The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway was the first race of the year to be broadcast live on NBC, after USA Sports' portion (formerly NBC Sports' portion) of the broadcast schedule got underway with three consecutive races shown live on USA Network from Iowa Speedway, Richmond Raceway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
When NASCAR's new media rights deal went into effect ahead of the 2026 season, the addition of both Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports for five races each resulted in the season-ending NBC/USA portion of the calendar being reduced from 20 races to 14. USA Network remained at 10 races, while NBC itself dropped from 10 to four.
As a result, this past weekend's Coke Zero Sugar 400 was the first and only race on NBC until much later in the year, with USA Network set to lead off the 10-race "Chase" postseason by airing seven consecutive events.
Southern 500 at Darlington not on NBC
The playoffs are scheduled to begin on Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and that race is set to be shown on USA.
Note that the trio in the broadcast booth remains the same whether a race is shown live on USA or NBC, with Leigh Diffey calling the action alongside Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.
NBC itself is not set to air another race until late October at Talladega Superspeedway. It is set to show that race, along with the next two races at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, to close out the 2026 season.
Upcoming races on USA Network's schedule include those at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway.
Tune in to USA Network at 5:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and don't miss any of the action from the final crown jewel race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule!
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