The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Florida for the Wawa 250 Powered By Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The CW App will air Xfinity Series qualifying earlier in the day at 3 p.m. ET.
There will be no practice at Daytona. The qualifying order below is determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).
Saturday’s qualifying session will be one lap and two rounds.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series had gone 31 seasons without holding a street-circuit race. In its 32nd, the tailgate tour will have two.
NASCAR officials released the full 2026 schedules for both the Truck Series and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Wednesday, revealing that the trucks will race for the first time as part of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend next year on Feb. 28. Both series will also participate as part of a tripleheader of national-series events in their debut in San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado alongside the NASCAR Cup Series, June 19-21.
The Craftsman Truck Series will share the bill in its St. Petersburg visit with the NTT IndyCar Series, which has opened its season on the 1.8-mile street course the last four years. The companion Truck Series race should provide an extra level of exposure to a new motorsports crowd, all while making that series’ schedule more closely resemble its NASCAR national-series counterparts.
“Obviously, with the street races that we have now at the Cup Series, racing in San Diego, racing at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, we want to make sure that our development series are racing at track types that allow them to advance and be prepared for the Cup level,” said Jusan Hamilton, NASCAR managing director, competition operations. “So, making sure we have a street race at the Truck Series level was something that we evaluated. Obviously, they have the first two street races they’ll have in their 30-year history, kicking off with the St. Pete Grand Prix, so it allows us to evaluate that market. Tampa/St. Pete is another huge media market.
“It’s also conducive for the Craftsman Truck Series teams to keep them on the East Coast for the early part of their season. It’s not a long trip for them to get down to Tampa, and it allows us to gain experience with another street course as we continue to develop and advance on our end with the new street course that we’re working on at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.”
Both series will return to Rockingham Speedway in 2026 after a successful revival of racing at the historic mile track earlier this year. The doubleheader will be held April 3-4 of Easter weekend, which will be the first of two idle weekends for the NASCAR Cup Series.
NASCAR racing returned to Rockingham in April for the first time in 12 years, and Saturday’s Xfinity Series race in the North Carolina sandhills was a sellout.
“I think everyone saw the fan response to racing on Easter weekend at Rockingham,” Hamilton said. “It really allowed us to highlight both the drivers and teams in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, as well as the Craftsman Truck Series on a separate weekend without Cup racing, also giving the teams and industry Sunday off to celebrate Easter with their families. So, saw a great fan response last year, saw some really great racing, and the return to Rockingham is going to keep building that tradition with those two series on an off weekend for Cup.”
Another return trip is scheduled for the Truck Series at Lime Rock Park, the picturesque Connecticut road course that hosted the circuit for the first time in June. Fan turnout was robust for the debut at the longtime sports-car venue, and the second edition will be one of four “stand-alone” events next year for the Trucks, separate from the Cup Series schedule.
“Going through those venues, it always allows us to explore new areas, to reach areas of the country that we’re maybe not reaching as much with the Cup Series,” Hamilton said. “So we saw a great turnout at Lime Rock Park last year. That passionate New England fan base up there really came out strong for that one. Again, that’s another one that, given that positive response, we’d like to keep building on that tradition of taking the Craftsman Truck Series to Lime Rock. We’ll continue to evaluate racing in different areas and using our support series as a method to do that. That’s always something that’s that we’re going to look at as we build the schedule.”
Other notable shifts to the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts and Craftsman Truck Series schedules:
Both series will end their seasons in early November at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which returns as the host track for NASCAR Championship Weekend for the first time since 2019. Phoenix Raceway, the season-finale host from 2020-25, will move to the Round of 8 opener for all three national series.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will end its regular season at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis for the second consecutive year, with the seven-race playoffs set to begin again at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 18. Las Vegas Motor Speedway replaces Kansas Speedway as the middle race in the Round of 12.
The Craftsman Truck Series will have a new site for the regular-season finale at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Aug. 22. The new-look playoffs will begin on Sept. 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway, and Kansas will join the Truck Series postseason rotation on Sept. 26.
Portland International Raceway will drop from the calendar next season after a four-year run on the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule.
Two tracks will hold tripleheader weekends with significantly earlier dates in 2026. Watkins Glen International shifts from early August to May 8-10, and Dover Motor Speedway — which will become the newest host of the Cup Series’ All-Star Race next year — moves to May 15-17. The Truck Series will be making its first Dover appearance since 2020 next season.
NASCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES
Date
Race / Track
Broadcast partner
Saturday, Feb. 14
Daytona International Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Feb. 21
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
The CW
Saturday, Feb. 28
Circuit of The Americas (Austin)
The CW
Saturday, March 7
Phoenix Raceway
The CW
Saturday, March 14
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, March 21
Darlington Raceway
The CW
Saturday, March 28
Martinsville Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 4
Rockingham Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 11
Bristol Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 18
Kansas Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 25
Talladega Superspeedway
The CW
Saturday, May 2
Texas Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 9
Watkins Glen International
The CW
Saturday, May 16
Dover Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 23
Charlotte Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 30
Nashville Superspeedway
The CW
Saturday, June 13
Pocono Raceway
The CW
Saturday, June 20
San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
The CW
Saturday, June 27
Sonoma Raceway
The CW
Saturday, July 4
Chicagoland Speedway
The CW
Saturday, July 11
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
The CW
Saturday, July 25
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Aug. 8
Iowa Speedway
The CW
Friday, Aug. 28
Daytona International Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Sept. 5
Darlington Raceway
The CW
Saturday, Sept. 12
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (St. Louis)
The CW
Friday, Sept. 18
Bristol Motor Speedway*
The CW
Saturday, Oct. 3
Las Vegas Motor Speedway*
The CW
Saturday, Oct. 10
Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval*
The CW
Saturday, Oct. 17
Phoenix Raceway*
The CW
Saturday, Oct. 24
Talladega Superspeedway*
The CW
Saturday, Oct. 31
Martinsville Speedway*
The CW
Saturday, Nov. 7
NASCAR Championship* (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
The CW
*Denotes playoff race
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
Dover Motor Speedway will be the site of the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race, the sanctioning body announced Wednesday, providing a unique track on which to showcase the top drivers while keeping the sport’s history at the forefront after a successful three-year run for the event at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The schedule change also gives North Wilkesboro the opportunity to host its first points race in 30 years, since Sept. 29, 1996, when Jeff Gordon won the last points-paying Cup Series contest held there. NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports worked together to make this schedule change the best of both worlds for fans of the sport, with the All-Star Race at Dover slated for May 17 and the points race at North Wilkesboro on July 19.
