O'Reilly Series Preview Saturday, October 10, 2026

Blue Cross NC 250

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Laps 167 Distance 251 mi Type intermediate Coverage CW · 4:00 PM ET

1.5

asphalt

Surface

Race Date

Saturday, October 10, 2026

4:00 PM ET

Pre-Race Race Day Post-Race

The Hook

Your watchlist, historical context, and race-week curiosities.

Your Drivers' Outlook

Historical Context

Tyler Reddick has 16 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 1 win and a 7.5 average finish.
Chase Elliott has 21 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 3 wins and a 14.2 average finish.
Denny Hamlin has 40 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 2 wins and a 11.6 average finish.

Based on O'Reilly Series results at Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1982-2026.

DID YOU KNOW?

Bobby Allison has won 7 times at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a 12.7 average finish.

See Bobby Allison's full stats

LAST TIME HERE

The last Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the 2026 Coca-Cola 600 (chaos score: 91.0).

Track history

The Story

The narrative arc, drivers to watch, and race-weekend color.

The Data

Schedule, predictions, entry list, track history, fantasy, and betting angles.

TV & Start Time

What channel is the Blue Cross NC 250 on?

The Blue Cross NC 250 airs on CW on Saturday, October 10, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET, broadcast from Charlotte Motor Speedway. All 2026 NASCAR Xfinity (O'Reilly Auto Parts) Series races air exclusively on The CW, which is free over-the-air with a digital antenna.

What time does the NASCAR Xfinity race start today?

The Blue Cross NC 250 green flag is set for 4:00 PM ET on Saturday, October 10, 2026, airing on CW. All NASCAR start times are listed in Eastern Time.

NR-Rating Track Rankings

#	Driver	Badge	Elo Rating	Starts	Wins	Last Finish
1	Denny Hamlin	Prev Winner	1624	22	1	P3(2026)
2	Chase Elliott	Prev Winner	1617	14	1	P37(2026)
3	Tyler Reddick		1597	8	0	P4(2026)
4	Chris Buescher		1591	12	0	P30(2026)
5	Chase Briscoe		1579	5	0	P34(2026)
6	Brad Keselowski	Prev Winner	1570	21	2	P15(2026)
7	William Byron		1561	9	0	P9(2026)
8	Ryan Preece		1544	6	0	P33(2026)
9	Bubba Wallace		1543	8	0	P22(2026)
10	Christopher Bell	Prev Winner	1539	7	1	P2(2026)

NR-Rating: Elo-based rating from the NR-Rating prediction model. Higher = stronger at this track type. = Previous winner at this track

