NASCAR Weekend Preview: Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

Chase Briscoe is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to have scored top-10s in each of the first five postseason races this year.

But in the “What-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” world of auto racing, that model of consistency provides the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota minimal comfort heading to Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With the Playoff field set to be cut from 12 drivers to eight on Sunday, Briscoe is seventh in the standings, 21 points above the current elimination line. He’s eight points ahead of defending series champion Joey Logano in eighth and 21 points clear of Ross Chastain in ninth.

“I think this weekend, we’re obviously really just racing the 22 (Logano) and the 1 (Chastain),” said Briscoe, who has posted an average finish of 23.8 with a best of ninth in four Cup Series starts on the 2.28-mile road course. “If we can just go and outrun them in both stages and the race, then we’ll move on no matter what.

“But it’s obviously not that easy either. It’s tough knowing that we’ve been as good as we have, and there’s the potential to be knocked out.”

The race has the potential to present difficult strategic choices for Briscoe and crew chief James Small. Foremost perhaps will be the decision on short-pitting a stage to preserve track position versus taking valuable stage points and starting the next segment near the back of the field.

“All the Playoff guys are going to stay out to get stage points, and we’re going to get put to the back, and you’re going to be restarting 20th to 30th,” said Briscoe, who won the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 17-turn circuit in 2018. “That’s where all your Playoff hopes and dreams can change really, really quickly.

“That’s where I think you have to be really smart and conscious about the decisions that you’re making. It’s a little bit easier, I guess, having a little bit of a buffer.”

Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate, Shane van Gisbergen is the prohibitive favorite to win Sunday’s race—and justifiably so. The New Zealander has won the last four road course events this season.

Accordingly, Chastain plans to use the three-time Australian Supercars champion as a measure of his own potential as he tries to crack the top eight in the standings.

“(Crew chief) Phil Surgen and the guys get to figure out how to get stage points and set ourselves up for the end of the race,” Chastain said. “A lot of it depends on speed. If we’re fast enough to battle with SVG, then we don’t care as much about stage points because we’re fast, and we just go win the race.”

The bottom three in the standings face much longer odds than Chastain does. Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, teammates at 23XI Racing, are 26 and 29 points below the elimination line, respectively.

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric is 48 points in arrears, almost certainly needing a victory on Sunday to advance to the Round of 8. Cindric’s best finish in three starts at the Roval was fourth last year.

Six of the seven previous races at the Charlotte Road Course have been won by current Playoff drivers—Ryan Blaney (2018), Chase Elliott (2019 and 2020), Kyle Larson (2021 and 2024) and Christopher Bell (2022).

Blaney and Elliott already have qualified for the Round of 8 on the strength of their respective victories at New Hampshire and Kansas. Larson and Bell are comfortably situated in the standings at 54 and 44 points above the cut line.

Logano faced elimination after last year’s race at the Charlotte Road Course, but Alex Bowman’s disqualification for a car that was under minimum weight gave the Team Penske driver a reprieve.

Logano went on to win his third Cup Series championship.

Race is tight for final four NASCAR Xfinity Round of 8 Playoff spots

Three of the Round of 8 Playoff spots already are taken as the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads for Saturday’s Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (5 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Brandon Jones advanced on the strength of his victory last Saturday at Kansas Speedway. JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier already have clinched Round of 8 berths on points.

Fourth-place Sam Mayer of Haas Factory Team is 43 points above the current cut line entering the elimination race at the 2.28-mile road course, needing to score just 19 points to advance, no matter who wins the race.

Mayer has won the last two Xfinity Series events at the 17-turn circuit.

For the rest of the Playoff field, however, the race for the final four spots in the next round couldn’t be much tighter.

Fifth-place Taylor Gray is 16 points above the elimination line. Twelfth-place Sammy Smith is just 14 points below. Accordingly, performance in Saturday’s race will be a primary governing factor in setting the field for the Round of 8.

Hoping to join teammates Zilisch and Allgaier in the next round, Smith comes to Charlotte with momentum from last weekend’s fourth-place run at Kansas Speedway.

“We ran a solid race all day long at Kansas last weekend, which was what we needed to put us back in the game and have a shot at advancing to the Round of 8,” said Smith, who has finished 11th and 10th in his two starts at the Roval.

“I have full faith that this Pilot Chevrolet team can accomplish just that. This has been our strongest season yet on road courses, so I’m looking forward to this Saturday at the Roval.”

Zilisch is the overwhelming favorite to win at the Charlotte Road Course. Four of his rookie-record nine victories this season have come on tracks that feature right turns as well as lefts.

NASCAR Truck Series drivers start march toward Championship 4

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series drivers are set to enjoy a coming-out party in Friday’s Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Where the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series already have history at the 2.28-mile circuit, the NASCAR Trucks will race there for the first time.

And unlike the Cup and Xfinity Series, which face Round of 12 elimination races at the 17-turn layout, Truck Series drivers will open competition in the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.

Corey Heim, a nine-time winner this season, starts the round 69 points above the elimination line, with his name already penciled into the Championship 4. Heim has led 143 of 181 laps contested on road courses this season. He has also led laps in 22 straight races, a series record.

Layne Riggs is the only other driver who is remotely secure at 22 points above the cut line.

Third-place Daniel Hemric is one point above the elimination line, with fourth-place Ty Majeski, the defending series champion, tied with Tyler Ankrum at the bubble.

Eighth-place Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Halmar-Friesen Racing after starting the season with Niece Motorsports, is only seven points in arrears in a wide-open race for the Championship 4.

Hemric, who finished second to Heim in the last Truck Series road course race at Watkins Glen, approaches Friday’s race with a level of confidence that outweighs his slim margin in the standings.

“I think our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet can be just as good as it was in Watkins Glen and hopefully a little better,” Hemric said. “This is great opportunity we have in front of us to lock into Phoenix this weekend.

“There will be a lot of varying strategies, and the field will likely flip at least once during the day. There’s a lot of variables to manage at the Roval, but I have confidence in everybody at MHR (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) and on this No. 19 NAPA team that we can make it happen.”

 

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Bank of America ROVAL 400
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Track Length: 2.28 Mile Asphalt Road Course
The Date: Sunday, October 5
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $9,797,935
TV: USA, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 248.52 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: Blue Cross NC 250
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Track Length: 2.28 Mile Asphalt Road Course
The Date: Saturday, October 4
The Time: 5 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,651,939
TV: CW, 4:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 152.76 miles (67 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 67)

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: Ecosave 250
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Track Length: 2.28 Mile Asphalt Road Course
The Date: Friday. October 3
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $782,900
TV: FS1, 3:30 p.m. ET
Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 152.76 miles (67 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 67)