NASCAR betting is mostly betting on drivers: who wins the race, who finishes in the top 3, 5 or 10, and which of two drivers finishes ahead of the other. The next Cup Series race is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. ET, and the season ends with the Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 8.
Those dates are from NASCAR’s own 2026 Cup schedule. This guide explains each market, and how the type of track changes which form counts.
Race to The Finish Line
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The races left in 2026
| Date | Race | Track | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Sep 27 | Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway | Intermediate, 1.5 miles | 267 laps, 400.5 miles |
| Sun, Oct 4 | South Point 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | Intermediate, 1.5 miles | 267 laps, 400.5 miles |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Bank of America 400 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Intermediate, 1.5 miles | 267 laps, 400.5 miles |
| Sun, Oct 18 | Freeway Insurance 500 | Phoenix Raceway | Intermediate, 1 mile | 312 laps, 312 miles |
| Sun, Oct 25 | YellaWood 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | Superspeedway, 2.66 miles | 188 laps, 500.08 miles |
| Sun, Nov 1 | Xfinity 500 | Martinsville Speedway | Short track, 0.526 miles | 500 laps, 263 miles |
| Sun, Nov 8 | Championship Race | Homestead-Miami Speedway | Intermediate, 1.5 miles | 267 laps, 400.5 miles |
Our NASCAR picks this week page covers the next race, and our race results page has the finishes as they come in.
How to bet on NASCAR
- Race winner: one driver to win outright. ESPN’s 2026 results show 36 to 45 cars in each points race, so even the favorite is a long way from even money.
- Top 3, top 5 and top 10: a driver to finish inside that band. The price is shorter, and the bet survives a late loss of the lead.
- Head-to-head: two drivers, and whichever finishes ahead wins the bet. Where the two finish in the field does not matter.
- Group betting: the best finisher from a set group of drivers.
- Stage winners: a driver to lead at the end of a stage.
- Futures: the Cup Series champion, settled at Homestead.
A top-10 finish in a field of 40 cars covers a quarter of the field, which is why it pays far less than a win. A head-to-head removes the field altogether and leaves two drivers.
Track type decides the form that counts
NASCAR’s schedule lists three track types in the last seven races: five intermediate tracks, one superspeedway and one short track. Form at one kind of track says little about the next. With five of the seven on intermediate tracks, results at Kansas, Las Vegas and Phoenix earlier in the year are worth reading.
Kansas has already been run once this season. ESPN’s results list Tyler Reddick as the winner there in April, and Chase Elliott won the fall race at Kansas in 2025, per NASCAR’s schedule page. Our track types guide goes through every track on the calendar.
Who has been winning in 2026
ESPN’s race results name these winners for the points races of 2026 so far, among others:
| Driver | 2026 wins on ESPN’s results |
|---|---|
| Tyler Reddick | Daytona 500, Atlanta (Feb), Circuit of the Americas, Darlington (Mar), Kansas (Apr) |
| Denny Hamlin | Las Vegas (Mar), Nashville, Michigan |
| Joey Logano | North Wilkesboro, Richmond, Bristol (Sep) |
| Chase Elliott | Martinsville (Mar), Texas |
| Ryan Blaney | Phoenix (Mar), New Hampshire |
The last three races went to Christopher Bell at Darlington on September 6, Kyle Larson at World Wide Technology Raceway on September 13 and Joey Logano at Bristol on September 19. A driver’s wins say where his car has been fast, and a spring win at the same track is the closest thing to a direct read.
Superspeedways and short tracks
Talladega is the outlier. At 2.66 miles it is the longest track left on the schedule, and on a superspeedway the field runs close together, so a single crash can take out several contenders. The spring race there was won by Carson Hocevar, per ESPN, and the 2025 fall race by Chase Briscoe, per NASCAR’s schedule page.
Martinsville is the opposite: 0.526 miles and 500 laps, the shortest track and the most laps of the seven races left. Elliott won there in March 2026, and William Byron won the fall race in 2025.
The championship race
The Cup title is settled at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 8, a 1.5-mile intermediate track, over 267 laps. Kyle Larson won that race in 2025. A futures bet on the champion is worth making only when you rate the driver’s chance higher than the price implies; this page quotes no price, because ESPN’s futures feed had no NASCAR market when it was updated.
For the season opener, see our Daytona 500 guide. If you want picks from paid handicappers, our handicapper site reviews compare the services.