After its controversial ending in 2025, the NASCAR Cup Series is back this weekend, with the season-opening Daytona 500.
In the finale of 2025, Denny Hamlin was just two laps away from winning his long-awaited first title, but a caution for William Byron's slow car triggered a round of pit-stops which allowed Kyle Larson to get into championship-winning position.
Larson claimed his second title as Hamlin yet again failed at the last. But for 2026, the Playoffs format has been revamped back into the 'Chase', which was first established in 2004 and used until 2013.
It means the first 26 races create the 16-strong field that will fight for the title over the final 10 rounds, with the champion emerging.
The 'win and you are in' nature to the Playoffs has also been dumped, meaning the winner of Sunday's Daytona 500 will not have an automatic spot in the post-season and must earn it like any other driver.
The Daytona 500 is the culmination of Speedweeks in Florida after the recent 24 Hours, and the duels, taking place later this week. The Clash is no longer held at Daytona, and instead was run, after a snow delay, at Bowman Grey, won by Ryan Preece.
But attention is now on Daytona, with the 500 set for a 14:30 local time EST start on Sunday, February 15th.
Check out the start time below, with Pacific Standard Time (PST) three hours behind Eastern Standard Time (EST), and Central European Time (CET) one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
2026 Daytona 500 start time
| Timezone | Start |
|---|---|
| Eastern Time (local) | 14:30 |
| Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) | 19:30 |
| Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) | 11:30 - Monday 16th February |
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