It Just Got Harder to Watch NASCAR Practice and Qualifying
What’s Happening? A new deal between The CW and ESPN is making it harder for NASCAR fans to watch practice and…
The CW and ESPN will come together to make ESPN Unlimited the streaming home to CW Sports, including the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. While fans have often asked for a streaming option for the series, what does this mean for fans of NASCAR’s second-highest division?
Wednesday, ESPN and The CW announced a new deal that will bring The CW’s sports catalog to ESPN’s ESPN Unlimited streaming service this summer.
Alongside a lengthy list of sports, this includes the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, which sees ESPN Unlimited as the new streaming home to its races.
Here’s what you need to know about ESPN and The CW’s new deal, and what it means for NASCAR OAP Series coverage.
This means that NASCAR fans will finally have a fourth option for watching NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races on The CW.
Since the network took over exclusive broadcast rights in 2025, there were only two ways to watch: via antenna, via a cable subscription, or via a live TV streaming platform like Sling or YouTube TV.
Despite having an app, The CW did not allow fans to watch races on the app on the go, instead requiring one of the options above, or forcing fans to wait a day to watch live.
Now, with a subscription to ESPN Unlimited, fans can watch all races on the go with no blackouts.
The best part of this deal is that fans can still watch the OAP Series races via a TV Antenna or with their cable/live TV streaming platform of choice.
This is because the races are merely being simulcast on ESPN Unlimited.
Unfortunately, this new deal has taken away one of the more positive aspects of NASCAR’s deal with The CW, as practice and qualifying for all 33 NASCAR OAP Series events in 2026 will no longer be streamed for free on the app.
This means that to watch practice and qualifying, you will need a subscription to ESPN Unlimited.
What’s Happening? A new deal between The CW and ESPN is making it harder for NASCAR fans to watch practice and…
ESPN offers two subscriptions for ESPN Unlimited: monthly and annual. ESPN Unlimited Monthly Subscription runs $29.99 a Month while the Annual Subscription runs $299.99 a Year.
Of course, this comes with much more than just NASCAR OAP Series races, as it gives access to all of ESPN’s channels, as well as select streaming events, and many other sports.
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