Coca-Cola 600 Weather Forecast: NASCAR Faces Tough Racing Decisions

The second Crown Jewel race of the 2026 NASCARCup Series season is planned to go green on Sunday, May 24, at 6:00 p.m. ET. That is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, rounding out "The Greatest Day in Motorsports."

Tyler Reddick won the first Crown Jewel race of the season at the Daytona 500. Denny Hamlin is the current +550 favorite to win the Coca-Cola 600. The other two Crown Jewel races, the Brickyard 400 and Southern 500, will take place later this summer.

While this race weekend commands a ton of hype for NASCAR's longest race of the season, weather is certainly becoming a factor. There is a chance that the 600-mile endeavor this Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET will not go down as scheduled.

Here is the weekend weather report. Stay tuned for updates.

Friday, May 22

Truck racing was postponed to Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

NASCAR postponed the truck race originally scheduled for Friday night. The event had been set for 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. After an early wake-up, Charlotte Motor Speedway was unfit for racing due to rain, and the race is now scheduled for Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 23

High delay risk with a 80% chance of rain.

Saturday is at risk of extensive rain delays with the National Weather Service forecasting a 80% chance of rain throughout the day. "New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch are possible."

According to the hourly forecast as of Saturday morning, the Charlotte Motor Speedway area will be subject to no less than a 60% chance of rain at any time during scheduled racing.

With rain showers and thunderstorms lingering all day, the chances of any daytime sessions happening are getting slimmer by the minute. NASCAR will provide updates accordingly.

Sunday, May 24

Timing uncertain; showers are expected to complicate the racing schedule.

Rain and thunderstorms are possible after 12:00 p.m. The overall precipitation on the day is listed at 80%. The intensity is expected to be lower than Saturday's rainfall. It will be a matter of NASCAR finding dry patches in the weather to get the track ready for racing.

There is considerable uncertainty about NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 timing. Practice and qualifying could be canceled, pending news from NASCAR on Saturday. If that happens, the metric score will decide the starting order with Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs commanding the front row.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 8:01 AM.