“We have an incredibly strong fan base in that region in our country, and if you look at Pocono (Raceway), New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) in a few weeks here is going to look incredible, and then Dover in particular has had a really strong turnout over the past few years,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s executive vice president, chief revenue & racing innovation officer. “I think it’s going to be a great addition to the All-Star Race, and then also moving them back to May from a weather perspective, I think, is going to be just a better overall experience for our fans and our industry.
“So, we considered a handful of options, obviously, in collaboration with Speedway Motorsports on where the future of the All-Star Race would go and naturally landed on Dover and think it’ll be a good location for us.”
The All-Star Race at Dover will air on FOX Sports, the final contest of the network’s coverage portion during the season. Christopher Bell is the defending All-Star Race victor, winning the $1 million prize during the 2025 rendition. Denny Hamlin is the most recent race winner at Dover with two straight Delaware wins.
North Wilkesboro will be the fourth of five races covered by TNT Sports. The contest will also act as Round 4 of the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge, setting up the Championship Round occurring at Indianapolis Motor Speedway one week later.
“The biggest factor was our fans and the feedback that we heard from them after the All-Star Race this year,” Kennedy said. “You know, 70% of them asked for a points race at North Wilkesboro, and it was about four out of five 18- to 34-year-olds also asked for a points race at North Wilkesboro. I think on top of that, we also heard from the industry that hey, it’s been great having the All-Star Race here for a few years, but we’d love to see a return to a points event, and being in TNT’s portion of the season with Dale Jr. in the booth, it’s been 30 years since we’ve had a points race at North Wilkesboro since Jeff Gordon went to Victory Lane in the late 1990s, it’s going to be a great return. So we’re excited to see it.”
Dover, which opened in 1969, will not host a points-paying event in the Cup Series in 2026 for the first time in track history. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will each run a points-paying race scheduled for May 15 and 16, respectively, ahead of Cup’s All-Star Race.
Delaware’s concrete, banked 1-miler joins a select list of tracks to host NASCAR’s star-studded exhibition, including Charlotte Motor Speedway (1985, 1987-2019), EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (1986), Bristol Motor Speedway (2020) and, most recently, North Wilkesboro (2023-25).
North Wilkesboro, which hosted at least one Cup Series race every season from 1949-1996, sat mostly dormant until its renovation and revival ahead of its return to the NASCAR schedule in 2023, when it hosted a regular-season Craftsman Truck Series race in addition to the All-Star Race.
North Wilkesboro will again act as a points-paying venue for the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026 on July 18, the fourth consecutive season the track will host the Truck Series field.
The 2026 NASCAR campaign kicks off Feb. 1 with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the second season the track has hosted the preseason exhibition. The regular-season opener will begin on Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway for the 68th Daytona 500. The 2026 season will conclude on Nov. 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Cup Series Championship.
NASCAR CUP SERIES
Date
Race / Track
Broadcast partner
Sunday, Feb. 1
Cook Out Clash (Bowman Gray Stadium)
FOX Sports
Sunday, Feb. 15
Daytona 500
FOX Sports
Sunday, Feb. 22
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 1
Circuit of The Americas (Austin)
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 8
Phoenix Raceway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 15
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 22
Darlington Raceway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 29
Martinsville Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 12
Bristol Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 19
Kansas Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 26
Talladega Superspeedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 3
Texas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 10
Watkins Glen International
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 17
All-Star Race (Dover Motor Speedway)
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 24
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Prime Video
Sunday, May 31
Nashville Superspeedway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 7
Michigan International Speedway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 14
Pocono Raceway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 21
San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
Prime Video
Sunday, June 28
Sonoma Raceway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 5
Chicagoland Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 12
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 19
North Wilkesboro Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 26
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, Aug. 9
Iowa Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Aug. 15
Richmond Raceway
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Aug. 23
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Aug. 29
Daytona International Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 6
Darlington Raceway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 13
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway* (St. Louis)
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Sept. 19
Bristol Motor Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 27
Kansas Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 4
Las Vegas Motor Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 11
Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 18
Phoenix Raceway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 25
Talladega Superspeedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Nov. 1
Martinsville Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Nov. 8
NASCAR Championship* (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
USA Network/NBC
*Denotes playoff race
NASCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES
Date
Race / Track
Broadcast partner
Saturday, Feb. 14
Daytona International Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Feb. 21
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
The CW
Saturday, Feb. 28
Circuit of The Americas (Austin)
The CW
Saturday, March 7
Phoenix Raceway
The CW
Saturday, March 14
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, March 21
Darlington Raceway
The CW
Saturday, March 28
Martinsville Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 4
Rockingham Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 11
Bristol Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 18
Kansas Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 25
Talladega Superspeedway
The CW
Saturday, May 2
Texas Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 9
Watkins Glen International
The CW
Saturday, May 16
Dover Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 23
Charlotte Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 30
Nashville Superspeedway
The CW
Saturday, June 13
Pocono Raceway
The CW
Saturday, June 20
San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
The CW
Saturday, June 27
Sonoma Raceway
The CW
Saturday, July 4
Chicagoland Speedway
The CW
Saturday, July 11
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
The CW
Saturday, July 25
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Aug. 8
Iowa Speedway
The CW
Friday, Aug. 28
Daytona International Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Sept. 5
Darlington Raceway
The CW
Saturday, Sept. 12
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (St. Louis)
NASCAR will race at Chicagoland Speedway in 2026, the sanctioning body announced Wednesday.
The sport returns to the 1.5-mile facility for the first time in seven years, with the NASCAR Cup Series scheduled to race at the oval on July 5. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will join the Cup Series for a points-paying race, slated to run on July 4.
“Our fans have been asking for a race in Joliet (Illinois) for the past several years,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president, chief venue & racing innovation officer. “If you look at the racing product on our mile-and-a-half tracks, they’ve been some of the most competitive and compelling events that we’ve had in our season, and we’re confident that Joliet is going to deliver exactly that.”
The return will fit into the TNT Sports portion of the Cup Series season, slotting as Round 2 of the 2026 In-Season Challenge, where drivers will battle head-to-head once again for the shot at $1 million.
“TNT, I think, is going to deliver in a really great way,” Kennedy said. “Then I would say, on top of that, it being the 250th anniversary of our country, being in a place like Chicagoland on July 4th weekend, if you think about the camping ground, being about Americana, being in the Midwest and the heartland of our country, you couldn’t ask for a better location or date for it.”
The last time the premier series raced at Chicagoland was in June 2019, when Alex Bowman took the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports to Victory Lane. The Cup Series has raced at the facility a total of 19 times, with many memorable moments, including the iconic “slide job” during the 2018 running that saw Kyle Busch triumph over Kyle Larson.
While some updates to the facility will be necessary for NASCAR to return after a seven-year hiatus, the track sits mostly ready for a roaring return.
“We’re going to be making improvements to Chicagoland before we go back next year,” Kennedy said. “The good news is, it’s relatively Cup-ready, so we won’t need to make significant improvements or changes to the facility, but the fans can expect it to feel like a Cup-ready facility when they come there in July of next year.
“So, working on plans to begin some of those improvements. It’ll probably start later this year and then into the spring of next year. I think it’s going to be another good addition to the schedule.”
The July race weekend keeps NASCAR in the Chicago area, with Joliet sitting just south of the downtown streets the national series raced in the past, keeping an important presence in the Midwest market. NASCAR raced in downtown Chicago from 2023-25, with the door open for a future return.
“You know, the Midwest is really important to us, and if you look at our schedule overall, I think what we’re trying to do is cover the entire country and then also spread our events out kind of evenly across the country as well,” Kennedy said. “Even though we don’t have an event in downtown Chicago, we felt like it was still important to keep that market engaged while we’re racing in Chicagoland, but we also would like to leave the door open to return to Chicago in the future as well.
“We’ve been pretty explicit earlier this year that even if we don’t return in 2026, we’d love to have the opportunity to come back there in the future. And I think the good news is that Julie (Giese) and the team have built so many incredible relationships with the city, with the departments, with a lot of folks in and around the downtown and Metro Chicago area to give us an opportunity to return there in the future, and that’s something that we hope to do.”
See the full 2026 Cup Series schedule below:
Date
Race / Track
Broadcast partner
Sunday, Feb. 1
Cook Out Clash (Bowman Gray Stadium)
FOX Sports
Sunday, Feb. 15
Daytona 500
FOX Sports
Sunday, Feb. 22
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 1
Circuit of The Americas (Austin)
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 8
Phoenix Raceway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 15
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 22
Darlington Raceway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 29
Martinsville Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 12
Bristol Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 19
Kansas Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 26
Talladega Superspeedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 3
Texas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 10
Watkins Glen International
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 17
All-Star Race (Dover Motor Speedway)
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 24
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Prime Video
Sunday, May 31
Nashville Superspeedway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 7
Michigan International Speedway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 14
Pocono Raceway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 21
San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
Prime Video
Sunday, June 28
Sonoma Raceway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 5
Chicagoland Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 12
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 19
North Wilkesboro Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 26
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, Aug. 9
Iowa Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Aug. 15
Richmond Raceway
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Aug. 23
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Aug. 29
Daytona International Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 6
Darlington Raceway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 13
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway* (St. Louis)
NASCAR released the 2026 schedule for all three national series Wednesday, bringing back a Chicago-area staple, shifting up the All-Star Race rotation and renewing the In-Season Challenge for a second edition.
NASCAR officials had previously announced two key components to the 2026 slate, introducing a street-course event in San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado and moving the championship weekend for all three national circuits to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Joining those headliners are new NASCAR Cup Series points races at Chicagoland Speedway (July 5), which last hosted racing events in 2019, and North Wilkesboro Speedway (July 19), which will have its first points-paying event since 1996 after playing host to the All-Star Race the last three years.
The North Wilkesboro shift opens the door for a new All-Star Race host, and Dover Motor Speedway will be the site of the invitational exhibition for the first time on May 17. That race will be the season finale for FOX Sports’ portion of the 2026 schedule, with five-race slates to follow from Prime Video and TNT Sports before the final 14 races of the season across USA Network and NBC.
