CONCORD, N.C. — The Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL is already a revolutionary track in NASCAR.
Transitioning the track's traditional oval every fall and adding a 17-turn run through the infield, the half-oval, half-road course layout is as unique as it gets.
Looking for even more excitement, the speedway reconfigured the ROVAL in May in advance of Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400.
The changes included:
- Extending the straight-away coming out of Turn 5, creating a new Turn 6.
- A hairpin Turn 7 before heading back out onto the oval portion of the course.
- A sharper apex in Turn 16 of the final chicane of the race.
But, in typical NASCAR fashion, they weren't done innovating.
As part of NBC-affiliate media days, former driver and broadcaster Jeff Burton got ahold of Charlotte Motor Speedway President Greg Walter and commandeered him into a car.
"He said, 'I want to show you the Turn 7 you guys have proposed,'" Walter said. "He said 'You guys have got this all wrong. You need to open it up.'"
The track listened and changed the angle of Turn 7 from a horseshoe shape into a very severe hairpin turn. It will force drivers to choose whether or not to approach the turn outside, or "dive-bomb" inside.
"We're putting a brand-new course in the playoffs that no one has see," Walter said. "No one has driven it."
The new angle should create more opportunities to make a move.
"We think it's going to make for some great passing," Walter said.
And of course, chaos. The speedway is rooting for it.
"I want the fans to have a good show. Chaos leads to a good show. Somebody's going to run over their mother to get to the Start-Finish line."
Contact Nick Carboni at ncarboni@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.