Stage racing
Every race is split into stages. The top ten at the end of stages one and two score bonus points, so drivers race hard for position long before the finish.
America's premier stock car championship
NASCAR Cup
Thirty-six races, 5.8 litres of pushrod V8, and a season that runs from the Daytona 500 in February to a single winner-takes-all afternoon in November — NASCAR's top division, and in 2026 the Chase is back.
1949First season, as the Strictly Stock Division
36Races in the 2026 season
7Championships, the record shared by three drivers
DriversThe ChaseOvals & road coursesStage racingEngineering
What is the NASCAR Cup Series?
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top division of stock car racing in the United States, sanctioned by NASCAR and first run in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division. Thirty-six championship races are held each season on ovals, road courses and, from 2026, a street circuit, using the Next Gen car introduced in 2022 — a spec chassis with a 5.8-litre pushrod V8 on Goodyear tyres, entered by Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota teams. The Daytona 500 opens the season and is the sport's most prestigious race. Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson share the record of seven championships each.
- First season
- 1949, as the Strictly Stock Division
- Sanctioned by
- NASCAR
- Most titles
- Seven — Petty, Earnhardt and Johnson
- 2026 season
- 36 races · Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota
01 — How it began
How the Cup Series began.
NASCAR ran its first premier-division season in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division — showroom cars, raced hard, on dirt as often as asphalt. It became the Grand National Division in 1950 and held that name for two decades.
The sponsorship era began in 1971, and the championship carried its backer’s name for almost fifty years: Winston Cup from 1971 to 2003, Nextel Cup from 2004, Sprint Cup from 2008, and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series from 2017. In 2020 NASCAR dropped the single title sponsor for a Premier Partners model, and the championship became simply the NASCAR Cup Series.
The cars changed with it. The Next Gen car arrived in 2022, a spec chassis built to cut costs and close the field, and it is what the series races today.
- Sanctioned by
- NASCAR
- First season
- 1949, as the Strictly Stock Division
- Renamed
- 1950 Grand National, 1971 Winston Cup, 2004 Nextel Cup, 2008 Sprint Cup, 2017 Monster Energy, 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
- Current car
- Next Gen, introduced 2022
- Engine
- 5.8-litre (358 cu in) pushrod V8, electronic fuel injection
- Tyres
- Goodyear, sole supplier
- Manufacturers
- Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota
02 — The essentials
What makes the Cup Series different?
Thirty-six races, three manufacturers, and a points system that rewards leading as much as winning.
Ovals, road courses and a street race
The 2026 season runs 32 oval races, three road courses and one street race, plus three non-championship events. Almost no other championship asks drivers to master that range.
The Next Gen car
A spec chassis since 2022 with a 5.8-litre pushrod V8 on Goodyear tyres. For 2026 output rose from 670 to 750 hp at tracks under 1.5 miles and on road courses.
A 78-year-old championship
The Cup Series has run every year since 1949, and Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson are still tied on seven titles each.
03 — Race weekend format
A race weekend, decoded.
Practice
Consolidated for 2026 into a single 50-minute session for all cars, replacing two groups of 25 minutes.
Qualifying
Single-car or group qualifying depending on the track, with the fastest lap taking pole.
Stages
Races run in stages, with bonus points at the end of the first two and the race decided in the last.
Two 2026 tweaks: a caution inside the last ten laps of a stage now ends that stage officially, and practice is a single session at most tracks — Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta excepted.
04 — How points are scored
NASCAR Cup points system.
| Pos | Race | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 55 | 10 |
| 2nd | 35 | 9 |
| 3rd | 34 | 8 |
| 4th | 33 | 7 |
| 5th | 32 | 6 |
| 6th | 31 | 5 |
| 7th | 30 | 4 |
| 8th | 29 | 3 |
| 9th | 28 | 2 |
| 10th | 27 | 1 |
Bonus points and the 2026 changes
- A win now pays 55 points, up from 40 — a deliberately large gap to second place.
- Below second, each position drops by one point, so 36th to 40th all score one.
- Stage points go to the top ten at the end of stages one and two.
- One point for the fastest lap. New for 2026: a car that has been to the garage cannot come back out and take it on a low-fuel one-lap run.
- Playoff points are gone, abolished when the Chase returned.
The regular-season championship was also removed for 2026, so the 26 races before the Chase now serve only to set the field and the staggered starting points.
