NASCAR’s 2026 Cup Series schedule: The changes we love, and those we don’t San Diego and more intermediate tracks: Good. Watkins Glen in May and a couple more blows to fans in the Northeast: Not so much.

The 2026 NASCAR schedule is here. Our favorite and least favorite moves, as well as some other thoughts about it, are in this article. www.nytimes.com/athletic/656...

Inside NASCAR’s playoff committee: A desire for change, but likely not in 2026 NASCAR has taken a major step toward shaking up its playoff format. But what will come of it — and when — is still unclear.

NASCAR has a playoff committee to look at making changes to the championship. I'm one of the members. Here's what has happened so far, where things stand now and why you might not see any changes next year. www.nytimes.com/athletic/652...

NASCAR at Naval Base Coronado: What we know about the San Diego street race NASCAR's San Diego street race will take place at Naval Base Coronado, the league announced Wednesday. Here's what we know.

NASCAR will race on an active military base for the first time next year: Naval Base Coronado in San Diego. A look at how they plan to pull this off: www.nytimes.com/athletic/651...

NASCAR’s Mexico City weekend — and Daniel Suárez’s win — a dream come true for many fans "I cried as hard as a situation like this permits," one fan said of Suárez's Xfinity Series win Saturday as NASCAR returns to Mexico City.

Some longtime NASCAR fans from Mexico are finally getting to see the Cup Series cars in person this weekend…and it feels like a dream. www.nytimes.com/athletic/642...

NASCAR wins key appeal in antitrust lawsuit filed by Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports During the May hearing, judges had warned the teams their claim came across as “having your cake and eating it, too.”

NASCAR picks up a key win in the antitrust case as now 23XI and Front Row could lose their charters. www.nytimes.com/athletic/640...

Carson Hocevar is NASCAR’s disruptive new driver — and one of its biggest fans Fan-friendly, outspoken, and often controversial on the track, Carson Hocevar has emerged as a must-watch driver in NASCAR's Cup Series.

This is one of the more fun stories I’ve gotten to write recently. Carson Hocevar isn’t just disrupting NASCAR, he’s also one of the biggest NASCAR fans around. www.nytimes.com/athletic/640...

Josef Newgarden, in face of controversy, doubles down on Indy 500 history hopes Josef Newgarden thinks he still can win a third straight Indy 500, even after this week's penalty. "I just see a bigger mountain," he says.

Josef Newgarden's team was caught with illegal modifications, his strategist was fired and he has to start on the last row of the Indy 500. He still thinks he can "absolutely" win. Talked to him about his Tom Brady-esque mindset here. www.nytimes.com/athletic/637...

Team Penske fires senior leadership team in wake of cheating scandal No replacements were announced for a team that had entered May as the prohibitive favorites to win Penske his 21st Indy 500.

Shocking developments continue in IndyCar: Roger Penske fires his entire senior leadership team just days before the Indy 500 in the wake of cheating scandal. www.nytimes.com/athletic/637...

Rookie Robert Shwartzman wins Indianapolis 500 pole in stunning upset Shwartzman, making his first-ever oval racing start in any series, tops IndyCar heavyweights with a four-lap average of 232.790 mph.

Stunning upset in Indy 500 qualifying as rookie Robert Shwartzman takes the pole position. www.nytimes.com/athletic/636...

Chris Buescher, RFK’s No. 17 team hit with big penalty after post-Kansas inspection Buescher drops from playoff hopeful on points to a must-win situation after NASCAR found irregularities following the Kansas race.

Chris Buescher tumbles into must-win territory after harsh NASCAR penalty: www.nytimes.com/athletic/635...

Kyle Larson on his love for NASCAR (really), his Max Verstappen comment and more: 12 Questions Kyle Larson talks about what people get wrong about his feelings toward NASCAR, his obsession with ChatGPT and more in a new 12 Questions.

Kyle Larson sees the comments when people sarcastically post "greatest driver in the world!" after he messes up. What does he think about it? And why does he love NASCAR more than you think? www.nytimes.com/athletic/635...

Tom Brady to take Indy 500 lap with Jimmie Johnson before race’s Fox debut The seven-time Super Bowl champ will ride along with the seven-time NASCAR champ ahead of Fox's first Indy 500 broadcast.

Tom Brady will do a 200 mph ridealong with Jimmie Johnson right before the Indy 500 next Sunday -- 14 championships between them! www.nytimes.com/athletic/635...

Joey Logano is back in the playoffs. Now he has a chance to do the funniest thing Joey Logano, NASCAR's most polarizing champion, won Sunday at Texas to secure a spot in the playoffs. And you know what that means.

Joey Logano is back in the playoffs again. He might irritate and annoy NASCAR fans all the way to yet another championship. www.nytimes.com/athletic/633...

Shock Rodney Childers dismissal ‘wasn’t about results,’ Spire co-owner says Jeff Dickerson explained the decision to part ways with the accomplished crew chief as questions continue to swirl around the shocking move.

Why did Spire Motorsports release Rodney Childers after just nine races together? I spoke to co-owner Jeff Dickerson to get some answers. www.nytimes.com/athletic/630...

Michael Jordan’s race team seeks F1 financial info to boost suit against NASCAR Jordan's team has been embroiled in an ongoing suit over NASCAR’s franchise-like “charter agreements."

