The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash is just two weeks away, and then the stock car racing series will be in full swing.
The Cook Out Clash will be held at the famous Bowman Gray Stadium, and the Daytona 500 will officially kick off the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season on February 15 at the Daytona International Speedway.
This year, NASCAR will move away from the elimination-style playoff format it had previously followed for more than a decade. Instead, it will return to the Chase format.
“The biggest thing was looking at who we wanted to be as a sport going forward, and that included really a focus on our core fan base and who had been with us for a long, long time and gotten the sport to where it was. So we wanted our future format to reflect that,” NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell said.
“A lot of things you’re going to see and how we talked to the fans, from an overall NASCAR standpoint, was going to really embrace that hardcore fan, and so we felt like the format needed to absolutely reflect that.”
In the Cup Series, the Chase will span the final 10 races of the season. The top 16 drivers from the Cup Series will take part, but there will be no eliminations – the driver with the most points at the end of the season will be the champion.
2026 NASCAR Cup Series: Full Calendar