Since winning consecutive road course races last season, Tyler Reddick has become an expert at the craft. He’s elevated 23XI Racing’s – along with Toyota’s – road course program in 2023 and is among the pre-race favorites each time the Cup Series turns left and right. 23XI Racing topped everything on Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, whether it be single-lap speed (Bubba Wallace, more on him in a bit) and five- and 10-lap averages with Reddick. Entering the race two points below the elimination line, Reddick will be chasing points, but he has a fast enough car to outright win.
Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Tyler Reddick
Starter 2: AJ Allmendinger
Starter 3: Chase Elliott
Starter 4: Ty Gibbs
Starter 5: Kyle Busch
Garage pick: Daniel Suárez
NEXT IN LINE: Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr.
RISING: After advancing to the final round of qualifying, Wallace pumped his fists and hit his steering wheel with joy. He walked over to Reddick and greeted him with excitement, satisfied by what the duo achieved. Road-course racing has been a work-in-progress for Wallace, but he continues to improve. Some of that has been from following Reddick around the track in practice, finding ways to maximize speed. This was the best the No. 23 Toyota has looked on a road course yet and Wallace will start fourth.
With how inconsistent Suárez has been in 2023, it can be hard to remember that he’s a top road course driver. His lone win at the Cup level was at Sonoma. That inconsistency has bled over to road courses in 2023, however, with just one top 10 finish (Indianapolis) in six starts. The good news for Suárez, Saturday looked a lot like Indy when he was among the best cars in the field. The only difference is, he will start from the second row and not from the pole.
FALLING: It wasn’t the start to the Round of 12 elimination weekend that Kyle Larson wanted. In the waning minutes of Group A practice, the No. 5 car slipped as Larson transitioned out of the infield section of the course back onto the oval when he pounded the wall. Larson drove straight to the garage for the Cliff Daniels-led team to assess the damage. It was deemed enough to go to a backup car. Larson enters the race with a 15-point buffer over the elimination line.
Surprisingly, McDowell is the only driver to fall from my lineup that I had earlier this week. The No. 34 Ford lacked speed relative to every other road course race this season in which McDowell accumulated the most points. Still, he wheeled his car to 13th in qualifying, which isn’t bad for the speed deficit he looked to have. Hopefully, taking him out isn’t a mistake, but there seemed to be more potential of other non-playoff cars such as Suárez, Allmendinger and Gibbs.
FEATURED MATCHUPS:
Kyle Busch vs. Ross Chastain
Aside from Reddick, Busch might have won the day when it comes to championship contenders. The chances of Busch leaping four drivers in points, plus making up 26 points on the elimination line are extremely slim. That means he’s going after the win and crew chief Randall Burnett can play his strategy accordingly. Chastain had average speed, qualifying 12th. It’s been a rough postseason for Busch, but I’m sticking with him this weekend.
Tyler Reddick vs. Kyle Larson
Who would have thought that the Roval, a track in which Larson won at in 2021, would bite the No. 5 team two seasons in a row. Hendrick Motorsports had Larson’s primary car transported down the road to its campus to remove parts and pieces and assemble them onto the backup car. So, you’re thinking Larson, in a car he has no laps on at the Roval is going to outrun the pole winner? Not going to happen.
Bubba Wallace vs. Brad Keselowski
As noted in Fastlane this week, Wallace has my trust more on road courses. His improvement at these tracks shouldn’t go unnoticed, while Keselowski continues to have middle-of-the-road numbers. That pace won’t get Keselowski out of the Round of 12, so the 2012 champion might need to hope for chaos.
William Byron vs. Ryan Blaney
With only Elliott advancing to the final round of qualifying from Hendrick Motorsports, it was a slightly disappointing afternoon for Hendrick. The No. 24 Chevrolet laid down a better qualifying lap than Blaney, though, as Byron will start 14th to Blaney’s 17th-place starting position. Having advanced to the Round of 8, neither driver has anything to lose. And though Blaney is tied with Logano and Alex Bowman for the most top 10s in track history (four), Byron won the last race on a road course.
After a sizzling start to the 2023 playoffs, Tyler Reddick has done some fizzling lately and finds himself two points beneath the elimination line as the field gets ready to shrink from 12 to eight drivers after Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
The good news is that it is a road course staring Reddick straight between the eyes, a track type where he has not only experienced success but also success at such a high level that it makes him stand out even among his playoff-battling counterparts.
