Circle Tracks

NASCAR has revealed the official start times for the 2026 NASCAR Cup, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and Craftsman Truck Series seasons. The complete schedule was officially in August, and details on the 2026 changes can be found HERE. But on Wednesday, NASCAR finally announced when these races will air and which networks will broadcast them (all times EST).  The Cup season will feature nine ...Keep readingView the full article

Starting in 2026, NASCAR will revert to a variation of the Chase for the Championship format it used to crown its champions from 2004-to-2013. In other words, no more win and you’re in and no more multiple elimination rounds. Most importantly, the sample size to determine the champion is no longer a single race but a 10-race points race. However, unlike NASCAR’s first version of a ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book received a slew of preseason updates in advance of the final weekend before regular season racing begins next week at Daytona International Speedway. One marginally altered the qualifying procedures for the Daytona 500 and the other banned the practice of drivers placing their hands against their window nets during qualifying in the pursuit of less drag. The ...Keep readingView the full article

A massive NASCAR Rule Book update was posted on Friday and removes every instance of ‘the playoffs’ and ‘playoff points’ to reflect the return of the Chase for the Championship format this season. Essentially, this codifies the new regulations with NASCAR also making several adjacent adjustments alongside other items that needed addressing after consideration over the ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR issued a series of technical changes in a scheduled rule book update on Friday afternoon that included which tracks would formally utilize the 750-horsepower tapered spacer and language that paves the way for an additional manufacturer. This was previously announced but Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and World Wide Technology ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Cup season officially gets underway this weekend with the 68th running of the Daytona 500 on February 15. Before that, NASCAR sent eighth-generation watermelon farmer and Trackhouse Racing star Ross Chastain to New York City for a very unique activation. As part of the sport's new 'Hell Yeah' campaign, NASCAR fitted a mock 1:1 replica of a Chevrolet Cup engine to a billboard ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR Xfinity runner-up Connor Zilisch will drive an LMDh prototype for the first time in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona. The 19-year-old will share the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti at the Daytona International Speedway on 14-16 November. The American, who has already scored two LMP2 class victories in the IMSA SportsCar ...Keep readingView the full article

Chase Elliott said it succinctly. “This feels like a normal weekend,” said the 2020 Cup Series champion during media availabilities for the All-Star Race at Dover on Friday afternoon. “It feels like a normal weekend. I would say this feels the least like an All-Star weekend that we’ve ever had in my career. “I don’t know if it’s just because I’m not used to having an ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR is not yet ready to divulge details of its new championship format, mostly because they haven’t made the final decisions on it yet. What is all but confirmed is that the 2025 season was ultimately the last to use the version of a playoff that culminates with a ‘final four’ chasing the championship in a one-race best finisher take all season finale. This format was used from 2014 ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR has issued a four-race suspension for three members from the Big Machine Racing NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts team, due to "loose or separated ballast" on the #48 Chevrolet, driven by Patrick Staropoli. As a result, Patrick Donahue, Dillon Bassett, and Morgan Olsen will have to sit out the next four races. Donahue is the crew chief for the car. They will miss upcoming races at Darlington ...Keep readingView the full article

After starting from the outside of the front row and winning Stage 1, Ross Chastain was in position to have a great day the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Unfortunately, while in contention for a top ten following the final green-flag pit stop of the day, Chastain's car spun wildly on entry to what is Turn 19 on the full course layout, tearing through the gravel as the right-rear wheel ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Cup Series television ratings for the race at Talladega Superspeedway were slightly down year-over-year. The race, once again aired live on over-the-air FOX, earned an average of 3.967 million viewers on Sunday according to the Nielsen Big Data + Panel metric used since last year. This is down from the 4.041 average in 2025, which was also on FOX. The 2026 race was won by Carson ...Keep readingView the full article

At least in the playoff era, the Martinsville Xfinity Series race has best been articulated as a 'dogfight' at best or a 'bloodbath' at worst. There have been divebombs at best and wipeouts at worst, anything in the name of advancing or winning to make the final four to compete for a championship next week at Phoenix Raceway. Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier, driving for the two best teams ...Keep readingView the full article

