The NASCAR season traditionally begins with the sport’s biggest race, the Daytona 500. It’s been that way since 1982, but, plenty of other venues have hosted the season-opening race throughout NASCAR’s history. Here is a look at all of NASCAR’s season-opening venues.
This is not the Charlotte Motor Speedway that we know of today. This track was a 3/4 mile dirt track built off of Little Rock Road in Charlotte. It hosted the first NASCAR Cup Series race in 1949, won by Jim Roper. He won the race despite not crossing the line first. First-place finisher Glenn Dunaway was disqualified for illegal rear springs that were modified to haul moonshine.
Even before the Daytona 500 became a thing, the Daytona Beach Course hosted the season opener for the Cup Series in 1950 and 1951. This track also hosted the first NASCAR race ever in 1948, a Modified race won by Red Byron. The two Cup Series season openers were won by Harold Kite and Marshall Teague.
NASCAR stayed in the state of Florida to open the season between 1952 and 1954. The track was dirt for these Cup Series races, won by Tim Flock, Lee Petty, and Herb Thomas. Each driver finished in the top-2 in the standings after winning the season opener, with Flock winning the Championship in 1952.
Beginning with the 1955 season, NASCAR started the season in November of the previous calendar year. This meant the 1955 season opener happened in November of 1954 at Tri-City Speedway in High Point, North Carolina. Lee Petty won the race, which was the last Cup Series race held at the venue.
Hickory Motor Speedway still stands today. Tim Flock won the only Cup Series season opener at the venue in November of 1955. The track hosted two more races that season, including the penultimate race nearly a full calendar year later.
In the fall of 1956, NASCAR moved to the West Coast to open their season at the old Willow Springs Speedway in Lancaster, California. Marvin Panch beat out Fireball Roberts, and it was the last NASCAR Cup Series race held at the venue.
For the next two season openers, NASCAR moved the Cup Series to Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The track hosted four NASCAR Cup Series races between November of 1957 and November of 1958. The 1959 season opener in November of 1958 was the last Cup Series race at the venue.
NASCAR returned to its’ roots for the 1960 and 1961 season openers at Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte. Also known as the Charlotte Fairgrounds, the track quickly became obsolete when Charlotte Motor Speedway was built in 1960. The 1961 season opener in November of 1960 was the final race at the venue, won by Joe Weatherly.
The New Concord Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, opened the Cup Series season in 1962 and 1964. However, Charlotte Motor Speedway, also in Concord meant the track would not stay open for long. Ned Jarrett won the final season opener at the venue in November of 1963.
Birmingham International Raceway in Birmingham, Alabama hosted 8 Cup Series races throughout the 1960s. Its’ lone season opener came in November of 1962, and Jim Pascal won the race over Richard Petty.
Riverside is second to Daytona for the most season openers hosted in NASCAR. It hosted its’ first season opener in January of 1965, which broke the tradition of hosting the season opener in the previous calendar year. It kept its January race date, but, it became the season opener again in 1970 until 1981. The track remained in NASCAR until 1988, when it was torn down.
Augusta Speedway hosted 12 Cup Series races throughout the 1960s, including the 1966 and 1967 season opener. Richard Petty won both season openers at the venue. This was the beginning of a four year streak of the season opener being hosted in Georgia.
NASCAR moved the season opener to Middle Georgia Raceway in Macon, Georgia. Bobby Allison and Richard Petty won both 500-lap season openers in November of 1967 and 1968. Riverside took over as the season opener following this year.
Plenty of tracks have hosted the season-opening NASCAR Cup Series race. However, NASCAR has settled on a nice tradition at Daytona.
EchoPark Speedway, or Atlanta Motor Speedway, is often touted as the most exciting track on the NASCAR circuit. What was first seen as a Frankenstein experiment, Marcus Smith’s idea to turn AMS into a baby Daytona worked out in the end. We’ve gotten great race after great race and tonight was no different as fans saw Tyler Reddick power by Carson Hocevar to go two in a row to start the season.
But not everyone had a season to remember. Many drivers and teams had a season that they’d sooner forget. These are the biggest losers of the 2026 EchoPark Speedway racing weekend.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race officials rightly got blasted online by fans after they made the extremely questionable decision to put the Truck race on Saturday on the weather clock. That would have been an understandable move if circumstances were different. But they caught flak because 1.) EchoPark Speedway has lights, 2.) the weather had moved out for the weekend, and 3.)…umm…they were only 10 laps shy from the scheduled distance anyway.
Now, we know who the defenders are. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race was slated to follow, but NASCAR has pushed races off in the past. And really, how much time would the CW have lost? Ten minutes? Twenty? If that? That, in my book, makes the NCTS officials some of the biggest losers on the weekend. They owe us fans ten more measly laps for racing!