The latest twist in the NASCAR antitrust case has 23XI and Front Row seeking some of F1’s most sensitive financial information — but F1 owner Liberty Media is refusing to comply, resulting in the teams taking them to court. Story w/ @madelinecoleman.bsky.social here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/626...

Has NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend, with paint scheme woes, run its course? As paint-scheme participation dwindles, questions linger about the future of NASCAR's Throwback Weekend. But not all may be lost.

Half the field didn't run throwbackpaint schemes for NASCAR's Throwback Weekend race. Does that mean it's time for it to end?

www.nytimes.com/athletic/626...

Sammy Smith, NASCAR Xfinity drivers shift tone after post-Martinsville meeting A contrite Sammy Smith acknowledged he "made a mistake" after NASCAR warned Xfinity Series drivers to watch their actions on the track.

Sammy Smith and the other Xfinity Series drivers met with NASCAR on Saturday morning. Here's what some of them had to say afterward about what happened.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/625...

Legacy Motor Club sues Rick Ware Racing over NASCAR charter purchase gone awry Team owned by Jimmie Johnson accuses RWR of backing out of deal to purchase charter, which are typically valued at up to $40 million.

Legacy Motor Club is suing Rick Ware Racing for trying to back out of a charter purchase agreement after RWR thought it was for a different year. www.nytimes.com/athletic/624...

NASCAR penalizes Xfinity driver Sammy Smith for wreck in final lap at Martinsville Smith received the same points penalty as Cup Series driver Austin Cindric, who intentionally wrecked a competitor last month.

NASCAR smacks Sammy Smith with a 50-point penalty and $25,000 fine for intentionally wrecking Taylor Gray from the lead at Martinsville. www.nytimes.com/athletic/624...

Embarrassing race leaves NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series searching for answers A caution-filled Xfinity Series race at Martinsville drew criticism in the Cup Series garage and put a spotlight on a tricky problem.

Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race was embarrassing and disgraceful. What should be done about it? www.nytimes.com/athletic/624...

Why Kyle Larson’s win at Homestead was ‘one of the coolest’ of his NASCAR career Homestead-Miami Speedway has taken so many wins away from Kyle Larson. On Sunday, he got one back.

Kyle Larson won at Homestead and called it "one of the coolest wins" of his career. But for a guy who has won so often, why would a normal, regular season race mean so much? A look at the reasons: www.nytimes.com/athletic/622...

Is it too easy to enter a NASCAR race? The sport grapples with a rising question A string of unique cases has brought NASCAR's process for approving drivers into the spotlight. And not everyone agrees on the solution.

Is NASCAR’s driver approval process broken? Some drivers say it’s too easy to race in the Cup Series. www.nytimes.com/athletic/621...

Kyle Busch, in career-long Cup Series slump, inches closer to snapping the skid "We're all busting our butts," Kyle Busch says of his and team's effort to bring an end to the longest Cup Series dry spell of his career.

Kyle Busch seems to be inching closer to a breakthrough win, but we'll know a lot more after these next few races.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/618...

NASCAR reverses hefty penalties on Joe Gibbs Racing, improving Chase Briscoe’s championship hopes The National Motorsports Appeals Panel determined that Briscoe’s team did not intentionally modify a standardized part at Daytona 500.

Wait, NASCAR actually lost an appeal? Yep, Joe Gibbs Racing gets the Chase Briscoe penalty overturned. www.nytimes.com/athletic/617...

NASCAR sues Michael Jordan’s team, Front Row Motorsports, calls them ‘an illegal cartel’ NASCAR has now brought a counterclaim against the teams and Curtis Polk — a 23XI co-owner who has advised Jordan for decades.

NASCAR is suing Michael Jordan's race team and his business partner, calling them (along with Front Row Motorsports) an "illegal cartel." www.nytimes.com/athletic/617...

Behind the scenes with Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive,’ capturing the F1 drama of Season 7 The show may have had its critics over the years, but Drive To Survive has been credited with leading F1’s popularity boom in the U.S.

Have you read this by @madelinecoleman.bsky.social yet? An insightful and educational look at how Netflix pulls off its famed Drive to Survive show. A behind-the-scenes of the series that goes behind the scenes. @theathletic.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/617...

NASCAR COTA takeaways: Less course is more, track limit issues, aggression debate The move to shorten the COTA track paid off, officiating road courses is still a pain for NASCAR, and more from the weekend in Texas.

Takeaways after the NASCAR COTA race: Policing track limits, less is more, the debate over aggression. www.nytimes.com/athletic/617...

Unrivaled promo to bring women’s sports push to a new place — a NASCAR race An Unrivaled-inspired paint scheme will adorn Alex Bowman's No. 48 car next month for a race in Florida.

It’s not every day you get to interview Breanna Stewart for a NASCAR story. www.nytimes.com/athletic/615...

Connor Zilisch on his NASCAR Cup debut at 18, future goals and more: 12 Questions Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old phenom who will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Circuit of ...

Get to know Connor Zilisch before the 18-year-old (born in 2006, OOF!) makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend. www.nytimes.com/athletic/615...

NASCAR has put itself in a caution-flag conundrum with last-lap inconsistencies To throw a caution flag or not on last-lap crashes? A string of tests of the policy — with inconsistent choices — has NASCAR in a pickle.

NASCAR has a caution flag problem. A look at how we got here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/615...