By David Morgan, Associate Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – The Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs comes down to this.
There are numerous adjectives that can be used to describe this weekend’s race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course: unpredictable, volatile, treacherous, chaotic, etc.
One thing is for sure, Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 is going to be a hell of a ride, with four drivers getting cut from the Cup Series Playoffs when the checkered flag waves.
In an effort to spice things up back in 2018, Charlotte officials elected to switch from running another race on the 1.5-mile oval to creating what they call the ROVAL, incorporating both the high banks of the oval with the track’s infield road course.
What emerged is a 2.28-mile, 17-turn behemoth that has been pushing drivers to their limits ever since as they battle to conquer the track and punch their ticket into the next round of the Playoffs.
Coming off last week’s wild card race at Talladega and straight into another at Charlotte, just one spot in the Round of 8 has been decided, with William Byron staking his claim by earning enough points thus far in the round to cement himself as one of the drivers that will continue their chase for the championship.
Behind him, there are those that are likely safe with enough of a points cushion, those in danger of falling out, and those that will be fighting for their Playoff lives from the drop of the green flag on Sunday.
Christopher Bell has the most breathing room with a 57-point advantage over the cut-off line, meaning he’s all but locked into the next round. He’s followed by Kyle Larson (+52), Denny Hamlin (+30), Alex Bowman (+26), and defending series champion Ryan Blaney (+15), all of whom have enough of a points buffer that they should be safe enough to move on to the next round.
From seventh on back, it’s a different story.
Regular season champion Tyler Reddick holds a 14-point advantage over the cut line in seventh, which gives him some breathing room, but not much. The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota will hope to turn around his Playoff luck and channel his previous road course success to keep his postseason run going.
Two-time Charlotte ROVAL winner Chase Elliott is clinging to the final transfer spot with a 13-point gap over those on the outside looking in. If Elliott can have a solid day, he can play defense to keep the drivers from ninth on back from knocking him…
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