The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota has averaged 33.3 points per race at the Charlotte road course, good for tops among playoff drivers not locked into the Round of 8. Reddick also is the only driver with multiple road-course wins in the Next Gen car.
Reddick has three road-course wins in the Next Gen car, including one earlier this season at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. His other wins came last year while driving for Richard Childress Racing at Road America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
If Reddick wins this weekend while coming from below the elimination line, it means somebody who is currently above the elimination line is not moving on to the next round. The fact Reddick is the first driver out probably has some people’s attention, including Brad Keselowski, who is currently the last driver in and only two points to the plus side of the equation.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
CHASE ELLIOTT: Elliott isn’t in the playoffs, of course, but he could affect the playoff picture very much this weekend by winning at a track where he has won before and on a track type where he has been one of the most dominant drivers of his time. Another scary thought? Elliott likes October, too, with his most wins coming in this month (four in his career).
CHRISTOPHER BELL: Bell got the first of two walk-off wins in the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs here at the Charlotte road course. He’s not as desperate this time around, entering this year’s race 22 points to the good, but it’s important to note he’s averaging 33.0 points at the Roval, which is just a tick or two behind Reddick’s mark of 33.3.
CHRIS BUESCHER: The “other” Christopher, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. sometimes calls him, has been lights-out on road courses recently. Behold the Buesch-man’s bushel of stats: Top 11 in the past 10 road-course races, top six in the last two Roval races and an average finish of eighth on road courses this year.
ROSS CHASTAIN: He of the video-game move faces another uphill climb as he sits 10 points beneath the elimination line with a road-course resume that includes finishes of 17th or worse in six of the last eight road-course races and a best finish of 22nd on the Roval.
BRAD KESELOWSKI: We mentioned he has Reddick bearing down on him in the rearview mirror, but like Chastain, Keselowski will also need to buck his road-course stat trends: Winless in 42 road-course starts, only two top fives in the past 27 road-course races and an average finish of 20th on road courses in the Next Gen car. Ouch.
Projections as of Sunday, Oct. 8:
RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400
Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.
CONCORD, N.C. — Daniel Hemric was inches short of advancing to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
The driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet used a three-wide dive exiting the frontstretch chicane as the checkered flag waved at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, putting himself to the left of Kaz Grala and Parker Kligerman. In the end, he was 0.038 seconds shy of the two pivotal positions — and points — he needed to advance while Sheldon Creed snagged the eighth and final position in the penultimate postseason series.
“I thought did exactly what we wanted to do, what we needed to do, short of winning both stages, right?” Hemric said. “I mean, we maxed out the day and felt like we were going to possibly win the second stage but the yellow came out there coming to the white. So yeah, I mean, so with that, maybe one more point. But at the end of the day, we missed it by two. But we gave up a chunk, you know, closer to 25, 30 points probably at Texas. So yeah, I don’t want us missing the playoffs taking away from the great job this race team did today.”
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Indeed, Hemric’s results at Texas Motor Speedway on Sept. 23 — a 24th-place DNF — cost the Kannapolis, North Carolina native his chance to advance after issues at the Fort Worth track. Hemric clipped the frontstretch grass on Lap 19 there, causing significant issues for the No. 10 team.
He and the team returned in strong fashion to the Charlotte road course, netting a race-high 48 points — bolstered by the 18 tallies he earned by scoring runner-up finishes in both stages. The effort was valiant, but the results were just short.
“I mean, I thought with the 48 (Kligerman), I saw the move he was gonna put on the 26 (Grala) there coming to the start-finish line or coming to the (frontstretch) chicane, and it played out almost like I wanted it to,” Hemric said. “But yeah, I mean I could have ran over him. I don’t know. But I wasn’t gonna do it. You know, I’m extremely proud of this race team and the way we executed today. We had a plan, stuck to a plan.
“We didn’t lose it here today. We lost it at Texas. So yeah, that falls on myself. But I have big shoulders. I can handle it. We’ll continue this journey.”
Advancing on the other side of the line was Creed, who walked away with a 10th-place finish in Charlotte.
“It’s the happiest I’ve ever been to run 10th,” Creed said with a laugh. “Probably the hardest I’ve had to work for one — maybe not the hardest. I have to work hard for 10th a lot. But just, I don’t know. I’m happy for the guys. I’m happy for the team. Not so much myself, but I’m more happy for everyone else that works on the thing and works in the shop. They put a lot of hours in to make it all happen and to see us make the Round of 8 is a big deal for everyone.
