8/20/25

Today, NASCAR formally released the 2026 schedule. There are some highlighted changes to the schedule, featuring the San Diego race, which will be held at Naval Base Coronado, replacing the Chicago Street Race. Another big change is the Championship Race moving from Phoenix Raceway to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Homestead held the last race of the season from 2002 until 2019, and will be back to hosting the final race again next year amid rumors of a rotation Championship Race venue or a revised playoff format in the future. Chicagoland Speedway will return to NASCAR, hosting a race on the 4th of July weekend for the first time since 2019.

The other big change to NASCAR in 2026 is that the Grand National Series, which has been known as the Xfinity Series for the last decade, will now be the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. O’Reilly Auto Parts will take over sponsorship of the series in 2026.

For the Northwest, the schedule release was a disappointment, as Portland International Raceway was left off the schedule for 2026. This year, the Pacific Office Automation 147 is the penultimate regular season race after being in the late spring. The race is next weekend, Saturday, August 30, and tickets are still for sale. This is the fourth year NASCAR has been racing in Portland and has produced some great road course racing, while hitting a part of the country NASCAR doesn’t go to often.

There is only one NASCAR-sanctioned track in Washington, Evergreen Speedway, and the Northwest doesn’t have many chances to host NASCAR races despite successful drivers like Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Derrike Cope, and others. For TV purposes, it allows primetime viewing for fans on the East Coast while still hosting the race during the day out here. There is no telling when NASCAR will make a return to Portland or the Northwest as a whole.

Last year, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported that NASCAR was talking to some cities in the Pacific Northwest and other cities in the country about a future street race. Ultimately, NASCAR selected San Diego for 2026, but past that, nothing has been determined on a location for future street races. Amazon, which is based in Seattle, could provide an avenue for a “home race” for the streaming company that broadcasts five NASCAR races per year through 2031.

Click here for the full schedule.

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