Expanded Practice and Weekend Schedule
The 2026 NASCAR weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will feature longer practice sessions, giving teams additional time to fine‑tune their setups before the Saturday Truck Series race and the Sunday Cup event.
Broadcast partners have confirmed a 3 p.m. Eastern start for Sunday’s Cup race, with live coverage on the USA network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on channel 90, and streaming via the HBO Max app.
Christopher Bell continues to dominate the NextGen format at New Hampshire, boasting victories in both 2022 and 2024 and a perfect record in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on the track.
Joey Logano has been among the most consistent performers lately, capturing two of the last four Cup races and climbing to ninth in the points standings, while Kyle Larson remains a strong contender after a recent surge.
The points picture shows Denny Hamlin at the top with 969 points, followed by Ryan Blaney at –115 and Christopher Bell at –274, creating a tight battle for the final Chase spots.
Four drivers—Bell, Larson, Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain—have posted three top‑10 finishes in the NextGen era, underscoring the competitiveness of the field.
In the Truck Series, the Chase field will be set on Saturday, with 41 entries fighting for only 36 spots, leaving five trucks on the outside. Notable Cup drivers such as John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell and Connor Zilisch are slated to compete.
Practice and qualifying for the Truck field are scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern on FS1, while the final lineup will be determined by performance in the preceding sessions.
Chase Contention and Points Dynamics
Drivers are grouped into categories—locked, virtual lock, cautious, potential late entries and those eliminated if they cannot make up the required points—based on the maximum 75 points that can be gained on the cutline before Daytona.
Josh Berry, who finished second in the 2025 race and third in 2024, is among those looking to capitalize on the points window, though the odds remain stacked against a full comeback.
With the standings still fluid, the upcoming races at New Hampshire and Bristol will likely shape the final Chase composition, making the next two weekends critical for playoff positioning.