It’s like 10 lanes of traffic on a two-lane highway.
That’s how Denny Hamlin describes the 17-turn, 2.28-mile course at Charlotte Motor Speedway waiting for the stars of NASCAR this weekend. And it’s about to be the setting for the next round of playoff eliminations, trimming the field to eight.
But racing at the ROVAL is about more than just the playoff positions at stake — it’s about avoiding the chaos long enough to finish in one piece.
“It is the last race of round one, so people will be making Hail Mary decisions,” commented Ty Gibbs, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Gibbs experienced his fair share of twists and turns in last year’s race at the ROVAL when Sam Mayer played a hand in spinning the No. 54 in turn five, causing Gibbs to finish 22nd. With five victories this season, Gibbs will be on the prowl for a top-five result in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250.
He enters Charlotte third in points, behind Noah Gragson and A.J. Allmendinger.
Though he shares the same general sentiment as Gibbs, Gragson views it more as a “risk versus reward” situation.
“You can make a lot of speed, but you’re right on the limit of wrecking the race car,” Gragson said. “That’s what makes it so challenging as a driver there.”
Luckily, the JR Motorsports driver has been on a hot streak as of late, including a four-race winning streak that started at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and ran through the event at Texas Motor Speedway.
While Gragson doesn’t have much to worry about in regard to being eliminated from championship contention in the Xfinity Series, he’ll be behind the wheel of Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports entry in the NASCAR Cup Series while Bowman continues to recover from a concussion he sustained in Texas.
Gragson has a wary eye on the horizon in Charlotte as he continues to plan his strategy for the challenging course, knowing one small mistake in any one of the tight corners can be devastating.
The infield portion of the race track requires drivers to be on edge as they pick up high speeds coming around the corners, while still accounting for elevation changes and off-camber turns.
As Cup Series driver Austin Cindric explained, there is zero time to rest.
“From the time you accelerate out of turn eight through NASCAR one and two, you’re grabbing gears then you’re slamming on the brakes,” Cindric said. “You’re hitting all these bumps. The cars are bobbing out. You then hit on the brakes at the end of the banking.”
With such a demanding track, it’s easy to give in to the high-intensity. However, the ability to stay aggressive and adhere to a mental strategy is often the saving grace when racing at the ROVAL.
“You have to know what the mission is and what you’re trying to accomplish when the race starts. Is it all or nothing?” Joey Logano said.
The No. 22 Team Penske driver certainly has a goal in mind for Charlotte, and that’s advancing to the Round of 8 in the playoffs. At fifth in the standings, Logano simply needs to pick up stage points and earn a top-15 finish to do so.
With four drivers set to be eliminated during Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400, there are a few championship contenders who might have to adopt Gragson’s risk-versus-reward approach.
Christopher Bell and William Byron — who recently regained his position in the playoffs after appealing a penalty that was assessed by NASCAR following the event at Texas Motor Speedway — are facing a must-win situation as they hover near the cutoff line.
Chase Briscoe and Cindric are also in a bit of danger as the two are tied for eighth in the standings.
“I think there’s an underlying importance on execution from the drop of the green flag to the end of the race. And we gotta do all the things right with the way things sit right now,” Cindric said. “We have to have a really great weekend to give ourselves a real shot.”
Notably, Chase Elliott will ride his win from Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway into the Round of 8.
Elliott was the first playoff driver to win a post-season race this year.