Bank of America 500 at Charlotte moved from Saturday to Sunday this fall

It’s not too often that NASCAR races change dates once the season is already underway, but that’s exactly what’s happening with the Charlotte fall race.

The Bank of America 500 won’t be taking place under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway this fall after all.

The track announced today that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race has been moved to Sunday, October 8 and will start at 2 p.m. Eastern time. NBC will now televise the race instead of NBCSN, which would have carried it had it stayed at its originally scheduled 7 p.m. Saturday night time slot.

As NASCAR.com notes, the Bank of America 500 hasn’t run on Saturday the last two seasons anyway as bad weather has bumped it to Sunday for two years straight. But this is the first time in 15 years the race will be scheduled to run on Sunday afternoon — where it will go head to head with the NFL.

The change also affects the fall XFINITY Series race at Charlotte, which was announced as a Friday night affair. The Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina will now slide to Saturday, October 7 at 3 p.m. and air on NBCSN.

At least one prominent driver is in favor of the switch, with Jimmie Johnson noting that a day race at Charlotte Motor Speedway should result in a slicker track and leave the outcome more in the hands of the competitors.

"“Charlotte’s so tricky, especially when the sun’s out,” seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and defending Bank of America 500 winner Jimmie Johnson said in a track release. “And, the track’s finally aging and getting to a place with a lot of character (so) that a day race will allow us to run so many more lanes and, I think, create such an entertaining and compelling race … I’m really excited for a hot, slick, day race.”"

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You have to hand it to the track for promoting the new Bank of America 500 date and time with a “Daylight Racing Time” tag line. Time will tell if the switch helps boost attendance or ratings, but if it really does improve the on-track product, it’s hard to argue against it.