2026 Autotrader 400
| Race details[1][2][3][4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 36 in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | February 22, 2026 | ||
| Location | EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.54 miles (2.48 km) | ||
| Distance | 260 laps, 400.4 mi (644.4 km) | ||
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman | ||
| Turn announcers | Doug Turnbull (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4) | ||
The 2026 Autotrader 400 is an upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race that will be held on February 22, 2026, at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 260 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway (with superspeedway rules), it will be the second race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Report
Background
EchoPark Speedway (commonly referred to as Atlanta Motor Speedway) is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car races since 1992.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit. In July 2021 NASCAR announced that the track would be reprofiled for the 2022 season to have 28 degrees of banking and would be narrowed from 55 to 40 feet which the track claims will turn racing at the track similar to restrictor plate superspeedways. Despite the reprofiling being criticized by drivers, construction began in August 2021 and wrapped up in December 2021.[5][6] The track has seating capacity of 71,000 to 125,000 people depending on the tracks configuration.
On June 3, 2025, SMI announced the track's renaming to EchoPark Speedway under a new seven-year sponsorship deal with the Smith family-owned business, EchoPark. The renaming ended a 35-year stint under the Atlanta Motor Speedway name.[7]
On August 20, 2025, when the schedule was unveiled, Autotrader was announced as the title sponsor for EchoPark's spring race, replacing Ambetter Health.[8]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Media
Television
NASCAR on Fox will carry the race in the United States. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and three-time Atlanta winner Kevin Harvick will call the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith will handle pit road for the television side, and Larry McReynolds will provide insight on-site during the race.
| Fox | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analyst |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer Color-commentator: Kevin Harvick |
Jamie Little Regan Smith |
Larry McReynolds |
Radio
The race will be broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman will call the race from the booth when the field will race down the front stretch. Doug Turnbull will call the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field will race through turns 1 and 2, and Pat Patterson will call the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field will race through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN will be manned by Brett McMillan, Alan Cavanna and Wendy Venturini.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Brad Gillie Announcer: Nick Yeoman |
Turns 1 & 2: Doug Turnbull Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson |
Brett McMillan Alan Cavanna Wendy Venturini |
References
- ^ "2026 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
- ^ "Atlanta Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ "NASCAR releases 2026 schedule, adding Chicagoland and shifting All-Star to Dover". NASCAR. August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 16, 2025. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
- ^ "Atlanta Motor Speedway to re-profile track in 2022 and drivers are expressing frustration with the changes". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
- ^ "Atlanta Motor Speedway track reprofile begins | NASCAR". Official Site Of NASCAR. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
- ^ Spanberg, Erik (June 3, 2025). "NASCAR track in Atlanta gets new name with Charlotte ties". Charlotte Business Journals. Archived from the original on June 3, 2025. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ "Autotrader 400". EchoPark Speedway. July 21, 2025.