NASCAR Gearing Up to Go International Again?

MONTREAL, QC - AUGUST 17: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Advocare Chevrolet, during qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sixth Annual NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 17, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

What’s Happening?

With the 2026 NASCAR season nearing its postseason, many NASCAR fans are already turning their attention towards the 2027 season and what its schedule may hold.

While a few dates are already announced for that schedule, NASCAR is reportedly already deep into the future and beyond its current TV deal.

NASCAR signed its latest TV mega deal in 2024, and that new contract kicked off in 2025 with races spread across more networks and services than ever.

Per a new report from Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is already exploring what the future may hold for the Cup Series’ 38-race (36-point-race) schedule beyond the final year of the current media rights deal in 2031.

To the surprise of a few, Stern also reports that NASCAR is “developing” international options in long-rumored markets including Canada, England, and Asia, with a special nod to the Middle East.

NASCAR Racing Outside the U.S.

NASCAR ventured its National Series outside the United States for the first time since 2008 last season, with a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series weekend in Mexico City.

That race was the first Cup Series points race held internationally since 1958.

Still, racing outside the North American continent is something NASCAR has not done since the series of “Thunder” specialty off-season exhibition races in Japan in the late 1990s; even then, the Cup Series has never held a points-paying race outside of North America.

The Middle East?

For NASCAR fans, there are plenty of dream venues outside the United States that the sport could race at.

In Canada, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario or Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Quebec quickly come to mind.

In Europe, there are some that fans have thought would be a great fit, like the high-banked road course at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands, or, if NASCAR wanted an oval race in true automotive country, they could go to Germany’s 2-mile Lausitzring oval.

But the Middle East is an odd choice and one that many fans may not have considered.

When it comes to motorsports in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and its Jeddah circuit are an obvious choice, but the Qiddiya Speed Park Track, which is currently under construction, is also an option.

In 2024, fans were discussing this possibility when NASCAR was listed as a potential series by the track, something NASCAR did not comment on at the time.

Nonetheless, if NASCAR is exploring a future in the Middle East, it is easy to see why fans immersed in Silly Season discussion would make the connection.

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