Charlotte O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice, qualifying moved to morning
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 9, 2026
Charlotte schedule shift
Charlotte Motor Speedway will run all three NASCAR premier series this weekend, and Saturday’s plan changed because of a threat of inclement weather. NASCAR moved O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice to 8:30 a.m. and qualifying to 9:35 a.m., with both sessions set to stream on the CW App and ESPN App. The Blue Cross NC 300 still goes off Saturday at 4 p.m. on The CW, but the morning start puts the race in the middle of a packed three-day slate. The Cup Series also gets an early tune-up, with practice at 11 a.m. and qualifying at 12:05 p.m., both on TruTV. Charlotte is the first stop in five straight tripleheader weekends to close the season, and the Chase presented by Mobil 1 is entering a critical stretch. It also marks the first time since 2017 that Charlotte’s fall races will be run on the 1.5-mile oval instead of the Roval, a change that gives the weekend a different feel from recent years and puts the spotlight back on the traditional track layout. The schedule shift keeps the weekend intact, but it also compresses the flow of the event and puts extra weight on Friday and Saturday morning sessions.
Truck Series Friday
The Craftsman Truck Series opens the weekend Friday with the Ecosave 200 at 5 p.m. on FOX, and the schedule around it sets up a full day at the speedway. Truck practice is slated for 1 p.m. on FS2 and Fox One, followed by qualifying at 2:05 p.m. on the same outlets. That makes the trucks the first of the three national series to hit the track in competition, and it gives the garage a clear start to a weekend that will stay busy through Sunday. Charlotte also has a special off-track event Friday night, with a Kyle Busch Celebration of Life set for 8 p.m. after the truck race. The truck race, the tribute and the opening of the weekend all come before the track turns to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday and the Cup Series on Sunday, which keeps the focus on Charlotte from the first green flag until the final checkered flag. Tire strategy will also matter in the opening act, with five total sets allotted to the Truck Series for the weekend. That number fits the compressed rhythm of the schedule and makes every practice run and qualifying lap more valuable before the field heads into race conditions.
Cup Series Sunday
The Cup Series closes the weekend Sunday with the Bank of America 400 at 3 p.m. on USA Network, and the race carries clear weight in the Chase. It is the sixth race of the 10-race Chase for the Cup, which puts Charlotte squarely in the middle of the playoff run and raises the stakes for every stage of the afternoon. The race is scheduled for 267 laps and 400.5 miles, so teams will have time to work through strategy, tire wear and track position on the oval. Cup practice and qualifying give the field a short runway before race day, and the series gets the most generous tire allotment of the weekend with 11 total sets. That should allow teams to attack the setup more aggressively in practice and prepare for long runs once the race goes green. The Sunday event also caps a weekend that features all three national series at the same venue. Charlotte’s place in the schedule, the return to the oval and the playoff pressure around the Bank of America 400 make Sunday the centerpiece of the stop, with the whole weekend building toward that final race.
