2026 NASCAR Cup Series: What Channel is Every Race On?

NASCAR's television deal changed shape in 2025, and the 2026 Cup Series season is the clearest illustration of what that means for anyone watching without cable. The season is divided into four broadcast blocks across FOX, Prime Video, TNT and NBC, and only two of those reach a plain antenna.

Below is every race of the 2026 season with the network carrying it, marked so you can see at a glance which ones are free over the air.

How the season is divided

Four partners split the year into blocks, which is why the answer changes depending on the month:

• FOX Sports opens the season through the All-Star Race. Races are split between FOX (free) and FS1 (cable).
• Prime Video takes five races starting with the Coca-Cola 600. Subscription only.
• TNT Sports takes five races through the summer, including the Brickyard 400. Cable only.
• NBC Sports closes the season, split between USA (cable) and NBC (free).

The pattern that emerges: the biggest races tend to be the free ones. The Daytona 500, both Talladega races, the regular season finale at Daytona and the championship at Homestead all land on broadcast television. The midsummer stretch from late May through early August is where an antenna goes dark.

Every 2026 Cup Series race

Bold green = free over the air. Gray = cable or subscription required.

Date	Race	Track	Time ET	Where	Note
Feb 12	Daytona Duels	Daytona International Speedway	7:00 PM	FS1	Qualifying races
Feb 15	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	2:30 PM	FOX	Season opener
Feb 22	Autotrader 400	EchoPark Speedway, GA	3:00 PM	FOX
Mar 1	DuraMax Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, TX	3:30 PM	FOX
Mar 8	Straight Talk Wireless 500	Phoenix Raceway, AZ	3:30 PM	FS1
Mar 15	Pennzoil 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NV	4:00 PM	FS1
Mar 22	Goodyear 400	Darlington Raceway, SC	3:00 PM	FS1
Mar 29	Cook Out 400	Martinsville Speedway, VA	3:30 PM	FS1
Apr 12	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, TN	3:00 PM	FS1
Apr 19	AdventHealth 400	Kansas Speedway, KS	2:00 PM	FOX
Apr 26	Jack Link's 500	Talladega Superspeedway, AL	3:00 PM	FOX
May 3	Wurth 400	Texas Motor Speedway, TX	3:30 PM	FS1
May 10	Go Bowling at The Glen	Watkins Glen International, NY	3:00 PM	FS1
May 17	NASCAR All-Star Race	Dover Motor Speedway, DE	3:00 PM	FS1	All-Star Race
May 24	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway, NC	6:00 PM	Prime Video	Crown jewel
May 31	Cracker Barrel 400	Nashville Superspeedway, TN	7:00 PM	Prime Video
Jun 7	FireKeepers Casino 400	Michigan International Speedway	3:00 PM	Prime Video
Jun 14	Great American Getaway 400	Pocono Raceway, PA	3:00 PM	Prime Video
Jun 21	Anduril 250	Naval Base Coronado, CA	4:00 PM	Prime Video	New venue
Jun 28	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway, CA	3:30 PM	TNT
Jul 5	Cup Series at Chicagoland	Chicagoland Speedway, IL	6:00 PM	TNT
Jul 12	Quaker State 400	EchoPark Speedway, GA	7:00 PM	TNT
Jul 19	Window World 450	North Wilkesboro Speedway, NC	7:00 PM	TNT
Jul 26	Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IN		TNT	Crown jewel
Aug 9	Iowa Corn 350	Iowa Speedway, IA	3:30 PM	USA
Aug 15	Cook Out 400	Richmond Raceway, VA	7:00 PM	USA
Aug 23	Cup Series at New Hampshire	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	3:00 PM	USA
Aug 29	Coke Zero Sugar 400	Daytona International Speedway	7:30 PM	NBC	Regular season finale
Sep 6	Cook Out Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, SC	5:00 PM	USA	Playoffs begin
Sep 13	Enjoy Illinois 300	World Wide Technology Raceway	3:00 PM	USA
Sep 19	Bass Pro Shops Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway, TN	7:30 PM	USA
Sep 27	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway, KS	3:00 PM	USA
Oct 4	South Point 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NV	5:30 PM	USA
Oct 11	Bank of America 400	Charlotte Motor Speedway, NC	3:00 PM	USA
Oct 18	Freeway Insurance 500	Phoenix Raceway, AZ	3:00 PM	USA
Oct 25	YellaWood 500	Talladega Superspeedway, AL	2:00 PM	NBC
Nov 1	Xfinity 500	Martinsville Speedway, VA	2:00 PM	NBC
Nov 8	Championship Race	Homestead-Miami Speedway, FL	3:00 PM	NBC	Championship

What an antenna gets you, honestly

Compared with the NFL, NASCAR is a harder season to follow for free. Roughly a quarter of the schedule is on broadcast television, and there's no home-market provision to pull the streaming and cable races back onto free TV the way the NFL requires.

What an antenna does cover is the races most people actually plan around:

• The Daytona 500 in February, on FOX.
• Both Talladega races, in April on FOX and October on NBC.
• The regular season finale at Daytona in August, on NBC.
• The last three playoff races, including the championship at Homestead, all on NBC.

If you follow the championship run rather than every points race, an antenna covers the end of the season well. The gap is the middle: from the Coca-Cola 600 in late May through the Brickyard in July, every race is behind Prime Video or TNT.

Find your FOX and NBC channels

Every free race above is on your local FOX or NBC station. Search your city or zip code to see the channel each is on where you live, and how strong a signal to expect:

For next season's opener, see our guide to the 2027 Daytona 500. To pick out an antenna, start with our indoor versus outdoor guide, and an over-the-air DVR will record any of the free races with no monthly fee.

Sources

• NASCAR.com official 2026 Cup Series schedule.
• CBS Sports 2026 Cup Series schedule and results, with network assignments.
• Jayski TV listings, which track changes through the season.