When does the Daytona 500 start? 2026 race schedule, start time and TV channel for NASCAR Cup Series

The drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series are scheduled to be at the 2.5-mile tri-oval superspeedway on Sunday, February 15, as the stock car racing returns to continue the season’s first points-paying weekend at the Daytona International Speedway.

In Wednesday’s (February 11) Cup Series qualifying, Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch won the pole to lead the field to the green flag at the start of the 2026 Daytona 500, scheduled to begin on Sunday at 1:30 pm ET.

William Byron, the defending winner of last year’s Daytona 500, will start 39th this weekend and look to win three times in a row.

The weather forecast for Sunday at Daytona predicts cloudy with thunderstorms with a high temperature of 80 degrees and a 10% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race.

Is there a NASCAR race today?

Race: Daytona 500

Track: Daytona International Speedway

NASCAR 2026 Sunday schedule at Daytona International Speedway

Below is the complete schedule for Sunday’s on-track action of the Cup Series season opener:

Sunday, February 15, 2026

Garage open

7 am ET – 9:30 pm ET: Cup Series

Track activity

12:40 pm ET: Cup drivers meeting

1:15 pm ET: Cup driver introductions

1:30 pm ET: Daytona 500 (200 laps & 500 miles)

Sunday’s Cup Series action in Daytona Beach, Florida, will be broadcast on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Daytona 500: Starting Order

Below is the starting order for the 2026 Daytona 500 at Daytona:

1. #8 – Kyle Busch
2. #19 – Chase Briscoe
3. #22 – Joey Logano
4. 39 – Chase Elliott
5. #12 – Ryan Blaney
6. #77 – Carson Hocevar
7. #3 – Austin Dillon
8. #5 – Kyle Larson
9. #6 – Brad Keselowski
10. #71 – Michael McDowell
11. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
12. #20 – Christopher Bell
13. #97 – Shane van Gisbergen
14. #21 – Josh Berry
15. #7 – Daniel Suárez
16. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17. #66 – Casey Mears
18. #34 – Todd Gilliland
19. #60 – Ryan Preece
20. #54 – Ty Gibbs
21. #48 – Alex Bowman
22. #11 – Denny Hamlin
23. #41 – Cole Custer
24. #43 – Erik Jones
25. #4 – Noah Gragson
26. #45 – Tyler Reddick
27. #23 – Bubba Wallace
28. #35 – Riley Herbst
29. #67 – Corey Heim
30. #38 – Zane Smith
31. #84 – Jimmie Johnson
32. #88 – Connor Zilisch (R)
33. #51 – Cody Ware
34. #10 – Ty Dillon
35. #16 – AJ Allmendinger
36. #2 – Austin Cindric
37. #1 – Ross Chastain
38. #78 – B. J. McLeod
39. #24 – William Byron
40. #40 – Justin Allgaier (i)
41. #17 – Chris Buescher

Edited by Yash Soni