Christopher Bell wants NASCAR to do more to hold Cup qualifying when weather interferes, even if officials must run the session on race day. Hurricane Isaias wiped out Charlotte’s Saturday activity and created the fourth qualifying cancellation in six Chase races. NASCAR’s metric has put Bell in P17 to start on Sunday after his power-steering-plagued P23 at Las Vegas.
NASCAR’s performance metric weighs the car’s last-race finish at 70 percent and its owner-points position at 30 percent. The formula carries the consequences of previous difficult race into the next weekend, affecting where a contender starts.
Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Washout Will Give Kyle Larson an Edge Before the Race
“I think that we should put more effort into qualifying. And I’m OK with the metric of lining up the qualifying order. I just think we need to qualify,” Bell said on Saturday. NASCAR normally uses this metric to set the qualifying order, while Chase drivers receive the final qualifying slots. When weather eliminates time trials, the formula directly determines the starting grid.
Bell supports the first use but wants NASCAR to run qualifying whenever conditions allow. The sanctioning body expects to review the system during the offseason, though NASCAR has announced no change.
The washout helped championship leader Kyle Larson very well. The formula put the No. 5 on the pole, giving Larson the first pit stall advantage and placing Las Vegas winner Chase Briscoe alongside him.
The HMS driver currently holds a 40-point lead over Denny Hamlin, who will start P12 on row six. Hence, Larson has no reason to change his racing approach that produced five consecutive top-five finishes to open the Chase, as he expects his team to keep focusing on maximizing each race.
So far, weather has forced NASCAR to use the metric at Darlington, Bristol, and Kansas earlier in the Chase. But drivers have shown that a poor grid spot does not eliminate stage-point opportunities. For example, Ryan Blaney started 29th at Bristol, reached P6 by the end of Stage 1 and then won Stage 2.
But the missing practice session will create another big complication. Bubba Wallace crew chief, Charles Denike, said the situation “puts all the pressure on our preparation and our tools and everything.” Teams will have to trust their simulation work and shop setups before seeing how their cars react on Charlotte’s surface.
Crews can make only limited race-time changes without sacrificing track position, so a favorable grid spot may offer little protection if a team unloads with the wrong balance.
Interestingly, Cup teams have never run a fall Charlotte oval race with the Next Gen car. The race’s stages will end on laps 80, 165 and 267, giving teams three segments compared with the Coca-Cola 600’s four.
The different stage lengths change fuel, tire, and adjustment decisions, while crew chiefs must learn those patterns without Saturday data.
In fact, the weather also turned Sunday into a NASCAR doubleheader. The Bank of America 400 remains scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on USA Network and HBO Max, while officials moved the Blue Cross NC 300 to 8 p.m. ET on The CW and ESPN Unlimited.
Charlotte will open parking lots at 8 a.m., the Fan Zone at 9 a.m., and ticket gates at noon. Saturday O’Reilly ticket holders can enter the grandstands after the Cup checkered flag and get priority access to their reserved seats for the rescheduled race.