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Of any driver currently in the Chevy ranks, none has had the support thrown behind them like Corey Day. Day, a protege of proven NASCAR champion Kyle Larson, apparently has turned some heads on the dirt scene. Makes sense, since Larson himself said that he’d rather win the Chili Bowl than the Daytona 500. But unlike other drivers, such as Connor Zilisch, who have excelled in other racing disciplines outside of NASCAR, Day’s career so far has been lukewarm at best. And his race yesterday was the epitome of a rookie race, ladened with senseless mistakes.
The incident that hurt the most was the one where he wrecked his fellow HMS/JRM teammates, Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. He simply just took them out while racing for the race lead. Though he was, somehow, able to rebound to finish the race in the 4th position, yesterday was a sloppy performance that even Corey himself acknowledges that he’d rather put behind him.
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Chastain did it again! And now, the feelings are mixed. Remember when Ross Chastain used to just send drivers willy-nilly, and it really got on fans’ nerves? Well, thankfully, he’s calmed down in recent years and has become a more respectable veteran of the sport. That is not to say that he still doesn’t have his…moments. Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts race, Ross Chastain, going for the win, entered turn 1 and sent leader Austin Hill.
Hill was the overwhelming favorite to win this race, and fans have grown sick of him. So, really, this was a welcome return to form for Chastain, a version of him that used to be loathed by fans. Thus, while fans might have won out by Chastain doing what he does best and slaying Austin Hill, the RCR team, and really, anyone who has Chastain in their rearview mirror in the closing laps, are the real losers this weekend.
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There were a couple of drivers who ended 2025 on a sour note and were looking to turn things around and start 2026 strong. One of those has to be Josh Berry and his entire Wood Brothers team. After floundering around with Harrison Burton for a few seasons, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford got the shot in the arm that they needed with a new crew chief and Josh Berry as their new driver. They led a bunch of laps at Atlanta in 2025, only for a wreck with 10 laps to go to take them out of contention. Not to worry, though: they followed it up with a win at Las Vegas.
But since that win, the team suffered a steep decline heading into the summer months. By the time the postseason rolled around, they had the single worst Playoff performance in history with three straight last-place finishes. Though he had a promising start to the season with a 9th-place run in the Daytona 500, it was the same old same old tonight. Berry showed some speed in the first stage but ultimately crashed after Christopher Bell forced the issue in the beginning of Stage 2. It’s a familiar routine for the Wood Brothers. Yet another last-place finish. That makes them one of the biggest losers of the weekend. If only they could have capitalized.
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This one’s a tired subject, so I won’t dwell on it too long. Kyle Busch’s late career decline at Richard Childress Racing should be studied. Though he showed speed early on, it was yet again a single-car spin that ended his day prematurely. Granted, he didn’t spin completely on his own. He was tagged from behind by Noah Gragson. But, that was after he checked up twice and recklessly pulled up in front of him in a hole that was barely there. Yet another disappointing outing for Rowdy Nation.
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The checkered flag has flown in the second race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Season. And, at the end of the day, it was Tyler Reddick who went back-to-back to win at EchoPark Speedway. Tonight, Reddick became the sixth NASCAR Cup Series driver to win the first two races of the season. He is the first since NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth did it to kick off the 2009 season.
But, of course, Reddick wasn’t the only one to have a great start to the season. Several drivers leave Atlanta with a great points day, including Carson Hocevar, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney. Here are the highlights of tonight’s race:
From an awful showing in the 2025 Playoffs to yet another last-place finish, Josh Berry’s 2026 season is off to a rough start. Today, he got together with Ty Gibbs after Gibbs had an awful start to the year last year. The No. 54 was able to turn it around later in the season, though. But, for their 2026 outing, there’s a lot left to be desired. Check it out.
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Kyle Busch’s 2025 season was abysmal. But, after he put his No. 8 RCR Chevy on the pole for the 2026 Daytona 500, things seemed to be looking up. He smartly survived last week by lying back on the last lap and safely navigating through the crash, finishing 15th. And he was a contender early in this race. However, late, Kyle Busch continued his dismal legacy at RCR by spinning after contact with Noah Gragson. His day ended prematurely. Check it out:
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We got our first big crash of the race at Lap 224 when both Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano got loose in front of the field. You can read all about that incident with the link below:
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Things started to get real for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers as we got inside 40 laps to go. We got our first Big One of the afternoon at Lap 224. It was triggered as the field came out of Turn 4 and entered the dogleg. Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both whose cars were upset by the dirty air, got together. Logano was able to scoot on virtually unscathed. However, Hamlin turned in front of the pack, collecting several stars and heavy hitters. Here’s what happened:
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