This week NASCAR goes home to the Charlotte area and Charlotte Motor Speedway for the road course at The Roval.
The oval at CMS is combined with the infield road course for a unique and challenging addition to the playoff rounds.
The Roval is the third race in the playoffs and at the end of the race 16 drivers will become 12 in the first elimination on the way to crowning a new champion.
During practice, Denny Hamlin wrecked his car and had to go to a backup car.
John Hunter Nemechek got airborne jumping a curve but got the car stopped just short of the wall.
Bubba Wallace gets loose and spins out but avoids a big crash into the wall.
Parker Kligerman hits the wall hard and has to move to a backup car.
Chase Elliott spins out during qualifying but keeps the car off of the wall.
After passing a kidney stone at the hospital, Michael McDowell returns to the track to qualify his car for the race.
After two rounds of group qualifying with a time of 1:20.932, William Byron puts his number 24 car on the pole and will bring the field to green. This is Byron’s fifth pole in only his second year in Monster Cup.
During final practice Martin Truex Jr misses a shift and blows the engine. The team will replace the engine but Truex will have to start the race from the back of the field.
Jimmie Johnson gets loose and into the wall but he believes the team can fix the car and not have to move to the back of the field.
With 35 seconds left in final practice, Alex Bowman hits the wall hard. As a result of the crash, Bowman will have to go to a backup car and lose his front row starting spot alongside team mate William Byron.
Starting lineup after qualifying:
William Byron
Alex Bowman
Joey Logano
Jimmie Johnson
Clint Bowyer
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr
Ryan Blaney
Paul Menard
Brad Keselowski
Chris Buescher
Daniel Suarez
Ryan Preece
Erik Jones
Aric Almirola
Kyle Buscvh
Matt DiBenedetto
Chase Elliott
Daniel Hemric
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Michael McDowell
Kurt Busch
Ryan Newman
Bubba Wallace
Corey LaJoie
David Ragan
Denny Hamlin
Ty Dillon
Austin Dillon
JJ Yeley
Landon Cassill
Timmy Hill
Josh Bilicki
Garrett Smithley
Matt Tifft
Ross Chastain
Reed Sorenson
Joe Nemechek
Parker Kligerman
Stages one and two of the race are only 25 laps each with stage three lasting 59 laps for a total of 109 laps around the course for the Bank of America Roval 400.
Mario Andretti leads the field in the pace car for the race.
William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of the race on a record setting day at 94 degrees of air temperature and well over 100 degrees inside the cars. William Byron takes the inside lane and edges out team mate Jimmie Johnson to take the lead.
On the first lap Alex Bowman and Erik Jones have an incident in the backstretch chicane. After starting in the back, Bowman has to bring his car down pit road with flat spotted tires. Martin Truex Jr and Bubba Wallace also missed the chicane.
Lap three, William Byron has a two second lead on Jimmie Johnson with Joey Logano in third.
Lap five, William Byron has a comfortable two and a half second lead on Jimmie Johnson; Joey Logano is in third over four seconds back.
After not stopping on the track after missing the chicane, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman will have to serve a pass through penalty.
Lap nine, William Byron continues to lead the race with a four second lead on Jimmie Johnson.
Lap eleven, William Byron has increased his lead to over five seconds on Jimmie Johnson.
Martin Truex Jr is reporting radio issues with his team; he has missed the chicane twic in the eleven laps run so far.
Lap 16, William Byron has led every lap so far, he has a lead of nearly six seconds on Jimmie Johnson with Kevin Harvick over seven seconds back in third.
Several of the drivers have had issues with the chicanes on the track.
The first caution flag of the race some out on lap 20 when Ryan Preece spins out.
Several drivers come down pit road for service. Kevin Harvick wins the race off of pit road, but there are several drivers who stayed out on the track.
William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart with just three laps remaining in stage one.
The caution comes out in the first turn for a big crash that involved Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, and Denny Hamlin.
Ross Chastain is stopped on the track.
In the meantime, Kyle Larson gets around leader William Byron.
Erik Jones has to take his car to the garage. Coming into the round 45 points below the cut line, Erik Jones is the first driver eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Stage one ends under caution giving Kyle Larson the stage win.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Clint Bowyer
Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Brad Keselowski
Aric Almirola
Kevin Harvick
Chase Elliott
Daniel Suarez
William Byron wins the race off of pit road but several drivers stayed out on the track.
Kyle Larson was charged with pitting outside the pit box – a crew member was trying to remove tape as he left the pit box – and will have to serve a penalty.
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski bring the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 28 with Joey Logano getting out in front for the lead.
Lap 28, Joey Logano is in the lead with Kevin Harvick half a second back in second with Brad Keselowski in third.