“I just hope we can actually be something in this next round.”
Also on the outside looking in were Parker Kligerman (-5), Josh Berry (-43) and Jeb Burton (-64).
The Round of 8 begins Oct. 14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Xfinity Series has a new road-course ace.
“We may be Allmendinger 2.0,” Sam Mayer quipped after winning Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and clinching a spot in the Round of 8 in the series playoffs.
The reference was to AJ Allmendinger, winner of the previous four Xfinity races at the 2.32-mile, 17-turn circuit. With Allmendinger ineligible for the race as a full-time NASCAR Cup driver this year, Mayer took over and got the win he needed to advance in the playoffs.
Mayer earned the final spot in the Round of 8 at the expense of seventh-place finisher Daniel Hemric, who ran third in a three-way drag race to the finish line with Parker Kligerman and Kaz Grala — when a fifth-place result would have been enough to survive the round.
“They came out in the bottom of the seventh and hit a home run,” said Hemric, who finished second in each of the first two stages and was bounced from the postseason only because Mayer won from last place in the Xfinity Playoff standings.
Lining up second next to Cole Custer for a restart on Lap 63 of 67, Mayer muscled his way past Custer’s No. 00 Ford through Turns 3 and 4 a lap later and pulled away to win by 0.909 seconds.
“I knew we had time,” said Mayer, who led five times for 50 laps. “Our car was so fast — it really felt unbeatable… We kicked their tails today, and it just feels so great.”
The victory was the third for the 20-year-old driver of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet — all this year and all on road courses.
“This is our second-chance moment,” Mayer said. “I think we can make something out of it. … We can go on and do great things because of this win.”
Kligerman, Josh Berry and Jeb Burton joined Hemric on the playoff sidelines. Kligerman missed out by five points after coming home sixth.
Berry finished third despite battling issues with his power steering but fell short in a must-win situation, as did Burton, who stayed out on old tires for a restart on Lap 60 and crashed into Justin Allgaier’s Chevrolet in Turn 1.
Sheldon Creed, on the other hand, squeaked into the Round of 8 by two points over Hemric after running 10th on Saturday.
“We had no front turn,” Creed said. “I was talking to our teammate Austin (Hill) about it. Both of our cars did not turn all day. … I had to work for that one. I did not think we would be in by two — I thought we would be better than that.”
After the Lap 63 restart, Hemric’s fate was in the hands of Custer, who couldn’t keep Mayer behind him.
“We struggled on the short run, for sure,” Custer said. “It’s frustrating. There are definitely things on the replay I could have done different, but our guys did a great job all day, getting our car to where we could compete for a win — but we just needed a little more.”
Riley Herbst ran fourth, with Kaz Grala fifth. Kligerman, Hemric, Stage 2 winner John Hunter Nemechek, Hill and Creed completed the top 10.
Justin Allgaier and Burton briefly shared the top two spots, opting not to pit and gaining track position during a late caution period. The two crashed into the Turn 1 barrier in their contest for the lead on a restart with eight laps to go.
That handed the lead to Custer, who held the top spot until Mayer slipped by with four laps left.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is the Alsco Uniforms 302, scheduled for Oct. 14 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event opens the three-race Round of 8, which will determine the final four drivers who will race for the championship in the Nov. 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Mayer’s victory.
See where drivers will pit for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
CONCORD, N.C. — Tyler Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing team placed heavy emphasis on qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.
Those efforts paid off as Reddick posted the fastest lap in the pole round for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). The fourth-year Cup racer enters the Round of 12 final two points beneath the eighth-place elimination line, trailing Brad Keselowski, the RFK Racing co-owner/driver who qualified 19th. Coupled with a fourth-place qualifying effort by Reddick’s teammate Bubba Wallace (10th in points, nine points out), 23XI Racing executed quite the impressive Saturday.
“This is what we needed to do,” Reddick said. “We had hoped and put a lot of effort into this, as all the playoff teams do for this race. For the most part, this is as good of an outcome as possible for the No. 45 team today. Bubba had a solid day as well, even though he wanted to qualify better in the second round there. When you look at what both of us need to do tomorrow, we’re taking the right steps.”
