The 2026 NASCAR season is year number two of the sport's seven-year, $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Fox, Amazon Prime Video, TNT Sports, and NBC. Prime Video and TNT became part of the rotation as a part of this new deal a year ago.
Fox is still responsible for opening up the season, and NBC is still responsible for ending it, with Prime and TNT each responsible for five races in between.
Fox's portion of the broadcast schedule dropped from 18 races (16 points races) to 14 (12) a year ago, and it is set to remain there in 2026. Likewise, NBC's is set to remain at 14 races after dropping from 20 as a part of the new deal.
NASCAR returns to Fox, first time since May
This Wednesday's Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is the first of two non-points races during Fox's portion of the schedule. The other one, the All-Star Race, wrapped up Fox's coverage in 2025 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in mid-May.
So for the first time in over eight months, lead announcer Mike Joy and analysts Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick are set to be in the booth on Wednesday.
Joy has been calling races for Fox since 2001, while Bowyer and Harvick each joined the booth the year after they retired from full-time Cup Series competition. The 2026 season is set to be Bowyer's sixth and Harvick's third with Fox.
Wednesday's 200-lap race around the four-turn, 0.25-mile (0.402-kilometer) Winston-Salem, North Carolina oval and the preceding 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier are both set to be shown live on Fox, despite the fact that they were postponed from Sunday (and then Monday) due to snow.
During Fox's portion of the schedule, there are just six races set for Fox, including this one, and eight set for Fox Sports 1.
The first three points races of the season, beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway two weekends from now, are set to be shown live on Fox as well. Fox's season is once again set to wrap up with the All-Star Race in mid-May, but this year's race is scheduled to take place at Dover Motor Speedway, not North Wilkesboro.
Tune in to Fox at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 4 for the live broadcast of the Cook Out Clash from Bowman Gray Stadium. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!