TNT's five-race portion of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series broadcast schedule got underway this past Sunday afternoon with the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, which was the final road course on this year's calendar and marked the season's halfway point.
TNT returned to the Cup Series as a broadcast partner in 2025 as a part of the new seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal, after only Fox and NBC were a part of the previous agreement. TNT had not been a NASCAR broadcast partner since 2014, and it returned a year ago alongside total newcomer Amazon Prime Video.
Just as it did a year ago, TNT's broadcast schedule this season encompasses the sport's five-race In-Season Challenge tournament, a 32-driver bracket featuring head-to-head matchups for five consecutive race weekends.
One year ago, the tournament got underway with the late June race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), while Sonoma hosted the third round. This year, those two tracks swapped spots, with Atlanta set to host the third round next weekend.
But aside from a simple date swap, there were two other major changes made to TNT's broadcast schedule for this year, both involving new venues. The first of those changes involves this weekend's race.
2 tracks removed from TNT's NASCAR Cup schedule
This coming Sunday night's eero 400 is set to be the first Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway since 2019. That race had traditionally been a part of NBC's portion of the broadcast schedule; it was the first NBC race in both 2018 and 2019, after having been in the playoffs on NBC for several years before that.
Chicagoland was originally on the 2020 schedule, but COVID-19-related restrictions resulted in it being replaced, and it did not return in 2021.
On Independence Day weekend in 2023, NASCAR returned to Chicago with the sport's first-ever street race at the Chicago Street Course. This race was one of NBC's biggest draws, but the race was shifted to TNT in 2025 as a result of the new media rights agreement.
Now the Chicago street race is no more, with the long-awaited return to the 1.5-mile Chicagoland set to take its place.
The other change involving TNT's schedule also involved a date swap, but not just a date swap within this five-week period.
Dover Motor Speedway hosted the fourth round of the tournament in 2025, but this year, the "Monster Mile" hosted the All-Star Race in mid-May. The 2026 season is the first in Dover's existence not to feature a points-paying race at the track.
North Wilkesboro Speedway, which had hosted the All-Star Race each year since 2023, after having not hosted any Cup Series races since 1996, was given Dover's summer tournament date and is set to host the fourth round in just over two weeks. That race is set to be its first points race in three decades.
Beyond that, the tournament's championship round is once again set to be contested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July. That part of TNT's schedule is the only thing that has actually remained totally consistent from 2025.
Live coverage of the eero 400 from Chicagoland Speedway is set to be provided by TNT beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, July 5. Don't miss any of the action from the track's first NASCAR Cup Series race since 2019!
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