Previewing the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400
The Round of 12 for the NASCAR Cup Series concludes on Sunday with the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. If someone is going to win their way into the Round of 8, they will need to find a way to stop Shane van Gisbergen's road course dominance.
Fast Facts: Bank of America ROVAL 400
Date: October 5
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina)
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: USA Network
Stages: 25/50/109
Defending Winner: Kyle Larson
Entry List: 37 cars for 40 spots
Bank of America ROVAL 400 Schedule
Date | Time | Session | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
Sat., Oct. 4 | 2 p.m. ET | Practice | truTV |
Sat., Oct. 4 | 3:10 p.m. ET | Qualifying | truTV |
Sun., Oct. 5 | 3 p.m. ET | Bank of America ROVAL 400 | USA Network |
VIEWING GUIDE: How to Watch the Bank of America ROVAL 400
Who Can Stop SVG?
It may be a broken record at this point, but it remains the question entering every NASCAR Cup Series road course race for the foreseeable future. Who, if anyone, can stop Shane van Gisbergen?
The New Zealand native has won the last four Cup Series road course events, which propelled him into the Playoffs field. While he has since been eliminated, he'll still be plenty motivated to win the Bank of America ROVAL 400 and continue his stronghold over the road courses.
Should he win on Sunday, van Gisbergen would become the second driver to win five consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course events. Jeff Gordon won six road course races in a row between 1997 and 2000.
Preparing for Chaos at The ROVAL
The "ROVAL" at Charlotte Motor Speedway is unlike any other road course on the NASCAR schedule. Winding through the infield of the 1.5-mile oval with a couple of chicanes added in, there is little room for error on the 2.32-mile layout.
That layout changed for the 2024 race, adding another high-pressure braking area with a hairpin turn seven. That corner invites plenty of contact as cars slow to a crawl to navigate the left-hander.
Between the tight track and the drama of being the cutoff race to the Round of 8 and the lone road course in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the potential for a race filled with storylines and plot twists with championship implications is through the roof.
Playoff Drivers Hoping to Burst Bubble
Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Austin Cindric enter Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400 below the cutoff for the Round of 8 on points. Wallace nearly won last week at Kansas Speedway, losing out after a last-lap battle with Denny Hamlin that turned the win over to Chase Elliott.
Chastain and Reddick fans have the most optimism entering Sunday's race, as those two drivers have won on road courses in the past in the NASCAR Cup Series. Reddick is a three-time road course race winner, while Chastain's first career win came at Circuit of The Americas in 2022.
While Cindric has not won on a road course yet in his Cup Series career, five of his 13 Xfinity Series wins came on road courses. Bubba Wallace has found some success on the road courses, including a ninth-place finish last year at Charlotte, but he'll likely need to better his best career road course finish of fifth and compete for a win to move on to the Round of 8.
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Zach Evans is the Managing Editor of RacingAmerica.com, with nearly a decade of experience in motorsports. He has been with Racing America since 2017.
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