NASCAR is heading for what will be the Double Challenge for Katherine Legge as preparations are underway at the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, with the cars already out and preparing for the Indianapolis 500. As the race week closes in, here is the detailed schedule for all the races that will be held at the 1.5-mile oval.

NASCAR’s Charlotte weekend race schedule

This upcoming weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway will be one of NASCAR’s most packed weekends throughout the season, with all three national-level series taking it on the track, and even the smallest of delays could threaten all three tiers. [Time mentioned in Eastern].

Friday, 22 May

The weekend will kick off with the Truck Series’ practice session on the track at 03:30 PM. This will be followed by the qualifying session at 04:35 PM. Both of these sessions will be available to watch on the FS2 network. Finally, the day will conclude with the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, the main Truck event, at 07:30 PM. The race will be available on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM Radio.

The day temperatures will linger around 70°, and there is a chance of precipitation. The forecast now suggests a mostly cloudy sky for the day. The overall chances of rain have dropped to 24%.

Saturday, 23 May

At 11:00 AM on Saturday, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will make its first appearance on the track for its practice session. An hour later, at 12 noon, it will be followed by their qualifying session. Both of these sessions will be available to watch on the CW App.

This will then be followed by the Cup Series’ practice and qualifying sessions at 01:30 PM and 02:40 PM. These sessions will be available to watch and listen to on Prime and PRN; this is the first of the five weekends for the Prime broadcast.
After a short break, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will return to the track for its main event, the Charbroil 300 at 05:00 PM ET. The race will be available on CW, PRN, and SiriusXM.

The temperatures are expected to remain the same as Friday. However, with a significantly high possibility of rain. As per The Weather Channel, thunderstorms could develop in the afternoon, hampering the Cup Series sessions, with the chances of rain sitting at 50%.

Sunday, 24 May

Although Sunday will look like the least-busy day of the entire weekend, it will mark the iconic Coca-Cola 600 kicking off at 06:00 PM ET. The 600-mile race, covering 400 laps of the 1.5-mile speedway, will be available to watch and listen to on Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN, and SiriusXM.

As per the current forecast, the temperature could rise to about 75° on Sunday, but that would be earlier in the day. However, the risk of rain still stands, with 45% chances of precipitation throughout the day. At night, the chances increase by another 2%.

Entry list for the 2026 Coca-Cola 600

Being one of the most challenging weekends of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 often has some guest races, as Corey Heim is prepared to take on the #67 for 23XI Racing this weekend. There will also be Katherine Legge, who is participating in the Indy-NASCAR ‘Double’ Challenge this year. 39 drivers have confirmed their presence for the 600-mile race, and here is the entire entry list.

Odds for the Cup Series race at Charlotte

1. Denny Hamlin (+500)

Hamlin, coming in hot, carrying the momentum from winning the million-dollar prize at the All-Star Race last weekend, has been rather impressive this year. Although he has so far only been victorious in one point-scoring race, his consistency has been remarkable. He is placed second on the table, and his runs on 1.5-mile tracks this year make him the favorite to win the race at Charlotte.

1. Tyler Reddick (+650)

At the same time, there is also Reddick. Having already won five races this season, with three consecutively right after the season kicked off at Daytona, he has showcased an impressive set of skills at avoiding major crashes and keeping his car in one piece. Although it is tough to say if he can carry the form for 600 miles, the championship leader does seem to have the best chance after Hamlin, his team’s owner.

1. Kyle Larson (+750)

Larson is the driver with the highest odds of winning the Coca-Cola 600 despite not having won a single race this season. However, he has carried a strong pace throughout the season so far. In fact, he was in winning contention in multiple races. Perhaps he could undo the fate from last year after his second consecutive Double attempt, and now that he is finally focusing solely on this race, he could manage to win it.

The Coca-Cola 600 provides the drivers with a unique challenge. Being the only race on the calendar with four stages, the teams have to carefully work on the strategies, as drivers are expected to pit at least seven times. For the latter, there is more work on endurance rather than raw pace, as even the smallest of mistakes can end one of the most defining races of the sport. While the winner’s purse is yet to be announced, it will be interesting to see how much it increases from last year’s $13,651,450.