Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C.– Tyler Reddick picked an ideal time to regain his form and beat Shane van Gisbergen — the road-course wonder from Down Under — in Saturday qualifying at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

With a lap at 95.510 mph, Reddick edged three-time Australian Supercars champion van Gisbergen for the pole position in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos

Reddick, who also claimed the top starting spot at the 17-turn layout in 2023, beat van Gisbergen (95.474 mph), winner of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races on road courses, by 0.032 seconds to earn his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his second at the 2.28-mile circuit and the 11th of his career.

In a qualifying session that featured unexpected severe fall-off of tires selected for all six road courses this season, Reddick put himself in position to overcome the 29-point deficit he faces entering the Round of 12 cutoff race in the playoffs.

Reddick believes the tire factor may be the most important aspect in determining strategy for Sunday’s race.

“I think everybody that had a plan, an idea on the strategy for this race just had it completely ripped in half,” said Reddick, who posted three road course victories shortly after the transition to the Gen 7 car in 2022.

“All the teams are now looking at what the fall-off was like today and refiguring what the strategy’s going to look like. I would imagine that tires are going to be important to have late if there’s a caution, based on what we saw today.”

The top 10 drivers in time trials constituted a diverse mix of playoff and non-playoff drivers. With Reddick on the pole, fellow title chasers Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain qualified fourth, seventh, eighth and 10th, respectively.

Behind van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs (95.265 mph) was third fastest, followed by Chris Buescher (fifth), Michael McDowell (sixth) and AJ Allmendinger (ninth), as non-Playoff drivers accounted for five of the top 10 starters.

Cup Series Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott claimed positions 11 through 15 on the grid, respectively. Team Penske’s Joey Logano, the defending series champion, and Austin Cindric will start 17th and 19th.

Logano holds the eighth position in the Cup standings, 13 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 8. Cindric is 48 points below the line, almost certainly needing a victory to advance.

Blaney and Elliott already have earned berths in the Round of 8 with their respective victories in the first two Round of 12 events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Four playoff drivers will see their title hopes end in tomorrow’s elimination race.

Van Gisbergen, who also started second in his most recent win at Watkins Glen, is seeking his fifth consecutive road course victory. The record for the Cup Series is six straight, set by Jeff Gordon (1997-2000).

AJ Allmendinger paces the field in practice

After a practice session split between two groups, it was AJ Allmendinger, the 2023 Roval winner, who turned the fastest lap, hitting a top speed of 94.748 mph. Fellow Group 1 drivers Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Busch and Zane Smith rounded out the top five. Carson Hocevar, Larson, Justin Haley, Bell and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.

Larson and Bell were the only two playoff drivers who cracked the top 15 overall. Ross Chastain (16th) and William Byron (20th) were the next closest championship hopefuls as the rest of the playoff drivers ranked 23rd or worse after practice.

Tire fall-off played a major factor and served as an eye-opener for nearly every team in their search for grip. Gibbs was the fastest over a five-lap average, four-time road-course winner van Gisbergen was the fastest over a 10-lap average and Regular Season Champion Byron was fastest over a 15-lap average.

Both practice sessions ran caution-free; however, 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst suffered a hard hit in the first session. He carried too much speed exiting Turn 5, which sent the No. 35 Toyota around and briefly climbed up the tire barrier before landing on all four wheels and continuing under green flag conditions with minimal damage.

Posted on by Staff Report

Eddie Partridge 256

Riverhead Raceway

  • Practice results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 16 Ron  Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 11.895 75.662 19 29
2 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/SYP/Northeast Drilling 11.911 75.56 17 19 0.016
3 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 11.923 75.484 18 30 0.028
4 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 11.945 75.345 19 20 0.05
5 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power 11.962 75.238 18 19 0.067
6 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 11.98 75.125 25 35 0.085
7 64 Austin Beers G&G Eletric Supply/Dell Electric/Fastrack Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Int/AP Marquadt & 11.981 75.119 10 21 0.086
8 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 11.987 75.081 28 31 0.092
9 81 Mark  Stewart Cromers Market/Keith Grimes Exc/Eastern Fuel/ East Side Builders/Truck and Auto Works/Hydro Action 12.019 74.881 17 19 0.124
10 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 12.035 74.782 14 19 0.14
11 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 12.051 74.683 19 19 0.156
12 88 Roger Turbush Rheem 12.071 74.559 26 26 0.176
13 96 Matthew  Brode Peter Clark Motorsports 12.072 74.553 37 39 0.177
14 60 Matt Hirschman Elite Towing/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 12.077 74.522 22 24 0.182
15 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 12.082 74.491 9 30 0.187
16 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 12.154 74.05 18 30 0.259
17 00 Chris Rogers Coors Light/JDL Environmental 12.359 72.821 8 20 0.464
18 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscaping Supply 12.637 71.219 10 23 0.742
19 29 Mike Marshall MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 12.766 70.5 28 29 0.871

