From San Diego to Chicagoland, a look at where NASCAR might race in 2026

Last year, the 36-race NASCAR Cup schedule was officially announced on August 29th. This year, series officials hope to unveil it sooner than that, but there are a lot of moving parts. A recent report from The Athletic claims NASCAR is close to a deal to run on the streets of San Diego, while recent comments from Carson Hocevar on a Twitch stream gave credence to pre-existing rumors of a return to Chicagoland Speedway.

What we know

So, let’s start with what we know. Homestead-Miami Speedway will return as the season finale in 2026. While not points races, North Wilkesboro will again host the All-Star Race while ‘The Clash’ remains at Bowman Gray. There were discussions about moving the pre-season exhibition to Brazil that didn’t end up going anywhere, but NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps is still hopeful of hosting an event in the country one day.

The Daytona 500 will again open the season with the event scheduled for Sunday, February 15th. Other crown jewels including the Coke 600 and Southern 500 will remain in their usual spots on Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend, respectively.

Potential locations

Nascar Cup full field

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

But the big news is about what might happen. Chicagoland’s potential return would likely signal the end of the Chicago Street Course race after three years there. NASCAR has stated how they want to try other unique and new street courses, so the loss of the Chicago Street Course could certainly open the door for this rumored street course race in San Diego.

The addition of San Diego would also finally bring NASCAR back to California after the destruction of Auto Club Speedway. The series’ plans for turning the beloved two-mile speedway into a short track after selling off most of the land appear to be a standstill, leaving them to explore other options. The street course race would likely be slotted in during the earlier portion of the year, similar to Fontana’s old date.

In another surprising development, NASCAR is actively looking at another potential location for a street course in Philadelphia. This is not far from Pocono, which already lost one of its dates on the schedule, but the ‘Tricky Triangle’ has been bringing in a solid crowd with that lone race weekend. NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell told the Pocono Record that they have looked at Franklin Field, but it’s not clear when (if ever) this event could happen. 

Another big question surrounds Mexico City. The event was well-received despite the travel issues, but there is no deal in place yet for 2026. NASCAR’s Ben Kennedy would not commit to it, but he and other officials expressed enthusiasm over the location. However, if Mexico City returns, it certainly can’t happen directly between two races in the Northern United States.

There’s also the question of the playoff format. Rumour is, it could be adjusted ahead of next season, which would certainly influence how NASCAR puts together the final ten races. As of now, this is about all we know as NASCAR continues to piece together one of the longest schedules in sports.