2026 NASCAR schedule: League announces major additions with San Diego, North Wilkesboro and Chicagoland

NASCAR announced Wednesday the full Cup Series schedule for the 2026 season, continuing a recent trend that has seen the sport's schedule become more dynamic and malleable year over year. The 2026 schedule includes a number of major changes, including the introduction of a new street course, the re-addition of two once-forgotten racetracks to the slate of 36 points-paying races, and a new site for the sport's annual All-Star Race.

As previously announced, the biggest change for 2026 will be the addition of a brand new street course race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, which will be held on June 21 and return NASCAR to the Southern California market after a year away due to the current lack of a permanent racing facility in the market following the demolition of Auto Club Speedway. The San Diego race will take the place of Mexico City, which will not host a race next year.

NASCAR to hold street course race in San Diego at Naval Base Coronado in 2026

Steven Taranto

After hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race for the last three seasons following the track's revival, North Wilkesboro Speedway will host a points-paying race on July 19, marking the first time the historic Western North Carolina racetrack has hosted a race that counts towards NASCAR's championship since 1996. In addition, Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, will also return to the schedule for the first time since 2019, taking the place of the Chicago Street Race on July 4 weekend.

In a corresponding move to North Wilkesboro moving to a points-paying race, Dover Motor Speedway will become the new host of the All-Star Race on May 17, bringing the All-Star Race to the northeast for the first time in its history. With Dover lacking a permanent lighting structure, the event is expected to be the first All-Star Race held during the daytime since 1991.

The final major change to the schedule is the return of Homestead-Miami Speedway as the host of NASCAR's season finale and championship race for the first time since 2019, kicking off a new year-to-year rotation of the championship race across various racetracks. Phoenix Raceway, which had been the host of the championship race from 2020 to 2025 and is expected to remain in the race's rotation, will move back to Oct. 18.

"This is a landmark schedule that demonstrates NASCAR's continued innovation with a strong mix of beloved venues and exciting new and returning racetracks for race fans from coast to coast," NASCAR's EVP Ben Kennedy said in a statement. "The 2026 NASCAR national series schedules celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary with NASCAR San Diego, welcome back Cup Series points races to Chicagoland Speedway and North Wilkesboro, takes the NASCAR All-Star Race to the Northeast for the first time and brings the NASCAR Championship back home to Homestead-Miami Speedway." 

Other notable changes on the 2026 schedule are as follows:

• After just one off week the entire 2025 season, 2026 will see the addition of a second off week between the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis on July 26 and Iowa Speedway on Aug. 9. The first off week for the Cup Series will continue to be Easter weekend, though the newly-named O'Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity) and Craftsman Truck Series will spend that weekend at Rockingham Speedway for the second year in a row.
• Watkins Glen International's race will move from its traditional summertime date back to Mother's Day weekend on May 10. This will mark the earliest time in the year that NASCAR has ever raced at Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.
• Among the tracks that will shuffle race dates from 2025 to 2026 include Darlington Raceway (March 22), Kansas Speedway (April 19), Pocono Raceway (June 14), Sonoma Raceway (June 28), EchoPark Speedway (July 12), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Aug. 23), and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Oct. 4)
• The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on a street circuit in St. Petersburg, Fla. for the very first time on Feb. 28, an event which will take place in conjunction with the season opener for the NTT IndyCar Series.
• While the 2026 schedule uses the framework of NASCAR's current playoff structure, the exact championship format for next year remains to be determined.

2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule

* - denotes non-points event

Feb. 1 -- Cook Out Clash* -- Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Feb. 12 -- Daytona 500 Duels -- Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 15 -- Daytona 500 -- Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 22 -- EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
March 1 -- Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Tex.)
March 8 -- Phoenix Raceway
March 15 -- Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 22 -- Darlington Raceway
March 29 -- Martinsville Speedway
April 5 -- Off Week
April 12 -- Bristol Motor Speedway
April 19 -- Kansas Speedway
April 26 -- Talladega Superspeedway
May 3 -- Texas Motor Speedway
May 10 -- Watkins Glen International
May 17 -- All-Star Race* -- Dover Motor Speedway
May 24 -- Coca-Cola 600 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway
May 31 -- Nashville Superspeedway
June 7 -- Michigan International Speedway
June 14 -- Pocono Raceway
June 21 -- Naval Base Coronado (San Diego)
June 28 -- Sonoma Raceway
July 5 -- Chicagoland Speedway
July 12 -- EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
July 19 -- North Wilkesboro Speedway
July 26 -- Brickyard 400 -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 2 -- Off Week
Aug. 9 -- Iowa Speedway
Aug. 15 -- Richmond Raceway
Aug. 23 -- New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Aug. 29 -- Daytona International Speedway
Sept. 6 -- Southern 500 -- Darlington Raceway
Sept. 13 -- World Wide Technology Raceway (St. Louis)
Sept. 19 -- Night Race -- Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 27 -- Kansas Speedway
Oct. 4 -- Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 11 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval
Oct. 18 -- Phoenix Raceway
Oct. 25 -- Talladega Superspeedway
Nov. 1 -- Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 8 -- Championship Race -- Homestead-Miami Speedway