After a competitive conclusion to the 2025 NASCAR season, the sport’s governing body decided to not rest on its recent success. Instead, there have been changes made on and off the track to all three of NASCAR’s top circuits.
Not only do these changes represent a brighter future, but they also indicate that NASCAR aims to keep the sport as competitive and entertaining as possible.
So, before you strap into your favorite chair to watch the first points-races at Daytona in February, check out the major changes that will dramatically impact how sports bettors handicap the 2026 NASCAR season looks and feels.
The Chase Returns
Perhaps, the biggest change for the upcoming season is that The Chase format returns for the NASCAR Playoffs in all three of its top circuits. The sport decided to eliminate the “win and get in” model in favor of bringing back a modified version of its Chase format.
For the Cup Series, the Top 16 drivers in points will qualify for the Playoffs. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will have 12 drivers and the Truck Series will feature 10.
Additionally, there won’t be any rounds or eliminations once the postseason begins. Instead, Cup drivers will have 10 races to accumulate as many points as possible. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will have nine races, while the Trucks will feature seven Playoff events. The driver with the most points at the end of those Playoff races will win the championship.
The points reset after the regular season concludes. The driver who wins the regular season crown, will get a 25-point cushion at the start of the postseason.
Race Wins Earn More Points
In the previous era, many teams would focus on accumulating points in order to improve their Playoff position. Moving forward, NASCAR is rewarding race wins over points racing by increasing the points for wins. In 2026, drivers will earn 55 points for a victory, which is a nice bump from the previous model’s 40-points for a win.
The points will remain the same for the rest of the finishing positions. Yet, in the past, a second-place result would earn 35 points. So, that was just a five-point difference from the winner’s 40-point total.
Now, the winner will score 20 points more than the runner up does. While stage results will add more points to a driver’s total for the race, non-winners will no longer be able to score more points on the day than the driver who enters victory lane.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Replaces Xfinity Title Sponsor
Last August, NASCAR announced that the Xfinity sponsorship was ending at the conclusion of the 2025 season. Replacing the longstanding Xfinity name, is O’Reilly Auto Parts which has been a partner to NASCAR for many years.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts name has been a title sponsor for races and cars in the past. Yet, this will be its first time as the title sponsor for an entire division of NASCAR.
The sport’s no.2 circuit will embrace a new name for the first time in over a decade. This new partnership will allow additional opportunities for O’Reilly Auto Parts to engage in branding and promoting during the division’s coverage on The CW.
RAM Makes A Bold Entrance Into The Truck Series
After 13 years, RAM is set to return to NASCAR competition as it has partnered with Kaulig Racing to field five teams. However, the fifth seat is actually going to be decided by a reality TV show that has UFC’s Dana White as an executive producer.
Titled Race for the Seat, will determine which driver ends up driving the no.14 truck. This driver will join Daniel Dye (No. 10), Brendan Queen (No. 12), and Justin Haley (No. 16). The fourth truck will be a rotating group of drivers selected from RAM’s Free Agent Driver Program.
RAM last competed in the 2013 Truck Series season. The brand did win three Truck Championships during its first stint (2001, 2003-04).
Notable Drivers On The Move
Like most other major professional sports, athletes move to new teams. NASCAR is no different, as a number of drivers are on the move this year.
Cup Series Moves
One of the biggest moves will see the phenom Connor Zilisch leave O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for a ride in the Cup Series. Zilisch will take the no.88 car for Trackhouse Racing. That car was previously driven by Shane van Gisbergen. SVG will drive the no.97 car instead.
Daniel Suarez previously piloted the no.99 car for Trackhouse Racing, but he parted ways with that team for greener pastures with Spire Motorsports. Suarez will drive the no.7 car.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Moves
Harrison Burton left AM Racing for the no.24 car at Sam Hunt Racing. He will team up with Dean Thompson to create a field of two cars for SHR.
Austin Green finally lands a full-time gig after two part-time seasons in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Green will drive the no.87 car for Peterson Racing.
Brent Crews will drive full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing this season. He will pair with crew chief Seth Chavka to drive the no.19 car.
Hendrick Motorsports will host their first full-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride since 2006, as Corey Day drives the no.17 Chevrolet.
Nick Sanchez clinched a Playoff spot last year but won’t be returning to Big Machine Racing this season. The talented driver has yet to announce a full-time ride in any of the three major divisions.
Craftsman Truck Series Moves
Justin Haley will join Kaulig Racing to pilot the no.16 RAM after parting ways with Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series. Haley has driven for Kaulig Racing in the Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series over the last few years.
Rajah Caruth has departed the Truck Series after three competitive seasons with Spire Motorsports. He’s heading to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series to split the season with JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing. Caruth will increase JAR to three cars this year.
Corey Heim Without A Full-Time Ride
In one of the most bizarre stories heading into the 2026 season, the reigning Craftsman Truck Series champion Corey Heim is without a full-time ride for any of the three circuits.
Heim is coming off arguably the greatest Truck Series season ever. He won 12 of the 25 races and moved up to 6th all-time for career Truck Series wins.
There was a push to get Heim into the third card for 23XI Racing but the team gave that car to Riley Herbst instead. Despite never finishing higher than 14th in any Cup event, Herbst was retained as the third driver. Ironically, Heim finished higher than 14th in two of his four Cup Series starts for the same team.
Heim’s old truck team Tricon Garage has already moved on, so he can’t return there. More than likely, he will have to drive a part-time schedule that spans the Cup Series and Truck Series.
NASCAR Removes Two Tracks And Modifies Dover
For the 2026 season, NASCAR removed the Cup’s return to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. They’re also taking away the Chicago Street Race, as well.
Instead, the Cup Series will return to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019. Additionally, NASCAR is holding a new street-course event that will take place on the Naval Air Station North Island track. Officially dubbed the Coronado Street Course, this new road race will take place on June 21, while the Chicagoland race is scheduled for July 5.
Lastly, Dover Motor Speedway, affectionately known as “The Monster Mile,” will not have an official points-race this year. Instead, Dover will host the 2026 All-Star Race. This event has been moved from its previous home of North Wilkesboro Speedway, which hosted the race since 2023.
After three decades, North Wilkesboro Speedway will finally host a points-race following the massive push by fans and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The last time a NASCAR points-race was held at NWS, was in 1996. In total, North Wilkesboro’s historic venue hosted 93 points-races from 1949 to 1996. In fact, from 1951 to 1996, the short track held two races per year except for 1956.
While many race fans are celebrating the return to NWS, others are bemoaning the fact that Dover will not have an official points-race for the first time since 1968.
About the author : If you’re looking for NASCAR Picks in 2026, approach it the way you’d cap a soccer match: tactics first, noise last. Rob “Knuckles” McPhail, a NASCAR betting expert, looks at every race like a weekly fixture—where the best bets come from form, matchups, and timing, not the headlines.
