How many NASCAR races take place in a season? All you need to know

The NASCAR Cup Series, the highest echelon of stock car racing, is one of the most thrilling and dynamic racing series in the world. The series boasts an action-packed schedule that runs from February to November each year. As it’s a nine-month long racing season, let’s take a look at the breakdown of the NASCAR season and its race count.

A total of 36 points-paying races take place in a Cup Series season, along with two non-points exhibition events. These two non-point events are the pre-season Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum before the Daytona 500 and the mid-season All-Star Race.

The point-paying races are divided into regular season and playoff season. The regular season includes 26 races, spanning from February to August. In regular season, drivers compete to secure a berth in the playoffs by winning races or collecting points.

The regular season races take place on a variety of tracks across the US, including superspeedways like Daytona International Speedway, short tracks like Martinsville Speedway, street courses like Chicago Street Course, and road courses like Circuit of the Americas.

Following the regular season, the top 16 drivers qualify for the postseason, the playoffs. The playoffs comprise 10 races, divided into three rounds (Round of 16, Round of 12, and Round of 8), and each round contains three races and culminates in the Championship 4 at the season finale race.

NASCAR also operates two other national series: the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series. The Xfinity Series includes 33 races in a season, while the Truck Series contains 23 races.

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2025 NASCAR Cup Series season full schedule

Here's the complete schedule of 2025 Cup Series season:

1. Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium: February 2
2. Bluegreen Vacations Duel: February 13
3. Daytona 500: February 16
4. Ambetter Health 400: February 23
5. EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix: March 2
6. Shriners Children's 500: March 9
7. Pennzoil 400: March 16
8. Straight Talk Wireless 400: March 23
9. Cook Out 400: March 30
10. Goodyear 400: April 6
11. Food City 500: April 13
12. Jack Link's 500: April 27
13. Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400: May 4
14. AdventHealth 400: May 11
15. NASCAR All Star Open: May 18
16. NASCAR All-Star Race: May 18
17. Coca-Cola 600: May 25
18. Ally 400: June 1
19. FireKeepers Casino 400: June 8
20. NASCAR Cup Series at Mexico City: June 15
21. The Great American Getaway 400: June 22
22. Quaker State 400 available at Walmart: June 28
23. Grant Park 165: July 6
24. Toyota/Save Mart 350: July 13
25. Würth 400: July 20
26. Brickyard 400 presented by PPG: July 27
27. Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol: August 3
28. Go Bowling at The Glen: August 10
29. Cook Out 400: August 16
30. Coke Zero Sugar 400: August 23

Cup Series playoffs (Round of 16)

1. Cook Out Southern 500: August 31
2. Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter: September 7
3. Bass Pro Shops Night Race: September 13

Round of 12

1. USA Today 301: September 21
2. Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET: September 28
3. Bank of America Roval 400: October 5

Round of 8

1. South Point 400: October 12
2. YellaWood 500: October 19
3. Xfinity 500: October 26

Championship 4

1. Cup Series Championship Race: November 2