NR-Rating Predictions

Last updated: Mon, Jun 1, 2026, 11:25 AM ET

#	Driver	Tier	Exp. Finish	Win %	Top 5 %	Top 10 %
1	Tyler Reddick Best in Field	Favorite	6.2	18.2%	58.6%	76.5%
2	Chase Elliott	Favorite	7.8	17.8%	58.4%	76.5%
3	Denny Hamlin	Favorite	8.2	16.3%	55.9%	74.6%
4	Chris Buescher	Favorite	9.2	15.4%	54.1%	72.9%
5	Ryan Blaney	Favorite	9.2	12.7%	49.0%	69.0%
6	Ryan Preece	Favorite	10.1	10.9%	46.4%	67.2%
7	Christopher Bell	Contender	10.7	9.6%	43.6%	65.3%
8	William Byron	Contender	10.7	8.4%	40.3%	62.2%
9	Brad Keselowski	Contender	11.2	7.6%	38.0%	60.3%
10	Chase Briscoe	Contender	11.9	6.4%	35.5%	58.5%
11	Kyle Larson	Contender	12.7	5.2%	32.4%	56.7%
12	Bubba Wallace	Contender	12.7	5.1%	30.9%	55.5%
13	Carson Hocevar	Contender	13.1	4.3%	28.1%	53.2%
14	Ross Chastain	Contender	13.3	3.8%	25.9%	50.5%
15	Alex Bowman	Mid-Pack	13.5	3.3%	24.0%	49.5%
16	Daniel Suarez	Mid-Pack	14.0	3.1%	21.8%	47.6%
17	Ty Gibbs	Mid-Pack	14.5	3.0%	20.3%	45.4%
18	Joey Logano	Mid-Pack	14.7	2.7%	18.8%	43.9%
19	Austin Cindric	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.2%	16.9%	41.0%
20	Erik Jones	Mid-Pack	16.7	1.7%	13.5%	36.0%
21	Casey Mears	Mid-Pack	16.9	1.4%	12.6%	34.6%
22	Michael McDowell	Mid-Pack	17.0	1.2%	11.6%	32.5%
23	Austin Dillon	Mid-Pack	17.1	0.9%	10.3%	30.3%
24	Shane van Gisbergen	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.7%	8.5%	27.2%
25	A.J. Allmendinger	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.5%	7.5%	25.0%
26	Zane Smith	Mid-Pack	19.1	0.5%	6.5%	22.5%
27	John Hunter Nemechek	Dark Horse	19.1	0.5%	6.7%	22.9%
28	Todd Gilliland	Dark Horse	19.1	0.4%	5.8%	21.1%
29	Jimmie Johnson	Dark Horse	19.9	0.4%	5.3%	20.2%
30	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.6%	18.5%
31	Josh Berry	Dark Horse	22.9	0.2%	2.1%	10.8%
32	Connor Zilisch	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.0%	11.2%
33	Katherine Legge	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.4%	13.2%
34	Cole Custer	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	1.9%	11.2%
35	Noah Gragson	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.3%	12.7%
36	Riley Herbst	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.5%	13.9%
37	Ty Dillon	Dark Horse	23.4	0.1%	1.5%	8.7%
38	B.J. McLeod	Dark Horse	24.8	0.0%	0.9%	6.7%
39	Cody Ware	Dark Horse	56.1	0.0%	0.1%	1.3%

Win probabilities reflect full-field Monte Carlo simulations. A 10% pWin means roughly 1-in-10 chance of winning — higher than most bettors realize for a 36-car field where the average driver has ~2.8% odds. Top 5 and Top 10 percentages similarly reflect simulated outcomes, not historical averages. Learn how the model works.

Predictions powered by NR-Rating model (MAE: 8.5 positions)

Prediction Scorecard

Anduril 250: Model picked Denny Hamlin at P1 → Actual P14

(0/5 top-5 hits)

33% top-5 hit rate across 17 races

History at Charlotte Motor Speedway

O'Reilly Series data from 1982-2026 (21 races)

Recent Results

Year	Race	Winner	Margin	Laps Led
2025	NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte	William Byron	—	71
2024	NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte	Chase Elliott	—	18
2022	NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte	Josh Berry	—	89
2021	NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte	Ty Gibbs	—	20
2020	NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT CHARLOTTE	A.J. Allmendinger	—	12

Laps Led Leaders

Driver	Total Laps Led
Austin Dillon	248
Justin Allgaier	214
Kyle Larson	145
Chase Briscoe	143
Daniel Suarez	115

Track Type Tendencies

intermediate

Intermediate tracks like Charlotte Motor Speedway reward the complete package — car setup, pit strategy, and driver consistency all factor in. These are the races where elite teams separate themselves.

Track position and tire management are critical, especially in long green-flag runs.

Fantasy

Dominator Plays

Austin Dillon 248 laps led

Justin Allgaier 214 laps led

Kyle Larson 145 laps led

High laps-led totals at this track

Consistency Plays

Ty Gibbs 4.00 avg

Sam Mayer 6.00 avg

Kasey Kahne 8.50 avg

50%+ top-5 rate at this track

Value Picks

Sam Mayer 6.00 avg, 0 wins

Daniel Suarez 7.50 avg, 0 wins

Trevor Bayne 7.60 avg, 0 wins

Strong avg finish but no wins — lower ownership

Explore More

Track History