“Obviously, a lot of collaboration, a lot of time, a lot of energy that went into it, and it’s just a good blend like we’ve had over the past few years of innovation and tradition, of being able to celebrate our history and our roots and where we come from, but then also having these bold new moves that we’re introducing to the schedule,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president and chief venue & racing innovation officer. “For events like a street race in San Diego at the Naval Base Coronado or taking the championship race back to Homestead-Miami Speedway or even a beloved track that our fans have been asking for the past several years in bringing a points race back to Chicagoland, or bringing a points race to North Wilkesboro for the first time in 30 years. So a lot of milestone moments that will be created next year, certainly a lot of anticipated moments, I think, that our fans are going to have. Certainly proud of the work that everyone’s done to help put this together.”
The newly branded NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, which will shift from the Xfinity Series name next year, released its 33-race schedule alongside a 25-race slate for the Craftsman Truck Series. Both circuits will return to Rockingham Speedway for Easter weekend April 3-4, and the Truck Series will make its first venture into street-course racing with two events — adding a St. Petersburg, Florida, date on Feb. 28 in partnership with the NTT IndyCar Series before joining the two other national tours in San Diego on June 19-21.
The new San Diego event on an active military base was announced July 23 to much fanfare, with details about the course layout, logistics and ticket sales to come. Though that 10-month runway may seem plentiful before race weekend arrives, Kennedy said the planning stages are already in full swing.
“Before you announce anything, you can only realistically get so much done, and then after you announce it, then the floodgates are really open after that,” Kennedy says. “We’ve been really focused in on finalizing the course design, building the manifest and getting ready for going on sale in the next couple of months, and then really understanding everything that’s going to happen on track and then off track throughout the event weekend. For the fans that are ready to come there, they’re going to expect a ton of on-track content, but then also some unique activations that we’ve never had at NASCAR race tracks before. …
“We have a lot of work to do. I think the good news is we already have a little bit of a playbook from Chicago over the past few years. And you know, I think it’s going to be an incredible event for that part of the season.”
This year’s Chicago playbook marks a transition from the downtown event of the last three seasons to a traditional 1.5-mile oval in Joliet, Illinois, that hosted the Cup Series from 2001-2019. The event will keep the Chicago Street Race’s Independence Day weekend dates on July 4-5, helping NASCAR maintain a foothold in the Midwest market with the potential for the metropolitan event to return to Grant Park in the future.
Chicagoland will also be included in the new-look In-Season Challenge, the bracket-style tournament that will return for Year 2 on TNT Sports. The midseason five-race stretch will begin with Sonoma on June 28, with Chicagoland, EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta and North Wilkesboro to follow before a winner is crowned in the challenge finale July 26 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
The tournament will be followed by the second of two idle weekends for the Cup Series next season, an increase from the single off-weekend this year.
“We received a lot of helpful insight from teams and drivers after we took the two weeks off a couple of years ago for the Olympic break,” Kennedy said, “and I think for us, we would like to have some consistency in where off-weeks are. So I think Easter weekend for the Cup Series, obviously we’ll have the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham that weekend, but then also having all three series off between the TNT and USA Network/NBC portion of the season was really important for us and for the industry to take a little bit of a pause before we hit the ground running again for the last four (races) of the regular season, and then to take us through the playoffs. From February to November, we have a ton of content, and I think it’s really good for the industry to just take a step back, hit the reset button and come back with a ton of energy for these final 14 races.”
Among the other noteworthy pieces of the 2026 schedule release:
With Homestead-Miami claiming Championship Weekend host duties for 2026 as part of the new rotating model for season-ending events, Phoenix Raceway will move to another prominent spot in the Cup Series Playoffs, opening the Round of 8 on Oct. 18. Talladega (Oct. 25) and Martinsville (Nov. 1) will complete that three-race span, which will determine the Championship 4 field that will battle for the Cup title in Homestead.
The addition of Homestead to the 10-race postseason slate will move New Hampshire Motor Speedway out of the playoffs. The 1.058-mile New England track will slot in on Aug. 23 as the next-to-last race of the regular season.
Kansas Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway will move to earlier spots on the playoff schedule. Kansas will be the new Round of 12 opener Sept. 27, followed by Vegas on Oct. 4. The last five weekends of the season will be tripleheaders with all three national series in action.
Dover’s move to host the 42nd NASCAR All-Star Race includes a shift to May 17, nearly two months earlier than its current summer slot on the schedule. All-Star Weekend will expand to include all three national series.
Watkins Glen International will move to the earliest spot on the NASCAR schedule in track history, with all three national circuits visiting the New York road course on May 8-10.
As previously announced, Bowman Gray Stadium will return as the site of the season-opening Clash exhibition on Feb. 1. The historic quarter-mile oval in Winston-Salem hosted its first Cup Series event of any kind since 1971 this year.
The schedule release will not have an international race next season, one year after the Cup Series made its debut in Mexico City. Kennedy acknowledged the difficulty with scheduling around the World Cup soccer tournament this summer, plus the other events that the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez hosts throughout the year, but that he was bullish on continuing the sport’s relationship with race promoter OCESA while exploring other international opportunities.
“It’s a great partnership and was an incredible feat for our industry to be able to pull that off in terms of the logistics and planning that went into it, but then also to bring so many new fans out to a race track that have never had the chance to experience our sport before and have a really good time,” Kennedy said. “The majority of fans want to see the Cup Series return there again in the future, so hopefully back in Mexico, but we’ve also had conversations north of the border as well with a handful of different potential promoters and opportunities. Obviously, nothing to report on 2026 but something that we’re considering for ’27 and beyond is more opportunities outside the United States.”
