2026 NASCAR Schedule

Which part, the 'no Fontana short track', 'San Diego' (Long Beach, I assume), or 'Willow Springs'? Me, I doubt any of them will be on a Cup points schedule in a year beginning '202x'.
I think I'm with ya. It's crazy Cup isnt racing in a market where one of their most current successful drivers is from and in the 2nd largest TV market. But thats the way the breaks broke for them, I'd choose Fontana being built over those other options if I had a choice.
 
I think I'm with ya. It's crazy Cup isnt racing in a market where one of their most current successful drivers is from and in the 2nd largest TV market. But thats the way the breaks broke for them, I'd choose Fontana being built over those other options if I had a choice.

Isn’t Larson much closer to Sonoma?

I can’t think of any good SoCal drivers right now.
 


Sounds like we can take M'ville, Bristol, and Darlington off the list.

I'm pretty sure only those tracks in the rotation will be in the Group of 8 / last four races. We know Homestead is in, and the article says Phoenix will remain in the rotation as a G8 race. Sounds like there will be two other tracks.
  • Vegas? It can get pretty cold in November.
  • Atlanta? Please, not a drafting track.
  • Texas, after what we just saw?
  • I like COTA but I don't see a road course as the finale; ditto the Charlotte Roval.
  • Nashville?
Darlington would still fit in. Its within a hour and a half drive from Charlotte, 1 hour from Columbia and 1.5 hour drive from Myrtle Beach.
 
I once proposed Charlotte for the finale and was told that it was too cold.
I've sat outside at my girlfriends house in Charlotte in shorts and a tee shirt more often than not. Sure they could have a cold snap but if the event is the Championship final people know how to dress accordingly. Southerners do have jackets
 
If we start giving out races because of novelty gas stations I don't know what to say.
A Buccee’s is pretty sweet but I agree with you. Makes you wonder what else would be in play to get a championship race
 
What exactly is a Bucees?
it's a Texas-based chain of highway convenience stores on Viagra. Imagine if the old Stuckey's stores had a baby with Mall of America.


I find them too large and crowded to navigate easily, inside or out. Definitely not for my style of 'Get gas, go pee, get a drink, get gone again'.
 
I was briefly in one in TN about an hr outside Nashville. While very cool, a bit overwhelming just so much going on

Overwhelming is the right word. Our 8 year old is absolutely obsessed with it though on vacations lol! It honestly though would be the perfect spot on the way to a race, all bases would be covered at all times
 
Huge news. But not surprising…per Jordan Bianchi via Athletic:

“ NASCAR is working toward finalizing a deal to race on a street course next year in the San Diego area, multiple industry sources told The Athletic, which would return its premier Cup Series to the Southern California market after a multi-year absence.

NASCAR and the city of San Diego have not yet agreed on a deal, but discussions are ongoing, and it is expected that an agreement will be reached, according to those sources. An announcement is tentatively slated for next month, pending a finalized deal.

NASCAR and Sports San Diego, the city’s sports tourism commission, declined comment.

Adding a race in San Diego would accomplish NASCAR’s stated goal of returning to Southern California, a move likely to be popular in the garage and throughout the sport’s landscape. It would be the first points race in the market since California Speedway in Fontana was indefinitely shuttered in 2023. NASCAR last raced in Southern California in 2024, when it held the final of three straight season-opening exhibition races on a purposely-built oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

But racing at the Coliseum was never viewed as a long-term solution for NASCAR to maintain a presence in the region. NASCAR closed California Speedway, which it owns, with the intent of remodeling the facility, reconfiguring the track, and eventually returning to race there on a permanent basis. These plans, announced in September 2020, have since been put on hold.

With California Speedway off the schedule, NASCAR has explored multiple options to hold a points race in Southern California — a key market to the league, its teams, media rights partners and sponsors. This search led NASCAR to San Diego, which has never hosted a Cup race and offers a picturesque setting to construct the course, with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. The exact location and layout for the course is not yet known, industry sources indicated.

A race in San Diego would be NASCAR’s second city street course race in three years after introducing one in downtown Chicago in 2023, the first time in NASCAR’s modern era (1972 to present) that Cup competed on such a track. That race is considered a key development for NASCAR as part of an initiative to bring high-level stock car racing to major metropolitan markets, as opposed to the majority of its tracks, which are located in less populated areas.

