The last time the NASCAR Cup Series was here, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Daniel Suárez earned a win that surprised the field, and he pointed up to the sky.
He was crediting his late friend and mentor, Kyle Busch, who had died unexpectedly days earlier.
“Kyle, he was special,” Suárez said in the media center after this year’s Coca-Cola 600, a hulking trophy next to him. “I was doing this for Kyle, (his wife) Samantha, for (his children) Brexton and Lennix and for all his family.”
This weekend has already seen a lot of beautiful moments of remembrance for Busch, the 41-year-old all-time great driver who died in May after his severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis. On Sunday, those moments will continue to flow, including the most fitting Busch tribute of all: some good racing.
A memorial for Kyle Busch is displayed at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday, May 24, 2026, during the Coca-Cola 600. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@charlotteobserver.com
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs continue with the Bank of America 400, a race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval that requires drivers to run 400.5 miles over the course of 267 laps. It’s the fifth-to-last race on the schedule for playoff drivers to improve their points positioning. Kyle Larson leads the field, with Denny Hamlin (40 points behind) and Christopher Bell (-55) and Joey Logano (-71) trailing him.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Sunday’s race, including the Cup Series playoff standings, best bets, broadcast information and predictions from writers at The Charlotte Observer.
Daniel Suarez celebrates on Victory Lane after winning the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@charlotteobserver.com How to watch, follow Bank of America 400
Here’s a look at the news and notes ahead of the Sunday race:
Date: Sunday, Oct. 11Time: 3 p.m.Weather: Cloudy with 2 inches of rain expected, according to AccuWeather.comPurse: $11,233,037TV: USA, 2:30 p.m.Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)Track Length: 1.5-mile asphalt ovalStages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 80; Stage 2 ends on Lap 165; Final Stage ends on Lap 267 
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace wears a Kyle Busch T-shirt as he honors deceased driver Kyle Busch during driver introductions for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Busch passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, May 21, 2026. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings at the moment
Heading into the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, here’s a look at the standings among the Cup Series playoff drivers. It’s gotten testy among these guys. That intensity peaked last month, when fan favorite Carson Hocevar threw a punch at Ryan Blaney.
Kyle Larson (leader)Denny Hamlin (-40)Christopher Bell (-55)Joey Logano (-71)Ryan Blaney (-80)Chase Briscoe (-84)Tyler Reddick (-106)Ty Gibbs (-110)Austin Cindric (-128)Bubba Wallace (-137)Carson Hocevar (-158)William Byron (-160)Chase Elliott (-163)Daniel Suárez (-195)Chris Buescher (-196)Ryan Preece (-200)Betting information for NASCAR playoff race
Here are the betting lines for the Top 10 racers, according to DraftKings Sportsbook as of Saturday: Kyle Larson (+400), Christopher Bell (+450), Denny Hamlin (+500), Chase Briscoe (+500), Tyler Reddick (+650), Ty Gibbs (+1000), Ryan Blaney (+1100), Joey Logano (+1400), William Byron (+1400), Chase Elliott (+1800).
Three other NASCAR wagers to consider:
Christopher Bell to win NASCAR Cup Series championship: Bell is indeed 55 points behind Larson with only a handful of races to go. But he’s consistently good everywhere he goes, and that could only mean good things when the rest of the schedule sees intermediate tracks, short tracks and a superspeedway. The odds are lucrative, too (+600).A Team Penske driver wins Charlotte race: We get that it’s been a Toyota (and to a lesser extent, Chevy) year in the Cup Series. But don’t count out the Fords at Charlotte, a racetrack that is technically an intermediate track but has the feel of a speedway. It’s at +500 odds.Group winner among Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric. This essentially means who will have the best finish among these four, and Wallace, fresh off a nice run in Las Vegas, could be a compelling choice here. The odds: Logano (+190), Elliott (+280), Wallace (+280), Cindric (+300). 
NASCAR driver Joey Logano celebrates winning the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, July 19, 2026. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Predictions for Bank of America 400
Here’s who we think will win this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Alex Zietlow: Ryan Blaney. It’s true that the talk of the regular season was that this was the “Toyota Cup Series,” what with how great the car manufacturer was performing up and down the field. It’s also true that the Toyota-partnered Joe Gibbs Racing team, specifically, has had a special year, and that there would be no objectively better story than if JGR star Denny Hamlin were to find a way to win his first Cup championship.
But I think Charlotte won’t fit into all that. This is the weekend that Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford who currently sits in fifth place, emerges victorious and kickstarts a legendary push to the end to vie for his second title. He’s particularly good at intermediates and has won at this Charlotte oval a few times, including at the 2023 Coca-Cola 600, which preceded his championship run that year. All I’m saying is: Count Blaney out at your own peril this weekend. I won’t.
Scott Fowler: Kyle Larson. Larson has been on a heater lately, with his last four NASCAR Cup finishes sounding like the beginning of a long march: 1-2-1-2. His 40-point Cup lead isn’t insurmountable in this new format, but he’s the hottest driver in the sport right now, and I wouldn’t want to be the one trying to catch him. Larson won the Cup championship in 2025; if he gets this one too, he’ll be the first driver to go back-to-back since Jimmie Johnson won five times in a row from 2006-10. The Charlotte race will get him one step closer.
Will Dehmel: Denny Hamlin. In the year of Toyota, I’m going with their all-time leader in Cup Series wins. Hamlin has finished well on ovals of Charlotte’s size this season, winning at Las Vegas, coming in second at Fort Worth, and finishing top-5 six times. That Hamlin has not won more than once on the Charlotte oval makes it feel like he’s overdue. Four years after his first win here, I’m predicting Hamlin to finish on top again.
NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin looks to bump fists with fans as he walks through the stands of North Wilkesboro Speedway during driver introductions for the Window World 450 on Sunday, July 19, 2026. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
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Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22.
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