RELATED: See the full weekend schedule | NBC Sports Live Extra


All times ET

Sunday, Oct. 11
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN

Monday, Oct. 12
6 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
8 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
2 p.m., NASCAR 120, NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 Special (tape), NBCSN
10:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 Special (re-air), NBCSN

Tuesday, Oct. 13
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
4:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 Special (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS12 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2
2:30 a.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 Special (re-air), NBCSN

Wednesday, Oct. 14
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
4:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 Special (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2

Thursday, Oct. 15
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour: Charlotte Motor Speedway (tape), NBCSN
11 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour: Charlotte Motor Speedway (re-air), NBCSN
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2

Friday, Oct. 16
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
Noon, NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN
2:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBCSN
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour: Charlotte Motor Speedway (re-air), NBCSN
4:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN
7:30 p.m., Being: Stewart-Haas Racing (re-air), FS1

Saturday, Oct. 17
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, CNBC
12:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN
2 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN
3:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN
4 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300, NBCSN

Sunday, Oct. 18
11 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
12:30 p.m., Continental SportsCar Challenge: Road Atlanta (tape), FS1
1 p.m., NASCAR America Sunday, NBCSN
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN
2:15 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400, NBC
6 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Post-Race, NBCSN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN
8 p.m., Continental SportsCar Challenge: Road Atlanta (re-air), FS2
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
Midnight, NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), FS1

 

RELATED: Junior turns 41; see images through the years
MORE: Race results | Updated standings

 

CONCORD, N.C. — History repeated itself for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Contender Round opener of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

 

The opening race of this round may have been at a different track this year, (Charlotte Motor Speedway as opposed to 2014’s Kansas Speedway) but the end result, a 28th-place finish in the Bank of America 500, left Earnhardt looking up at 10 drivers in the standings when the afternoon was complete — the same standings position he was in after a 39th-place finish at Kansas last year in the opening race of this round in 2014.

 

The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet summed up his day pretty succinctly.

 

“Yeah, I lost count of how many time we hit it (the wall) today,” Earnhardt said on pit road after the race.

 

Earnhardt’s trouble began on Lap 69 when he made contact with the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Carl Edwards. At the time, Junior was running ninth.

 

“Carl got a great run on us and drove down into 1 and got into the back of us a little bit. I don’t know if I cut him off or not. He drove in there pretty hard and ran over the left-rear quarter panel of the car and (I) got in the fence.”

 

Edwards, who went on to score a sixth-place finish, explained his end of things.

 

“It stinks he ended up hitting the wall,” Edwards said. “I felt like he blocked me real hard the first time and so the second time I got up there when he came down I just held my ground and we got together. He did an amazing job saving it and I have a ton of respect for him so it stinks that it ruined his day. I have to hold my ground when I’ve got my nose in there. Like I said, it stinks that it ruined their day.”

 

Earnhardt, a two-time winner this year, eventually got into the wall again a few laps later on Lap 75 to bring out the fourth caution of the race. His team went to work on the right side of his car and the crush panel. From there, Earnhardt worked hard to get in position for the free pass and had managed to climb to one lap down.

 

However, just after the Lap 190 restart, he found the wall once again due to what Earnhardt said was oil on the track — something several other drivers echoed during the race.


RELATED: Find out who else questioned the clean-up efforts

 

“There was oil down there. It wasn’t speedy dry. I’ve raced this (expletive) for 20 years, I know what oil and speedy dry is. We hit fluid, flew into the freaking wall hard. That’s not speedy dry. There was oil up there.”

 

He later added, “I hit the (expletive) wall. I know I hit oil. I hit it. I promise.”

 

Now, Earnhardt turns his attention to making up ground at Kansas and Talladega Superspeedway, the final two races of the Chase’s Contender Round, the same three-race series that eliminated Earnhardt last year. Both of Earnhardt’s 2015 wins have come at restrictor-plate tracks, including a May win at Talladega.