 

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch has a new interim crew chief at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval as Andy Street moves atop the pit box for the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Randall Burnett had been Busch’s crew chief since Busch joined RCR for the 2023 season and spent each of the last eight seasons working for the organization. But Burnett will be heading to Trackhouse Racing in 2026 to lead rookie Connor Zilisch through his Cup Series inauguration, Trackhouse announced Sept. 23. RCR made the decision Oct. 1 to move Street into the interim crew chief role, while Burnett “will continue contributing in a support role with the organization through the end of the season.”

MORE: Roval schedule | At-track photos: Roval

Busch has won three races for RCR in his nearly three-season tenure, but each of those three wins at Auto Club Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway came within Busch’s first 15 races for the company. With five races left in 2025, Busch has a career-low two top fives and eight top 10s with just 62 laps led.

Change, Busch said, was necessary.

“Obviously, I mean, we’re not getting the results, right?” Busch said Saturday. “Results (are) what matters. We’re in a performance-based business and not getting the results. It’s got to fall back on someone, and they re-signed me for another year. So that kind of gave me the notion of they’ve got my back. And we needed to find a change somewhere.”

Busch cautioned, though, that one hire may not be the difference. He compared the end results as a cumulative product of a football staff working together, from head coach to running backs coach, quarterbacks coach, receivers coach and so forth.

Kyle Busch drives at the Charlotte Roval.
Ethan Smith | For NASCAR Digital Media

“I mean, it’s not just going to be a crew chief that comes in and fix the whole program. I’m going to put that out there,” Busch said. “We’ve got to have from top to bottom, from inside out, an opportunity of being able to orchestrate the proper personnel to go out there to execute.”

Street will serve as the No. 8 team’s crew chief through the balance of the season. But who will fill the position in 2026? Busch, the two-time Cup Series champion, is leaving that in the hands of team owner Richard Childress and team president Mike Verlander.

“I would say they’ve got to have a Rolodex,” Busch said. “And whoever they can pinpoint to have an opportunity to come inside and do the work, or whether they’re from the inside and do the work, it’s about leading us in the right direction.

“It’s not that I don’t want any input or to be in those conversations, but they’ve got to put together their list. And obviously, time is of the essence because people are probably getting their deals done right now in order to get it done by the end of the year. So once that’s together, then you kind of go over that and say yea or nay.”

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

NASCAR Cup Series

An outline of Cup Series pit road for the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on USA Network, NBC Sports App

NASCAR Xfinity Series

View of Xinity pit road map for Roval.

Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Saturday (5 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: How to watch NASCAR on The CW

NASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesView of Truck Series pit stalls.

Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Friday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on FS1

Posted on by Staff Report

All three national series continue the playoff action this weekend in NASCAR’s backyard, as the Cup Series and Xfinity Series return to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and the Truck Series will tackle the intricate road course/oval for the first time. It’s the cutoff race in the Round of 12 for both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series Playoffs, while the Truck Series sparks up its Round of 8. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to qualifying order, average practice speeds, results and more.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | TV listings

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Nine sets for the weekend (seven new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and one set for practice). Teams are also allowed six sets of wet-weather tires (four new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and one set for practice).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Unofficial Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Race day: Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Six sets for the weekend (three new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and two sets for practice). Teams are also allowed four sets of wet-weather tires (three new race sets and one set for practice).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Race day: Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Five sets for the weekend (three new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and one set for practice). Teams are also allowed four sets of wet-weather tires (three new race sets and one set for practice).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

Posted on by Press Release

TEMPERANCE, Mich. — The 2026 ARCA Menards Series schedule was announced today. The slate again features 20 races at 19 tracks, including the return to two familiar fan favorites.

