In its past five seasons featuring in the NASCAR Playoffs, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval has been anything but predictable.
From Jimmie Johnson spinning Truex for the lead and missing out on a Playoff spot in 2018 to Chase Elliott winning after crashing hard into the tire barriers in 2019 and Christopher Bell getting the win after entering in a must-win situation in 2022, it’s been the venue for iconic Playoff moments.
With a close and competitive Playoff grid battling for a spot in the Round of 8, the second-to-last round of the postseason, that trend should continue.
Odds via BetMGM
+600 – Chase Elliott
+700 – William Byron
+700 – Tyler Reddick
+800 – Kyle Larson
+1000 – Michael McDowell
+1000 – AJ Allmendinger
+1200 – Kyle Busch
+1400 – Martin Truex Jr.
+1400 – Denny Hamlin
+1800 – Christopher Bell
At the top, of the standings, two drivers are completely safe heading into Sunday’s Bank of America 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). William Byron has a guaranteed spot in the next round thanks to his win at Texas, while Ryan Blaney punched his ticket to the Round of 8 at Talladega.
Denny Hamlin, too, enters confidently with a 50-point advantage to the cutline that means he doesn’t have to worry about making the next round.
For the rest of the field, though, the 2.32-mile, 17-turn circuit is an imposing threat.
Christopher Bell enters 22 points to the good of the cutline, followed by Chris Buescher and Martin Truex Jr. with a 19- and 17-point advantage respectively.
It’s much worse position for Truex than where he entered the round, though. The regular season championship gives him a big Playoff point bonus when each round begins, but Truex so far has failed to deliver to his regular season performance: in five Playoff races so far, he’s yet to even finish in the top-fifteen.
“Ever since we went to the NextGen car, everything has been closer and it makes it challenging, for sure. It is harder to find an advantage, it’s harder to run at the front every week, consistently,” Truex justified his struggles. Everything is tighter, closer together, less room for error – and you really have to be on top of things.”
“The points situation is the same as every other race. It’s really, really hard to be at the front all of the time and this weekend we just need a solid day to hopefully get us through with some good tracks for us coming up.”
Kyle Larson has a fifteen-point advantage to the cutline, while Brad Keselowski comes in at the transfer spot, just two points to the good.
“I think for the Roval the biggest challenge is trying to know when to go for stage points and when to go for race points,” Keselowski commented. There seems to be this tug of war that the teams all have and trying to balance that all out is a big challenge.”
He will need to go points in some form, though, as will all the drivers below the cutline.
That includes 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, who need to make up two and nine points respectively.
Beyond them, Ross Chastain enters with a ten-point deficit. But he has tempered expectations for his Trackhouse Racing team and just wants to maximize whatever situation he finds himself in.
“Well, I think anyone would tell you that they wish they all of the points to advance to the next round, or a win,” said Chastain. “That’s just not how it goes though. We have to race our race and focus on us. Trackhouse keeps giving me great cars and we’ll go there and turn and see what happens.”
Effectively needing a win is Kyle Busch, who struggled at Texas and Talladega and enters 26 points below the cutline.
But going for a win is not going to be an easy task for Busch or any other Playoff competitor.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece might not be in contention for a championship, but he knows full well how difficult the Roval is.
“All the road courses have a lot of similiarities and differences, I think,” he said. “You’re only partially on the throttle in certain places and then you’re in a braking zone and you’ve got to be able to know when and where to take advantage of those shift points.”
“It’s an aggressive road course and it’s going to be tough to pass, especially in some of the corners,” Preece said of the unique challenges of the Roval. “Having everything memorized beforehand is what’s going to be important so you can spend those first laps of practice getting yourself and your car right and feeling out the grip on the racetrack.”
And other drivers are certainly hoping to play spoiler. All five Playoff races this season have been won by a Playoff contender, but that has not been the case in past years.
Two potential spoilers are AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell, both of whom are always strong on road courses. McDowell even managed to pick up the win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, and he’ll be hoping to back up his strong performance even after having been eliminated from the Playoffs.
