BROOKLYN, MI – NASCAR will return to Michigan International Speedway in early June again next year, as the series announced its full 2026 schedule on Wednesday, Aug. 20.

The NASCAR Cup Series has a rare Sunday off this weekend after the Aug. 16 race at Richmond Raceway. The Richmond race is the first of three Saturday night races over the next month, including Aug. 23 at Daytona. The business end of the Cup Series season begins next weekend with the regular-season finale, the Coke Zero 400.

Despite the announcement being made recently, Wilkes County racing fans have been preparing for this announcement for quite a while.

According to The Athletic, the Monster Mile will host the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 17, 2026. Dover would effectively swap places with North Wilkesboro Speedway, which hosted the 2025 All-Star Race, but will now reportedly host a points race on Sunday, July 19, the weekend Dover hosted NASCAR this year.

NASCAR released its 2026 schedule for all three national series, with Chicagoland returning and Dover transitioning to the All-Star Race.

NASCAR rolls into Daytona this week after Austin Dillon scored back-to-back wins at Richmond, securing his playoff spot with a 2.4-second edge over Alex Bowman.

The much talked about and debated NASCAR elimination style playoff format has largely stayed status quo since its inception in 2014. In 2017, stage racing and playoff points were introduced — other than that,

Ryan Blaney goes into Saturday night's race at Daytona having scored a series-best five consecutive top-10 finishes.