Truck Series Preview Thursday, September 17, 2026

UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics

Bristol Motor Speedway

Laps 250 Distance 133 mi Type short Coverage FS1 · 8:00 PM ET

0.533

concrete

Surface

Race Date

Thursday, September 17, 2026

8:00 PM ET

Pre-Race Race Day Post-Race

Band A · The Hook

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

Your Drivers' Outlook

Historical Context

Denny Hamlin has 48 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with 4 wins and a 14.3 average finish.
Ryan Blaney has 28 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with 2 wins and a 11.6 average finish.
Chase Elliott has 29 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with a 12.3 average finish.

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

DID YOU KNOW?

Darrell Waltrip finishes in the top 10 at Bristol Motor Speedway 60% of the time across 58 starts.

Darrell Waltrip's track record

LAST TIME HERE

Christopher Bell won the 2026 Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

See Christopher Bell's results

Band B · The Story

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

Band C · The Data

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

TV & Start Time

What channel is the UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics on?

The UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics airs on FS1 on Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET, broadcast from Bristol 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 UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics green flag is set for 8:00 PM ET on Thursday, September 17, 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	Kyle Larson	Prev Winner	1656	25	3	P3(2026)
2	Ryan Blaney		1648	19	0	P2(2026)
3	Denny Hamlin	Prev Winner	1623	28	4	P9(2026)
4	Christopher Bell	Prev Winner	1594	13	2	P27(2026)
5	Joey Logano	Prev Winner	1577	27	3	P7(2026)
6	Chase Elliott		1575	22	0	P22(2026)
7	William Byron		1550	14	0	P30(2026)
8	Ty Gibbs	Prev Winner	1544	8	1	P1(2026)
9	Ross Chastain		1539	9	0	P20(2026)
10	Brad Keselowski	Prev Winner	1536	26	2	P14(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: Wed, May 13, 2026, 07:50 AM ET

#	Driver	Tier	Exp. Finish	Win %	Top 5 %	Top 10 %
1	Denny Hamlin Best in Field	Favorite	6.8	18.6%	57.4%	75.8%
2	Ryan Blaney	Favorite	6.8	17.5%	56.5%	74.9%
3	Chase Elliott	Favorite	8.3	16.2%	54.5%	73.7%
4	Kyle Larson	Favorite	8.6	13.2%	49.6%	69.7%
5	Christopher Bell	Favorite	8.6	13.2%	49.6%	69.7%
6	Tyler Reddick	Favorite	9.9	11.5%	46.2%	67.5%
7	Chris Buescher	Contender	10.3	9.5%	42.9%	65.3%
8	William Byron	Contender	10.3	8.2%	38.9%	62.3%
9	Ryan Preece	Contender	10.8	7.0%	36.4%	60.8%
10	Brad Keselowski	Contender	12.0	5.5%	33.9%	58.6%
11	Joey Logano	Contender	12.1	4.9%	31.2%	56.4%
12	Ty Gibbs	Contender	12.6	4.3%	29.9%	54.7%
13	Chase Briscoe	Contender	12.6	3.5%	26.2%	51.2%
14	Ross Chastain	Contender	13.8	3.4%	24.9%	50.2%
15	Bubba Wallace	Mid-Pack	14.0	2.7%	20.6%	45.7%
16	Alex Bowman	Mid-Pack	14.0	2.7%	20.6%	45.7%
17	Carson Hocevar	Mid-Pack	14.7	2.4%	17.8%	42.8%
18	Michael McDowell	Mid-Pack	15.0	2.1%	16.7%	41.1%
19	Daniel Suarez	Mid-Pack	15.6	1.7%	15.2%	38.3%
20	Kyle Busch	Mid-Pack	15.6	1.3%	13.3%	35.5%
21	Austin Dillon	Mid-Pack	17.0	0.8%	10.2%	30.9%
22	Austin Cindric	Mid-Pack	17.0	0.8%	10.8%	32.6%
23	Todd Gilliland	Mid-Pack	17.1	0.7%	9.1%	28.8%
24	Casey Mears	Mid-Pack	18.0	0.6%	7.3%	23.8%
25	Erik Jones	Mid-Pack	17.7	0.5%	8.1%	25.8%
26	Shane van Gisbergen	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.4%	6.4%	21.9%
27	Josh Berry	Dark Horse	19.0	0.4%	5.0%	20.3%
28	John Hunter Nemechek	Dark Horse	20.1	0.3%	4.2%	18.6%
29	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Dark Horse	20.1	0.3%	4.2%	18.6%
30	A.J. Allmendinger	Dark Horse	18.3	0.3%	5.7%	21.0%
31	Katherine Legge	Dark Horse	20.3	0.2%	2.8%	14.8%
32	Connor Zilisch	Dark Horse	21.2	0.2%	2.4%	11.9%
33	Zane Smith	Dark Horse	20.2	0.2%	3.3%	16.3%
34	Noah Gragson	Dark Horse	23.0	0.1%	1.5%	8.1%
35	Riley Herbst	Dark Horse	22.1	0.1%	1.9%	8.6%
36	Cole Custer	Dark Horse	23.0	0.1%	1.6%	8.4%
37	Ty Dillon	Dark Horse	24.3	0.1%	0.8%	6.0%
38	B.J. McLeod	Dark Horse	25.6	0.0%	0.6%	4.3%
39	Cody Ware	Dark Horse	29.8	0.0%	0.1%	1.0%

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

Go Bowling at The Glen: Model picked Chase Elliott at P1 → Actual P24

(1/5 top-5 hits)

38% top-5 hit rate across 11 races

History at Bristol Motor Speedway

Truck Series data from 1995-2026 (19 races)

Recent Results

Year	Race	Winner	Margin	Team	Laps Led
2026	Tennessee Army National Guard 250	Christopher Bell	+0.330	Joe Gibbs Racing	63
2025	NASCAR Truck Series at Bristol	Layne Riggs	—		110
2025	NASCAR Truck Series at Bristol	Chandler Smith	—		127
2024	NASCAR Truck Series at Bristol	Layne Riggs	—		80
2024	NASCAR Truck Series at Bristol	Christian Eckes	—		144

All Results at This Track

2026 Bell 2025 Riggs 2025 Smith 2024 Riggs 2024 Eckes 2023 Heim 2023 Logano 2022 Majeski 2022 Rhodes 2021 Smith 2020 Mayer 2019 Moffitt 2018 Sauter 2017 Busch 2016 Kennedy 2015 Blaney 2014 Keselowski 2013 Busch 2012 Peters

Laps Led Leaders

Driver	Total Laps Led
Christian Eckes	426
Kyle Busch	345
Chandler Smith	221
Corey Heim	210
Christopher Bell	195

Track Type Tendencies

short

Bristol Motor Speedway is a short track where driver skill and aggression take center stage. Passing requires contact, tempers run hot, and strategy around restarts and pit timing can make or break a race.

Short tracks historically produce the most lead changes and the closest finishes.