05 — The Chase
Next: World Wide Technology Raceway · 13 September The 2026 Chase, race by race.
| Race | Event | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Cook Out Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway, South Carolina | 6 September |
| 28 | Enjoy Illinois 300 | World Wide Technology Raceway, Illinois | 13 September |
| 29 | Bass Pro Shops Night Race | Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee | 19 September |
| 30 | Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway | 27 September |
| 31 | South Point 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | 4 October |
| 32 | Bank of America 400 | Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina | 11 October |
| 33 | Freeway Insurance 500 | Phoenix Raceway, Arizona | 18 October |
| 34 | YellaWood 500 | Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama | 25 October |
| 35 | Xfinity 500 | Martinsville Speedway, Virginia | 1 November |
| 36 | NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race | Homestead–Miami Speedway, Florida | 8 November |
Last updated: 7 September 2026. These are the ten Chase races that decide the title, races 27 to 36 of a 36-race season that opened with the Daytona 500 on 15 February. Christopher Bell won the Chase opener at Darlington; Denny Hamlin leads. Homestead–Miami replaced Phoenix as the finale this year, and New Hampshire was dropped from the Chase to make room.
06 — From 1949 to today
NASCAR Cup timeline.
1949
Strictly Stock
NASCAR runs its first premier-division season for showroom stock cars.
1959
Daytona opens
Daytona International Speedway holds the first Daytona 500, which becomes the sport's biggest race.
1971
The Winston era
R. J. Reynolds becomes title sponsor and the championship is the Winston Cup for the next 33 years.
1979
The 500 goes national
A live network broadcast of the Daytona 500, ending in a last-lap crash and a fistfight, turns NASCAR into a national sport.
2001
Dale Earnhardt
The seven-time champion is killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500, and NASCAR's safety programme is rebuilt around it.
2004
The Chase begins
A ten-race title shootout replaces the season-long points race, and runs in that form until 2013.
2020
A series without a title sponsor
NASCAR drops the single-sponsor model for Premier Partners and the championship becomes simply the NASCAR Cup Series.
2022
The Next Gen car
A new spec chassis arrives, built to cut costs and tighten the racing.
2026
The Chase returns
NASCAR scraps the elimination playoff and brings back the Chase, in a season also marked by the death of two-time champion Kyle Busch.
07 — The cars
How the machinery changed.
Strictly stock
Cars raced close to showroom specification, on dirt as often as asphalt.
The aero wars
Manufacturers built homologation specials for the superspeedways, and NASCAR wrote rules to rein them in.
The template era
Bodies converged on common templates, and the racing became a contest of setup and pit strategy.
Car of Tomorrow
A taller, safer, boxier car introduced after Earnhardt's death, disliked for how it raced.
Gen 6
Manufacturer identity returned to the bodywork, over a familiar steel-tube chassis.
Next Gen
A spec chassis with a symmetrical body, independent rear suspension and a single-lug wheel, on a 5.8-litre pushrod V8.
08 — Champions and icons
Racers who defined their eras.
Reigning Champion
Kyle Larson
2025 NASCAR Cup Series Champion · Hendrick Motorsports · seventh in the 2026 Chase after the Darlington opener
Richard Petty
The King. Seven championships and 200 race wins, a total no one has come close to matching.
7× champion
Dale Earnhardt
Seven titles and the hardest-charging reputation in the sport's history, killed at Daytona in 2001.
7× champion
Jimmie Johnson
Seven championships including five in a row from 2006 to 2010, a run no one else has managed.
7× champion
Jeff Gordon
Four titles and three Daytona 500s, the driver who took NASCAR mainstream in the 1990s.
4× champion
NASCAR Cup Kyle Busch
Two-time champion and one of the most prolific race winners in NASCAR history, who died in May 2026 aged 41.
2× champion
2026 Chase Denny Hamlin
Leads the 2026 Chase on 2,135 points after taking the No. 1 seed in the regular season.
2026 Chase leader
2026 Chase Christopher Bell
Won the Chase opener at Darlington and moved from sixth to second, twelve points off the lead.
Won the Chase opener
Connor Zilisch
The 2026 NASCAR Rookie of the Year.
Rookie of the Year
09 — Defining events
Crises, controversies and turning points.
The fight that made NASCAR
The first live network Daytona 500 ends with Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers brawling in the infield, in front of a snowbound national audience.
Earnhardt's death
Dale Earnhardt is killed at Daytona. The HANS device, SAFER barriers and a redesigned car follow.
The playoff era opens
NASCAR introduces the Chase, and spends the next two decades reformatting how its champion is decided.
A spec car for a spec era
The Next Gen car cuts what teams can build for themselves, shifting the sport toward parity and away from engineering advantage.
Kyle Busch
The two-time champion dies on 21 May, aged 41, from pneumonia that progressed to sepsis — the first active full-time Cup driver to die during a season since Dale Earnhardt in 2001.
Evergreen charters
Following the 23XI Racing lawsuit, NASCAR offers every team a charter with no expiry date, settling years of argument over what a team actually owns.
