The 2025 NASCAR slate landed like a jolt, with equal parts tradition and audacity. For the first time since 1958, the Cup Series staged a points race outside the U.S., lighting up Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and inaugurating a new era of global reach. Stateside, NASCAR layered in its first in-season tournament for the Cup Series and refreshed how fans watch with Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports stepping into the mid-season broadcast window. Even the preseason felt different: after three years in Los Angeles, the Clash returned to its rowdy short-track roots at Bowman Gray Stadium, and promptly sold out. All of it made 2025 feel less like a schedule and more like a statement of intent. With the chessboard reset, drivers didn’t just notice the changes; they gained insights into how this new puzzle played out in real life.

Inside the garage, opinions came fast and detailed. Noah Gragson shared his perspective on NASCAR’s increasingly varied calendar, saying, “I think it’s a pretty diverse schedule… For the most part, I think NASCAR has done a great job with the schedule over the last handful of years, and we’ll see once I look into it more.” On the other hand, Todd Gilliland echoed the appreciation for diversity and variety, “It’s a cool mixture. It’s a lot of fun and to me, the coolest thing about NASCAR in general is that we do something different every week. We’re not just road courses, we’re not just ovals.” All in all, the 2025 calendar asked teams to be nimble, and many enjoyed the mental gymnastics. All of this ties up the real intrigue: where NASCAR takes this momentum next and how the final pieces click into place for 2026.

Inside the moving puzzle pieces of NASCAR’s 2026 season

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series calendar is in its final stages of preparation, and while the broad outline is becoming clearer, the finer details are still shifting. NASCAR aims to release the complete schedule next week, but as always, moving races around is complex with multiple pieces that have to fit both competitively and logistically. What is certain is the season’s launch: Bowman Gray Stadium will once again set the tone with the Clash on February 1, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 16. Other key milestones have already been announced, such as San Diego joining the schedule during Father’s Day weekend from June 19-21, and Homestead-Miami Speedway once again serving as the championship venue from November 6-8.

From there, the opening stretch will feel comfortably familiar to fans. Industry sources indicate that the first five races of 2026 will mirror those from the 2025 season: Daytona, Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. Two notable shifts, however, appear to be on the horizon, with Darlington Raceway potentially moving up to March, and Richmond Raceway shifting to May. A notable stretch of back-to-back road course racing could also be in the works, with Sonoma Raceway expected to follow San Diego on June 26-28. This sequence, pairing West Coast road courses in consecutive weeks, would be a logistical advantage for teams traveling across the country during the summer portion of the season.

One of the biggest question marks centers on the sport’s presence in Mexico City. NASCAR returned there in 2025 with the Cup Series’ inaugural visit, and the Xfinity Series made its first trip since 2008. Yet, the timing could be problematic for 2026, as Mexico will be co-hosting the FIFA World Cup during June and July. If NASCAR does return, the event would need to be slotted into a different part of the calendar. After the debut race, Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and chief venue and racing innovation officer, remained cautious about confirming the future, stating, “We’re very hopeful to be back here in the future.”

Meanwhile, the Midwest could see both familiar and potentially surprising changes. Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, appears poised for a return around the Fourth of July weekend, likely following the San Diego and Sonoma stretch. Once a regular on the Cup Series calendar, the 1.5-mile oval has been absent in recent years but has been gaining momentum as a candidate for a summer date. Conversely, Iowa Speedway, despite selling out both of its Cup weekends since joining the schedule in 2024, finds itself in a cloud of uncertainty. Industry chatter suggests its place in the 2026 schedule is not a lock.

Finally, several venues could undergo notable role changes. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, currently a playoff stop, is expected to shift back out of the postseason in 2026. Dover Motor Speedway is reportedly being considered to host the 2026 All-Star Race, which in turn could free up North Wilkesboro Speedway for its first points-paying race since 1996. Having been the All-Star venue for the last three years, North Wilkesboro’s re-emergence on the schedule in 2023 has reignited fan hopes of restoring its historic place in the competitive season. But while the schedule debate has sparked plenty of heated takes, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s balanced perspective brings the conversation into sharper focus.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledges fans’ growing appetite for variety

Dale Jr., one of NASCAR’s most respected voices, is no stranger to the shifting tides of the sport’s schedule. Known for his success on iconic ovals like Daytona and Talladega, Junior had long favored tradition, but he admits his view on limiting road courses puts him in a small minority among fans. As he put it on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, “My opinion on how many road courses we should have is going to be in the minority… I like two road courses. I like Sonoma. I like Watkins Glen.”

NASCAR’s recent embrace of diverse tracks like COTA is no accident; a younger, data-driven fan base that prefers variety fueled it. Dale Jr. recognizes this shift, even if it conflicts with his own nostalgia for the sport’s oval-dominated identity. “There’s a ton; there’s a whole generation or two of race fans below that have come into the sport… that may want something different,” he said, acknowledging the 20-40 age group driving these changes.

The willingness to bend to fan demand reflects a larger evolution in NASCAR’s strategy since the playoff expansion to include road courses in 2018. While Jr. remains deeply tied to NASCAR’s oval heritage, he accepts that newer audiences see the sport differently. As he summed it up: “Our identity was ovals… But they don’t look at NASCAR the way I look at it. They look at it, and they see a different identity.”