Year #78 of NASCAR Cup Series competition is on the horizon, and it’s going to look a heck of a lot different this year. NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps resigned following the 23XI and FRM vs. NASCAR court case, and President Steve O’Donnell has assumed his role. NASCAR is also returning to its pre-pandemic roots in various ways. What does the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series have to offer?

Storylines

• Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, looks to defend his title from the previous season… but with a twist. 
• With that being said, NASCAR will reintroduce the Chase format they used from 2007-13 to crown a champion. No more win-and-ins and winner-take-all season finales. The top twelve drivers in points will have their points reset and fight to score the most points within the final ten races of the season. Whoever does so will win the title.
• The NASCAR In-Season Challenge will return for its second season during the NASCAR on Prime coverage. Instead of finishes in prior races determining seeding, seeding will be determined based on the points standings after the San Diego race (Which we will cover later on). The in-season tournament will begin at Sonoma Raceway on June 28 and run through Chicagoland (July 5), Atlanta (Summer) (July 12), North Wilkesboro (July 19), and Indianapolis (July 26). Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is the defending in-season champion.
• Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is opting out of surgery after re-aggravating a torn labrum injury in the offseason.
• Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 RFK Racing Ford, is coming off a leg injury suffered in a skiing accident during the offseason. He was replaced by Corey LaJoie at the preseason Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
• Keselowski’s teammate, Ryan Preece, driver of the #60 RFK Racing Ford, won the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium to kick off the season. The non-points event was postponed from Sunday to Wednesday due to a snowstorm in North Carolina.
• William Byron, driver of the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, aims to make history by winning his third Daytona 500 in a row.
• Teams will salute former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle with car decals and special paint schemes during the season. Biffle and his family passed away in a plane crash in December 2025.

Driver/Team Changes

• Daniel Suarez will move from the Trackhouse Racing #99 Chevrolet to the Spire Motorsports #7 Chevrolet, replacing Justin Haley. Haley has been demoted back down to the Craftsman Truck Series. He will be paired with veteran crew chief Ryan Sparks.
• Haas Factory Team will switch from Ford to Chevrolet, while retaining Cole Custer in the #41 car. The same can be said about Rick Ware Racing, driver Cody Ware, and the #51 Chevrolet team.
• 2025 Xfinity Series runner-up Connor Zilisch has been promoted to the Cup Series, but he will drive the #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Former driver of the #88, Shane van Gisbergen, has been moved to the re-numbered #97 Chevrolet. Randall Burnett, Kyle Busch’s former crew chief at Richard Childress Racing, will partner with Zilisch for his rookie season.

Schedule Changes

• Homestead-Miami Speedway becomes the season finale on November 8 for the first time since 2019, ending a six-year run at Phoenix Raceway. The fall Phoenix race moves to the seventh race in the Chase on October 18.
• Dover Motor Speedway will not hold a points-paying race this year; instead, it will host the NASCAR All-Star Race for the first time on May 17. It has been replaced by North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 19, the track’s first points race in three decades.
• The fall Charlotte Roval race has been moved to a second oval race on October 11, ending the layout’s eight-year run on the schedule.
• The Chicago Street Race on July 4th weekend has been replaced with Chicagoland Speedway, the track’s first NASCAR race weekend since 2019.
• Mexico City has been removed from the schedule.
• NASCAR will visit the Naval Base Coronado Street Course in San Diego for the first time, celebrating America’s 250th birthday on Father’s Day.
• NASCAR will take a second off-weekend from July 31-August 2.
• Watkins Glen moves from early August to the weekend of Mother’s Day in May.

During the 40-week timespan from February 15 to November 8, the 2026 season is bound to kick off the post-Phelps era in style. Will we have a new champion, or will we have a repeat one? Will the returns to Chicagoland and North Wilkesboro, as well as the San Diego street race, be a success? Conclusions will be inevitable throughout the year.