Reddick has carried a notable confidence into the race weekend. A three-time winner on road courses in Cup competition, his results at these tracks back up any added certainty in his step. But he noted Saturday that inner belief is nothing new.
“It’s been there all year,” Reddick said. “I noticed it right at the beginning of the year coming over to Toyota. Obviously, they weren’t happy with their road-course results last year, and they’ve made some huge improvements this year, starting off with our victory at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in the spring. For me, we got the speed. The team has been working great. Everyone’s efforts at TRD and our alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing has been huge.
“Everyone is doing a great job right now, and all the Toyota Camrys have the speed. It’s great to see. Now, we have to manage this race tomorrow. If I just stick to the simple approach, we’ll be in good shape.”
A win by any playoff driver on Sunday would lock that respective competitor into the Round of 8. With such an early advantage over Keselowski at the green flag, stage points and track position will become a critical piece of how the No. 45 team, led by crew chief Billy Scott, manages the 109-lap event.
“For me, no matter how the race plays out, I go out there and try to nail every corner and lap,” Reddick said. “And if I make a mistake, try to minimize the time loss. No matter if the strategy changes, my job doesn’t.”
Austin Cindric said Saturday that he will return to the Team Penske No. 2 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024.
Cindric confirmed his status for next season during an availability Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course, site of Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) in the Cup Series Playoffs.
Cindric is in his second full season of Cup Series competition with Roger Penske’s organization. The 25-year-old driver won the Daytona 500 as a rookie in 2022, clinching a postseason berth.
“I’m focused on next year big time,” Cindric told reporters at the Charlotte track. “With the changes that we made after the regular season and all that, yeah, pretty focused on hitting the ground running, using these next couple of weeks to really take advantage of that opportunity. Driving for Roger, driving the 2 car, that’s a big deal. That’s a big opportunity. I don’t see myself getting too many other opportunities like that in my racing career.”
Cindric missed this Cup Series Playoffs this year, and he currently ranks 23rd in the driver standings with a season-best finish of fifth place coming last week at Talladega Superspeedway. Team Penske and the affiliated Wood Brothers Racing group swapped crew chiefs at the end of the regular season, placing Brian Wilson on the No. 2 team’s pit box for the rest of the season and in 2024.
Before reaching NASCAR’s top division, Cindric collected 13 victories in the Xfinity Series — all with Wilson as his crew chief. He also has one Craftsman Truck Series win, driving for Brad Keselowski — the driver he replaced in the Penske-owned No. 2 ride.
We’re bringing you live updates covering Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 elimination race from Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course, the Bank of America ROVAL 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Bookmark this page and check back often as we chronicle the action from Concord, N.C.
Overview:
The 2.32-mile road course/oval hybrid (Roval) at Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts the 109-lap Round of 12 playoff elimination race Sunday afternoon, the final of three races in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs’ second round.
Among the 12 remaining playoff contenders, four drivers will leave the weekend eliminated from championship contention. The first round of eliminations took place last month at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse and Michael McDowell found themselves in the bottom four spots to end the Round of 16.
By virtue of their Round of 12 race wins, William Byron (Texas) and Ryan Blaney (Talladega) are safe from elimination; the other 10 contenders are fighting for the six remaining slots for the Round of 8, which kicks off next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The easiest way for one of those drivers to move on is to win Sunday.
Denny Hamlin (+50 points above the elimination line), Christopher Bell (+22), Chris Buescher (+19), Martin Truex Jr. (+17), Kyle Larson (+15) and Brad Keselowski (+2) enter the weekend in the top eight spots; Tyler Reddick (-2 below the elimination line), Bubba Wallace (-9), Ross Chastain (-10) and Kyle Busch (-26) will take the green flag with some ground to make up.
Links to keep handy:
Roval playoff race 101, an overview of all things Charlotte, from NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson.
Keep up with the action on the go with NASCAR Mobile, watch live in-car cameras with NASCAR Drive, and follow along with live leaderboards and scanner audio with Race Center.
Live standings to answer the question of who’s in and who’s out all race long.
All times listed are Eastern.
Sunday, October 8
6:27 p.m.: That’s all we’ve got for our live blog this weekend. Next up is the Round of 8 opener from Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the first Championship 4 spot is up for grabs.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
6:12 p.m.: Check the race results to find where your favorite driver finished.
6:00 p.m.: Your Round of 8: William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney. Only two — Truex and Larson — are past champions.