The 2026 season will open at Daytona International Speedway, and for the first time since 2021, the championship will be decided at Kansas Speedway. The series will also make its much-anticipated return to Pocono Raceway in June and Chicagoland Speedway in July.

“The 2026 ARCA Menards Series schedule will see long-term relationships with NASCAR national series tracks like Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Kansas Speedway and Michigan International Speedway continue,” ARCA president Ron Drager said. “We’ll also return to traditional short-track venues like Toledo Speedway, Elko Speedway, Berlin Raceway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, in addition to the road courses at Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen International and the two dirt tracks at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

“It’s a great mix of tracks across the country that will provide our teams and our fans one of the most diverse schedules in American motorsports.”

The highlights:

  • The series will race at Daytona for the 63rd consecutive year dating back to 1964. As it has for the last seven years, the race will be the opener of a same-day doubleheader with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series the day before the Daytona 500.
  • FOX will broadcast the Daytona ARCA 200 for the second consecutive year; 13 races will air on FS1, and six will be shown on FS2.
  • The series finale will return to Kansas Speedway for the first time since 2021. The track will be the only venue to host two series races, the first in May and the championship round in September.
  • Chicagoland Speedway returns to the schedule for the first time since 2019 in July. Pocono Raceway returns for the first time since 2023 in June. Both races will run on companion weekends with the NASCAR Cup Series.
  • Toledo Speedway will return to its traditional May date, with other standalone short-track races at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway in June, Madison International Speedway in August and Salem Speedway in September.
  • The two dirt miles at the Illinois State Fair and DuQuoin State Fair both return on their traditional weekends.
  • Two road course races are on the schedule, with Watkins Glen International moving to May and a return to Lime Rock Park for the second consecutive season in July.
  • Additional conjunction races with NASCAR’s national series will be held at Phoenix Raceway in March, Talladega Superspeedway in April, Michigan International Speedway in June, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July, Iowa Speedway in August and Bristol Motor Speedway in September.

The race at Phoenix Raceway in March will be a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series West. Races at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Iowa Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway will be combination races with the ARCA Menards Series East. A fourth combination race will be announced when the ARCA Menards Series East schedule is released.

Below is the complete 2026 ARCA Menards Series schedule.

2026 ARCA Menards Series schedule

Date Track, Location Time (ET) TV
Sat., Feb. 14 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla. Noon FOX
Thurs., March 5 Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz. 6 p.m. FS1
Sat., April 18 Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan. 12:30 p.m. FS1
Sat., April 25 Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala. 12:30 p.m. FS1
Fri., May 8 Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y. 1:30 p.m. FS2
Sat., May 16 Toledo Speedway, Toledo, Ohio 7 p.m. FS1
Fri., June 5 Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich. 5 p.m. FS2
Fri., June 12 Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Penn. 3 p.m. FS1
Sat., June 20 Berlin Raceway, Marne, Mich. 7 p.m. FS2
Sat., June 27 Elko Speedway, Elko, Minn. 9 p.m. FS2
Fri., July 3 Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill. 8 p.m. FS1
Fri., July 10 Lime Rock Park, Lime Rock, Conn. 4 p.m. FS2
Fri., July 24 Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Brownsburg, Ind. 5 p.m. FS1
Fri., Aug. 7 Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa 7 p.m. FS1
Sun., Aug. 23 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill. 2 p.m. FS1
Fri., Aug. 28 Madison International Speedway, Oregon, Wis. 9 p.m. FS1
Sun., Sept. 6 DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, DuQuoin, Ill. 8:30 p.m. FS1
Sat., Sept. 12 Salem Speedway, Salem, Ind. 6 p.m. FS2
Thurs., Sept. 17 Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn. 5:30 p.m. FS1
Fri., Sept. 25 Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan. 8 p.m. FS1

 

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. — Recovering from a first-lap crash in “Calamity Corner”, Corey Heim rallied to win Friday’s Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, setting a single-season NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series record with his 10th win of the 2025 campaign, breaking the tie with Greg Biffle.

Driving a heavily taped No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota, Heim took the lead by staying out for an overtime restart while teammate Brent Crews, who had led a race-high 56 laps, pitted for fuel and tires.

Heim drove away on the restart and beat runner-up Crews to the finish line by 1.338 seconds, leading the first-ever 1-2-3 finish for Tricon, with rookie Gio Ruggiero coming home third.

