The Complete 2026 NASCAR National Series Schedules: Cup, O’Reilly, & Truck Series
What’s Happening? The official 2026 NASCAR National Series schedules are out, and there are quite a few notable changes for all…
No matter how much NASCAR hypes up its annual schedule release, the final result will never satisfy every fan. The 2026 NASCAR Schedule is no different, with a short list of major changes to the schedule, traditions, and markets, to name a few.
What’s Happening? The official 2026 NASCAR National Series schedules are out, and there are quite a few notable changes for all…
Look, no one is complaining about the addition of another intermediate race to the calendar. While it’s still a pretty good distance from the city of Chicago, Chicagoland, once viewed as a failure of NASCAR’s late 1990s and early 2000s manifest destiny, is returning like a kind to the calendar. However, it is unclear just how long that will be for, as NASCAR would like to return to Chicago in 2027.
That said, the track’s first lifetime, from 2001 to 2019, was plagued by poor racing and poor attendance. While it seems like a guarantee that the track’s first Gen Seven race will be better than past outings at the track, attendance is likely going to be the talk of the town next summer. While fans are already saying that they will go, that is, of course, a lot easier than actually being there.
This addition to the calendar is popular, but if the stands look like they did in 2019 on NASCAR’s fabled July Fourth race date, fan opinions could sour.
For 2026, NASCAR changed the schedule a lot, and one region that saw major changes was the Northeast.
While this region may not be considered the best for late-season playoff races, Watkins Glen and Dover were once staples of NASCAR’s fall schedule. In 2026, NASCAR will remove New Hampshire Motor Speedway from the playoffs again and bump Dover Motor Speedway, now with one non-points-paying race, back to spring (which we will get to in a moment).
But perhaps most interesting of all is that Watkins Glen International, one of the two road courses that has hosted NASCAR for so long, will lose its traditional August race weekend and be moved to May.
While this may not seem like a major change, NASCAR fans are creatures of habit and are, let’s say, disappointed by this news. Overall, it is unlikely that this will affect attendance; fans in the Northeast are weary of the weather that time of year.
NASCAR will race on the streets, tarmac, or commercial roads of San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado next summer. This race technically replaces NASCAR’s international date in Mexico City from this season and, most importantly, returns NASCAR to the ultra-valuable Southern California media market.
NASCAR and SoCal (and racing in SoCal) have a rough history. Riverside International Raceway and Ontario Motor Speedway, the state’s first 2.5-mile oval, are early examples that come to mind. Both were eventually sold and demolished as the city crept closer and closer.
In 1997, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana seemed like a long-term solution before NASCAR sold off large portions of it in 2023. Though NASCAR planned to turn what’s left into a short track, as of press time, there has yet to be any official word on whether that is still the plan. The sport filled that gap for 2024 with the final season of the Clash at the LA Coliseum.
In San Diego, NASCAR has temporarily patched the SoCal market. This is not without controversy, as the state does not have an oval track on the schedule for a second season in a row. No matter how cool San Diego may seem, the sport is approaching a crossroads where a long-term decision must be made about Auto Club and SoCal as a whole.
Eric Estepp just dropped his full breakdown of the 2026 NASCAR schedule, and there’s a lot to unpack. From San…
This year, while the Cup and Truck Series race at Darlington in late August, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the Pacific Northwest for the final road course race of the season.
Portland International Raceway has been a part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series calendar for four years now, but it will be removed next season. As part of the 2026 schedule for the soon-to-be-named NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Schedule, the Series will race twice at Darlington Raceway, removing Portland from the map.
This removes not only Portland from the equation, but also the entire Pacific Northwest, for at least a season. Much like their friends in Denver and the greater state of Colorado, though fans may not recognize them as the most well-known for racing, this region produces some of the best dirt track races and racers.
Now, during a media availability, Ben Kennedy, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovation Officer, said that the sport remains interested in racing in that region, “We’re always looking at new markets we could explore in the future, and the Pacific Northwest has always been high on our list.”
But is there really a good reason (beyond it being a major geographical outlier) to remove the Northwest from the 2026 schedule, even if it may be temporary? Furthermore, how much longer can NASCAR overlook an entire portion of the country?
Well, this one blew the socks off everyone, with reports surfacing late last week that SMI and NASCAR were swapping Dover’s final points race weekend for North Wilkesboro’s All-Star race.
While Dover will have a triple header, or as NASCAR calls it, a “Three Wide Weekend,” something uncommon for recent all-star races, it is a shame that one of NASCAR’s most storied venues is off the points-paying calendar. But, on the other hand, Dover’s racing in the Gen Seven era hasn’t been great, and Wilkesboro will complete its redemption arc.
It seems like NASCAR and SMI made this decision based on fans, with Ben Kennedy saying that “about 70 percent of our fans and four out of five 18—to 34-year-olds that asked for North Wilkesboro to move into a points event.” This is reassuring and concerning, as fans may not be the best measuring stick for deciding the future of race tracks, but at least they listened to the voting.
While this is absolutely controversial, and it appears we will have the first All-Star Race during daylight since the 1991 Winston, there is one overlooked aspect of this swap. NASCAR is not hosting the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Wilkesboro in 2026, opting for a Cup and Truck double header.
This is despite past claims from Dale Earnhardt Jr. that he would race at the track if NASCAR’s secondary series got a race at the track. So, it feels like even Wilkesboro still lost out on this deal.
What’s Happening? Though he is technically retired from NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr has laid out the terms for a future return…
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