5:58 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger and team owner Matt Kaulig aren’t going to leave Victory Lane anytime soon.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
5:57 p.m.: The playoffs have ended for the No. 23 team, but surely driver Bubba Wallace will receive some sage words from team co-owner Michael Jordan.
5:53 p.m.: Your race winner just ended his TV interview by climbing into the grandstands to celebrate with the fans. The dude just loves winning.
5:52 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger is the first non-playoff driver to win at the Roval, and the first non-playoff driver to pick up a victory in the 2023 playoffs. And he is fired the heck up.
5:49 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger’s doing a downright hammer-down burnout on the frontstretch as his team surrounds him.
5:48 p.m., checkered flag: Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch have been eliminated from the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, falling short of advancing to the Round of 8.
5:47 p.m., checkered flag: Visibly and audibly crying in his car, AJ Allmendinger thanks his team on his victory lap.
5:46 p.m., checkered flag: AJ Allmendinger has won the Bank of America ROVAL 400, leaving out a victory screech for the ages over the scanner after taking the checkered flag. This victory celebration will be a good one!
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
5:44 p.m., Lap 108: AJ Allmendinger’s got the white flag in his sights. Can he hold off William Byron?
5:42 p.m., Lap 107: If Kyle Busch somehow makes his way to the lead—he’s nearly three seconds behind the leaders—regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. would find himself eliminated in favor of Busch. If things stay as they are, Truex is in.
5:39 p.m., Lap 104: Five to go and William Byron’s closing in on AJ Allmendinger for the race lead. Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch are hoping for something to turn this race on its head, or else they’re headed home eliminated from championship contention.
5:33 p.m., Lap 100: It wasn’t a great restart for Kyle Busch, who’s slipped to third behind William Byron. They’re all still chasing AJ Allmendinger. Not much movement around the playoff bubble … for now.
5:29 p.m., Lap 98: OK, we’re under caution, and we’ve reached the 90% mark. How exciting! Here’s the current points picture.
5:26 p.m., Lap 97: Somebody burned the pizza rolls.
5:24 p.m., Lap 96: Well, that was quick. The seventh caution waves when Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car goes up in flames on the first lap of the restart. The driver exited the vehicle, and that’ll do it for an eventful day for Stenhouse.
5:23 p.m., Lap 96: Restart once again. AJ Allmendinger’s out front, but Kyle Busch is on a mission.
5:21 p.m., Lap 95: It’s been a very AJ Allmendinger-looking stage—he’s now led more laps than anybody today—but polesitter and Stage 1 winner Tyler Reddick has made his way back up to fifth.
5:16 p.m., Lap 94: Caution No. 6. Christopher Bell tags Daniel Suárez racing for 11th place, heavily damaging the No. 99’s rear.
5:15 p.m., Lap 93: Trouble for two desperate drivers: Brad Keselowski has spun on the frontstretch chicane, and Ross Chastain made a pit stop after attempting to dodge the No. 6. Both drivers are in a must-win situation.
5:08 p.m., Lap 88: Austin Cindric went for a spin after getting tagged by Daniel Suárez entering the backstretch chicane. Bubba Wallace also spun through the chicane, which required the No. 23 to stop to serve a penalty. Wallace, who was running 11th, will need to pit for fresh tires. And, while there are still 20 laps to go, it’s a major setback for his title hopes.
5:07 p.m., Lap 87: Another restart. What’ll happen this time? AJ Allmendinger takes off out front, while Kyle Busch is battling Ty Gibbs hard in a battle for second. (Remember, Busch needs to win.)
5:00 p.m., Lap 85: Caution is out again. Andy Lally backed his car into the wall and he’s stuck in the pit exit lane. Who’s ready for another restart?
5:00 p.m., Lap 84: Kyle Busch runs third—by most measures, a great afternoon—but he’ll need to win today to keep his championship hopes alive. He’ll have to answer to Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger ahead of him.
4:56 p.m., Lap 82: Green flag is back in the air for AJ Allmendinger.
4:53 p.m., Lap 81: While we’re under caution, here’s where things stand with 28 laps to go in terms of the playoff picture. (It’ll change. It’s the Roval and there’s no checkered flag in the air. This is an exercise in futility.)
