The second annual NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge is set to get underway this weekend at Sonoma Raceway with the Toyota Save Mart 350, which is the fourth and final non-oval race on the 2026 schedule.
Sonoma was one of the five tracks on the 32-driver tournament schedule a year ago, but from top to bottom, the five-race In-Season Challenge looks a lot different than it did in its inaugural season.
In fact, the only thing that is the same, from both a venue and a schedule perspective, is the fact that the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is set to host the championship round in week five of the tournament.
4 NASCAR tournament schedule changes for 2026
The 2025 tournament opened up with a race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway). Atlanta is one of the three tracks that has returned to the In-Season Challenge schedule for 2026, but it has been bumped back by two weeks. It is set to host the quarterfinal round this year.
Atlanta swapped spots with Sonoma, which hosted the third round in 2025.
The other two changes are full venue changes. The Chicago Street Course, which was added to the schedule in 2023 and hosted the second round of the tournament in 2025, is no longer on the schedule. Instead, the Cup Series is set for its long-awaited return to Chicagoland Speedway, which hasn't hosted a race since 2019.
Chicagoland, which is set to take the street circuit's place in round two, was originally on the 2020 schedule, but it was removed due to COVID-19-related restrictions and hasn't been back until now.
Then there is North Wilkesboro Speedway, which returned to the schedule for the first time since 1996 in 2023. However, from 2023 to 2025, it hosted the exhibition All-Star Race. This year's race at the track is set to be its first points race in three decades, and it's set to take place in round four of the tournament.
The host of the 2025 semifinal round was Dover Motor Speedway. For the first time since the track opened in 1969, the "Monster Mile" will not host a points race this year, as Dover, which used to host two points races each year, hosted the All-Star Race back in mid-May as North Wilkesboro's replacement.
In short, the 2025 tournament featured, in order, races at Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Dover, and Indy. This year's tournament is set to feature, in order, races at Sonoma, Chicagoland, Atlanta, North Wilkesboro, and Indy.
As they were a year ago, all five tournament rounds are set to be broadcast live on TNT.
Race number one of this year's NASCAR In-Season Challenge is the Toyota Save Mart 350, which is set to be shown live on TNT from Sonoma Raceway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 28. Don't miss the 2026 season's final road course race!
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