NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.
Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.
We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?
Current Standings:
- Steve Luvender: 782
- Dustin Albino: -69
- r/NASCAR Community: -92
- Cameron Richardson: -144
Race 32 of 36: Charlotte Roval
A huge crash last week at Talladega Superspeedway made for not only playoff implications but also had an impact on 36 for 36. Second-place player Dustin Albino needed a solid day, but his pick of Daniel Hemric was among those taken out by the massive crash, earning him just one point. The NASCAR subreddit community pick of Noah Gragson earned 12 points from a 25th-place finish, while Cody Ware earned 25 points for Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson.
The final road-course race of the year will challenge our pickers next. Keeping in mind, it’s also an elimination race for the Round of 12, will players go for a safe bet or swing for the fences?
Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 7, Justin Haley
Dustin’s pick last week: No. 31, Daniel Hemric (1 point)
Total season points: 713 (second place)
Dustin: Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, my Talladega pick earned me a whopping one point. Hemric spent a good chunk of the race inside the top 10 but was involved in the 27-car melee. Full transparency — I strategically held off on using Corey LaJoie, knowing that he’s improved a considerable amount on road courses. But then an unconventional driver trade between Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing occurred last month. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because Haley is a proven competitor on road courses, finishing runner-up in the inaugural Chicago Street Race. He also rounded out the top five in the 2022 Charlotte Roval race.
NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 16, AJ Allmendinger
Steve’s pick last week: No. 15, Cody Ware (25 points)
Total season points: 782 (first place)
Steve: Back at the Chicago Street Race in July, it took great restraint not to use my No. 16 pick when Shane van Gisbergen raced to defend his 2023 win. I suspected that the Roval was a better bet with AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel, who’s nothing short of otherworldly when it comes to this track. The defending race winner has a 100-percent win rate in the Xfinity Series — four for four — and I’m hopeful he delivers another big day on Sunday.
NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No. 9, Chase Elliott
Cameron’s pick last week: No. 15, Cody Ware (25 points)
Total season points: 638 (fourth place)
Cameron: The No. 54 of Ty Gibbs was the initial plan for the Charlotte Roval, but with only a 13-point gap above the elimination line, I’m going with the 2020 Cup champ as he’ll need to go for as many points as possible in the first two stages. Elliott is the only multi-time winner in the six-race history at the oval/road course hybrid. He also holds an average finish of 8.2 entering Sunday’s race, which is third best among active Cup drivers. The only outlier among Elliott’s Roval results is a 20th-place run in 2022 after being spun in the closing laps.
r/NASCAR Community: No. 54, Ty Gibbs
r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 10, Noah Gragson (12 points)
Total season points: 690 (third place)
Redditors have spoken, and Ty Gibbs has been voted the NASCAR subreddit’s community pick in this week’s voting thread. Here’s what they had to say:
u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “Gibbs here. He’s a really Good road racer, and excels at the rovals especially (beat Cindric in his first start on the Daytona RC)”
u/miangro: “He’s going to go for the win. Reddick and Blaney probably going for stage points.”
u/Dont_hate_the_8: “I say Gibbs. He’s solid on RCs, and no other track on the schedule left jumps out at me for him.”
Check back next week to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues.
And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!