Monterey Car Week 2026 Schedule: The Whole Week, Day by Day

Monterey Car Week 2026 runs August 9–16, with the Pre-Reunion and Corkscrew Hillclimb opening things a weekend early on August 8–9. Below is the whole week laid out day by day, with what each day is actually worth to a Porsche owner — because 2026 is a year where none of the three headline events has a Porsche class, and the good Porsche days are not the famous ones.

The short version

If you can only take two days off: Friday August 14 and Saturday August 15. Friday is Werks Reunion — the all-Porsche day — plus The Quail. Saturday is Reunion race day at Laguna Seca, where the Peter Gregg Trophy and the Hurley Haywood GTP/Group C group put 935s and 962s back on track. Sunday's Pebble Beach Concours is the week's most famous event and, for Porsche specifically, its thinnest in 2026.

Day by day

Saturday August 8 – Sunday August 9: Pre-Reunion & Corkscrew Hillclimb

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas. The same cars and the same circuit as the main Reunion, a weekend earlier, with a fraction of the crowd. Entrants treat it as a shakedown, so there is more track time and far easier paddock access than you will get on race day. If your priority is getting close to the cars rather than watching a full race programme, this is the better of the two weekends — and it is the week's most underrated day.

Full Laguna Seca guide →

Monday August 10 – Tuesday August 11: the quiet start

No marquee events. This is arrival, settling in, and the informal end of the week — hotel lots and coffee stops on the Peninsula fill with cars that are here for later in the week. If you are driving up from Los Angeles or the Bay Area, these are the days to do it; Highway 1 and 68 get materially worse from Wednesday.

Coming from the north, these are also the days the NorCoast Rally scout run is on the road — Ashland on the 10th, the Northern California coast that night, San Francisco the 11th, Santa Cruz the 12th, onto the Peninsula as the week opens.

Wednesday August 12 – Friday August 14: Reunion practice and qualifying

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion main event runs August 12–15. Wednesday through Friday are practice and qualifying — cheaper, quieter, and the paddock is still approachable. The 2026 theme is Salute to Japanese Motorsports, so Porsche is not the featured marque. What matters instead is the run-group list: the Peter Gregg Trophy covers 1973–1981 IMSA GT machinery, the era Gregg defined in Brumos 911 RSRs, 934s and 935s, and a dedicated Hurley Haywood GTP/Group C group marks the 45th anniversary of IMSA GTP — the 956 and 962 era.

Friday August 14: the collision

Three things happen at once, and this is the day that needs planning.

• PCA Werks Reunion Monterey — Monterey Pines Golf Course, 1250 Garden Road. The 12th annual, and the only gathering all week where Porsche is the entire point rather than a sponsor. Spectator entry is free; parking is $40, cash only, and there are no ATMs on site.
• The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering — Quail Lodge, Carmel-by-the-Sea, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. The 23rd edition. Porsche is a confirmed Sapphire-tier sponsor for 2026, so there is an official presence, but none of the four celebrated classes is Porsche.
• Reunion qualifying at Laguna Seca, 20 minutes from both.

Doing all three is possible but not enjoyable. The honest advice: if you own a Porsche, Werks in the morning and Laguna Seca in the afternoon is the better Friday. The Quail is worth its price if you specifically want to see debuts, and it is the one event that sells out well in advance.

Werks Reunion guide → · The Quail guide →

Saturday August 15: Reunion race day

The best Porsche-watching day of the week. Thirteen race groups run in anger, including the two Porsche-heavy ones above. It is also the cheapest marquee day per hour of actual content, and general admission gets you paddock access that a Pebble Beach ticket does not.

Sunday August 16: Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

The 75th Concours. The show field opens to ticketed spectators at 5:30 am, judging runs from 8:00 am, and the awards ceremony is 1:30–5:00 pm. Set expectations carefully for 2026: the featured classes are Ferrari with a Chinetti/NART focus, Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale, Pre-WWI American Speedsters, Classic Streamliners, Pebble Beach Road Racing Greats, and Japanese Motorsports at Le Mans. There is no Porsche class, and Porsche appears only in passing inside the Japanese-at-Le-Mans context. Individual Porsches still turn up in the open postwar and sports-racing classes, but do not go expecting a Porsche showcase.

General admission was $550 through July 31 and steps up to $650 from August 1. Pricing is time-sensitive — check the official store before you plan around it.

Pebble Beach guide →

If you only have one day

• You own a Porsche and want to be around them: Friday, at Werks.
• You want to see Porsches driven hard: Saturday, at Laguna Seca.
• You want the cars to yourself: Saturday or Sunday the weekend before, at the Pre-Reunion.
• You want the spectacle regardless of marque: Sunday, at Pebble Beach — knowing what 2026's classes are.

Practical notes

• Traffic compounds from Wednesday. Highway 68 between Monterey and Salinas is the chokepoint for anything at Laguna Seca; leave far earlier than the map suggests.
• Cash for Werks parking. $40, no ATMs on site.
• Lodging on the Peninsula is booked and priced accordingly by now. Salinas and Seaside are the usual fallbacks — see the lodging strategy guide.
• Re-verify times and prices against the official pages below before you commit. Everything here was checked against primary sources, but Car Week details move.

Official sources

• Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion — WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
• PCA Werks Reunion Monterey
• The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering
• Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

Every event above is in the directory with dates and venues — see the full Monterey Car Week 2026 listing. If you are shopping for something to mark the trip, 1of1 Motorsport makes leather accessories worth a look for the occasion.