NASCAR 'close to agreement' to return to Montreal in 2026

NASCAR is expected to return to Canada in 2026, heading to Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, according to Le Journal de Québec. It’ll be the first time the sport returns to the track since 2012.

The Xfinity Series would and Truck Series would run there next season, with the Cup Series to follow in 2027 if all goes according to plan. NASCAR hasn’t brought their top series to The Great White North since 1958, when they raced insider the now-demolished Canadian National Exhibition Stadium. The legendary Lee Petty was victorious.

Ironically, it was Lee Petty’s son — better known as “The King” Richard Petty — who ended up being the top driver to compete that fateful day in Toronto. That was his first race in NASCAR, and he’d of course go on to win 200 races and seven championships in the sport.

As for the Xfinity Series, Justin Allgaier actually won the last time NASCAR raced at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2012. This was before his time at JR Motorsports, as he reached Victory Lane in the No. 31 for Turner Motorsports. That goes to show how much time has passed since Montreal took center stage in the NASCAR world.

Moreover, there’s been plenty of smoke regarding NASCAR’s return to Canada over the past few seasons. Many thought it would happen in 2025, but negotiations fell through. Ben Kennedy, Executive Vice President of NASCAR, spoke with Kevin Harvick last year about the idea on the Happy Hour podcast. 

“I think that opens up a new door for sure and as we think about other markets internationally, we’ve talked about Canada a lot,” the NASCAR exec explained. “I think that could potentially be an opportunity in the future. Talking abroad, I think the biggest challenge that we have as soon as you start to go abroad, especially when you start to talk about going over water, is naturally we just have so much inventory in our schedule. 

“It’s 38 races and if you look at next year’s schedule, we’ll do the Clash, one weekend off, which a lot of people don’t call it an off week, we go to Daytona 500, we have one off week after that in April for Easter, and then we go straight through to the first weekend of November. Kind of keeping those two bookends at either side of the schedule it makes it more challenging logistically to go from, let’s just make it up, a Kansas to Brazil or Europe, wherever it might be.”

Evidently, Canada is up next for NASCAR, but they’re looking to go worldwide in the future. Time will tell what other countries are on the docket, but exciting times are ahead for the Cup Series, that’s for sure.