NASCAR’s intent with Chicago, which will host the third edition of its event on July 6, was to offer a proof-of-concept to other cities throughout the United States that it could design a course incorporating city streets and generate attention and tourism revenue for the community. NASCAR and the city of Chicago are in the last year of a three-year contract, though NASCAR does have an option to return in 2026 and has said it wants to continue racing there.

How San Diego would fit within the 2026 schedule is not yet clear. A current race would have to be dropped to accommodate any addition, as the schedule is presently at its 38-race cap (36 points races plus two exhibitions). With the Chicago deal potentially coming to an end, NASCAR could swap one city street course for another, but the league has also shown a willingness in recent years to shift a date from an existing track with two races on the schedule to accommodate a new addition it feels will enhance the sport. The addition of the Mexico City race this year, for example, led NASCAR to drop one of the two races at Richmond Raceway in Virginia.”

 
Huge news. But not surprising…per Jordan Bianchi via Athletic:

“ NASCAR is working toward finalizing a deal to race on a street course next year in the San Diego area, multiple industry sources told The Athletic, which would return its premier Cup Series to the Southern California market after a multi-year absence.

NASCAR and the city of San Diego have not yet agreed on a deal, but discussions are ongoing, and it is expected that an agreement will be reached, according to those sources. An announcement is tentatively slated for next month, pending a finalized deal.

NASCAR and Sports San Diego, the city’s sports tourism commission, declined comment.

Adding a race in San Diego would accomplish NASCAR’s stated goal of returning to Southern California, a move likely to be popular in the garage and throughout the sport’s landscape. It would be the first points race in the market since California Speedway in Fontana was indefinitely shuttered in 2023. NASCAR last raced in Southern California in 2024, when it held the final of three straight season-opening exhibition races on a purposely-built oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

But racing at the Coliseum was never viewed as a long-term solution for NASCAR to maintain a presence in the region. NASCAR closed California Speedway, which it owns, with the intent of remodeling the facility, reconfiguring the track, and eventually returning to race there on a permanent basis. These plans, announced in September 2020, have since been put on hold.

With California Speedway off the schedule, NASCAR has explored multiple options to hold a points race in Southern California — a key market to the league, its teams, media rights partners and sponsors. This search led NASCAR to San Diego, which has never hosted a Cup race and offers a picturesque setting to construct the course, with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. The exact location and layout for the course is not yet known, industry sources indicated.

A race in San Diego would be NASCAR’s second city street course race in three years after introducing one in downtown Chicago in 2023, the first time in NASCAR’s modern era (1972 to present) that Cup competed on such a track. That race is considered a key development for NASCAR as part of an initiative to bring high-level stock car racing to major metropolitan markets, as opposed to the majority of its tracks, which are located in less populated areas.

NASCAR’s intent with Chicago, which will host the third edition of its event on July 6, was to offer a proof-of-concept to other cities throughout the United States that it could design a course incorporating city streets and generate attention and tourism revenue for the community. NASCAR and the city of Chicago are in the last year of a three-year contract, though NASCAR does have an option to return in 2026 and has said it wants to continue racing there.

How San Diego would fit within the 2026 schedule is not yet clear. A current race would have to be dropped to accommodate any addition, as the schedule is presently at its 38-race cap (36 points races plus two exhibitions). With the Chicago deal potentially coming to an end, NASCAR could swap one city street course for another, but the league has also shown a willingness in recent years to shift a date from an existing track with two races on the schedule to accommodate a new addition it feels will enhance the sport. The addition of the Mexico City race this year, for example, led NASCAR to drop one of the two races at Richmond Raceway in Virginia.”

As long as this is not another "road/street' course added to the schedule or replacing an oval track I am OK with it. Recently the road courses just haven't been my cup of tea in NASCAR.
 
As long as this is not another "road/street' course added to the schedule or replacing an oval track I am OK with it. Recently the road courses just haven't been my cup of tea in NASCAR.
The road courses have been underwhelming except for the last couple of COTA races.
 
I'm guessing these are out of the question. :p

Fiesta Island
1750273951137.png


Naval Air Station
1750274084339.png
 
We don't need another stinking stadium lol. Oh wait, we can call it Bowman Gray clash in the snow.
Run these at a stadium.
 
Back
Top Bottom