The 2026 NASCAR Brasil Series is the fourth season of the NASCAR Brasil Series after the rebrand of "Sprint Race" Series. It consists of nine rounds plus an pre-season round starting on 15 March in Pirelli Brazilian testing facility Circuito Panamericano, Elias Fausto and will finish on 29 November in Autódromo Internacional de BrasÃÂlia, BrasÃÂlia. It is the first season of the series new car called "RISE 26" which features an new chassis, an upgrade of on its V6 engine and lighter than the previous generation.
For the 2026 season, several changes are being implanted in the series; a Playoff system is coming to replace the old "Special Edition" rounds, as well a pre-season round inspired by NASCAR "Cook Out Clash" called "O duelo" (The Duel) with an special racing format unseen in the series before.
Rubens Barrichello will enter as both 2025 "Overall" and "Brazilian" championships Champion, while Gabriel Casagrande will enter as the "Special Edition" Champion.
Technical changes:
The 2026 season will debut an new car for the series, named "RISE 26" (RacecraftâÂÂ, âÂÂInnovationâÂÂ, âÂÂSafetyâ and âÂÂExperienceâÂÂ), it consists in several upgrades and modifications from the previous generation, including the replacement of the butterfly doors for an hatch to driver's entry as well an relocation of drivers position from the middle of the car to the left due facilitate rescue teams operation. As well the car received an new eletronic and suspension package, update in chassis for safety reasons, specially in the front and rear bumpers, increase on power-to-weight ratio and fuel tank capacity (fueled by ethanol), car body changing from fiberglass to carbon fiber and an unique Pirelli tire developed specially for the series.
Technical information:
Playoff format:
The 2026 season will see a change in the championship structure with the addition of "Playoffs" inspired by the Cup Series. On March 20th Nascar Brasil CEO Thiago Marques announced its rules. The "Playoffs" will replace the old "Special Edition" rounds and will encompass the last two rounds of the championship, with this, the old titles of "Brazil Champion" and "Special Edition Champion" will cease to exist, with only the overall championship remaining, the Playoffs will functioning as follows:
The regular season will take place during the first 7 rounds of the championship, with two races in each round, totaling 14 races. During these rounds, qualifying will consist in drivers setting times following a sprint race between the top 5 fastest drivers, awarding 10 points to the winner and 2 points to the 5th place finisher. After the 20 races and 7 qualifying sprints, the 12 highest-placed drivers will receive 20 extra points in their score for the next phase of the playoffs.
The Playoff races will have a different scoring system than the rest of the championship and will consist of three races in each round, additionally, sprint races during qualifying will no longer take place. After the Chapecó round, the six best-placed drivers will receive 10 extra points in their championship standings totaling a combination of 30 bonus points for the top 6 and 20 bonus points for the top 12 before the final round in Autódromo de BrasÃÂlia. The champion will be decided by the driver who scores the most points throughout the entire championship.
Following 2025 season when for the first time the cars were run by private teams, the 2026 season will include two new teams on the grid making an total of 5, after R.Mattheis Motorsport left the series being replaced by[Pole Motorsport.
Team Changes
Cavaleiro Sports announced their move to Nascar Brasil in December 2025, the team was invited to join the grid for the 2025 season but the management decided to wait for the series new car to be the right moment to join, they will field four cars in the grid.
Pole Motorsports will replace R.Mattheis Motorsport after announcing the entry in Nascar Brasil in January, being the fifth private team in the grid they will field four cars in the grid.
Team RC and Full Time Sports will keep with six cars on the grid, while MX Vogel will operate four cars.
Driver Changes:
Vitor Genz was announced in Full Time Sports after his previous team left the series while Murilo Rocha will debut with the team after being runner-up in 2025 F4 Brazilian Championship.
Denis Navarro will debut this season with Cavaleiro Sports while Arthur Gama will return to the series with the team after leaving beyond 2023 season.
Dudes Castroneves moved to Pole Motorsport after RMattheis Motorsport left the series.
The pre-calendar of the 2026 season of Nascar Brasil series was released on November 17 including 21 races on 9 rounds across Brazil and was set to start on March 15 in a yet to be determined track, with the season closure scheduled to Autódromo Internacional de BrasÃÂlia in November 29.
On January 24 the calendar received its first update with the addition of an pre-season race to serve as first contact for teams and drivers with the new car. As well the yet to be determined first round was scheduled to Autódromo Internacional de Santa Cruz do Sul in April 12 and the round in Autódromo Internacional de Chapecó had its dates swichted with Autódromo Internacional de Cascavel on May 3 due to track building works delay.
For the first time, the calendar will not have more than one round per track, as well ten dates for the first time. The calendar will have an mix of six road courses, two oval tracks and two external layouts.
Bold indicates overall winner. Notes:
Notes:
Playoffs points:
Notes:
<span style="font-size:85%">Notes- Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time. â â Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 75% of the race distance. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12à- Superpole position.</span>