NBC's portion of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series broadcast schedule got underway three weekends ago with the race at Iowa Speedway, although this year, the 14 races during this part of the calendar are being produced under the USA Sports branding, rather than NBC Sports branding.
Versant Media is the parent company of USA Sports, and Versant split from Comcast and NBC in late 2025, leading to the change.
What hasn't changed, however, is what channel NASCAR fans can find the races on. As was the case a year ago, during the first season after the new seven-year, $7.7 billion broadcast rights deal went into effect, the 2026 schedule features 10 races on USA Network and four on NBC.
And after USA aired the first three races since the switch from TNT Sports following the Brickyard 400, NBC is set to air its first race of the year this weekend.
NASCAR Cup race at Daytona not being shown on USA
Saturday night's 160-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400 around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona International Speedway oval is the regular season finale, and it's also the final race set to be shown live on NBC until late October.
USA Network is set to air the first seven races of the playoffs from Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway.
NBC is then set to take over for the final three races of the postseason from Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway to wrap up the 2026 campaign.
Regardless of whether a race is shown on NBC or USA, the broadcast booth is set to consist of the same trio, with Leigh Diffey as lead announcer for the third year in a row, plus both Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte as analysts for the 12th straight.
Tune in to NBC this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway. If you have not yet started a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the action!
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