10 — The Chase field
The sixteen racing for the 2026 title.
Reigning Champion Team
Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson's 2025 championship team, and one of three organisations with a driver inside the top ten of the 2026 Chase
#1
2135
Denny HamlinChase leader, No. 1 seed out of the regular season
#2
2123
Christopher Bell12 behind — won the Chase opener at Darlington
#3
2119
Ryan Blaney16 behind
#4
2111
Tyler Reddick24 behind
#5
2098
Chase Briscoe37 behind
#6
2096
Ty Gibbs39 behind
#7
2086
Kyle Larson49 behind — reigning champion
#8
2063
Joey Logano72 behind
#9
2063
Chase Elliott72 behind
#10
2054
Bubba Wallace81 behind
#11
2047
Chris Buescher88 behind
#12
2046
Carson Hocevar89 behind
#13
2041
Daniel Suárez94 behind
#14
2033
Austin Cindric102 behind
#15
2031
Ryan Preece104 behind
#16
2021
William Byron114 behind — dropped to the cut line at Darlington
11 — Frequently asked
NASCAR Cup FAQ.
What is the NASCAR Cup Series?
The top division of American stock car racing, sanctioned by NASCAR and run every year since 1949. Thirty-six championship races a season on ovals, road courses and, from 2026, a street circuit.
What is the Chase, and why is it back?
A ten-race title shootout. NASCAR used it from 2004 to 2013, replaced it with an elimination playoff, and brought it back for 2026. The top 16 drivers on points after 26 races qualify, with starting points staggered by their regular-season position.
How is the 2026 Chase different from the old playoffs?
There are no elimination rounds and no points resets, win-and-you're-in is gone, and playoff points have been abolished. The regular-season championship was scrapped too. Sixteen drivers simply race ten more times, from staggered starting points.
How do NASCAR points work?
A win pays 55 points, second pays 35, and each place below drops by one, so 36th to 40th score one. The top ten at the end of stages one and two take bonus points, and there is one point for the fastest lap.
What is stage racing?
Each race is divided into stages. The first two end with a caution and award bonus points to the top ten, which keeps drivers racing for position through the middle of a long race.
What car does the Cup Series use?
The Next Gen car, introduced in 2022. A spec chassis with a symmetrical body, independent rear suspension and a single centre-lock wheel, powered by a 5.8-litre pushrod V8 on Goodyear tyres.
How much power does a Cup car make?
Around 670 hp at bigger ovals and 750 at tracks under 1.5 miles and on road courses from 2026, with a tapered spacer cutting output further at Daytona and Talladega. The engines are capable of more than 900 unrestricted.
Which manufacturers race in the Cup Series?
Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
Who has won the most NASCAR championships?
Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson are tied on seven each. Johnson's five in a row from 2006 to 2010 is a record on its own.
Who has the most NASCAR Cup race wins?
Richard Petty, with 200.
What is the Daytona 500?
The season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway and the most prestigious event in the sport. It has opened the season since 1982; the 68th running was held on 15 February 2026.
Who is leading the 2026 championship?
Denny Hamlin, on 2,135 points after the Chase opener at Darlington, twelve clear of Christopher Bell. Nine Chase races remain, finishing at Homestead–Miami on 8 November.
Who is the reigning champion?
Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports, who won the 2025 title.
What are NASCAR charters?
The entitlements that guarantee a team a place in every race. Following the 23XI Racing lawsuit, all teams were offered "evergreen" charters for 2026 that do not expire, replacing agreements with fixed end dates.
Is Kozmozracing affiliated with NASCAR?
No. Unless a product page explicitly states otherwise, Kozmozracing is an independent store and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASCAR, any team or driver.
Sources
- NASCAR Cup Series: history, format, records and cars · Wikipedia
- 2026 NASCAR Cup Series: entries, rule changes, schedule and standings · Wikipedia
- Kyle Busch: career, championships and 2026 · Wikipedia
- How the NASCAR Cup Series points system works in 2026 · FloRacing
- Kyle Busch died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, his family says · NPR
- NASCAR Cup Series champions, by season · Wikipedia
- Photo: Denny Hamlin's No. 11 at Las Vegas, 2026, by TaurusEmerald · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Kyle Larson at Las Vegas, 2026, by TaurusEmerald · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Hendrick Motorsports at Texas, 2026, by Pfc. Deviana M. Rodriguez · U.S. Army, public domain
Independent fan guide: Formats, schedules and regulations change often in NASCAR. Verify current sporting information with NASCAR directly. Championship, team and driver names belong to their respective rights holders.
12 — The collection
NASCAR Cup-inspired collection.
No products are assigned to NASCAR Cup yet. Add products to this series in the product editor.