The NASCAR Cup Series stop in New Hampshire will move to August in 2026.
The Cup Series race, held annually at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23 next year, it was announced on Wednesday. The Granite State stop will be the next-to-last regular-season race of the series.
The race is normally held in the summer, but this year’s event will be held in September (Sept. 21) as part of the Cup Series playoffs.
Race weekend next season, as is the case this year, will include a Craftsman Truck Series race on the day before the Cup Series race, which for 2026 is Saturday, Aug. 22. The trucks race will be the regular-season finale for the series.
“Next year’s NASCAR weekend will literally be a pressure cooker for those drivers,” said New Hampshire Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager David McGrath. “The drivers will undoubtedly be putting it all on the line, and the Truck drivers specifically will be fighting for their final chance to make it to the NASCAR Playoffs.
“New England race fans are in for a wild weekend of racing at ‘The Magic Mile’ next August. What a perfect way to close out a summer of fun with family and friends.”
Cup Series 2026 schedule
A return to the Chicagoland Speedway, a street race in San Diego and a change to championship weekend highlight the 2026 NASCAR schedule, released Wednesday.
The NASCAR Cup Series begins its 38-event calendar with the Clash, an exhibition at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina., on Feb. 1. The traditional season opener, the Daytona 500, will be run Feb. 15.
The season will conclude Nov. 8 in Florida at Homestead-Miami, with the finale that will decide the 2026 championship. That race has been held the past five years at the Phoenix Raceway.
Racing returns to Chicagoland after six years away. The street race in downtown Chicago, held the past three seasons, is being replaced by the Chicagoland event in suburban Joliet, Illinois.
The street race, instead, moves to a military base in Coronado, California, a San Diego suburb.
2026 Cup Series schedule
Feb. 1: Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
Feb. 15: Daytona 500
Feb. 22: Atlanta
March 1: Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas
March 8: Phoenix
March 15: Las Vegas
March 22: Darlington, S.C.
March 29: Martinsville, Va.
April 5: off
April 12: Bristol, Tenn.
April 19: Kansas
April 26: Talladega, Ala.
May 3: Texas
May 10: Watkins Glen, N.Y.
May 17: All-Star Race (Dover, Del.)
May 24: Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
May 31: Nashville
June 7: Michigan
June 14: Pocono (Long Pond, Pa.)
June 21: San Diego
June 28: Sonoma, Calif.
July 5: Chicagoland
July 12: Atlanta
July 19: North Wilkesboro
July 26: Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)
Aug. 2: off
Aug. 9: Iowa
Aug. 15: Richmond, Va.
Aug. 23: New Hampshire
Aug. 29: Daytona, Fla.
Sept. 6: Darlington
Sept. 13: Gateway (Madison, Ill.)
Sept. 19: Bristol
Sept. 27: Kansas
Oct. 4: Las Vegas
Oct. 11: Charlotte Roval
Oct. 18: Phoenix
Oct. 25: Talladega
Nov. 1: Martinsville
Nov. 8: Homestead, Fla.