Lime Rock Park, a new venue for the Craftsman Truck Series this year, will return July 11 as one of four “stand-alone” events separate of the Cup Series schedule next season.
During the “Hauler Talk” podcast Wednesday, Kennedy also addressed the future of the All-Star Race, Southern California and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval:
“The Southern California market is paramount to us,” Kennedy said. “We would love to have a permanent presence somewhere in the Southern California region in the future. The acres that we have in Fontana and redeveloping what exists of that race track into some sort of half-mile race track is going to be one option for us. And we might consider other locations to potentially build a track as well.”
For more, listen to the Hauler Talk podcast below:
NASCAR CUP SERIES
Date
Race / Track
Broadcast partner
Sunday, Feb. 1
Cook Out Clash (Bowman Gray Stadium)
FOX Sports
Sunday, Feb. 15
Daytona 500
FOX Sports
Sunday, Feb. 22
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 1
Circuit of The Americas (Austin)
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 8
Phoenix Raceway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 15
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 22
Darlington Raceway
FOX Sports
Sunday, March 29
Martinsville Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 12
Bristol Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 19
Kansas Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, April 26
Talladega Superspeedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 3
Texas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 10
Watkins Glen International
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 17
All-Star Race (Dover Motor Speedway)
FOX Sports
Sunday, May 24
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Prime Video
Sunday, May 31
Nashville Superspeedway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 7
Michigan International Speedway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 14
Pocono Raceway
Prime Video
Sunday, June 21
San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
Prime Video
Sunday, June 28
Sonoma Raceway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 5
Chicagoland Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 12
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 19
North Wilkesboro Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, July 26
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
TNT Sports
Sunday, Aug. 9
Iowa Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Aug. 15
Richmond Raceway
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Aug. 23
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Aug. 29
Daytona International Speedway
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 6
Darlington Raceway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 13
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway* (St. Louis)
USA Network/NBC
Saturday, Sept. 19
Bristol Motor Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Sept. 27
Kansas Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 4
Las Vegas Motor Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 11
Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 18
Phoenix Raceway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Oct. 25
Talladega Superspeedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Nov. 1
Martinsville Speedway*
USA Network/NBC
Sunday, Nov. 8
NASCAR Championship* (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
USA Network/NBC
*Denotes playoff race
NASCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES
Date
Race / Track
Broadcast partner
Saturday, Feb. 14
Daytona International Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Feb. 21
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
The CW
Saturday, Feb. 28
Circuit of The Americas (Austin)
The CW
Saturday, March 7
Phoenix Raceway
The CW
Saturday, March 14
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, March 21
Darlington Raceway
The CW
Saturday, March 28
Martinsville Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 4
Rockingham Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 11
Bristol Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 18
Kansas Speedway
The CW
Saturday, April 25
Talladega Superspeedway
The CW
Saturday, May 2
Texas Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 9
Watkins Glen International
The CW
Saturday, May 16
Dover Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 23
Charlotte Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, May 30
Nashville Superspeedway
The CW
Saturday, June 13
Pocono Raceway
The CW
Saturday, June 20
San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
The CW
Saturday, June 27
Sonoma Raceway
The CW
Saturday, July 4
Chicagoland Speedway
The CW
Saturday, July 11
EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
The CW
Saturday, July 25
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Aug. 8
Iowa Speedway
The CW
Friday, Aug. 28
Daytona International Speedway
The CW
Saturday, Sept. 5
Darlington Raceway
The CW
Saturday, Sept. 12
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (St. Louis)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Four drivers will write their names in the history book as Bowman Gray Stadium Weekly Series Champions Saturday night.
The AgSouth Farm Credit 150 Championship Weekend will bring an exciting finale for The Madhouse’s 2025 racing season with a Double Points Night for all series.
The Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series drivers will compete for the prestigious AgSouth Farm Credit 150 trophy, and Brandon Ward will look to avoid trouble and wrap up his second championship in three years.
Ward did what he needed to do on Aug. 16 by scoring maximum points in the Harrison’s Twin 25s, but with double points up for grabs on Saturday, he’s not taking anything for granted.
“Oh, it’s definitely not a done deal with the championship,” Ward said. “We still have to go out and have a good run in the finale.”
Ward leads 2024 Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series champion Burt Myers by 54 points.
“Realistically, it’ll be tough to count on Brandon having a really bad night on Saturday,” Myers said. “We’re going to try and do what we’ve set out to do all year-win the pole and the race.”
Chase Robertson comes into the finale as the Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman Series with a 28-point lead over Mitch Gales. The QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Street Stock Series features a six-point difference between points leader Bryan Sykes, Jr. and veteran Brad Lewis. Brandon Brendle leads Luke Smith in the Q104.1 Stadium Stock Series by 28 points.
Gates open at 6 p.m. Saturday night, with racing action to start at 8 p.m. Fans can get tickets online right now at www.bowmangrayracing.com. Tickets are $12 for adults and $2 for kids ages 6 to 11.
With Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Bubba Pollard and Ty Majeski all entered in last week’s Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin, local Super Late Model points leader Austin Hull never imagined he would be the one to prevail.
Berlin Raceway’s final crown-jewel race of 2025 went about as perfect as possible for the Belmont, Michigan native. After carefully saving his equipment throughout the night, Hull went on the offensive during the closing stages, picking off his competition before making the winning pass on Blake Rowe with nine laps remaining.