 

“It ain’t over. Don’t worry about that,” Earnhardt said. “I mean, we don’t have to go to Talladega and be nervous like those guys that are going to have to play it safe. We can just go hard. So, we’ve got a great car that can win that race. We can go to Kansas and run great. I like that track and don’t see why we can’t run great there and maybe win the race there. It ain’t over.”

 

Earnhardt raced his way into this round thanks to a third-place result at Dover International Speedway in the Challenger Round finale, holding off Jamie McMurray for the final transfer spot. So he is familiar with the ground he has to cover.

 

“We were in this situation in the first round. We can be aggressive, go to Kansas, run hard. When we’re in the top 10, just inside the bubble, you might not run the high side so hard, so aggressive. You might not drive the whole race as aggressive.

 

“At Kansas, you can run the top and I like running the top there. I think we can be fast up there and I ain’t got to worry about skinning the side of it, knocking us out of the Chase. We’re out of it. It’s our turn to fall back in and we’ll try.”

 

And while other drivers earlier in the week indicated they were not looking forward to a Talladega race with their Chase position on the line, the six-time winner at the 2.66-mile Alabama track said he feels the exact opposite.

 

“I’m looking forward to Talladega even more now.”

RELATED: Live weather updates from Charlotte | See the starting lineup

CONCORD, N.C. — Saturday night’s scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Bank of America 500, has been postponed due to rain.

Originally scheduled for a 7:16 p.m. ET start on Saturday, the race will now go green at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. NBCSN will televise the 334-lap race, with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio — NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM will go live with pre-race coverage at noon ET.

The race at Charlotte is the first event of the three-race Contender Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.


Prior to this race, six races had a weather delay of some kind during the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season: The Atlanta race in March, the Bristol race in April, the Richmond race in April, the Kansas race in May, the Michigan race in June and the summer race at Daytona.

Only the Richmond race was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, while the Michigan race was shortened by rain.

Matt Kenseth won the Coors Light Pole Award at Charlotte and will start out front. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch joins him on the front row.

Kevin Harvick, who scored a win at Dover International Speedway last weekend to advance in the Chase, is the defending race winner at Charlotte.
 
Twelve drivers remain in play for the championship: Kenseth, Joey Logano , Denny Hamlin , Carl Edwards , Martin Truex Jr. , Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon , Brad Keselowski , Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman , Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the defending series champion, Harvick.

Races at Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are also part of the Contender Round.

RELATED: See photos of NASCAR stars meeting Taylor Swift

 

CONCORD, N.C. — Even drivers get star struck by seeing celebrities.

During a press conference to discuss the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma and his upcoming 3-on-3 Celebrity Basketball Tournament, Dillon admitted to being awestruck when meeting singer and seven-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift over the summer.

 

Dillon told the story as he was joined by 12-year-old trauma survivor Louisa “Weezie” Broughton in the Charlotte Motor Speedway media center. Broughton suffered a head injury after being struck by a car in Winston-Salem in November of 2014. 

 

RELATED: Read more about Broughton’s story

 

The two were part of a contingent that attended a Swift concert at Charlotte in June and got to meet the singer backstage as Swift and her tour sponsor, XFINITY, hosted guests on behalf of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

“I was single at the time and I tried to convince her that she (“Weezie”) was my little sister,” Dillon said. “So we went to meet Taylor Swift and it was like a big deal, that ‘my older brother’ pulled these tickets off because I wanted to meet Taylor Swift. And that’s what our story was when we met Taylor but I choked up and she was good. Her and Taylor were having a great time. I was just kind of like ‘oh, wow, its Taylor Swift.’ She didn’t get as awestruck as I did. I was pretty impressed by that.”

The energetic Broughton and her family are Dillon’s guest at the track for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and she may even pop over the radio to give the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet some encouragement.

“She wants everybody to be happy,” Dillon said. “She’s a motivator for sure. We’ll give her a radio and see what she can do.”

And for Dillon it’s the lasting bonds and relationships that make this interaction special.

“You create a relationship with someone and you want it to last and you want them to get to know you. For me, if she ever needs help with anything, I want to be able to be there for her and kind of go through experiences I’ve grown up doing.”