4:49 p.m., Lap 79: Another caution, the fourth of the afternoon. Erik Jones and Michael McDowell have crashed — no playoff drivers involved this time. Jones was on the outside of a three-wide position with Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and there’s just not enough room on the infield portion of the track.
4:46 p.m., Lap 78: AJ Allmendinger takes off on the restart, but Ty Gibbs gave him quite a run for his money on the opening lap. Allmendinger keeps his position atop the leaderboard for now.
4:40 p.m., Lap 76: Caution! Denny Hamlin spun through the treacherous frontstretch chicane and got clobbered by Mike Rockenfeller, heavily damaging the suspension of Hamlin’s right rear. Luckily for Hamlin, he’s already clinched a spot in the Round of 8, thanks in part to eight stage points earned in Stage 2. The damage might spell the end of the No. 11’s day, however, and will snap a streak of four straight top-five finishes.
.@dennyhamlin was running 21st at the time of the caution.
4:36 p.m., Lap 73: A bit of drama for Ross Chastain on pit road. Chastain’s No. 1 narrowly avoided collision with Austin Dillon, then still managed to stop in his stall for a legal pit stop. The bad news, though, is that Chastain runs 32nd. He’ll need a lot of help in order to advance to the Round of 8 … but we’ve seen him pull off miracles before.
4:33 p.m., Lap 71: Pit road is a busy place. These might be the last pit stops we’ll see today—definitely the last time they’ll stop under green.
4:32 p.m., Lap 71: Denny Hamlin spins on the frontstretch after a stack-up in front of him triggered from Michael McDowell’s car. McDowell’s pitting with a flat tire.
4:30 p.m., Lap 70: AJ Allmendinger’s stretched his lead out to 3.2 seconds over Kyle Busch, one of the biggest leads we’ve seen all day.
4:28 p.m., Lap 68: Chase Elliott has made a pit stop with a tire going down. The day’s not over for the 2020 champ, though; everybody still needs to make a pit stop. Brad Keselowski has also stopped.
4:26 p.m., Lap 66: Kyle Larson still holds on to the last spot as they run. He’s up to 18th despite restarting 31st.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
4:21 p.m., Lap 63: Brad Keselowski has entered the top 10, but it’s been quite a fight for him to reach this mark. He hasn’t earned a single stage point, thanks in part to his Stage 1 penalty, and he’s still nine points out of a transfer spot at this point.
4:19 p.m., Lap 62: Don’t forget about Tyler Reddick. The Stage 1 winner restarted 28th, but he’s just cracked the top 15.
4:14 p.m., Lap 58: Move the No. 16 to P1. AJ Allmendinger muscles past Kyle Busch to take over the top spot for the first time today. The Dinger has won on the Charlotte Roval four times in the Xfinity Series.
4:11 p.m., Lap 55: Meanwhile, up front, AJ Allmendinger is absolutely hassling Kyle Busch for the race lead.
4:10 p.m., Lap 54: Six of the nine drivers battling for playoff spots are running outside the Top 20: Tyler Reddick (21st), Ross Chastain (26th), Kyle Larson (27th), Bubba Wallace (28th), Martin Truex Jr. (29th) and Christopher Bell (30th). The final stage is the longest of the race, but it’ll be an uphill battle.
4:04 p.m., Lap 53: Kyle Busch, who ended Stage 2 in 10th place, inherits the lead as the cars ahead pit. Busch entered the day 26 points below the eighth-place cutoff; a win would alleviate all the pressure and advance the No. 8 to the Round of 8 … but we’re not even halfway through this one yet.
4:03 p.m., Lap 51: With stage points now awarded, Denny Hamlin has officially clinched a spot in the Round of 8, joining William Byron and Ryan Blaney. That leaves five more spots for nine drivers.
4:01 p.m., Lap 51: After finishing seventh in Stage 2, Bubba Wallace is communicating with his team to try to diagnose and fix an engine that stumbled a bit over the last run.
3:59 p.m., Lap 50: This caution will end Stage 2, and Chase Elliott will win it. (No, that wasn’t the plan for the No. 9.)
3:55 p.m., Lap 49: Really close call for Chase Elliott. Pit road entrance closed just as the leader was preparing to stop for service.
3:52 p.m., Lap 48: Just as leader Chase Elliott was preparing to pit, the second caution of the day flies as Josh Bilicki and Corey LaJoie tangle.