After a brief rain delay, qualifying got underway for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham on Friday. 38 trucks were competing for 36 spots on the grid, with two missing the snow. One of those was Jonathan Shafer in the No. 69 MBM Motorsports Ford, after a crash in practice meant he could not take part in qualifying. The other DNQ was Justin Carroll in the No. 90 Terry Carroll ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Martinsville drew 2.394 million viewers according to the Sports Business Journal. This number is a slight decrease from last year, the race being held on the same weekend at the same track, which drew 2.422 million viewers. The 2026 edition did feature most popular driver Chase Elliott returning to victory lane after a spirited duel through traffic ...Keep readingView the full article

There is no direct comparison since this was the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen to take place during the spring but the Go Bowling at The Glen on FS1 earned an average of 1.928 million viewers and a 1.06 rating according to Nielsen’s Big Panel + Data metric. This is the lowest rated race of the season, won by Shane Van Gisbergen, this race barely dropping below Bristol’s ...Keep readingView the full article

There were countless emails, text messages and documents unsealed on Friday as part of the build-up to the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust lawsuit trial set to begin on December 1. They included NASCAR commissioner, then president, Steve Phelps telling president, then chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell that ‘a knife’ needed to be put into ‘this trash ...Keep readingView the full article

The racing at Watkins Glen International will look a bit different this weekend, as NASCAR introduces some new track limits. No longer will we see the entire field driving off into the Turn 1 runoff on starts/restarts, as NASCAR has made some significant changes there and to the exit of the Carousel. They're essentially building a new wall via tire packs to keep the racing line closer to the ...Keep readingView the full article

Denny Hamlin's father, Dennis Hamlin, has died after injuries sustained in a house fire in Stanley, North Carolina, on Sunday. Hamlin's mother, Mary Lou, 69, is currently being treated at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center and is listed in critical condition. The fire's cause is still under investigation. Still reeling from a tragic December 18th plane crash that claimed the life ...Keep readingView the full article

The emotion afterwards was palpable. On pit road, immediately after the race, newly crowned NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Jesse Love was in tears at earning a major career accomplishment. On the other end of the spectrum, Connor Zilisch was in tears because he was denied a championship that surely would have been his under any other format. "I feel like emotion is part of the sport," ...Keep readingView the full article

After over a year of back-and-forth litigation and a trial that lasted nine days, a settlement has finally been reached in the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR antitrust lawsuit. The two parties appeared outside the courthouse with 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan and NASCAR CEO Jim France standing shoulder-to-shoulder. They've also released a joint statement, which reads as ...Keep readingView the full article

With it becoming more and more likely that the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust lawsuit and countersuit will proceed to a trial by jury scheduled to begin on December 1, the process for what that will look like is starting to be agreed upon. For one, both parties agreed to three preliminary rules on Monday and they are as follows as directly pulled from a joint ...Keep readingView the full article

Attorneys representing both parties in the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR lawsuit and countersuit concluded a second consecutive day of settlement talks without any announced agreement. Upon leaving the Western District of North Carolina courtroom in Charlotte on Wednesday, both parties declined comment. There is a scheduled session for oral arguments on Thursday morning in ...Keep readingView the full article

Things could always change, of course, but it seems as though the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust lawsuit and countersuit is destined for a trial by jury come December. The two parties met in court on Thursday following two days of settlement mediation overseen by Judge Kenneth D. Bell. The judge, who has overseen this case for over a year now opened this session by ...Keep readingView the full article

For the third time this year, NASCAR and Formula 1 were more or less competing for the same eyeballs on Sunday and the television ratings for both arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The Cup Series, after a stretch of poor viewership numbers on USA Network, returned to over-the-air NBC on Sunday and the Yellow Wood 500 drew 2.556 million viewers for a race that began at 2 p.m. ET. The Formula 1 ...Keep readingView the full article