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Will rain delay Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte? Get the latest weather forecast, scheduled start time and updates after Saturday’s washout.
As of early Sunday morning, the NASCAR Bank of America 400 is still sticking with a 3 p.m. ET start at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but remnants of Hurricane Isaias lingering around the region mean that a delay around the start of the race remains a realistic possibility, based on multiple weather forecasts.
Saturday’s washout already erased practice and qualifying, and Sunday’s wet forecast gives crews a narrow window to dry a saturated 1.5-mile oval before the green flag.
NASCAR canceled all Saturday on-track activity and moved the postponed O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Blue Cross NC 300 to 8 p.m. ET Sunday, following the Cup race, according to NASCAR.com. The Cup lineup was set by the rule book for the fourth time in six Chase races. NASCAR has announced no delay, and the Cup race remains on USA Network for 3 p.m. ET.
The National Weather Service forecast reports that the “chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible,” with heaviest rains wrapping up by 11 a.m.
Forecasters expect up to four inches of rain across Saturday and Sunday, with scattered showers lingering into late Sunday afternoon as the worst of the storm exits, according to WBTV’s Elissia Wilson.
AccuWeather shows thunderstorms hitting the track at about 3 p.m., right around start time for the race, raising the possibility of a lightning delay as well as a wet track. Charlotte has lights, so a push into Sunday night remains possible. Monday’s forecast calls for sunshine, a high near 83 degrees and a 10% chance of rain.
NASCAR’s own official weather forecast calls for at least some rain at start time as well.
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE WEATHER — CONCORD, NC
Sunday, Oct. 11 • Bank of America 400 • Green Flag 3 p.m. ET
CURRENT (as of 2:32 a.m. EDT): Light Rain Shower • 70° • Feels Like 73° • Humidity 99% • Wind 9 mph SE • UV Index 0
Time (ET)
Conditions
Temp
Feels Like
Humidity
Wind (mph)
3 AM
Light Rain Shower
70°
73°
99%
9 SE
4 AM
Light Rain Shower
71°
73°
99%
9 SE
5 AM
Light Rain Shower
71°
74°
98%
9 SSE
6 AM
Patchy Rain Nearby
72°
75°
96%
9 SSE
7 AM
Light Drizzle
73°
75°
94%
11 S
8 AM
Light Rain Shower
70°
71°
93%
11 SSW
9 AM
Patchy Rain Nearby
72°
69°
80%
13 SW
10 AM
Patchy Rain Nearby
74°
70°
68%
14 SW
11 AM
Sunny
75°
70°
54%
14 SW
12 PM
Partly Cloudy
76°
70°
50%
15 SW
1 PM
Partly Cloudy
75°
69°
51%
14 SW
2 PM
Partly Cloudy
72°
66°
59%
15 SW
3 PM (Green Flag)
Patchy Rain Nearby
69°
65°
69%
12 SW
4 PM
Overcast
66°
62°
77%
11 SW
Hourly forecast, all times Eastern • Race start (3 p.m. ET) highlighted • Wind direction is where the wind is coming from • Source: NASCAR.com, Charlotte Motor Speedway race weather
Charlotte Motor Speedway Drying Time
Air Titan trucks blast water off the surface, and jet dryers follow with heat. Together, they can ready the track in a little more than 90 minutes once the rain stops.
“As long as the rain stops, we’ll get the cars on the track,” jet dryer operator James Dixon said in 2016, according to WBTV’s David Whisenant.
Working backward from a 3 p.m. green flag, the rain must clear by roughly 1:30 p.m. ET. Any later, and a delayed start becomes the working assumption.
Charlotte does not permit racing on a wet track. NASCAR cannot race on a wet oval under normal Cup procedures, and the Charlotte tire package lists only the standard intermediate setup, according to NASCAR.com.
NASCAR’s September rule change lets teams pick slicks or wet-weather tires after a rain caution at wet-weather oval races, according to RACER.
BANK OF AMERICA 400 — STARTING LINEUP
NASCAR Cup Series • Charlotte Motor Speedway • Sunday, Oct. 11 • 3 p.m. ET • USA Network
POS
NO.
Driver
Team
1
5
Kyle Larson (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
2
19
Chase Briscoe (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
3
45
Tyler Reddick (C)
23XI Racing
4
12
Ryan Blaney (C)
Team Penske
5
2
Austin Cindric (C)
Team Penske
6
24
William Byron (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
7
22
Joey Logano (C)
Team Penske
8
23
Bubba Wallace (C)
23XI Racing
9
9
Chase Elliott (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
10
97
Shane van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
11
77
Carson Hocevar (C)
Spire Motorsports
12
11
Denny Hamlin (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
13
17
Chris Buescher (C)
RFK Racing
14
7
Daniel Suárez (C)
Spire Motorsports
15
54
Ty Gibbs (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
16
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
17
20
Christopher Bell (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
18
16
A.J. Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
19
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
20
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
21
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
22
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
23
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
24
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
25
60
Ryan Preece (C)
RFK Racing
26
33
Austin Hill (i)
Richard Childress Racing
27
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
28
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
29
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
30
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
31
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
32
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
33
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
34
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
35
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
36
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
37
67
Corey Heim (i)
23XI Racing
38
66
Gray Gaulding (i)
Garage 66
39
44
B.J. McLeod
NY Racing Team
Pole: Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports • (i) = ineligible for series points • (C) as designated on NASCAR’s official lineup • TV/streaming: USA Network, HBO Max • Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin Face Wet-Track Variables
Kyle Larson starts from the pole, according to RACER’s qualifying coverage. He carries a 40-point Chase lead over Denny Hamlin, according to EssentiallySports’ race preview.
Larson has finished no worse than fifth through five Chase races, winning at World Wide Technology Raceway and Kansas Speedway before a runner-up finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin, who won the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, finished 16th at Las Vegas. Christopher Bell, third in the standings, won the rain-shortened 2024 Coca-Cola 600 and placed eighth or better in four of his last five Charlotte starts. DraftKings lists Larson and Hamlin at +450, Bell at +500 and Chase Briscoe at +550.
With no practice, no team has turned a lap on the Charlotte oval this weekend. A delay would push the Cup start closer to the 8 p.m. ET O’Reilly race, and any damp patches after drying would put every setup to its first real test.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist who covers MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, golf, and Olympic sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Newspaper and Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering the Olympics, pro baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin