona
Sunday, Sept. 6 – Darlington
Sunday, Sept. 13 – Gateway
Saturday, Sept. 19 – Bristol
Sunday, Sept. 27 – Kansas
Sunday, Oct. 3 – Las Vegas
Sunday, Oct. 11 – Charlotte Roval
Sunday, Oct. 18 – Phoenix
Sunday, Oct. 25 – Talladega
Sunday, Nov. 1 – Martinsville
Sunday, Nov. 8 – Homestead MiamiThe post 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule Revealed (Including A Terrible Change To The All-Star Race) first appeared on Whiskey Riff.