2026 NASCAR Cup Series

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series will be the 78th season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 55th season for the modern-era Cup Series. The season will start with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 1 at Bowman Gray Stadium, followed by The Duel at Daytona on February 12, and the 68th running of the Daytona 500 (the first points race of the season) on February 15, both at Daytona International Speedway. The season will end with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead–Miami Speedway on November 8.[1]

This will be the first season for Freeway Insurance as a premier partner of the Cup Series, replacing GEICO, who left at the end the 2024 season.[2]

Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports returns as the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion.[3]

Teams and drivers

Chartered teams

Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief References
Chevrolet Haas Factory Team 41 Cole Custer TBA [4][5]
Hendrick Motorsports 5 Kyle Larson TBA [6]
9 Chase Elliott TBA [7]
24 William Byron TBA [8]
48 Alex Bowman TBA [9]
Hyak Motorsports 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. TBA [10][11][12]
Kaulig Racing 10 Ty Dillon TBA [13]
16 A. J. Allmendinger TBA [14]
Richard Childress Racing 3 Austin Dillon TBA [15]
8 Kyle Busch Jim Pohlman [16][17]
Rick Ware Racing 51 Cody Ware TBA [18][19]
Spire Motorsports 7 Daniel Suárez Ryan Sparks [15][20][21][22]
71 Michael McDowell Travis Peterson [23][22]
77 Carson Hocevar Luke Lambert [24][22]
Trackhouse Racing 1 Ross Chastain Brandon McSwain [25][26]
88 Connor Zilisch (R) Randall Burnett [27][28][29][30]
97 Shane van Gisbergen Stephen Doran [27][31]
Ford Front Row Motorsports 4 Noah Gragson TBA [32]
34 Todd Gilliland TBA [33]
38 Zane Smith TBA [34]
RFK Racing 6 Brad Keselowski TBA [35]
17 Chris Buescher TBA [15]
60 Ryan Preece TBA [15][18]
Team Penske 2 Austin Cindric TBA [36]
12 Ryan Blaney TBA [37]
22 Joey Logano TBA [38]
Wood Brothers Racing 21 Josh Berry TBA [39]
Toyota 23XI Racing 23 Bubba Wallace TBA [40]
35 Riley Herbst TBA [41]
45 Tyler Reddick TBA [15]
Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin TBA [42][43]
19 Chase Briscoe TBA [44]
20 Christopher Bell TBA [45][46]
54 Ty Gibbs TBA [15]
Legacy Motor Club 42 John Hunter Nemechek TBA [15]
43 Erik Jones TBA [47]

Non-chartered teams

Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief Races References
Chevrolet JR Motorsports 40 Justin Allgaier TBA 1 [48]
Toyota Legacy Motor Club 84 Jimmie Johnson TBA 2 [49][50][51]

Team changes

Manufacturers

Crew chief changes

Driver changes

Rookies

See also: NASCAR Rookie of the Year § Cup Series
  • Connor Zilisch signed a multi-year contract with Trackhouse Racing to replace Suárez in 2026.[29]

Rule changes

Pre-season

Schedule

The 2026 schedule was released on August 20, 2025, and consists of 31 oval races, 4 road course races, 1 street track race, and four non-championship races to be held on ovals.[1] The start times were announced on November 12.[59]

Notes: Race names and title sponsors are subject to change. Not all title sponsors/names of races have been announced for 2026. For the races where a 2026 name and title sponsor has yet to be announced, the title sponsors/names of those races in 2025 are listed.[1]

Bolded races indicate an event generally known as a Crown Jewel race.

 O  Oval track
 R  Road course
 S  Street course

No Race name Track Location Date Time (ET)[59] TV Radio
Regular Season
Cook Out Clash  O  Bowman Gray Stadium Winston-Salem, North Carolina February 1 8 pm FOX MRN
The Duel at Daytona  O  Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida February 12 7 pm FS1
1 Daytona 500 February 15 2:30 pm FOX
2 Autotrader 400[60]  O  EchoPark Speedway Hampton, Georgia February 22 3 pm PRN
3 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix  R  Circuit of the Americas Austin, Texas March 1 3:30 pm
4 Straight Talk Wireless 500[61]  O  Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona March 8 FS1 MRN
5 Pennzoil 400  O  Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada March 15 4 pm PRN
6 Goodyear 400  O  Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina March 22 3 pm MRN
7 Cook Out 400  O  Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia March 29 3:30 pm
8 Food City 500  O  Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee April 12 3 pm PRN
9 AdventHealth 400  O  Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas April 19 2 pm FOX MRN
10 Jack Link's 500  O  Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama April 26 3 pm
11 Würth 400  O  Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas May 3 3:30 pm FS1 PRN
12 Go Bowling at The Glen  R  Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York May 10 3 pm MRN
NASCAR All-Star Open  O  Dover Motor Speedway Dover, Delaware May 17 1 pm PRN
NASCAR All-Star Race 3 pm
13 Coca-Cola 600  O  Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina May 24 6 pm Prime
14 Cracker Barrel 400  O  Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee May 31 7 pm
15 FireKeepers Casino 400  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan June 7 3 pm MRN
16 The Great American Getaway 400  O  Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania June 14
17 Anduril 250[62]  S  Coronado Street Course San Diego, California June 21 4 pm
NASCAR In-Season Challenge[63]
18 Toyota/Save Mart 350  R  Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California June 28 3:30 pm TNT MRN
19 TBA  O  Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, Illinois July 5 6 pm
20 Quaker State 400  O  EchoPark Speedway Hampton, Georgia July 12 7 pm PRN
21 Window World 450[64][65]  O  North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro, North Carolina July 19
22 Brickyard 400  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana July 26 2 pm IMS
Regular Season
23 Iowa Corn 350  O  Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa August 9 3:30 pm USA MRN
24 Cook Out 400  O  Richmond Raceway Richmond, Virginia August 15 7 pm
25 Mobil 1 301  O  New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire August 23 3 pm PRN
26 Coke Zero Sugar 400  O  Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida August 29 7:30 pm NBC MRN
NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs
Round of 16
27 Cook Out Southern 500  O  Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina September 6 5 pm USA MRN
28 Enjoy Illinois 300  O  World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois September 13 3 pm
29 Bass Pro Shops Night Race  O  Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee September 19 7:30 pm PRN
Round of 12
30 Hollywood Casino 400  O  Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas September 27 3 pm USA MRN
31 South Point 400  O  Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada October 4 5:30 pm PRN
32 Bank of America Roval 400  R  Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) Concord, North Carolina October 11 3 pm
Round of 8
33 Freeway Insurance 500[2]  O  Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona October 18 3 pm USA MRN
34 YellaWood 500  O  Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama October 25 2 pm NBC
35 Xfinity 500  O  Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia November 1
Championship 4
36 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race  O  Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida November 8 3 pm NBC MRN

Confirmed schedule changes

See also

References

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