By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

NASCAR’s national touring series will again double-up in Texas in 2026 during separate weekends at Circuit of The Americas in Austin and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Polesitter Carson Hocevar (front right) and William Byron (front left) lead the field past the green flag for the start of the WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY NASCAR Cup Series race on May 4, 2025 at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo credit: Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway.

The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) will return to Circuit of The Americas (COTA) for the sixth consecutive season Feb. 27-March 1.

The NCS race will be run on Sunday, March 1, preceded by the NOAPS Focused Health 250 (currently badged as the NASCAR Xfinity Series) on Saturday, Feb. 28. On-track activity will begin Friday, Feb. 27, on the world-class permanent road-course outside Austin.

Both NASCAR series will compete on the 2.4-mile/17-turn National Course, which debuted last March after four seasons of racing on the 3.41-mile/20-turn Full Course designed for the FIA Formula One World Championship. Christopher Bell drove his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory in the 95-lap NCS race on the National Course while Connor Zilisch of J.R. Motorsports won the NXS event in his Chevrolet.

NASCAR Cup Series action returns to the 2.4-mile National Course at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on March 1, 2026. Photo Credit: NASCAR at COTA/Adam Glanzman.

NASCAR at COTA will be the third race of the 2026 season for both series. Cup will open with its “Super Bowl” _ the Daytona 500 _ on Sunday, Feb. 15, at Daytona International Speedway, followed by the Ambetter Health 400 at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) in Hampton, Ga., on Sunday, Feb. 22. The NOAPS will be a support event at both venues. 

Individual race tickets and weekend packages, along with camping options, are available by visiting NASCARatCOTA.com. The race weekend includes tickets for children 12-and-under at $10 for the NCS race and free for the Focused Health 250 (with a ticketed adult required for either race). NASCAR at COTA also features an expansive Fan Zone that includes an array of entertainment acts, NASCAR driver appearances and activities.

Race start times, television broadcast partners, any additional support series races and a full on-track schedule will be announced at a later date.

Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth will play host to all three NASCAR touring series for a third consecutive season May 1-3, 2026.

Racing on the high-banked/1.5-mile tri-oval will be highlighted by the marquee WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race on Sunday, May 3. It will be the 11th series race of the season and 46th NCS race contested at “The Great American Speedway” since its inaugural campaign in 1997.

The weekend will feature a race every day, beginning with the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) SpeedyCash.com 250 on the evening of Friday, May 1.

The NCTS race will be followed by the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity Series) race on Saturday, May 2. The race title has been rebranded from the traditional “300” to “340” to celebrate Andy’s Frozen Custard’s 40th anniversary, but the race distance of 300 miles will remain unchanged.

Texas Motor Speedway is working off the momentum of its most successful NASCAR race weekend in recent years in terms of attendance, premium hospitality suites, TV ratings and camping. Last May’s event attracted fans from all 50 states and 15 international countries.

All three races were decided in overtime, with Joey Logano wheeling his Team Penske Ford to victory in Cup, Kyle Larson winning the Xfinity event in double OT in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Corey Heim of TRICON Garage taking the NCTS race for Toyota.

Individual race tickets and weekend packages, along with camping options, are available now by visiting texasmotorspeedway.com  or calling the TMS ticket office at 817.215.8500. 

TMS offers a family friendly event with tickets for children 12-and-under at $10 for the NCS race (with ticketed adult), free admission for the NXS and NCTS races (with ticketed adult), and free entertainment acts, NASCAR driver appearances and various activities in the Fan Zone. 

Race start times, television broadcast partners and a full on-track schedule of events will be announced at a later date.

The remainder of TMS’ 2025 schedule includes the Goodguys Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals (Sept. 26-28), Texas World Dirt Track Championship (Oct. 3-4 at the TMS Dirt Track), October Truck Madness (Oct. 11), Kubota High Limit Racing All-In Championship (Oct. 17-18 at the TMS Dirt Track), FuelFest (Oct. 25), POWRi Sprint Cars (Nov. 7-8 at the TMS Dirt Track) and Xtreme Xperience (Dec. 11-14).

Texas Motor Speedway is among the largest sports and entertainment venues in the United States. The speedway features an array of amenities including Big Hoss, the largest single LED screen of any sports facility in North America. TMS is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, LLC, a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information, please visit texasmotorspeedway.com.

Fans can keep track of Texas Motor Speedway’s schedule on Facebook, X and Instagram. The latest news and information also is available on the speedway’s website and TMS mobile app.