CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) NASCAR in 2026 will race on a brand new avenue course in San Diego, return Chicagoland Speedway to the schedule, transfer the All-Star race to Dover, Delaware, and finish its 38-race season again at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The schedule launched Wednesday consists of two off weekends on a calendar that stretches from February to November. It begins with the exhibition Conflict on Feb. 1 at Bowman-Grey Stadium in Winston-Salem for the second consecutive yr, with the season-opening Daytona 500 to comply with on Feb. 15.
The season ends Nov. 8 in Florida at Homestead, which hosted the championship-deciding finale for 18 consecutive years earlier than NASCAR shifted it to Phoenix Raceway in 2020. The race at Phoenix was given a distinct date within the playoffs and NASCAR is anticipated to rotate the season finale to varied venues in ensuing years.
Chicagoland is reopening after a six-year hiatus and a swap again to the monitor positioned in suburban Joliet after three seasons on a short lived avenue circuit in downtown Chicago. The San Diego occasion might be held on a army base in Coronado.
So as to add Chicagoland and San Diego, NASCAR dropped the Chicago avenue race and won’t return to Mexico Metropolis, the place it held the primary worldwide Cup Collection factors race for the reason that Nineteen Fifties. A return to Mexico Metropolis in 2026 turned troublesome to schedule due to soccer’s World Cup.
NASCAR additionally moved Watkins Glen in New York from its conventional August date to Mom’s Day weekend and the all-star race from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Dover in order that North Wilkesboro might be a points-paying Cup race, and New Hampshire misplaced its playoff race to grow to be the penultimate race of the common season.
There are also two off weekends after only one this season, which ends with 28 straight races.
The 2026 Cup Collection schedule:
Feb. 1 Conflict at Bowman Grey Stadium
Feb. 15 Daytona 500
Feb. 22 Atlanta
March 1 Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas
March 8 Phoenix
March 15 Las Vegas
March 22 Darlington, South Carolina
March 29 Martinsville, Virginia
April 5 off weekend
April 12 Bristol, Tennessee
April 19 Kansas
April 26 Talladega, Alabama
Might 3 Texas
Might 10 Watkins Glen
Might 17 All-Star Race (Dover)
Might 24 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Might 31 Nashville, Tennessee
June 7 Michigan
June 14 Pocono in Lengthy Pond, Pennsylvania
June 21 San Diego
June 28 Sonoma, California
July 5 Chicagoland
July 12 Atlanta
July 19 North Wilkesboro
July 26 Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)
Aug. 2 off weekend
Aug. 9 Iowa
Aug. 15 Richmond, Virginia
Aug. 23 New Hampshire
Aug. 29 Daytona, Florida
Sept. 6 Darlington
Sept. 13 Gateway in Madison, Illinois
Sept. 19 Bristol
Sept. 27 Kansas
Oct. 4 Las Vegas
Oct. 11 Charlotte Roval
Oct. 18 Phoenix
Oct. 25 Talladega
Nov. 1 Martinsville
Nov. 8 Homestead
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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