The 2026 NASCAR season kicks off this weekend in Daytona, and it’s already being billed as the year everything changes. A new 10-race Chase format, the Championship 4 returning to Homestead-Miami, and a 750-horsepower boost for short tracks and road courses have fans buzzing. Add in a brand-new venue on this year’s schedule, and it’s clear the France family isn’t afraid to shake the foundation. But the biggest twist? The momentum isn’t stopping in 2026. Early rumblings suggest two completely new tracks could be coming for the 2027 season. Now, this sets up an even bigger overhaul just one year away! Here are the details.

NASCAR quietly scouts new homes for its 2027 schedule

NASCAR’s ongoing transformation isn’t stopping with the 2026 overhaul. The real bombshells are lining up for 2027. According to NASCAR Holdings Executive Vice President Ben Kennedy, the sanctioning body is actively exploring “a couple of potential new venues” for the 2027 schedule and beyond. And these aren’t small additions. One of them is expected to host the season finale, marking yet another dramatic shift in NASCAR’s modern era.

Demand is high. Kennedy confirmed that multiple cities and municipalities have already expressed interest in landing NASCAR’s championship weekend. This is a clear sign of the sport’s growing market value and cultural pull. This comes as NASCAR also plans a major, previously unreported renovation of Talladega Superspeedway, one of its most iconic and fan-favorite tracks.

At the same time, the sanctioning body is preparing for its first-ever race on a U.S. military base later this year at Naval Base Coronado as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration. Behind the scenes, NASCAR has undergone a major internal restructuring of its venue and event divisions.

The goal? Year-round track usage, better fan experiences, and continued schedule experimentation. Julie Giese (who successfully oversaw the Chicago Street Race launch) now not only manages the Chicago region but also leads all scheduling initiatives for the sport. She is already deep into shaping the 2027 calendar, including discussions around the future of both the Clash and the Championship Race’s location and rotation.

Kennedy also revealed that teams are collaborating with NASCAR to create enhanced hospitality offerings aimed at VIPs, sponsors, and high-value partners. With new venues, revamped facilities, and an aggressive scheduling vision, NASCAR appears poised to make the 2027 NASCAR schedule every bit as disruptive and exciting as the year before.

A new era of collaboration signals NASCAR’s future vision

Behind NASCAR’s renewed push for schedule innovation lies something equally important: a fundamental shift in how the sport communicates internally. Ben Kennedy revealed that recent company-wide town halls allowed employees to directly question leadership, followed by one-on-one meetings that opened the door for fresh ideas from all corners of the industry. Many of those ideas, Kennedy noted, centered on mutually beneficial business opportunities, the kind that strengthen not just NASCAR, but teams, tracks, and partners alike.

Improving the fan experience remains the core mission. Kennedy emphasized efforts ranging from expanded esports initiatives to potential international ventures and improved team hospitality, all aimed at attracting more people to racetracks and increasing weekly TV engagement. These aren’t surface-level tweaks; they reflect a broader strategy to modernize and globalize NASCAR’s reach.

“[The ultimate goal] is to improve the fan experience and bring out people to our events and tune into TV every week,” Kennedy said. “So, that could be through initiatives like esports [and] international. Team hospitality is another example we’ve prioritized.”

RFK Racing President Chip Bowers echoed the sense of optimism emerging inside the industry. According to him, the first team-owner meeting of 2026 felt refreshingly different. It was marked by transparency, problem-solving, and an energy that suggested the sport had finally moved past its most turbulent negotiations.

“There was a lot of discussion, collaboration, questions being asked, and transparency in terms of the answers being given,” Bowers said, highlighting a room filled with genuine buy-in from both NASCAR executives and team owners. For him, the tone signaled “a new day”, where everyone appears aligned not just for the 2026 season, but for the long-term future of the sport.

If NASCAR’s goal is to build momentum toward its 2027 shake-up, this newfound cooperation may be just as important as any new track on the schedule.