Hull experienced plenty of emotions at Berlin that evening as he climbed out of his No. 20 Super Late Model to celebrate the most prestigious victory of his career to date. Countless hours have been expensed on building up Hull’s program into something that could hold steady with the seasoned Berlin regulars.
Now he is forever immortalized as a Battle at Berlin champion.
“This is like the culmination of everything I’ve ever worked for,” Hull said. “It’s crazy, and it’s still weird because it hasn’t completely set in. I’m so back in the normal swing of things right now, and I almost blanked out that we won. For someone like me to be able to do that, it just seems unreal.”
The journey to Hull’s Battle at Berlin triumph started in 2014 when he began competing in Berlin’s weekly Sportsman division.
Hull needed some time to acclimate himself to the Sportsman cars, but his patience and dedication eventually rewarded him with two championships. With the Sportsman class figured out, the next step for Hull was to advance to Berlin’s premier Super Late Model division starting in 2020.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ended up delaying Hull’s venture into Super Late Models until the following year. Hull admitted the 2021 season at Berlin was an arduous experience, as he regularly struggled to maintain a competitive pace with the older chassis he and his father David had purchased.
Undeterred despite the poor results, Hull remained committed to finding success in a Super Late Model just like he did with the Sportsman cars. He attached front and rear clips manufactured by short track veteran Johnny VanDoorn for the 2022 season before replacing the old car with a brand new chassis.
Patience and adversity rewarded Austin Hull with a championship-caliber season at Berlin Raceway. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
Consistent results eventually started to manifest for Hull. He obtained his first Super Late Model checkered at Berlin last season before embarking on a stellar 2025 that has now seen him visit Victory Lane four times.
Hull said it has been difficult to flourish at Berlin due to the competitive depth of the Super Late Model class along with different tire combinations that have been utilized in recent years. Yet the unpredictability of Berlin’s weekly program has made Hull a more vigilant competitor, particularly when it comes to understand the limits of his car.
“When we raced Sportsman, those cars didn’t have a lot of tire or downforce and were really heavy,” Hull said. “You had to really muscle those things around the track. With the late models, you really have to rely on the car doing half of the work. Basically, you have to try and not make any bad symptom you have worse by making it do something that it’s not wanting to do.
“I don’t think we’ve mastered the car yet, and I feel like there’s a lot of speed left on the table.”
Hull entered the Battle at Berlin expecting to continue his ongoing learning curve with the Late Model despite his status as the points leader. In three previous Battle at Berlin appearances, Hull’s best finish was a ninth-place run he obtained during his first attempt in 2022.
With the Battle at Berlin being a points race, Hull knew one mistake could unravel the momentum he had curated throughout the year. The plan was to ride around during the first 150 laps and keep the car in one piece so he could salvage a solid points night at the very least.
Instead, Hull led a solid portion of the race, oscillating between the front and middle of the pack while being conservative with the tires. As the laps clicked off, Hull gradually cycled back to the front of the field, with a fellow Berlin competitor in Rowe being the only obstacle standing in the way of a crown-jewel victory.
After a spirited battle, Hull emerged victorious not only in front of the Berlin regulars, but also ahead of drivers who possessed NASCAR, Snowball Derby and All American 400 wins on their resumes.
“Honestly, I’m super proud of my team and being able to progress like we have” Hull said. “It still is kind of one of those feelings where it doesn’t feel real. You never put yourself in that position where [you have] these guys who are super competitive wherever they go [and I feel like] I can beat them.
“It doesn’t make sense for someone like me to be able to do that, but the progress we’ve had this year has been phenomenal.”
Among the drivers Austin Hull (20) defeated for the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin victory was Ty Majesty (91), the reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and two-time Snowball Derby winner. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
Hull’s Battle at Berlin triumph also bolstered his advantage in the Berlin Super Late Model standings to 133 points over Brian Campbell, who finished 29th that evening due to a mechanical issue. A championship in Berlin’s premier division is all but assured for Hull with two more clean points races to close out 2025.
Even though Hull now faces minimal resistance for the Super Late Model track championship, he does not plan on being complacent in the final weeks. Each race is an opportunity for Hull to build on what he has learned throughout the year, all of which can be applied to a potential title defense in 2026.
“We’re going to do just like we do every week, which is to go in and make sure we execute,” Hull said. “With Berlin as finicky as it is, a quarter inch of stagger can win or lose you the race by four spots. It’s very critical that we need to be very disciplined, keep our heads down and stay humble.”
Hull knows the feeling of celebrating a Berlin track title, but doing so in a Super Late Model would carry plenty of euphoria and catharsis.
It was only a few years ago that Hull was struggling simply to hold his own in Berlin’s top short track division. He is now at the top of the pedestal at Berlin with a Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin victory to his name and a Super Late Model title within his grasp.
Reaching this point in his career required tremendous sacrifice on Hull’s behalf. He credited David, VanDoorn and every other member of his support system for providing him the confidence and motivation necessary to become a driver capable of besting many of the top names in both NASCAR and short-track competition.
“When my dad and I first started out, [my goal] was to race late models and be good in those,” Hull said. “I had never raced anything up until [Sportsman], and I’m not going to lie, I was terrible my first year. I would have never thought we’d be here. Just to be able to be where we’re at is a testament to the people around me.
Austin Dillon muscled up and proved his 2024 victory at Richmond Raceway was no fluke.
The driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet now has plenty of momentum at hand as the season’s 14th different winner and returning to another track where he’s enjoyed a crisp Coca-Cola in Victory Lane.
