For the first time since 2019, Phoenix Raceway will not host the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race in 2026. It's a change that fans have long been asking for, specifically with the on-track product at Phoenix having been relatively lackluster since the Next Gen car was introduced back in 2022.
But unlike another track on the 2025 playoff schedule, Phoenix is set to continue hosting a playoff race, and that is because Homestead-Miami Speedway, the former host of the title race, is set to return to its old schedule slot as the site of the Championship 4, despite currently being out of the playoffs entirely.
As a result, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which is set to host a playoff race in 2025 for the first time since 2017, will not be back on the playoff schedule next year.
New Hampshire out of NASCAR playoffs after just one year
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled to move from the round of 8 to the round of 12, which is where New Hampshire is currently positioned. New Hampshire is set to be this year's round of 12 opener, while Kansas Speedway is set to host the middle race of the round. Next year, Kansas is set to host the round of 12 opener, and Las Vegas is set to host the middle race.
Phoenix is set to be slotted back into the round of 8, which is where it was before it took over as the championship host from Homestead in 2020. Unlike in past years, however, Phoenix is set to host the round of 8 opener, rather than the finale.
As for New Hampshire, it is scheduled to host the penultimate race of the 2026 regular season. Richmond Raceway, which held that role this year, is set to host its race one week prior, with Watkins Glen International set to be moved to the week before the All-Star Race, which has been moved from North Wilkesboro Speedway to Dover Motor Speedway, in mid-May.
Dover is no longer set to host a points race, while North Wilkesboro is, and its race is set to be a part of the second In-Season Challenge.
Chicagoland Speedway is set to return to the schedule for the first time since 2019, also as a part of the In-Season Challenge, while the Cup Series is also set to visit San Diego, California to race at Coronado Street Course, a street circuit on Naval Base Coronado, for the first time.
There will no longer be a Chicago street race, and the trip to Mexico for the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez thankfully appears to be a one-and-done.
The 68th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to get the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season underway on Sunday, February 15, though the Cook Out Clash exhibition race is scheduled to take place two weekends prior at Bowman Gray Stadium.