Upcoming NASCAR dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Match the seat to the track
The right NASCAR seat depends on the kind of track. On superspeedways and big ovals, sit high and near the start/finish line so you can follow the pack around the whole lap. On short tracks, almost every seat sees the full oval, so aim for rows above pit road. On road courses, no seat sees the whole circuit, so pick a heavy braking zone or roam with general admission.
Fans buying NASCAR tickets usually mean the NASCAR Cup Series, the top division of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. In 2027 the year starts at the Daytona 500 on February 21 and wraps up on November 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with 32 ovals, three road courses and one street course on the schedule.
Superspeedways and big intermediate ovals
The two giants, Talladega at 2.66 miles with banking as steep as 33 degrees and Daytona at 2.5 miles, produce pack racing (cars running nose to tail in a draft). On these tracks height beats closeness. From the lowest rows the catch fence fills your view and cars are gone in an instant; higher seats let you trace the draft all the way around and watch a crash start on the far side.
- Best: high rows near the start/finish line, which add pit road and restarts to the view.
- Good: high rows toward the turns, with an angle on the finish.
- Skip: the bottom rows, unless raw noise and speed are the whole point.
The same logic holds at large intermediate ovals like Texas, Las Vegas and Charlotte. Most of these races run in daylight in open grandstands, so check where the sun falls and bring a hat and sunscreen.
Short tracks: Bristol, Martinsville and the like
On a short oval the entire track is usually in view, and the racing is close enough that bumping is part of the show. Bristol measures 0.533 miles; Martinsville, at 0.526 miles, is the shortest track on the schedule.
- Higher rows still help you follow the running order and see moves develop.
- Seats near the start/finish line look down on pit road, where short-track races are often won or lost.
Bristol's night race in August is one of the most requested tickets of the season, so start looking early.
Road courses and the Coronado street race
Road circuits like Watkins Glen, Sonoma and Circuit of the Americas hide most of the lap from any single seat. Sit where drivers brake hardest, since that is where they pass, or take general admission and walk from corner to corner. A street race joined the schedule in 2026: a clockwise layout on Naval Base Coronado, outside San Diego.
Track-by-track ticketing and what you are buying
There is no league-wide NASCAR ticket. The track hosting each race sells its own seats. NASCAR owns many tracks itself, including Daytona and Talladega, a result of its 2019 purchase of International Speedway Corporation, which brought a dozen tracks in house. Next in size is Speedway Motorsports, owned by Bruton Smith's family, whose tracks include Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Dover, Las Vegas, Nashville Superspeedway, New Hampshire and Texas. Policies vary by operator and by track.
- Reserved grandstand seats: section, row and seat, sold for race day or as a weekend package that adds support races.
- Infield and camping: often a separate product. At Talladega, infield campers can stay as long as five nights during race week.
- Pre-race access: garage, pit road or fan zone passes are add-ons. Talladega's Garage Experience and Daytona's Fanzone pass both require a race ticket too.
- Extras: parking, scanner rentals and hospitality.
As of the 2025–26 season, Talladega admits children 12 and under free on Friday and Saturday, but everyone needs a ticket for the grandstands. Every Reserved Seat order is backed by a 100% guarantee.
Demand and rain
Demand peaks for the Daytona 500 in February, Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte, Bristol's August night race and the closing races of the Chase. By contrast, a midsummer date at a large intermediate oval tends to have seats to spare, and listings often get cheaper as race day nears. Rain policies differ: some tracks run weather exchange programs for postponed races that cover only tickets bought from the track, and Talladega's Weather Protection Program excludes secondary-market tickets. Daytona accepts that year's 500 tickets if the race is moved to a makeup date.
Coolers, scanners and race day habits
NASCAR is one of the few major sports where you can carry in your own food and drink, though each track sets its rules. As of the 2025–26 season, the rules at Daytona and Talladega match: a single soft cooler per fan, no larger than 14 inches on a side, with hard coolers and glass left at home. Both tracks let you exit and come back in by scanning your ticket each way. Tickets at both are delivered through the NASCAR Tracks app. Read the track's FAQ before you go, such as Talladega's fan FAQ.
- Get a scanner. Hearing drivers talk to their spotters explains what the cars are doing. Talladega rents them through Racing Electronics, ordered before race weekend.
- Pack hearing protection, especially for children.
- Arrive early. Traffic is heavy, and tailgating and camping are central to the day at many tracks.
How the Cup season is structured
The Cup Series runs 36 points races plus two non-points events, the preseason Clash, held at Daytona on February 13, 2027, and the All-Star Race, which returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series often share the same track on the same weekend, and all three national series feature the same three manufacturers: Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
The first 26 races form the regular season. Sixteen drivers, the points leaders at that stage, then contest the Chase over ten races with their gaps compressed, and whoever leads after the last race is champion. NASCAR revived the Chase for 2026, replacing the elimination playoff used from 2014 to 2025. Races are divided into stages, and the top ten after each of the first two earn bonus points, which explains the caution that comes out on a set lap with nothing wrong on track. Charlotte's Coca-Cola 600, the longest event on the calendar, adds a fourth stage.
From moonshine runs to the Next Gen car
Stock car racing grew from Prohibition-era moonshine runners in the Southeast, who tuned their cars for speed and later raced them for prize money. During the 1930s Bill France Sr. ran events on a beach-and-road layout at Daytona Beach. A series of meetings at that city's Streamline Hotel produced NASCAR on February 21, 1948, and its headquarters never left town.
The top series began in 1949 as Strictly Stock, became Grand National in 1950 and turned into the Winston Cup in 1971 under R. J. Reynolds sponsorship. It later carried the Nextel and Sprint names and has been the NASCAR Cup Series since 2020. Martinsville is the only track from the 1949 schedule still in use. Richard Petty won a record 200 Cup races and his seven championships are matched only by Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. Talladega still holds the speed records, including Bill Elliott's 212.809 mph qualifying lap in 1987, and the current Next Gen car debuted in 2022. Fans who enjoy oval racing often add the Indianapolis 500 or a Formula 1 weekend to their calendar.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best seat at a superspeedway like Talladega?
Go high and stay near the start/finish line. Elevation shows the entire draft, and the line puts pit road and restarts in front of you.
Do short tracks have bad seats?
Few. Most seats at Bristol or Martinsville see the whole oval, though higher rows near the start/finish line help you follow the order and watch pit road.
Who sells tickets to NASCAR races?
Each track sells its own race. NASCAR owns tracks such as Daytona and Talladega, and Speedway Motorsports runs others, including Bristol, Charlotte and Texas.
What cooler can I bring to a NASCAR race?
Each track decides. For the 2025–26 season, Daytona and Talladega each permitted one soft cooler per fan within 14 inches on every side, and neither allowed hard coolers.
Does a garage pass get me into the race?
No. Those passes sit on top of admission. Talladega and Daytona, for instance, require a grandstand or infield ticket before a garage or Fanzone pass is any use.
When does the 2027 Cup season end?
At Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 14, 2027, the last race of the ten-race Chase.