NASCAR.com’s Zach Sturniolo ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after the Cook Out 400 at Richmond and before Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock).
Analysis: William Byron is officially the 2025 Regular Season Champion, no small feat and one that instantly adds 15 playoff points to his postseason push. A 12th-place showing at Richmond may not have been the most dazzling way to clinch it, but he could very realistically end the regular season on an even higher note by winning this weekend at Daytona, where he’s won each of the last two Daytona 500s and the summer race in 2020.
Analysis: Blaney appears to be revving back up to championship form. The No. 12 Ford driver headed an impressive night for Team Penske at Richmond with a third-place finish while his teammates rounded out the top five. More notably, Blaney carries five consecutive top 10s with him into Daytona, where he won the regular-season finale back in 2021 — another trip to Victory Lane may be in his near future.
Analysis: After 23 straight top-20 finishes to open the season, the last two weeks have really stung for the 2020 Cup champion. Elliott was dealt a last-place finish at Richmond after first avoiding the ‘Big One’ in Turn 3, then getting collected by Kyle Busch, resulting in Elliott’s first DNF of the season and eliminating him from reaching Byron to contend for the Regular Season Championship. The sport’s most popular driver is still seeking his first Daytona win but has two runner-up results (August 2020, February 2021) and a fourth-place finish in the 2023 regular-season finale.
Analysis: The good news for Hamlin is that he has three Daytona wins. The better news for him is that they’re all Daytona 500 victories. The bad news is he’s never won at Daytona in the summer. The worse news is he hasn’t finished better than 17th at Daytona since the Next Gen car was introduced to start the 2022 season. In seven starts since, Hamlin has just two top-20 finishes at the “World Center of Racing.” But he’s only five points behind Elliott for second in the regular-season standings, which could result in an additional two playoff points for Hamlin if he can overtake the No. 9.
Analysis: A quiet sixth-place effort at Richmond is exactly what the No. 5 team needed. That puts an end to a brief but rough two-race skid that left Larson 28th at Iowa and 39th at Watkins Glen. He’s still looking for his first top-five finish at Daytona after 22 starts, which seems astounding, but crew chief Cliff Daniels and his driver have proven they should never truly be written off.
Analysis: Bell’s up-and-down summer continued with another middling evening at Richmond with a 21st-place finish. The No. 20 Toyota was running toward the front of the field early but couldn’t maintain its track position, resulting in Bell’s seventh finish of 16th or worse in past 11 races. Hope could be high in their camp this weekend, though. Bell hasn’t won at Daytona yet, but he does have three third-place finishes in the past five races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
Analysis: Briscoe had a fairly standard 13th-place run at Richmond for just his second finish outside the top five in the past six races. Now he pivots to Daytona, where he began his stint in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this year with a Daytona 500 pole and fourth-place finish in the “Great American Race.”
Analysis: A Richmond runner-up may have bolstered Bowman’s shot at making the postseason this year. He heads to Daytona 60 points above the provisional elimination line — but with 14 winners this season, Bowman is in danger of being ousted if another new winner emerges on Saturday night. Bowman is still looking for his first Daytona win, but the three-time Daytona 500 polesitter does have four finishes of sixth or better in his last five Daytona starts, including a runner-up finish in the 2024 Daytona 500.
Analysis: Reddick entered Richmond in great shape to make the playoffs and set sail early to lead 41 laps — but he left just 89 points above the elimination line. While 89 points is a great cushion, Bowman is just 29 markers behind, meaning the contact that sent Reddick spinning from the lead in Stage 2 at Richmond (and ultimately saddled him with a 34th-place finish) puts Reddick’s postseason status in jeopardy if he is collected in another crash Saturday at Daytona. On the bright side, Reddick did finish second in this year’s Daytona 500 in addition to a runner-up performance in the 2022 summer race.
Analysis: Like his teammate Reddick, Wallace was having a stellar run under the lights as the 23XI Racing duo ran 1-2. But a detached left-front wheel derailed the No. 23 team’s day, instead falling to a 28th-place finish and snapping a four-race streak of top 10s. Wallace has generally been good at Daytona, where he has three second-place finishes overall and two top 10s in his last three Daytona starts.
Analysis: The summer has been a bit of a roller coaster for the defending Cup Series champion, with three top 10s in the past seven races and those other four results reading 11th (Chicago Street Course), 14th (Dover), 32nd (Indianapolis) and 14th (Watkins Glen). Richmond was a peak, though, with a fourth-place finish that tied his best result (Nashville) since winning im May at Texas. With just one regular-season race remaining, this is about the time when Logano — and the whole of Team Penske — ignites for a possible championship run. Is another in store?
Analysis: Chastain had an OK-but-not-great day at Richmond, where he finished 19th, backed by a 20.78 average running position at the 0.75-mile track. There won’t be much pressure on Chastain at Daytona as he’s already locked into the playoffs (and is notably good at its opening track, Darlington Raceway), but he will certainly be searching for some success on the Floridian high banks after finishing 40th in this year’s season opener and owning just three top 10s in 14 Daytona starts.
Analysis: After a third-place finish at Watkins Glen, Buescher appeared to have some momentum heading back to another track where he won in Richmond Raceway. Unfortunately, that was far from the case last week after a 30th-place finish and a new winner shoved the No. 17 RFK Racing driver 60 points outside the playoff picture. But Buescher has won at Daytona with his back against the wall before. He will likely need to do that again on Saturday night.