“It was not easy today — I think it was probably the toughest one of the year so far,” said Heim, who secured a spot in the Oct. 31 Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway. “Just shows the resilience of this Tricon team. They fixed it up so good for me after that incident on the first lap — just kind of out of our control.

“I thought we were done, honestly. The right front completely folded when it hit the wall over there.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

In fact, the race was just a few seconds old when three playoff drivers tangled in Turn 1, nicknamed “Calamity Corner” as the frequent scene of accidents at the 2.28-mile, 17-turn circuit.

Contact from Grant Enfinger sent second-place starter Layne Riggs spinning in a collision that knocked the No. 11 Toyota of Heim, the pole winner and runaway series leader, into the Turn 1 barrier.

All three trucks sustained damage, with Heim suffering a left-rear tire rub that required multiple pit stops to correct.

“We were not as good as we were in practice and qualifying after that damage,” said the 23-year-old Heim, who earned his first victory at the Roval and the 21st of his career, placing seventh all-time. “My steering wheel was about 45 degrees to the left, and we came down pit road like six times to try to get it back to at least somewhat where it was.”

As Heim worked his way back to the front after the accident, Crews dominated, though he short-pitted in both the first and second stages to set up track position after the breaks.

In fact, Crews appeared bound for his first victory in the series before another Tricon teammate, Toni Breidinger, stalled in Turn 5 to cause the fourth and final caution, sending the race to overtime.

Crews came to pit road from the lead with third-place Connor Zilisch, as Heim stayed on track with Connor Mosack, Riggs and Chandler Smith.

Riggs, who had been racing without a sway bar since the early crash, suffered clutch issues on the restart and held up the outside lane. With trucks spinning behind him, Heim opened a gap and maintained it throughout the two-lap extra period.

“We had a super-fast truck, as you got to see,” Crews said philosophically. “I’m out there leading the race today — I had a blast. Really happy for Tricon today to go 1-2-3, and congrats to the whole 11 team. They did a great job all day as well.

“I was happy to see them get back up there, but I definitely didn’t want to see [Heim] stay out there (for the overtime).”

WATCH: Crews ‘grateful’ after runner-up Roval finish

With Heim advancing to the Championship 4, the other seven playoff drivers left the opening race in the Round of 8 clustered together around the elimination line. Daniel Hemric (11th after starting from the rear) and Tyler Ankrum (ninth) are second and third in the standings, two points above the cutline.

Fourth-place finisher Rajah Caruth is fourth in the standings, just one point to the good over Riggs, two clear of defending series champion Ty Majeski and four ahead of Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt, who won the first and second stages before finishing 14th.

Zilisch came home fifth in Friday’s race, followed by Josh Bilicki, Enfinger, Majeski, Ankrum and Mosack. Riggs finished 21st to drop below the cutline and was still steamed about the first-lap incident after the race.

“We just got wrecked by the 9 (Enfinger),” Riggs said. “I don’t really understand what his thought process is. People say you’re supposed to take advice from the veterans and learn from them of how to race, and they race the worst out of anybody.

“That’s twice this year we’ve gotten wrecked by the 9 truck — at Watkins Glen and here, both road courses, two separate incidents, two blatantly wrong on his part. We drug a sway bar arm off after that contact and just had a terrible handling truck the rest of the day.

“At the end, we were just going to try to salvage something, but something in the rear end housing broke, or a clutch started slipping, but I had no power there at the end.”

The Truck Series returns to action on Friday, Oct. 17, for the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Heim as the race winner. No trucks will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson
grant enfinger at the charlotte roval
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media
Posted on by Staff Report

Grant Lynch, who guided Talladega Superspeedway for 26 years with an unwavering devotion to improving the fan experience, died Thursday morning. He was 71.

Lynch was president and later chairman of the 2.66-mile Alabama track until his retirement after the 2019 NASCAR season, which marked the facility’s 50th anniversary. He was honored the previous year with the Buddy Shuman Award, which recognizes individuals and organizations whose efforts and contributions have helped advance the sport of stock car racing.

Lynch, a South Dakota native, spent 10 years with R.J. Reynolds’ sports marketing group before coming to Talladega, first as its general manager before being named track president in the fall of 1993, succeeding current NASCAR executive Mike Helton. At his appointment, Lynch said his goal was to make Talladega “the most fan-friendly place on the circuit.” He was also a staunch advocate for the style of high-speed racing that the steeply banked trioval produces.

