NASCAR reaches the penultimate weekend of the 2026 season at Martinsville, where all three national championships continue across three days of short-track racing.<\/p>\n
The Craftsman Truck Series opens the weekend on Friday before the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series races on Saturday. The Cup Series takes centre stage on Sunday, with Kyle Larson able to secure his third championship before the Homestead finale. Denny Hamlin is among those trying to stop him at a track where the Virginia native has won six times.<\/p>\n
Here are the UK and US start times, TV details and full schedule for NASCAR\u2019s 2026 Martinsville weekend.<\/p>\n
NASCAR Martinsville 2026 schedule<\/p>\n
Martinsville hosts the fourth of five consecutive tripleheader weekends to end the NASCAR season.<\/p>\n
The Trucks race on Friday evening, the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series follows on Saturday and the Cup Series Xfinity 500 starts at 2pm ET on Sunday. There is a time change to note for British viewers. The US remains on Eastern Daylight Time on Friday and Saturday before its clocks go back early on Sunday.<\/p>\n
DaySessionUS EasternUKFridayTruck practice12.30pm EDT4.30pm GMTFridayTruck qualifying1.35pm EDT5.35pm GMTFridayO\u2019Reilly Series practice3pm EDT7pm GMTFridayO\u2019Reilly Series qualifying4.05pm EDT8.05pm GMTFridayTruck Series \u2013 Black\u2019s Tire 2006pm EDT10pm GMTSaturdayCup Series practice1pm EDT5pm GMTSaturdayCup Series qualifying2.05pm EDT6.05pm GMTSaturdayO\u2019Reilly Series \u2013 National Debt Relief 2504pm EDT8pm GMTSundayCup Series \u2013 Xfinity 5002pm EST7pm GMT<\/p>\n
The Cup race runs for 500 laps and 263 miles around the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway.<\/p>\n
How to watch NASCAR at Martinsville in the UK<\/p>\n
Premier Sports holds NASCAR broadcast rights in the UK and Ireland. The main attraction is Sunday\u2019s Cup Series Xfinity 500, with coverage on Premier Sports 2. The race itself starts at 7pm GMT, although Premier\u2019s programme is scheduled to begin at 6.30pm.<\/p>\n
Premier Sports is available as a standalone streaming service and through selected TV providers.<\/p>\n
Coverage of NASCAR\u2019s support series can differ from the Cup schedule, so viewers looking specifically for Friday\u2019s Truck race or Saturday\u2019s O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series race should check their provider\u2019s listings.<\/p>\n
How to watch NASCAR at Martinsville in the US<\/p>\n
The three national series are split between different broadcasters in the United States. Friday\u2019s Craftsman Truck Series race starts at 6pm EDT on FS1, with practice and qualifying also shown on FS2 earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s National Debt Relief 250 starts at 4pm EDT on The CW, with NASCAR Countdown Live beginning at 3.30pm. O\u2019Reilly Series practice and qualifying on Friday are available through ESPN Unlimited.<\/p>\n
Cup practice and qualifying begin at 1pm EDT on Saturday and are shown on truTV and HBO Max. Sunday\u2019s Xfinity 500 is live on NBC and HBO Max, with NBC\u2019s pre-race programme beginning at 1.30pm EST before the green flag at 2pm.<\/p>\n
Can Larson win the NASCAR championship at Martinsville?<\/p>\n
Larson arrives in Virginia with the opportunity to settle the championship one week early. His extraordinary Talladega victory transformed the NASCAR title race<\/a> last Sunday. Larson dropped as low as 11th on the final lap before charging back through the pack to beat Hendrick Motorsports team-mate William Byron by just 0.041 seconds.<\/p>\n More importantly, the result moved Larson 73 points clear at the top of the standings. A maximum of 76 points will remain available at Homestead after Martinsville, so Larson is guaranteed his third Cup championship if he leaves Virginia at least 77 points ahead of every rival.<\/p>\n He can remove the permutations entirely by scoring 59 points on Sunday, irrespective of what anyone else does.<\/p>\n Hamlin faces last chance at one of his best tracks<\/p>\n For Hamlin, Martinsville could hardly be more important.<\/p>\n The 45-year-old is second in the championship but trails Larson by 73 points. As we explain in our look at Hamlin\u2019s last-chance Martinsville title showdown<\/a>, another difficult afternoon could end his pursuit of a first Cup championship before the finale.<\/p>\n Martinsville is at least an encouraging place for Hamlin to attempt a recovery.<\/p>\n He has six Cup victories at the circuit and dominated much of NASCAR\u2019s first visit of 2026, starting from pole and leading 292 of the 400 laps. He eventually finished second.<\/p>\n Hamlin has 64 Cup victories and three Daytona 500 wins but has never won the championship. He was runner-up last season and could now see another opportunity disappear unless he takes a sizeable chunk out of Larson\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n Why Martinsville is different<\/p>\n At 0.526 miles, Martinsville is the shortest track on the NASCAR Cup calendar.<\/p>\n Its long straights and tight, relatively flat corners create the distinctive paperclip shape behind the circuit\u2019s nickname, while 500 laps place a premium on brakes, tyre management and staying out of trouble in traffic.<\/p>\n There is little room for error. Contact is common, track position becomes increasingly important late in a run and the closing laps have a habit of becoming particularly physical when championship places are at stake.<\/p>\n That makes Martinsville a sharp change from Talladega, where Larson\u2019s championship lead was built amid high-speed drafting and pack racing.<\/p>\n This weekend the title contenders face something altogether tighter.<\/p>\n And with the Formula 1 and MotoGP championships also reaching crucial weekends<\/a>, Martinsville forms part of one of the busiest title weekends of the year.<\/p>\n For the latest NASCAR and racing stories throughout the weekend, follow the Read Motorsport news hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n