This season, the NASCAR Cup Series schedule has been revamped to include new venues and the return of former tracks.
The series will not race at the Chicago Street Race, but will return to the city to compete at Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019. Another first for the Cup series will include some road-course racing in San Diego, at the Naval Base Coronado in California.
A familiar track will also return this season as the Cup Series travels to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first series points race since 1996. Also new for 2026, the Championship race will return to Homestead-Miami Speedway.
But possibly, the most exciting news is the increased horsepower (750hp) that teams will have at oval tracks shorter than 1.5 miles and at all road courses. Although the boost in horsepower is what drivers have been asking for, it is only an increase of 80 HP. It is, however, a step in the right direction.
“That gives us an opportunity to sample some of the short tracks, road courses early in the season, get a look at the engines after we’ve raced them at the new power level,” NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer John Probst said. “If that all looks good, I would not rule out looking at increasing that horsepower at the mile and a halfs and above. It’s just something that we kind of want to crawl, walk, run with this, and so this is the start, looking at the increased power at the short tracks. If that looks well, and I’m not committing to this today, but we will consider expanding the use of that as we go forward.
“Now, some of the best racing we have right now is at our intermediate tracks, so it’s a scenario we’ll tread very lightly to make sure that we don’t upset something. It is a package. It’s the downforce, it’s the drag, it’s the power, it’s the tire wear, all together that’s creating those good shows. So, don’t want to just change one for the sake of changing it and then find out later that we did something bad there and hurt the on-track product. So we’ll proceed with caution.”
While the drivers seem pleased with the increase in horsepower, most were hoping for more.
“I would encourage you all, and fans, to not over-promote it like it’s going to fix everything,” Kyle Larson said. “I would encourage everybody to temper their expectations. It’s not way different. I did a test recently at Kershaw, and nobody told me that I had higher horsepower, and I never really realized it, so I wouldn’t say it’s going to feel different or look different.”
Christopher Bell called it “a step in the right direction.” He added, “I’m super excited about it, and I’m glad that NASCAR and the engine builders have taken a step in the right direction. It’s definitely going to play a role in the races, especially with the tires that Goodyear has been bringing. A couple of years ago, we were talking about the road courses [and how] the cars were just locked down. I can promise you, last weekend at the Charlotte road course, those things were anything but locked down, and you give us more horsepower to what we had last week, it’s going to be a big deal.”…
“It is progress. I’m good with it,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “I mean, everybody’s been asking for it. Is it as much as maybe some people wanted? Probably not, but I think it’s going to definitely improve how the drivers feel about driving the car. Does it really change what the race looks like? I don’t think you’re going to notice a major difference.”
Tracks that will feature increased horsepower:
- Bowman Gray Stadium
- Circuit of the Americas
- Phoenix Raceway
- Darlington Raceway
- Martinsville Speedway
- Bristol Motor Speedway
- Watkins Glen International
- Dover Motor Speedway
- Nashville Superspeedway
- San Diego Street Course
- Sonoma Raceway
- North Wilkesboro Speedway
- Iowa Speedway
- Richmond Raceway
- New Hampshire Motor Speedway
- World Wide Technology Raceway
- Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns in 2026 with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Related: NASCAR Announces 2026 National Series Schedules
