1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Number of races televised: 32/34 (94%)
Number of races televised live: 19/34 (56%)
Changes from previous year:
- NBC stopped televising races. Their one race they aired, the Winston 500, was moved to ESPN, where it was changed from tape-delayed to a live broadcast.
- Two new events were added to the calendar. The non-points Atlanta Invitational was shown tape-delayed on ESPN, while the Budweiser at the Glen was shown live on ESPN.
- The Motorcraft 500 on ABC was moved from tape-delayed to a live broadcast.
- The Valleydale 500 on ESPN was moved from live to tape-delayed.
- The Oakwood Homes 500 on Jefferson-Pilot was moved from live to tape-delayed.
- The Winston was moved from Jefferson-Pilot to ESPN.
- The Miller High Life 500 was moved from live on ESPN to tape-delayed on SETN.
- The Summer 500 was moved from live on ESPN to tape-delayed on SETN.
- The Atlanta Journal 500 was moved from TBS to ESPN.