3:47 p.m., Lap 44: Before Stage 2 ends, don’t forget to finalize your Fantasy Live garage pick. I’m sticking with my Reddick-Bell-Allmendinger-Larson-Buescher lineup and keeping Chase Briscoe in my garage.
3:44 p.m., Lap 43: Ryan Blaney picked a great time to lock himself into the Round of 8 last week. The No. 12 runs 33rd after a green-flag pit stop. “Everything is just bad.”
3:42 p.m., Lap 41: Big milestone for Driver No. 9.
3:36 p.m., Lap 36: New leader! Chase Elliott has passed Christopher Bell for the top spot just before the halfway point of Stage 2.
3:34 p.m., Lap 35: There’s quite a presence of non-playoff drivers in the top 10—six of them, in fact. Chase Elliott runs second, and Daniel Suárez is in third ahead of AJ Allmendinger in fourth. Ty Gibbs is in sixth, Joey Logano is in eighth, and Michael McDowell runs 10th.
3:31 p.m., Lap 34: Tyler Reddick has gained seven positions since the restart; the car that led the entirety of Stage 1 runs 17th. Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace have gained four spots apiece.
3:25 p.m., Lap 28: OK, it’s time for Stage 2. The four cars that stayed out restart 24th through 27th, while Christopher Bell leads the field to green alongside Daniel Suárez.
3:15 p.m., Lap 26: So, while they’ve got stage points—and add Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. to the list behind them—Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace will need to pit for tires, while most of the field has already stopped during the green-flag run in Stage 1. Expect the four of them to start deep in the field in Stage 2, and they’ll hand command of the race to Christopher Bell.
3:13 p.m., Lap 25: 23XI teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace wrap up Stage 1 going 1-2. Those are valuable stage points for drivers who need it.
3:12 p.m., Lap 24: Christopher Bell has given up second place—and potentially nine stage points—to pit at the end of Stage 1. It’s not a total loss of stage points, however; he’ll rejoin the track in fifth place.
3:10 p.m., Lap 23: There’s some mixed pit strategy throughout the field as Stage 1 winds down. Cars outside stage-point rage are headed to fresh tires and a full tank of fuel to begin Stage 2.
3:05 p.m., Lap 19: The tricky frontstretch chicane has snarled Brad Keselowski’s afternoon. After missing the corner, Keselowski didn’t stop on track and now he’s serving a pass-through pit-road penalty. Despite the penalty, he should remain on the lead lap and work to fight back in Stage 2—but his season is on the line.
3:02 p.m., Lap 17: Reminder that stage-break cautions are back this weekend. The yellow flag will fly when stage points are awarded in nine laps.
2:52 p.m., Lap 10: It’s been Tyler Reddick’s weekend so far. The No. 45 has led every lap and he’s showing no signs of slowing … but there’s a lot of racing to go.
Alex Daus | NASCAR Studios
2:49 p.m., Lap 8: Kyle Larson’s backup car has got some early speed. He’s driven from 36th up to 28th, the fastest-rising car in the field currently.
2:46 p.m., Lap 5: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is on pit road and the No. 47 team is making some repairs to the right-rear corner of the car.
2:45 p.m., Lap 5: Erik Jones went for a spin exiting the frontstretch chicane. There’s no visible damage to the No. 43, but he’ll have a whole lot of cars ahead of him if he wants to continue his string of strong runs.
2:39 p.m.: Green flag is in the air! Tyler Reddick’s in command of this 109-lapper.
2:28 p.m.: WWE Superstar Liv Morgan has just ordered drivers to fire up those engines. It’s time to go!
2:26 p.m.: The NASCAR Garage 56 just ripped a lap around the Roval. Can we race it as a 38th car today, just for fun? Please?!
2:24 p.m.: The easiest way for a playoff driver to advance is to win. But, in any event, here’s the points picture at the start of the day:
1:45 p.m.: Last call to set your Fantasy Live lineup. Here’s who I’ve got:
1:35 p.m.: Before things get started today, let’s hear it for these happy couples who got engaged at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. Love is in the air!
1:30 p.m.: Who’s ready for some eliminations? Coverage begins in about a half hour on NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App.
Saturday, October 7
2:05 p.m.: That’s all the Cup Series action for today (unless you’re working on the Kyle Larson backup car), but the Xfinity Series takes to the Roval at 3 p.m. ET to close out the Round of 12 on NBC and Peacock.
