A FINE LINE Balancing offense with defense vital as second half of Chase begins at Charlotte (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, USA)

What this means

NASCAR previewed the October 11 Bank of America 400 as the opening race of the second half of the Cup Series Chase. Kyle Larson held a 40-point lead over Denny Hamlin and was assigned the pole after rain canceled qualifying. The 267-lap, 400.5-mile event carried an $11,233,037 purse; Charlotte had not staged its autumn Cup race on the 1.5-mile oval since 2017. The preview examined how Larson, Hamlin and other contenders planned to balance protecting points with pursuing wins over the final five races.