TC Daily Pit Stop: 2026 NASCAR National Series Schedules Revealed; Ben Kennedy Says NASCAR Has Not Finalized Playoff Format
TC Daily Pit Stop: Thursday, August 21st, 2025
NASCAR Officially Reveals 2026 National Series (Cup, O’Reilly, Craftsman Truck) Schedules
On Wednesday, NASCAR officially revealed the 2026 schedules for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Among the largest changes to the NASCAR Cup schedule next season are the return of Chicagoland Speedway to the schedule, Dover Motor Speedway as the venue for the All-Star Race, North Wilkesboro Speedway hosting its first points-paying Cup race since 1996, and Homestead-Miami Speedway returning as the season finale.
In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the main changes are the San Diego Street Race at Naval Base Coronado (triple header weekend with Cup, O’Reilly, and Trucks), and Darlington Raceway will expand from one race to two.
The biggest addition to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the Grand Prix on the streets of St. Pete, which will serve as a double-header race weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series.
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Ben Kennedy: 2026 NASCAR Playoff Format Not Set In Stone Just Yet
While the NASCAR National Series schedules for 2026 have been revealed, Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief racing innovation officer, explained that the sanctioning body continues to evaluate what format will decide the champions in the NASCAR National Series next season.
“I know the playoff committee has had a number of meetings over the past several months on different formats that we could look at, and they’ve run a handful of simulations on just various formats, collected some fan feedback,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy continued, “I know there [were] conversations as early as a couple of days ago on what the future of the playoff format looks like. Nothing to announce today. What I would say, though, is we want to make sure that we take the time to do it right, that we collect as much information as we can, and hopefully, whatever this new format is, if there is a new format, it’s something that will last a long time.”
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Other NASCAR Headlines:
NASCAR Considering Reversing Course on Cup Driver Limits in Lower Series
TRUCKS: Corey Heim Hunting Truck Title in Record-Breaking Season
How to Watch the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
Ty Majeski to Take Over No. 88 ThorSport Entry From Matt Crafton in 2026
Casey Mears to Return For NASCAR Cup Race at Daytona With Garage 66
Christie: Austin Dillon Proved Skeptics Wrong with Career-Defining Win at Richmond
Daytona Weekend Resources:
Cup Results: Qualifying | Race
Xfinity Results: Qualifying | Race
Entry Lists: Cup | Xfinity
2025 NASCAR Season Resources:
Schedules: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Driver Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Owner Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Rookie Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Manufacturer Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2025 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2026 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks