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….
This past weekend, a report from a French-Canadian newspaper, Le Journal de Québec, made waves in the NASCAR Community. Their report claims that Montréal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is in negotiations with NASCAR for a return in 2026 and 2027. So, if NASCAR were to head north, what current track might be on the chopping block?
Interesting story from our neighbors to the north if you want to translate this from French.
They have "intensive negotiations" about Xfinity/Truck coming to Montreal in 2026 followed by the Cup Series in 2027. (h/t @TravisDeer1Buck) https://t.co/eoxORZqQnv— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 14, 2025
Though the rumor has floated for years, this report suggests that should negotiations go through, the Craftsman Truck and Xfinity Series will race at the 2.71-mile circuit in 2026. This race weekend would be followed by a NASCAR Cup Series date in 2027.
The Xfinity Series raced in Canada at Gilles Villeneuve from 2007 to 2012, and the Truck Series raced in the country at Ontario’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from 2013 to 2019. However, the Cup Series has not raced in Canada in the modern era, having last raced in the country in 1958.
Currently, there are no credible rumors as to what tracks could lose a race or be kicked off the schedule for 2027. Having said that, other rumors, alongside past fan conversations, can supply an idea of what NASCAR should consider if they were to race in Montréal.
While the Cup Series date would technically be two years from now, its addition would mean one track would lose a date for 2027. While there are few rumors about the 2026 season, there are even fewer for 2027. So, who are some reasonable candidates to relinquish a race date to Montréal?
As long as the odds are right now, NASCAR fans do not know if Circuit of the Americas will be back on the calendar in 2026 and beyond. A report from COTA race weekend certified that most expect it to return, but nothing is locked in.
This would benefit NASCAR as they would not have to add or subtract a road course from the schedule. However, this decision would likely come down to Speedway Motorsports, which leases the Circuit for NASCAR weekends. After the 2025 race, if fans had their way, the track would likely return to the schedule with its new layout.
Even if Montréal were to replace COTA, according to this report, Montréal would not join the schedule until 2027, meaning a filler race would have to take its spot for one season.
What’s Happening? Though NASCAR heads to Circuit of the Americas this weekend, the track’s 2026 race date is still in doubt….
NASCAR has yet to confirm if the Chicago Street Circuit will be on the 2026 calendar.
That being said, there are plenty of rumors that the sport could look to other markets like San Diego for a replacement street circuit. If that were not to happen, a foreign market and historic track could be a quality replacement for some fans.
Unfortunately, it would be hard to match the special atmosphere that a street circuit race brings to the NASCAR schedule, and NASCAR seems committed to that atmosphere. Once again, NASCAR would have to find a stopgap for the 2026 season should the Montréal deal work out.
What’s Happening? NASCAR’s next street circuit may have its location and could host a race within the next two seasons. San…
While NASCAR is heading to Mexico’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the first time in 2025, in this scenario, the track race date could serve as a rotating international race date, similar to the rumors of a rotating street circuit race weekend or Championship race weekend.
As of right now, we do not know what NASCAR at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez will be like. If the race is a success, it could summon a long-term spot on the calendar; if not, fans could want the track to move.
The alleged 2027 race date in Montréal would give NASCAR time to make such a radical decision. However, there are major “ifs” in play in this specific scenario.
NASCAR fans begged for a second Darlington race for years. Yet, since NASCAR began shaking up its schedule and the track got its second race, fans have often used the spring Darlington race as a potential swap out should NASCAR find a better location.
Most of these theories revolve around the track’s location on the East Coast, with North Wilkesboro, Charlotte, Rockingham, Martinsville, and Richmond to the north. While the racing at Darlington has been great, it’s not hard to imagine the NASCAR-owned facility losing a race date for an international market.
Of course, solid crowd size for both the track’s race dates, combined with the quality of racing, could prevail if NASCAR had to make this decision.
Iowa Speedway was one of the great successes of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. It was also the only new addition to the schedule, replacing the technically former NASCAR-owned facility Auto Club Speedway on the calendar.
When NASCAR added Iowa, it didn’t feel like a permanent addition to the schedule. Since its race last fall, NASCAR has even moved the track’s race date to August. To some, its role as a filler race in 2024 and changing dates could suggest it’s by no means locked into the schedule.
However, that race was a rousing success, with massive attendance and sky-high ticket prices; if this trend continues in 2025, it would be hard to imagine NASCAR taking its food back out of the midwestern market once again.
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