Analysis: Sure, a 14th-place finish doesn’t really jump off the page to anyone. But for van Gisbergen to match his best result on an oval — tying his mark set in the Coca-Cola 600 in May at Charlotte — is significant with the four-time race winner gearing up for his inaugural Cup Series Playoffs appearance. Richmond shares some similarities with the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and the 1-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway, both of which appear in the first two rounds of the postseason. If SVG can muster top 15s at ovals moving forward, he has a legitimate shot to make a surprise run deep into the playoffs.
Analysis: What could have been almost feels like what should have been. Preece launched himself to the pole position at Richmond, but the No. 60 team appeared unable to keep pace as the majority of the field went a different direction on tire strategy. Preece didn’t pit through Stage 1 and fell to the back of the top 15 before his brakes gave way and plummeted to a 35th-place finish, four laps down. Now he heads back to Daytona, where he went for a tumble in Turn 3 in February, but does have two top 10s in 11 starts.
Analysis: Cindric turned in a great performance Saturday at Richmond that deserves proper credit. The No. 2 Ford ranked fourth in average position at 7.86 before taking the checkered flag fifth, his first top-10 finish since Pocono in June and first top five since winning in April at Talladega. Evidenced by that victory, Cindric has long performed well on superspeedways, earning his first career win in the 2022 Daytona 500. He also finished eighth in this year’s edition of the “Great American Race,” so maybe some momentum is brewing for this Team Penske driver, too.
Analysis: No controversy. No doubt. Just a show-them-you-can-do-it-again performance from Dillon that may have been the best of his Cup Series career. He led a career-high 107 laps at Richmond to earn his sixth career win and now heads back to another track he knows well in Daytona, earning the 2022 summer victory driving that famed No. 3 Chevrolet in addition to the 2018 Daytona 500.
Analysis: Berry collected a much-needed top-10 finish at Richmond by placing eighth — his first top 10 since finishing sixth at Kansas way back in May. Berry was a real threat to win last year’s Daytona summer race before late contact sent him upside down on the backstretch while racing for the lead. The winner of that race, though, was Harrison Burton, who just so happened to be driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford that Berry will be in on Saturday night.
Analysis: After missing the playoffs in 2024, Busch appears on the brink of doing so all over again in 2025. The No. 8 Chevrolet has been close a few times this season, but the two-time Cup Series champion remains mired in the longest winless streak of his career at 82 races. Busch was a runner-up in this race one season ago. A victory on Saturday at Daytona would be monumental for the 40-year-old “Rowdy,” who would leap back into the title hunt in an instant.
Analysis: Allmendinger showed speed early at Richmond but faded in the end to a 22nd-place finish. Allmendinger has made just four Cup starts at Daytona since the Next Gen was introduced and has had mixed results, finishing sixth twice and 29th and 41st the other two times.
Free, 24/7 NASCAR destination expands availability with new platform.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 19, 2025) — NASCAR today announced that the NASCAR Channel, its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) network, will be available to millions more fans when it launches on The Roku Channel on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
The NASCAR Channel offers 24/7 programming with no subscription or registration required. Viewers can enjoy a mix of classic NASCAR races, delayed broadcasts of current season events, select live coverage, documentaries, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive, NASCAR Studios original series and video podcasts.
With the addition of The Roku Channel, fans can now watch the NASCAR Channel across an even wider range of platforms, including Xumo Play, Tubi, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video and more.
“This expansion to The Roku Channel puts the NASCAR Channel in front of one of the largest streaming audiences in the world,” said Dan Barker, NASCAR managing director of media strategy. “Our goal has always been to make NASCAR’s rich history, original content and live racing more accessible to fans everywhere, and Roku helps us deliver on that promise.”
The NASCAR Channel also features simulcasts of select grassroots racing events in partnership with FloSports. Upcoming programming highlights include:
Aug. 23 — AgSouth Farm Credit 150 at Bowman Gray Stadium (Modifieds)
Sept. 27 — ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway (NASCAR Late Models)
Oct. 12 — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Dec. 5 — Snowball Derby Qualifying Day
The Roku Channel is available to stream for free on Roku devices or TVs and can be easily accessed online at TheRokuChannel.com and on iOS and Android devices, Amazon Fire TVs, Samsung TVs, Google TVs and other Android TV OS devices.
After one week off, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action and heads back to Daytona International Speedway for a Friday night bout (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A JR Motorsports representative confirmed to NASCAR.com that six-time winner and current points leader Connor Zilisch is currently slated to drive the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet following his collarbone injury at Watkins Glen International. Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Monday evening and discussed the status of Zilisch, who is a Trackhouse Racing prospect and whose progress the team is continuing to monitor. Marks noted the decision to get Zilisch back behind the wheel will be a “group decision.”
“It’s a balance,” Marks told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It’s a balance between a 19-year-old kid who just wants to be in the race car and can’t stand not being in the race car and is capable of driving the race car right now. And the other side of that is we need to make a smart decision. What we can’t do is rush him back into the car, especially a place like Daytona, get in a wreck and then be worse off than we were before.
“So it’s kind of a day-by-day deal right now. This will be a big week to see how his rehab goes and his comfort level and all that stuff. And it could end up being a game-time decision. I know that we all want him back in the race car. He wants to be back in the race car. JRM wants him to be back in the race car. But we’ve got to make smart decisions, so I would just say, stay tuned on that one.”
Cup Series regular and Spire Motorsports driver Justin Haley will rejoin the Kaulig Racing fold in the No. 11 Chevrolet. Rajah Caruth will also make his second Xfinity Series start this season with Jordan Anderson Racing, driving the No. 32 Chevrolet.
With the addition of The Roku Channel, fans can now watch 