CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NASCAR Cup Series will compete on Charlotte Motor Speedway's "roval" layout for the fifth time this weekend in the Bank of America ROVAL 400.
Sunday's race is the sixth race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and will be the second playoff elimination race of the season. Following the Bank of America ROVAL 400, only eight drivers will remain in contention to win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
On Saturday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will do battle in the Drive for the Cure 250. This weekend's Xfinity race is also a cutoff, with eight drivers remaining in the playoffs after the Charlotte Roval.
Both races will be broadcast live on WCNC Charlotte.
3 things to know about the Bank of America ROVAL 400
1. If you love drama, the Roval typically delivers
In four years, NASCAR's playoffs have delivered quite a punch on Charlotte's Roval. Despite harsh criticism from drivers and teams calling it a "parking lot," the Roval has quickly become a popular race among fans that has a huge effect on the championship points standings.
The inaugural race had the wildest finish of them all when Jimmie Johnson flew into the final turn with a desperation move and crashed leader Martin Truex Jr. Ryan Blaney, who was running a distant third, snuck by both to score the win. Johnson was eliminated from the playoffs due to a tiebreaker after his eighth-place finish.
The next year, Chase Elliott found himself in the Turn 1 tire barrier after crashing from the lead on the restart. It was no problem for Elliott, who drove through the field to win and advance to the next round of the playoffs.
And who can forget last year? After Elliott and Kevin Harvick had a late-race dustup at Bristol, Harvick turned Elliott into the wall on Lap 56. Nearly 40 laps later, with Elliott closing in, Harvick overshot Turn 1 and crashed hard, ending his race and eliminating him from the playoffs.
PHOTOS: Roval 400 is a true weekend at the races
Heading into Charlotte, there's only one guarantee about drivers battling to stay in the playoffs. Alex Bowman will be eliminated, as he will miss his second consecutive race with concussion-like symptoms he has experienced since a crash at Texas Motor Speedway.
Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell enter the Roval below the playoff cut line. Bell will most likely need to win to keep his championship dreams alive. Briscoe and Cindric are just 12 points below Daniel Suarez for the final spot after Talladega.
Chase Elliott is locked into the next round, and Ryan Blaney is somewhat comfortable with a 32-point cushion over the cut line. Ross Chastain (+28), Denny Hamlin (+21), Joey Logano (+18), Kyle Larson (+18) and William Byron (+14) are the other playoff drivers. Any of those drivers not named Elliott are at risk of being eliminated at the Roval.
2. Hendrick Motorsports has dominated the Roval
With the exception of Blaney's win in the inaugural race, Hendrick Motorsports has been the team to beat at the Roval. Chase Elliott has two wins on the Charlotte road course and defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson won here last season. And speaking of Elliott, his win at Talladega last week locked him into the next playoff round, so he has nothing to lose in his pursuit of a third Roval win.
But if you're hoping to see someone else in victory lane Sunday, there are quite a few names who have tasted success on road courses lately.
Tyler Reddick has two wins on road courses this year, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Reddick finished second to Larson on the Roval last year.
Chris Buescher doesn't have any road course wins in Cup yet, but he has been stout this season. He finished in the top 10 at the last four road races and was a strong contender at Sonoma before settling for a runner-up finish. And he knows his way around the Roval, with a third-place finish in 2021.
Martin Truex Jr. is one of the best road course racers in NASCAR, but 2022 hasn't been kind to the former champion. He has just one top 10 on road courses this season. In four starts on the Roval, Truex has two seventh-place finishes and has led six laps.
3. Why is it called a "roval"?
Anyone remotely familiar with NASCAR knows most races are on oval circuits. There are also a handful of road courses, including Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
But there's only one "roval." Officially, at least. The term is basically what you get when you combine oval and road course. And the 17-turn layout uses the infield road course and most of the 1.5-mile oval that hosts the Coca-Cola 600. Credit to Marcus Smith and the marketing team at Charlotte Motor Speedway for helping it catch on as quickly as it did.
Charlotte isn't the only track with an infield road course, and it's not the only one that's been used in NASCAR. In 2020, NASCAR ran the legendary Daytona road course, which is the layout for the Rolex 24 endurance race, when it was unable to host events in certain states due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But for whatever reason, Charlotte's road course is the only one that's stuck with the "roval" moniker.
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