COTA In Final Year of NASCAR Contract, Expected to Return in 2026

What’s Happening?

Though NASCAR heads to Circuit of the Americas this weekend, the track’s 2026 race date is still in doubt. The track is in the final year of its agreement with Speedway Motorsports, and a new report claims that the two parties have yet to re-up for the 2026 season.

• According to Jordan Bianchi of the Athletic, the involved parties are expected to meet this weekend. Despite the current absence of a deal, “the expectation is that NASCAR will be back at COTA in 2026.” Factors for a 2026 race, however, will include fan feedback and ticket renewal numbers alongside the quality of the racing action this weekend.
• SMI, which owns the only other NASCAR facility in Texas, began leasing COTA in 2021. This was part of a broader goal of shaking up the NASCAR schedule and expanding NASCAR’s road course racing. When COTA joined the schedule, SMI essentially moved one of Texas Motor Speedway’s two race dates to Austin and the traditional Charlotte All-Star Race to the 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth.
• COTA is one of two permanent FIA Grade One circuits in the United States and, until the addition of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to the 2025 schedule, was the only track regularly shared by NASCAR and Formula One. COTA is also one of the few tracks on the NASCAR schedule not owned by Speedway Motorsports or NASCAR.
• This year, SMI and NASCAR are shaking things up. Drivers will tackle a modified 2.3-mile layout instead of the traditional 3.41-mile layout that F1 still uses and NASCAR traditionally used. This new layout features more breaking zones and a significantly smaller portion of the 0.62-mile-long back straightaway.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Also, don’t forget that you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.