The Round of 12 will end with a different style of “Wild Card” racing. This weekend’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 will eliminate four more riders from the post-season.
Only three NASCAR Cup Series races were held on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. This means there is very little in the notebooks for the teams to use to set up their cars. After the “Wild Card” race at Talladega, 11 of the riders must perform in the Round of 12 if they want to advance to the Playoffs.
One set of notes that all the drivers have is the data for the track and the race.
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course Data
Track size: 3.67 kilometers / 2.28 miles
Section type: Road course
Number of turns: 17
Height change: 35 degrees
Bank of America ROVAL 400 Data
Season Race #: 32 of 36 (10-10-21)
Playoffs #: 6 out of 10
Race Length: 109 laps / 400 kilometers / 252.88 miles
Stages 1 and 2 Length: 25 rounds (each)
Final Stadium Length: 59 laps
Here are the rounds of 12 Playoff riders listed in order of best overall driver rating on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
Chase Elliott – 124.5
Kyle Larson – 110.1
William Byron –105.2
Martin Truex Jr. – 103.0
Kevin Harvick – 102.3
Ryan Blaney – 100.4
Joey Logano – 98.1
Brad Keselowski – 95.5
Alex Bowman – 87.8
Christopher Bell – 85.0
Kyle Busch – 78.8
Denny Hamlin – 69.4
So far, only two riders have won in the three races held at the ROVAL in the NASCAR Cup Series. Both of these riders are currently championship contenders in the Round of 12. Both of these riders are close enough to the cut line that they could end the race on the wrong side of it.
Ryan Blaney (2018 winner)
Chase Elliott (2019 & 2020 Winners)
There are just way too many “what ifs” scenarios that could play out this weekend among the 11 Round of 12 riders who were not locked in the Round of Eight. Denny Hamlin is the only rider who can throw carefully against the wind and do whatever he wants in the race. His victory in this round assures him a chance at the championship no matter where he ends up.
We will find out what happens (and who progresses) from 13:00 central time (14:00 eastern time) in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 10th.
By: Buck Stevens
