It is a weird time to be a race fan. If you’ve tried to find a race on TV lately, you probably realized the old "tune to FOX or NBC" routine doesn't quite work like it used to. We are currently in the middle of a massive identity shift for stock car racing. Honestly, the question of where is NASCAR today isn't just about a GPS coordinate for the next track; it’s about a sport trying to figure out how to survive in a world where nobody has cable and everyone's attention span is about five seconds long.
The 2026 season is officially here, and it feels different. Not just "new car" different, but "the rules of the game have changed" different. We just came off a 2025 season where viewership numbers dipped below 2.5 million for the first time ever—a 14% slide that had the doomsayers out in full force. But if you ask the folks in Charlotte or Daytona, they’ll tell you this was all part of the plan.
Is it, though? Or is the sport just fragmenting into a million pieces?
The 2026 Reality: A Patchwork of Screens
If you want to follow the Cup Series this year, you’re going to need a spreadsheet and about four different logins. We are currently in the second year of a monster $7.7 billion media rights deal. Basically, NASCAR decided that instead of sticking with one or two big partners, they’d invite everyone to the party.
Right now, the broadcast schedule is split between FOX, FS1, Amazon Prime Video, TNT/Max, and NBC/USA Network. It’s a lot. For the casual fan who just wants to flip on the TV after Sunday lunch, it’s kind of a nightmare. Only nine races are on "big" network TV (FOX and NBC) this year. That’s the fewest in the modern era.
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Where to watch the Cup Series right now:
- The Early Slog: FOX and FS1 handle the first 14 events, including the Daytona 500 and the return to Bowman Gray Stadium for the Clash.
- The Streaming Era: Amazon Prime Video takes over for a five-race stretch starting with the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
- The Summer Heat: TNT Sports (and Max) picks up the next five, including the "In-Season Challenge"—a tournament-style bracket with a $1 million prize.
- The Run to the Title: USA Sports (a new production wing under Versant Media Group) handles the final 14 races, airing on USA Network and NBC.
It’s fragmented. You’ve got to jump from a traditional cable box to a streaming app and then back to a different cable channel. The sport is betting that the younger, tech-savvy crowd will follow them to Amazon and Max, even if it means losing some of the older fans who can’t find the "input" button on their remote.
The Championship Format: Goodbye Eliminations?
This is the biggest bombshell of 2026. After years of the "win and you’re in" playoff system with its frantic three-race elimination rounds, NASCAR basically hit the reset button. The elimination-style playoffs are gone.
Instead, we’ve gone back to a version of the old "Chase." The field is still 16 drivers, but they all compete across the final 10 races without being cut. It’s a total points haul. NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell admitted they wanted to reward full-season consistency again.
Honestly, it feels like a peace offering to the "hardcore" fans who hated seeing a dominant driver get knocked out because of a blown tire at Martinsville. Now, you actually have to be good for all 10 weeks of the postseason. Winning still matters—a lot—with a massive 55-point payday for a victory, but the "luck of the draw" factor has been dialed way back.
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Technical Tweaks and Horsepower Hopes
If you’ve been on NASCAR Twitter (or "X," whatever) lately, you know the #1 complaint is always horsepower. Fans want the cars to scream. For 2026, NASCAR finally budged—sorta.
At tracks shorter than 1.5 miles, the Cup cars are now running a 750-horsepower package. It’s a noticeable jump from the 670-hp "Next Gen" standard we’ve seen recently. The goal is to make the cars harder to drive and create more passing on short tracks like Bristol and Martinsville, which have struggled lately.
They also mandated "A-post flaps" at every single track. This is a safety thing. After a few scary incidents where cars nearly took flight during spins, these flaps are designed to keep the wheels on the asphalt. You’ll notice them—they’re painted bright orange under the flap so officials can see if they’re working.
The Grid: New Faces, New Alliances
The driver market has been surprisingly stable for 2026, but there are a few major moves that change the vibe of the garage.
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- Daniel Suárez moved over to Spire Motorsports to drive the No. 7 car.
- Connor Zilisch, the kid everyone is calling the next superstar, is officially full-time in the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing. He’s taking over the No. 88 (formerly used by Shane van Gisbergen).
- Shane van Gisbergen is still here, but he’s moved to the No. 97.
- Kyle Busch is looking for a massive "bounce back" year with a new crew chief, Jim Pohlman. After two winless seasons, the pressure on the No. 8 team is through the roof.
We also saw a big manufacturer shift. The Haas Factory Team and Rick Ware Racing both ditched Ford for Chevrolet. That means Chevy now has an even bigger footprint on the grid, fueled by a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.
Does NASCAR Still Matter?
When people ask where is NASCAR today, they’re often asking if it’s still "cool." The numbers say the "mainstream" peak of the mid-2000s is gone. We aren't seeing 8 million people watch a race on a random Sunday in June.
But the sport is finding a new niche. The Chicago Street Race and the Clash at Bowman Gray show that NASCAR is willing to take the circus to the people rather than waiting for them to drive three hours to a track in the middle of nowhere. It’s becoming more of an "event" sport.
Attendance at the actual tracks is actually up in several markets, even if TV ratings are struggling with the transition to streaming. There’s a raw energy at the track that a screen just can’t catch. The smell of high-octane fuel and the literal ground-shaking vibration of 40 cars is still the best marketing tool the sport has.
How to Follow the Sport This Week
If you're trying to get back into it or just want to know how to keep up with the current chaos, here is the move:
- Check the Schedule Daily: Because the networks change so often, use the official NASCAR app. Don't rely on your DVR to just "know" where the race is.
- Focus on the "In-Season Challenge": If you’re a casual viewer, the TNT stretch in June and July is the best time to watch. The bracket-style format is easy to follow and the stakes are high.
- Watch the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: The Xfinity Series got rebranded this year. It’s often better racing than the Cup Series because the cars are slightly more "unruly." It’s airing exclusively on The CW now.
- Keep an eye on the "Fastest Lap" point: There’s a new rule for 2026—if a driver goes to the garage for repairs, they can’t earn the bonus point for the fastest lap anymore. It prevents teams from coming out on fresh tires at the end just to steal a point.
The sport is definitely in a "rebuilding" phase, but for the first time in a decade, it feels like they have a specific direction. Whether fans will follow them across five different apps remains to be seen. But for now, the engines are louder, the playoffs are fairer, and the schedule is weirder than ever. That’s where NASCAR is today.