2:00 p.m.: Your playoff contenders will line up as follows:
Tyler Reddick, first
Christopher Bell, second
Bubba Wallace, fourth
Kyle Busch, fifth
Denny Hamlin, ninth
Martin Truex Jr., 11th
Ross Chastain, 12th
William Byron, 14th
Ryan Blaney, 17th
Brad Keselowski, 19th
Chris Buescher, 20th
Kyle Larson, 36th
1:56 p.m.: Tyler Reddick has won the pole, the sixth of his career. Christopher Bell will start alongside him tomorrow.
1:53 p.m.: In the final minute of qualifying, Denny Hamlin went for a spin on the backstretch chicane, trying to topple Tyler Reddick’s quick lap. It’s an unfortunate break for Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, who won’t get to set a qualifying time in the final round.
1:32 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger paced Group B’s opening round of qualifying. Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs will join Group A’s fast five to compete for the pole.
1:16 p.m.: Kyle Larson update: The No. 5 will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race after his practice crash.
1:10 p.m.: 23XI Racing continued their speedy afternoon; Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace set the fastest Group A times. They’ll advance to the final round of qualifying with Christopher Bell, Daniel Suárez and Joey Logano. Now it’s Group B’s turn.
12:48 p.m.: Non-playoff drivers AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs set the quickest practice times for Group B. Next, it’s time to set the lineup! Each group of 18 drivers will have a 15-minute window to set a quick time; the top five from each group will advance to a 10-minute final round to determine who starts from pole position tomorrow.
12:33 p.m.: Coverage of practice and qualifying has started on USA Network (as well as PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App). Group B is practicing now, and qualifying follows at 1 p.m. ET.
12:25 p.m.: Despite both drivers facing elimination, 23XI Racing looks ready to rise to the challenge Sunday. Teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick topped the leaderboard in Group A practice. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson tagged the wall and damaged the right side of his Chevrolet; he’ll miss qualifying for repairs and start in the back of the pack tomorrow.
CONCORD, N.C. – After running what he termed “one of the dirtiest laps I’ve ever had in practice,” Tyler Reddick got just what he needed in Saturday’s subsequent qualifying session at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.
Turning a lap in 81.214 seconds (102.839 mph) in the final round of time trials, Reddick earned the pole position for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400, the Round of 12 elimination race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, NBC Sports App and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Reddick edged fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell (102.695 mph) by .124 seconds to secure his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his first at the 2.32-mile, 17-turn circuit and the sixth of his career.
The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Camry chose an opportune time to snag the top spot on the grid. Reddick enters the race ninth in the standings, two points behind Brad Keselowski for the final spot in the Round of 8. Keselowski will start 19th on Sunday.
“I got lucky,” said Reddick, who was fastest in Group A in the opening round of qualifying at 103.207 mph. “I had one of my dirtiest laps I’ve ever had in practice. But this is exactly where we need to be on Saturday.
“I knew I had to go out and qualify here to give us some options.”
Since the debut of NASCAR’s Next Gen car last season, Reddick is the only driver with more than one road course victory. He triumphed at Road America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last year and won at Circuit of The Americas in March.
Two other Playoff drivers below the cut line for the Round of 8 had promising qualifying runs. Bubba Wallace, nine points behind Keselowski, earned the fourth starting position with a lap at 102.569 mph. Kyle Busch, 26 points in arrears, will start fifth after a lap at 102.494 mph.
Non-Playoff drivers Daniel Suárez, AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano, and Ty Gibbs will start third, sixth, seventh and 10th, respectively. Allmendinger led Group B with the fastest lap of the day at 103.295 mph.
Chase Elliott, fighting for the owners’ championship, qualified eighth. Denny Hamlin jumped the curb and spun in the backstretch chicane and failed to complete a lap in the final round. Hamlin’s miscue forced NASCAR to red flag the session and prevented Gibbs, who was running behind Hamlin, from posting a lap.
Playoff driver Kyle Larson didn’t make a qualifying attempt in the first round after hitting the Turn 8 wall in practice and going to a backup car for Sunday’s race. Fifteen points ahead of Reddick, Larson will start from the rear.
“I don’t think you can go for stage points from 40th (actually 37th),” Larson said of his race strategy. “The silver lining may be that you can short the stages (by pitting early) and get your track position that way to be up front at the end of the race. I think that would be the plan, I guess, going forward.”