One difference in the field at the Roval will another entry: the No. 62 Beard Motorsports car, driven by Xfinity Series Playoff driver Austin Hill. The small team has competed at a few races this season, including at Michigan, and will be making a run at the Roval, the team’s first road course attempt this season, expanding from the team’s usual superspeedway roster.
“This schedule is something we have been determined to do,” said team owner Linda Beard. “I do think that we’ve been competitive and that is our goal. You never want to go and look bad, so we strive as hard as we can to go and put our best foot forward. I think we have accomplished a lot of that and we’re proud of what we have been able to do. We just try to keep doing what we’re doing and plowing through it and making the best decisions we can.”
“It’s something I look forward to – I love road-course racing,” Hill said of the decision to race at the Roval. “I just love all of the shifting that you’re doing. You’re turning left and right. You’re hopping curbs. You’re driving the heck out of these racecars to go fast. And that’s what I like about that. I feel like it kind of puts it in the driver’s hands.”
Charlotte Roval is a challenging stage for an elimination race in the Xfinity Series
Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is a chance to cull the Xfinity Series Playoff field as four drivers see their Playoff hopes go up in smoke.
The Roval is the final race of the Round of 12 before the Round of 8 begins.
Three drivers know that their position in the Round of 8 is certain. Justin Allgaier won at Bristol to automatically qualify and John Hunter Nemechek punched his ticket at Texas.
Plus, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer clinched his spot in the Round of 8 on points after finishing fourth and sixth in the two earlier races in the round.
Custer’s two victories this season both came on road courses, so, with the pressure off, Custer is looking to get a third win on the season and pick up some bonus Playoff points to carry into the next round.
“We’re going there to win, now,” Custer said. “The points are off the table, so we can just focus on winning at Charlotte. I honestly think we’ll have a good shot at parking our No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang in victory lane. The Roval has been good to us in the past.”
“We knew that to make it to the Round of 8, we would have to put together a couple of races with speed and no mistakes. We did exactly that and were able to lock ourselves in early. It takes a lot of the pressure off as we head into this final race of the round. I’m proud of this team and hope we can keep this going into the next round.”
Though they’re not locked in, Austin Hill and Chandler Smith come in with less pressure thanks to 44- and 32-point advantages to the cutline entering the Roval.
Closer to the cutline, Sammy Smith has an 18-point advantage.
Sheldon Creed and Daniel Hemric are in more tenuous position, entering Charlotte to the good by just nine points and one point respectively.
Below the cutline, Parker Kligerman is easily within range, entering with just one point to make up.
But Jeb Burton, Josh Berry, and Sam Mayer are 19, 27, and 34 points below, and need to turn their focuses towards getting the win.
A spoiler is still possible from a driver outside the Playoffs, even if that hasn’t appeared in the first two postseason races.
Cole Custer’s Stewart-Haas teammate Riley Herbst is hoping to play that role by following his teammate’s example on the road course.
“To be honest, this is one track that I haven’t been able to wrap my head around. It’s not that we haven’t run decent there in the past, but I think I was just at a disadvantage because I never had practice on this track, and I was never able to lay down laps outside of the simulator until it was race time,” he said.
“Then the past two years, we’ve just had such bad luck. It’s nice to know that we’re not watching this playoff bubble this year and we can just focus on getting the car better for the future, but it’s also such a difficult track. It’s unique, but I’ve been leaning on Cole a lot to try and see what he’s done differently. Hopefully, we can have a strong weekend as a team.”
Making a special appearance driving for Kaulig Racing is IMSA sports car ace Jordan Taylor, making his second start of the season for the team. He’s also subbed in the Cup Series as well and brings with him a fair amount of NASCAR experience in addition to his trove of road course expertise.
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Bank of America ROVAL 400
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
The Date: Sunday, October 8
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Purse: $7,689,910
TV: NBC, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 252.88 miles (109 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 109)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
The Date: Saturday, October 7
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,360,791
TV: NBC, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 155.44 miles (67 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 67)
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