By David Morgan, Associate Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – 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 NASCAR 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 Chase Elliott staking his claim with his trip to Victory Lane seven days ago. That leaves seven spots up for grabs among 11 drivers.
From second to eighth in the standings, those drivers hold double-digit points advantages over the cut-off line, but even that might not be enough when it comes to the chaotic nature of Cup Series road course racing.
Ryan Blaney is in the best position of those drivers, carrying a 32-point surplus into next week, followed by Ross Chastain (+28), Denny Hamlin (+21), Joey Logano (+18), Kyle Larson (+18), William Byron (+14), and Daniel Suarez (+12).
Byron started the week at a points deficit, which was a result of his points penalty for his run-in with Hamlin at Texas, but on Thursday, an appeals panel reversed part of Byron’s penalty, handing him back the 25 points that were previously taken in the penalty, which moved him from 11 points down to 14 points up.
The points swing now leaves Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric as the first two drivers on the outside looking in, 12 points in arears of the cut-off line. Before the penalty reversal, both drivers were tied for the eighth and final transfer spot.
Christopher Bell comes into Charlotte in a must-win position, having to climb out of a 45-point hole if he is to keep his title hopes alive after this weekend.
The 12th and final spot in the Playoffs belongs to Alex Bowman, who has seen his chances at staying in the fight taken away for…
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