2026 Charbroil 300 Betting Race Picks

Date/Time: Saturday May 23rd, 2026. 5:00PM (EST)
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
TV: CW

Earlier this evening, the Craftsman Truck Series was forced to postpone the running of the NC Education Lottery 200 due to rain at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As a result, the Truck Series will now compete early Saturday morning and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will take center stage in the afternoon hours for the running of the Charbroil 300. However, the threat of Mother Nature is expected to continue throughout the weekend and even into Sunday’s Coca Cola 600. While we await Mother Nature’s cooperation, let’s take the time to discuss our best betting options for Saturday’s main event via the Charbroil 300!

With the Truck Series race being postponed, Connor Zilisch and Ross Chastain are the Cup Series stars that are slated to do double duty on Saturday and will essentially compete in all 3 of NASCAR’s races this weekend at Charlotte. Additionally, Cole Custer will make an O’Reilly Series appearance Saturday afternoon behind the wheel of the #0 car for SS GreenLight Racing. Outside of those 3 Cup Series drivers, the remaining entry list involves mostly the O’Reilly Series regulars with a noteworthy mention that Carson Kvapil will move to the #91 car with DGM Racing. Kvapil is competing a full-time schedule in the O’Reilly Series but has a select number of races where he moves from the #9 at J.R Motorsports to the #91 to make room for Cup Series talents to fill part-time starts in the #9, which will be the case with Chastain this week.

Last week, Corey Day scored his 2nd victory in the last 4 races with a surprising win at the Monster Mile. Day was able to pass Justin Allgaier in the closing laps to beat the concrete king in the series. In many ways, Day passing Allgaier was a signal that Allgaier has some competition in the championship race. Allgaier started the year with 3 wins through the first 7 races and appeared that he was going to be the driver to beat on a weekly basis, especially among the full-time competitors. Instead, several young drivers in the series like Day, William Sawalich, and Taylor Gray have captured wins in recent weeks and we have some serious speed from even younger guys like Brent Crews. Needless to say, I think this O’Reilly Series is far from top heavy and is likely going to get more competitive as the season progresses.

O’Reilly Notes – Charlotte

• Kyle Busch owns the most wins (9) all-time at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
• Justin Allgaier (2023) is the only former winner at Charlotte in Saturday’s field.
• Connor Zilisch finished 2nd in his only start as a rookie last year at Charlotte.
• Sam Mayer has finished 4th or better in 2 of 4 career starts at Charlotte. *Mayer has produced a 105.0+ average driver rating in 3 of 4 career starts.
• Justin Allgaier has finished in the Top 5 in 4 of the last 7 races at Charlotte.
• Cole Custer has finished 7th or better in 5 of 7 career starts at Charlotte.
• Sammy Smith has finished in the Top 10 in 2 of 3 career starts at Charlotte.
• Ross Chastain has just one Top 10 finish in 11 career starts at Charlotte.
• Taylor Gray has finished 12th or worse in both career starts at Charlotte.
• Jesse Love has finished 12th or worse in both career starts at Charlotte and produced an 85.0 or less driver rating.
• There have been 8 cautions or more in 8 of the last 9 races at Charlotte.
• The eventual race winner has started from the top 4 positions in 3 of the last 4 races at Charlotte.
• Chevrolet drivers have won the last 4 races at Charlotte.

Handicapping Information

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has already competed at 3 different 1.5 mile venues this season which have similarities to Charlotte. Taylor Gray was the only non-Cup Series driver to win in any of those races with his victory at Kansas while Kyle Larson scored wins at Las Vegas and Texas. However in those 3 races, Justin Allgaier has posted the best performance metrics by a relatively wide margin. Allgaier has posted a minimal 115 average driver rating through all 3 prior races this season on the 1.5 mile venues. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, and Brent Crews are the only other drivers to average a 100+ rating through the first 3 races of the season at 1.5 mile venues. On the opposite side of the performance scale, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich, and Sammy Smith are among the notable names that have yet to eclipse a 90+ rating in any of those 3 races at 1.5 mile venues this season.

Betting Targets

Simply based on performance, Justin Allgaier remains the best betting target at the 1.5 mile venues by a semi-significant margin among the O’Reilly Series regulars. Based on other handicapping metrics, Connor Zilisch appears to be the only other driver that should receive “favorite” style betting odds. Zilisch has been really impressive in the O’Reilly Series car at nearly every track type and has won 2 of his last 3 starts already this year. Unfortunately, both Allgaier and Zilisch have very small price tags beside their names going into Saturday’s on-track activities. While I would normally shy away from such small price tags, I feel like both Allgaier and Zilisch’s performance metrics outperform the competition by a wide margin and may suggest the fact that we need limited exposure to both drivers in some form or fashion.

Behind the top two favorites, I believe things get more risky and harder to predict among the rest of the competition. Many would probably look in the direction of Corey Day, however Day’s performance results have not been overly impressive at the 1.5 mile venues. Based on various handicapping metrics, I believe Brent Crews and Brandon Jones are drivers that are slightly underrated from an odds perspective. Crews has seemingly gotten better with every start and is entering Saturday with a prime opportunity to have another quality performance. Slightly deeper into the field, Jesse Love is another driver that seems to be checking a lot of handicapping boxes with pretty decent betting odds. Based on various reasons, I believe Crews and Love are among the best H2H targets on the board. For even deeper options, Parker Retzlaff and Jeremy Clements are a couple of drivers that continue to exceed expectations and may be worthy of consideration in fantasy formats.

2026 Draftkings Charbroil 300 Optimal Lineup

***TBD after Qualifying***

2026 Charbroil 300 Race Picks

*More picks may be added. Check back until “FINAL” status is displayed.*

Connor Zilisch +400 (1 unit)
Brent Crews +1200 (.75 unit)

H2H Match-Ups and Props

Sheldon Creed -110 over Carson Kvapil (2 units)
Taylor Gray -110 over Austin Hill (2 units)
Brent Crews -110 over Brandon Jones (2 units)

Two Team Parlay

Justin Allgaier +350 wins Charbroil 300
Chevrolet +160 wins Coca Cola 600
Risking 1. Unit to win: +1070