For the first time , NASCAR is racing in a track that is half oval and half street course. Sunday’s race around the 17-turn, 2.28 street course/oval, the Bank of America Roval 400 in Charlotte Motor Speedway, also marks the last event of the Round of 16 in NASCAR’s playoffs.
Crew chiefs and drivers are having a tough time figuring out how to handle this particular track, and for bettors, matters are just an unpredictable. We break down the Roval out of a betting prospective below.
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The track is not a complete unknown to drivers, as several teams tested the Roval this spring and summer. Most, however, had problems transitioning in the high speeds on the large banks into slowing down entering the infield for Switch 1. Let’s let Kurt Busch explain the track from a driver’s view.
Yeah, it is definitely going to be chaos, but breaking down the tight and narrow Roval, we can find similarities to other tracks. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have earned the highest driver ratings on the street paths of Sonoma and Watkins Glen over the last 3 years.
There is less margin for error on the Roval than there is at Watkins Glen and Sonoma. Sunday’s race starts on the new infield road course and then uses the oval at its Turn 1 entrance. The cars remain on the speedway portion of the trail – tapping a chicane on the backstretch — before diving off to the street course again to complete the lap.
In terms of testing, on the final day of the final summer session, Kyle Busch place the fastest rate, followed by Joey Logano and A.J. Allmendinger.
The Roval is similar to the Rolex 24, a 24-hour sportscar race at Daytona where cars race on the banks and also on an infield program.
Many drivers in Sunday’s field have won that Daytona road course. Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Jamie McMurray and Playoff driver Kyle Larson teamed to win the 2015 Rolex 24 overall. A.J. Allmendinger won the Rolex crown 2012 with Michael Shank Racing. Jimmie Johnson, another Playoff motorist, finished runner-up in the Rolex 24 in both 2005 and 2008. Kurt Busch was third overall in 2008. And Paul Menard has a best finish of 15th at the Rolex at 2010.
Race favorite Kyle Busch led the first practice on the Charlotte road course Friday at a session that left Aric Almirola, Hamlin, Chase Elliott along with Austin Dillon with minor damage.
With the track offering little room to pass, the starting lineup is essential. Kurt Busch (15/1) and road-warrior Allmendinger (30/1) will begin on the front row. Alex Bowman (60/1), Elliott (8/1), Larson (20/1) and Johnson (25/1) round from the top-6.
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