A rare pause in the NASCAR calendar
The sport’s premier divisions are currently enjoying a single weekend without a race, marking the only such break in the 2025 season.
Series leadership says the pause is intentional, giving teams a chance to regroup, perform maintenance and fine‑tune strategies ahead of the season’s closing month.
Next weekend the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series will reconvene at Iowa Speedway, a 0.875‑mile oval in Newton, Iowa, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 kicking off the weekend on August 8 at 5 p.m.
The Cup Series race, the Iowa Corn 350, is slated for 3:30 p.m. on August 9 and will be broadcast on USA, while the Xfinity event will follow later in the day.
The only other racing action on the horizon is IMSA’s six‑hour Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America, scheduled for Sunday, providing a brief overlap of motorsport activity.
After this weekend the next off‑week for the Cup Series won’t arrive until mid‑November, after the 2026 champion is crowned, underscoring the intensity of the final stretch.