Truck Series Preview Friday, October 9, 2026

Ecosave 250

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Laps 167 Distance 251 mi Type intermediate Coverage FS1 · 5:00 PM ET

1.5

asphalt

Surface

Green Flag In

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Days

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Hrs

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Min

Pre-Race Race Day Post-Race

The Hook

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

Your Drivers' Outlook

Historical Context

Denny Hamlin has 40 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 2 wins and a 11.5 average finish.
Christopher Bell has 15 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 1 win and a 10.7 average finish.
Ryan Blaney has 24 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 2 wins and a 17.3 average finish.

Based on Truck Series results at Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1995-2026.

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 Ecosave 250 on?

The Ecosave 250 airs on FS1 on Friday, October 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET, broadcast from Charlotte Motor Speedway. Every 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race airs on FS1, available through cable, satellite, and live-TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and fuboTV.

What time does the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race start today?

The Ecosave 250 green flag is set for 5:00 PM ET on Friday, October 9, 2026, airing on FS1. 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	1678	22	1	P3 (2026)
2	Chase Briscoe		1600	6	0	P34 (2026)
3	Christopher Bell	Prev Winner	1576	8	1	P2 (2026)
4	Ryan Blaney	Prev Winner	1565	16	1	P7 (2026)
5	Bubba Wallace		1559	10	0	P22 (2026)
6	William Byron		1554	10	0	P9 (2026)
7	Chase Elliott	Prev Winner	1550	15	1	P37 (2026)
8	Tyler Reddick		1550	8	0	P4 (2026)
9	Chris Buescher		1548	14	0	P30 (2026)
10	Kyle Larson	Prev Winner	1545	16	1	P5 (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, Sep 28, 2026, 07:16 AM ET

#	Driver	Tier	Exp. Finish	Win %	Top 5 %	Top 10 %
1	Denny Hamlin Best in Field	Favorite	6.2	18.2%	58.6%	76.5%
2	Christopher Bell	Favorite	7.8	17.8%	58.4%	76.5%
3	Ryan Blaney	Favorite	8.2	16.3%	55.9%	74.6%
4	Chase Briscoe	Favorite	9.2	15.5%	54.2%	73.0%
5	Ty Gibbs	Favorite	9.2	12.8%	49.3%	69.3%
6	Kyle Larson	Favorite	10.1	11.1%	46.6%	67.3%
7	Bubba Wallace	Contender	10.7	9.9%	43.8%	65.4%
8	Tyler Reddick	Contender	10.7	8.8%	41.5%	63.4%
9	Joey Logano	Contender	11.2	7.4%	37.9%	60.3%
10	William Byron	Contender	11.2	7.4%	37.9%	60.3%
11	Chase Elliott	Contender	11.9	5.5%	33.7%	57.5%
12	Chris Buescher	Contender	12.7	5.1%	31.7%	55.8%
13	Ryan Preece	Contender	13.1	4.7%	28.7%	53.8%
14	Daniel Suarez	Contender	13.2	4.0%	26.9%	51.9%
15	Austin Cindric	Mid-Pack	13.3	3.6%	25.0%	50.1%
16	Carson Hocevar	Mid-Pack	14.0	3.1%	22.7%	47.9%
17	Ross Chastain	Mid-Pack	14.5	3.1%	21.5%	47.1%
18	Brad Keselowski	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.4%	17.5%	41.8%
19	Alex Bowman	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.2%	16.4%	40.5%
20	Erik Jones	Mid-Pack	15.4	1.9%	14.9%	38.8%
21	Michael McDowell	Mid-Pack	17.0	1.2%	11.6%	32.5%
22	Austin Dillon	Mid-Pack	17.1	0.9%	10.4%	30.4%
23	Todd Gilliland	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.8%	9.6%	28.6%
24	A.J. Allmendinger	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.7%	8.4%	27.0%
25	John Hunter Nemechek	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.5%	7.3%	24.6%
26	Shane van Gisbergen	Mid-Pack	19.1	0.5%	6.5%	22.5%
27	Casey Mears	Dark Horse	19.1	0.4%	5.8%	21.1%
28	Jimmie Johnson	Dark Horse	19.9	0.4%	5.3%	20.2%
29	Kevin Magnussen	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.7%	18.5%
30	Josh Berry	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.6%	18.6%
31	Zane Smith	Dark Horse	20.9	0.2%	3.6%	15.6%
32	Noah Gragson	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.0%	10.4%
33	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.4%	13.0%
34	Riley Herbst	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.1%	11.6%
35	Katherine Legge	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.1%	11.7%
36	Ty Dillon	Dark Horse	23.9	0.1%	1.5%	8.8%
37	Cole Custer	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.5%	13.0%
38	B.J. McLeod	Dark Horse	24.7	0.0%	1.1%	7.4%
39	Connor Zilisch	Dark Horse	25.7	0.0%	0.6%	5.7%
40	Cody Ware	Dark Horse	58.0	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

Enjoy Illinois 300: Model picked Denny Hamlin at P1 → Actual P9

(0/5 top-5 hits)

35% top-5 hit rate across 8 races

History at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Truck Series data from 1995-2026 (14 races)

Recent Results

Year	Race	Winner	Margin	Laps Led
2025	NASCAR Truck Series at Charlotte	Corey Heim	—	98
2024	NASCAR Truck Series at Charlotte	Nick Sanchez	—	9
2023	NASCAR Truck Series at Charlotte	Ben Rhodes	—	37
2022	NASCAR Truck Series at Charlotte	Ross Chastain	—	4
2021	NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Charlotte	John Hunter Nemechek	—	71

All Results at This Track

2025 Heim 2024 Sanchez 2023 Rhodes 2022 Chastain 2021 Nemechek 2020 Elliott 2019 Busch 2018 Sauter 2017 Busch 2016 Crafton 2015 Kahne 2014 Busch 2013 Busch 2012 Lofton

Laps Led Leaders

Driver	Total Laps Led
Kyle Busch	454
Corey Heim	219
Carson Hocevar	105
Johnny Sauter	98
John Hunter Nemechek	92

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.