For the first time since 2013, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule is set to consist of only a single 10-race postseason, rather than the four-round "win and in" knockout setup that was used each year from 2014 to 2025.
Track-wise (not date-wise), two changes were made to the 2026 schedule from 2025. New Hampshire Motor Speedway was moved into the regular season, with Homestead-Miami Speedway placed back in the postseason as the host of the championship race for the first time since 2019.
Additionally, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval race was shifted back to the Charlotte oval for the first time since 2017.
But even with four races to go until the start of this year's playoffs, there have already been even more changes announced for next year's postseason schedule.
After two tracks were effectively removed from this year's playoff schedule, three more set to be out in 2027, which is also set to utilize only a single 10-race "Chase" playoff round to crown the champion.
3 tracks removed from 2027 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule
Simply because of the fact that Labor Day Weekend is set to fall on race weekend number 26 of the season, rather than 27, in 2027, Darlington Raceway's Southern 500 is set to serve as the regular season finale, rather than the playoff opener, just like it did in 2024. That race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 5, 2027.
This change ultimately came down to fact that the Super Bowl and Daytona 500 would have conflicted, had NASCAR stuck to its traditional Presidents' Day Weekend date for the "Great American Race". As a result, the season is set to get underway one week later than usual, because that was never, ever a battle that NASCAR was going to win.
Richmond Raceway, which hasn't hosted a playoff race since 2021, back in the days when it still hosted two races per year, is scheduled to lead off the postseason on Saturday, September 11.
New Hampshire, after just one year of being back in the regular season following its first playoff race since 2017 in 2025, is set to host the second playoff race on Sunday, September 26, with World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway set to move back to the regular season after back-to-back years of hosting a playoff race.
Bristol Motor Speedway is the other track set to lose its playoff date, with Watkins Glen International having confirmed back in May that its return to the regular season would be short-lived. Watkins Glen most recently hosted a playoff race in 2024, while Bristol has been on the playoff schedule since 2020.
Bristol is still scheduled to host two races, one in April and the traditional night race in August toward the end of the regular season, while Watkins Glen is set to host the lone road course race in the postseason on Sunday, September 19.
Thanks to the Charlotte move, the 2026 playoff schedule features no road course races, which hasn't been true since 2017, but the Watkins Glen move means that the lack of a postseason road course event will be short-lived.
The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are scheduled to get underway on Sunday, September 11 from Richmond Raceway with a race which will presumably be shown live on USA Network. This year's Cook Out Southern 500 is set to kick off the playoffs on Sunday, September 6, with live coverage from Darlington Raceway set to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET on USA.
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