The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma discovers and shares the best ways to prevent and treat severe injuries in children. The Institute funds research, education and advocacy to help improve the care and treatment injured kids receive across the U.S.

“I am avid outdoorsmen, love to play and get outdoors,” Dillon said. “Growing up just me and my brother, going out, riding four-wheelers, riding bikes, different things. We’ve broken bones and had different injuries, but to go through something like “Weezie” went through is a whole different level of that. I think what the Childress Institute is really doing is teaching the first responders how to work on the youth when they do get hurt.”

Dillon’s basketball event is on Tuesday, November 3 at High Point University. For more on the event, click here.

RELATED: See the updated Chase Grid | Starting lineup in photos

 

Quick race facts

What: Bank of America 500

Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile tri-oval in Concord, North Carolina

Green flag: Sunday, Oct. 11, 12:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Forecast: Partly sunny, high of 72 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA.gov).

National anthem: Natalie Weiss

Grand marshal: Medal of Honor recipient Kyle White

Distance: 334 laps, 500 miles.

Pit road speed: 45 mph

Caution car speed: 55 mph

Competition caution: Lap 25

On the Front Row

1. Matt Kenseth , Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota (194.532 mph)

2. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota (193.154 mph)

 

RELATED: See the full lineup

Failed to Qualify

Josh Wise , Go Green Racing No. 32 Ford; Timmy Hill , Premium Motorsports No. 62 Chevrolet

Fastest in Practice

First practice: Kevin Harvick , Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet (193.500 mph) | Results

Second practice: Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet (188.772 mph) | Results

Final practice: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota (189.354 mph) | Results

Key story lines

• Gordon still chasing first 2015 victory | Full story

• Crew cut? Earnhardt Jr. says no thanks | Full story

• With Talladega ahead, Charlotte race crucial | Full story

• NASCAR won’t police post-race celebrations | Full story

Former winners in the field

Jimmie Johnson (7); Jeff Gordon (5); Kasey Kahne (4); Kevin Harvick (3); Matt Kenseth , Jamie McMurray (2); Casey Mears , Tony Stewart , Brad Keselowski , Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards (1)

They Said It

“You’ve got to just play to your strengths, and I think our strengths are that we’re very consistent. We’ve got a lot of fight in us, and we’ve had to fight through a lot of things this year. So we’ve got a lot of experience at that.” Jeff Gordon on advancing into the Contender Round of the Chase

RELATED: Was Harvick’s burnout done to hinder inspection?

 

CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR officials are not expected to “regulate” post-race celebrations following events, calling the long, smoky burnouts done by many race winners a part of the sport today and something that fans have come to expect.

“Post-race burnouts have been a part of the sport for a long time as they give the winning driver the opportunity to express their enthusiasm for their win and give fans an exclamation point to the victory,” NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp told NASCAR.com Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of Saturday’s Bank of America 500 (7 p.m., NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

“We don’t really see them being anything beyond that.”

Concerns about intentionally damaging a race-winning car came to light this week after defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick made contact with the inside wall while celebrating his victory in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. Harvick led 355 of the race’s 400 laps to advance into the Contender Round of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Two days after the victory, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver said he wasn’t aware that the back end of his No. 4 Chevrolet had hit the inside wall during his Dover celebration.

His car passed post-race inspection at the track, as well as a more thorough inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center two days later.

“That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Harvick said when asked about comments that he had purposely damaged his vehicle to avoid the prying eyes of NASCAR officials. “You’re supposed to try to create commotion.

“I don’t remember even actually hitting the wall. I remember the tires blowing out, but I don’t know if I actually even hit the wall.”

Fellow Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) said he was taking nothing away from Harvick’s victory at Dover, “because what he did was really, really impressive.”

“But obviously, as all the other competitors, whoever doesn’t win each week wants to make sure they’re on a level playing field with whoever did win,” Hamlin said.

Former series champion Brad Keselowski said intentionally damaging a winning car has “been going on for a long time.”

“I’m not making any accusations,” he said. “It’s not anything new to this sport.”

