The return of Rockingham Speedway is one of the best stories of the 2026 NASCAR Season. While the race is a part of the 2026 NASCAR Schedule, a new report suggests that the track was facing the possibility of removal just one year after its return.
What’s Happening? The official 2026 NASCAR National Series schedules are out, and there are quite a few notable changes for all…
Prior to 2023, Rockingham Speedway had not seen a NASCAR National Series race since 2013, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series race since 2004. But thanks to a grassroots fan support campaign and public funding that led to renovation, the track returned to the NASCAR schedule in 2025.
While it did not get a Cup Series date, the track did find itself with a triple header weekend. The ARCA Menards, Craftsman Truck, and Xfinity Series took the reins while the Cup drivers took the weekend off. Fans and industry members viewed all three races as successful, with the one-mile oval putting on a solid show in each series.
Fans quickly began professing that the track needs a cup date in the coming year. Nonetheless, there were murmurs that the track was not a lock for the 2026 Craftsman Truck and newly renamed O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule for 2026, all while the track was listed for sale.
While the track did not get a Cup Series race date, it will return to the Truck and OAP Series schedule in 2026, with a Friday and Saturday show on April 3 and 4. But, this was not a guarantee, in a new report from William R. Toler of The Richmond Observer a local official claims that negotiations regarding the track held up the schedule release.
According to this report, a grant payment from Richmond County helped the track cover the cost of SAFER barrier installation earlier this year.
Prior to that, according to Dr. Rick Watkins, Chairman of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners, if the county had not helped cover this cost, “NASCAR would not allow the current ownership to sign the race-ready guarantee,” and the track could have lost its race date.
The track’s current owners posted Rockingham for sale shortly after its successful race weekend earlier this year. According to this report, track promoter Track Enterprises, which could purchase Rockingham, asked that the county cover the SAFER barrier installation payment. Watkins claims that these negotiations delayed the release of the 2026 schedule.
Interestingly enough, he also claims that he thinks the track could host a NASCAR Cup Series race “in the very near future.” However, the dramatic changes to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, including North Wilkesboro, another North Carolina race track, gaining a points date, suggest that this could be a difficult task for Rockingham.
The Rock was once a staple of the Cup Series schedule from 1965 to 2004, but, much like North Wilkesboro, was removed as part of NASCAR’s push westward. Since its removal from the Cup Series schedule, the track has also seen a severe decrease in capacity, though many other tracks have also experienced this.
Nonetheless, much like its counterpart to the east, if the Rock gets enough fan support, there is always a chance that NASCAR’s premier series adds the track to its schedule.
What’s Happening No matter how much NASCAR hypes up its annual schedule release, the final result will never satisfy every fan….
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