NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — NASCAR's return to points racing at North Wilkesboro Speedway continued on Sunday with the NASCAR Cup Series scheduled to headline the final day of a three-day race weekend, marking the sport's first championship points event at the historic North Carolina venue since 1996.
The 450-lap Window World 450 was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET following a weekend that included support races, practice sessions and qualifying at the restored short track. NASCAR's official weekend schedule also featured the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series FaithFest 250 on Saturday and zMAX CARS Tour races on Friday.
According to NASCAR, Sunday's program included pre-race activities before the Cup Series drivers took the green flag for the 281.25-mile event. Official race timing and scoring showed the event was preparing to start, with live updates to begin once competition was underway.
North Wilkesboro, one of NASCAR's original venues, hosted Cup Series championship races until 1996 before falling off the schedule. The speedway returned to major NASCAR competition in recent years as the site of the annual All-Star Race, but the 2026 calendar restored a points-paying Cup Series event to the track. Reuters reported earlier this year that NASCAR had moved the 2026 All-Star Race to Dover Motor Speedway while awarding North Wilkesboro a regular-season Cup date.
Speedway officials said the race weekend attracted fans for multiple on-track events, with parking and fan access arranged throughout the facility. Sunday's schedule also included driver introductions and entertainment before the main event.
Saturday's Truck Series race concluded before attention shifted to the Cup Series finale, although official Cup race results were not yet available as Sunday's event had not started at the time of publication.
NASCAR said live timing, scoring and official results for the Window World 450 would be published as the race progressed, with post-race standings to follow after the completion of the event.