“Quite frankly, in my opinion, this is the most exciting race track in the world,” Lynch told the Associated Press in 1998. “You see guys here racing side by side, lap after lap. Nobody in the stands sits down.”

Lynch oversaw multiple projects to bring more modern touches to Talladega, the last of which was a $50 million transformation of the track’s infield in 2019. The first race for the track’s new amenities was also the 100th for the NASCAR Cup Series. Lynch served as grand marshal and gave the command to start engines.

“I’ll be going out in November, but I get to build one last big project for the Frances,” Lynch told NASCAR.com that year. “I got to build some others, but I’m looking forward to doing this as kind of my swan song. Then I’m going to go do what I want every day.”

NASCAR released an official statement Thursday afternoon: “Grant Lynch’s leadership, vision and larger-than-life personality helped make Talladega Superspeedway one of the most iconic and fan-friendly venues in all of motorsports. As the track’s longtime president and later chairman, he guided Talladega through more than two decades of growth and transformation while building lasting relationships with fans, competitors and colleagues across the industry. From his time with R.J. Reynolds, Talladega and even into retirement, Grant was not only a trusted leader but also a cherished friend to so many in the NASCAR family. NASCAR extends its heartfelt condolences to Grant’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Posted on by Nate Ryan

NASCAR’s playoff races at the Roval never end quietly — even when the checkered flag has signaled a relatively calm finish on the treacherous road course inside Charlotte Motor Speedway.

That was evident last year when the Round of 8 field seemed to have been set with 10 laps remaining when Tyler Reddick moved into the final spot. He eventually advanced by four points over Joey Logano.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Cup Series standings

More than two hours later, Alex Bowman’s car was disqualified, Logano’s championship bid was resuscitated, and Charlotte’s reputation as host of the annual cutoff cauldron of chaos remained secure.

Logano would win two of the next four races to wrap up his third Cup championship in the most extreme example yet of how the unpredictability of the Roval can reverberate through NASCAR’s premier series.

Sunday will mark the eighth consecutive year that the road course-speedway hybrid has held an elimination event, and at least one driver annually is singled out for a heart-pounding roller-coaster ride of agony or elation while teetering on the brink of advancement or oblivion.

The Roval’s inaugural race in 2018 set the tone with an unbelievably game-changing final lap.

Comfortably above the cutline by seven points and less than a quarter mile from transferring to the second round, Jimmie Johnson was charging toward his first victory of the season when he overdrove a corner in the frontstretch chicane and tangled with Martin Truex Jr. for the lead. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, who had led a race-high 47 laps before destroying his front-end suspension in a massive crash, was driving a wounded No. 42 Chevrolet with the grace of Mr. Magoo. After being involved in the same wreck (and two earlier incidents), Aric Almirola was just as desperate with a damaged car.

After his spin, Johnson finished eighth and fell into a three-way tie with Almirola, who gained six positions in three laps, and Larson, who comically slammed into the frontstretch wall to make a left turn past the stalled car of Jeffrey Earnhardt and across the finish line to pick up the final point he needed to advance.

And thus began the Roval’s run as the playoffs’ primary change agent.

The track moved from Round of 16 cutoff race to Round of 12 finale the following year, but the bedlam never has subsided.

Chase Elliott wrecked on a restart while leading halfway through the 2019 race and still managed to win. (Teammate Alex Bowman, ailing from dehydration and illness, barely advanced by battling for second after falling to last on the first lap in a backup car.) In 2020, Kyle Busch’s two-championship run with crew chief Adam Stevens essentially ended with a 30th-place elimination.

In 2021, Larson flipped from seemingly out of the playoffs with a malfunctioning alternator in the first stage to leading the final eight laps after a remarkable recovery that was pivotal in his championship push. In 2022, he suffered a stunning elimination in his title defense after slapping the Turn 7 wall with 12 laps remaining and squandering an 18-point lead while fixing the damage.

In 2023, Brad Keselowski entered above the cutline and was eliminated after a horror show of a spin and a pass-through penalty for a missed chicane. Last October was Bowman’s turn to deal with a Roval heartbreak.

Every year, a playoff driver and team get put through the wringer at this unusual 17-turn, 2.28-mile layout that might have the highest degree of difficulty in NASCAR.

Who will face the Roval’s wrath this season?

Be prepared to stick around until after the finish to find out.