On Thursday, crew chief Rodney Childers said he wasn’t surprised that some had seized on something so innocent after his driver’s strong performance. He also once again stressed that his team’s cars had been to the R&D center more than any other vehicles this season without officials uncovering any irregularities.

The No. 4 team has made 14 trips to the center for final inspection this season and passed on each occasion.

NASCAR officials transport the winning and second-place entries, as well as a random selection, to the center following each race where engines, fuel cells and other pieces (such as transmissions) are removed and more closely inspected.

A computerized device known as a Romer Absolute Arm, the same equipment used to certify each chassis before competition, is used to check each piece for any changes or any inconsistencies.

RELATED: See the full lineup

 

Austin Dillon ruled qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Friday afternoon, securing the Coors Light Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Dillon drove the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet to a fast lap of 183.524 mph on the 1.5-mile track. Dillon will start first in Friday night’s Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) after claiming his sixth pole position of the season and the 16th of his XFINITY Series career.

Fellow Sprint Cup Series regular Kasey Kahne will start the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevy alongside Dillon after posting the second-fastest lap at 183.150 mph. Erik Jones was third-best with series points leader Chris Buescher fourth and Kyle Busch completing the top five.

Defending race winner Brad Keselowski was among the drivers failing to advance to the final round of qualifying, posting the 13th-fastest time. Defending series champion Chase Elliott was 17th-fastest, also missing out on the final cut.

Buescher enters the 29th of 33 races this season with a 24-point lead over Elliott and a 36-point advantage over Regan Smith, last week’s winner and the 12th-fastest qualifier.

Cale Conley brought out an early stoppage in the first round of qualifying with a long spin out of Turn 2. Conley’s No. 14 Toyota made slight contact with the inside retaining wall on the backstretch before he was able to limp back to the XFINITY Series garage.

RELATED: Practice 2 results | Final practice results



Kyle Busch led the way in a brotherly 1-2 punch atop final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.



Busch landed a fast lap of 189.354 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota in the 50-minute session, the final tune-up for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM). He’ll start second to JGR teammate Matt Kenseth, the Coors Light Pole Award winner, in the fourth race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.



Brother Kurt Busch was second-fastest at 188.996 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet, backing up his fast time from second practice. The elder Busch was also fastest in the 10-lap average category, edging Jimmie Johnson over the longer run.


Joey Logano wound up third-fastest, turning a lap at 188.508 mph in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford. Chevrolet drivers Ryan Newman (188.488 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (188.311) completed the top five.



Much like Friday’s earlier practice, the leaderboard was dominated by Chase-eligible drivers, who swept the top six spots. Kenseth was the furthest down the speed chart in 25th, battling through a tire rub after a slight scrape of the outside retaining wall.



Defending series champ and defending race winner Kevin Harvick managed the 12th-fastest lap, improving upon his 25th-best lap in the Friday’s earlier session.


Kurt Busch shows way in Friday’s first practice


Kurt Busch
rocketed to the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard Friday, topping second practice Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch, driving the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet, clocked a fast lap of 188.772 mph on the 1.5-mile track. He also logged the third-most laps (45) of any driver in the 55-minute session in preparation for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM), the fourth event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Only teammate Tony Stewart (49) and Kyle Busch (48) turned more laps.

Carl Edwards, the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, was second-fastest at 18.620 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Ryan Newman claimed the third-best lap (187.630 mph) in the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet.



Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano completed the top five as Chase drivers swept the first eight spots on the practice leaderboard.



Jimmie Johnson, eliminated from title contention in last weekend’s Challenger Round finale at Dover, was fastest of the non-Chasers at ninth overall on the speed charts. His Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet was fastest in the five-lap average and 10-lap average categories, offering optimism for Johnson & Co. in terms of long-term speed.



Kevin Harvick, defending Sprint Cup Series champion and defending race winner, was 26th-fastest overall with the second-slowest lap among the remaining 12 Chase-eligible drivers. Jeff Gordon, prepping for what likely will be his final Charlotte Motor Speedway start, was slowest of the Chase drivers, 32nd overall.



Matt Kenseth, the Coors Light Pole Award winner in Thursday qualifying, was also well down the leaderboard in 22nd overall.