In effort to avoid the rain, NASCAR changes practice and qualifying schedule for Charlotte

Hurricane Isaias -- the first hurricane of the entire 2026 Atlantic season -- has grown into a dangerous Category 3. As it moves north after making landfall in the Florida panhandle, it will dump rain in Charlotte during NASCAR's triple-header race weekend.

NASCAR has already suffered practice and qualifying rainouts for three of the first five Chase races in the NASCAR Cup Series.

In an effort to avoid setting the field by the metric yet again, NASCAR has moved up practice and qualifying times for both the Cup and the NASCAR O'Reilly Series by two hours.

NASCAR O'Reilly practice will now start at 8:30am EST, followed by qualifying at 9:35am EST. Practice for the Cup Series will follow at 11am EST, and then qualifying at 12:05pm EST.

For fans coming to the track, parking lots open at 8am EST, gate 5a opens at 8:30am EST, Fan Zone opens at 11am EST, and all remaining gates open at 2pm EST.

However, this change may not be enough as most weather models show widespread rain throughout Saturday morning, as well as into the afternoon.

NASCAR has not adjusted the start time of any of the races, and the NASCAR O'Reilly race is at risk of being postponed, with a start time of 4pm EST. The only positive to all this is that the inclement weather should move out of the area by early to mid-Sunday.

If Cup qualifying is rained out, championship leader Kyle Larson would start from pole with Chase Briscoe alongside him on the front row. Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Cindric would round out the top five. Denny Hamlin, who sits second in the standings, would start 12th on the grid.

In the NASCAR O'Reilly Series, Carson Kvapil would be the pole-sitter with Corey Day joining him on the front row. Jesse Love, Brent Crews, and Sam Mayer would fill out the rest of the top five.

NASCAR CupHow Hurricane Isaias may impact NASCAR's Charlotte race weekend

NASCAR CupHow to watch NASCAR at Charlotte II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

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