Lap 30, Joey Logano is the leader, but Kevin Harvick is on his bumper challenging for the lead.
Chase Elliott has moved quickly through the field and on lap 31 he passes Joey Logano for the lead. Driving on fresh tires, Elliott is pulling away and before the lap is complete, he has a one second lead on Joey Logano.
Running on old tires, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are dropping through the field.
Lap 32, Chase Elliott has a two and a half second lead on Kevin Harvick. Brad Keselowski brings his car down pit road with a flat spotted tire.
Lap 36, Chase Elliott has a lead of over three seconds on Kevin Harvick with Daniel Suarez in third.
Lap 37, Corey LaJoie gets turned around but the track stays green.
Lap 38, Chase Elliott’s lead is now nearly four seconds on Kevin Harvick.
Joey Logano makes contact with a barrier on the track and has to make a second trip down pit road for damage repairs.
Lap 42, Chase Elliott has pulled out to a lead of four and a half seconds on Kevin Harvick.
Bubba Wallace is stopped on the track against the wall after getting hit by Alex Bowman bringing out the caution flag.
After going a lap down serving his penalty, Kyle Larson is the “lucky dog” and is back on the lead lap.
After staying out on the track Clint Bowyer and Michael McDowell bring the field down for the green flag restart on lap 45 with Clint Bowyer taking the lead.
With fresh tires, Chase Elliott is putting on a master class in how to move through the field. With five laps remaining in stage two, Elliott has moved up to fourth place.
Leader Clint Bowyer misses a turn and loses the lead to Brad Keselowski.
Lap 46, Chase Elliott is now in thrid place behind Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer.
Chase Elliott passes Clint Bowyer and is looking for leader Brad Keselowski.
Lap 47, Chase Elliott has caught up to leader Brad Keselowski and is challenging for the lead.
Lap 48, Chase Elliott retakes the lead.
Chase Elliott wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Clint Bowyer
Jimmie Johnson
Kevin Harvick
Michael McDowell
Martin Truex Jr
Daniel Suarez
Paul Menard
William Byron
Michael McDowell wins the race off of pit road but most of the drivers stayed out on the track.
Thirty six of the 40 cars that started the race are on the lead lap with only one car out of the race.
Chase Elliott brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 55. Elliott gets out in front as the drivers get four wide going into the turn.
Lap 56, Chase Elliott has a lead of nearly two seconds on Brad Keselowski with Jimmie Johnson in third.
Lap 57, Chase Elliott’s lead is now over three seconds on Brad Keselowski.
Ryan Blaney reports that he has hit the wall and has smoke coming into the cockpit but he has elected to stay out on the track. Blaney is dragging something from under his car.
The caution flag comes out on lap 62 for Daniel Hemric’s spinning out.
Several drivers come down pit road for service.
Chase Elliott brings the field down for the green flag restart with 46 laps remaining in the race. Leader Chase Elliott misses the turn and hits the barrier; bringing out the caution flag.
Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 67 with Brad Keselowski alongside. Kevin Harvick gets out in front for the lead. Kyle Busch gets off the track with a flat tire after making contact with Kyle Larson.
After serving two penalties for missing the chicane, Martin Truex Jr challenges Kevin Harvick for the lead.
With 42 laps remaining in the race, none of the drivers can finish the race on their current fuel load and will have to make another trip down pit road.
Kevin Harvick holds off Martin Truex Jr and pulls out to a lead of half a second.
Since hitting the barrier, Chase Elliott has moved up 12 spots on the track as he works his way back through the field. He is currently in 19th place.
Lap 71, Kevin Harvick leads the race with Chase Elliott now in 17th place.
Lap 72, Kevin Harvick is in the lead a second in front of Martin Truex Jr; with Chase Elliott in 14th place.
Lap 74, Denny Hamlin is the first driver to make his green flag pit stop to begin the cycle of green flag pit stops.
Lap 76, leader Kevin Harvick makes his green flag pit stop, handing the lead over to William Byron.
Lap 77, William Byron makes his pit stop and hands the lead over to Chase Elliott who has yet to pit.
Some of the teams are taking fuel only.
Lap 79, leader Chase Elliott makes his green flag pit stop; Daniel Hemric is the new leader.
With 27 laps to go, Chase Elliott is in ninth place running the fastest laps in the race. Kevin Harvick has a three second lead on Daniel Hemric.
Matt Tiff emerges from a cloud of smoke to make an off road excursion through the grass.
With 25 laps to go, Kevin Harvick is in the lead with Martin Truex Jr in second.
Lap 87, Kevin Harvick continues to lead the race with a seven second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Chase Elliott is now in seventh place 15 seconds back.
The caution flag comes out with 21 laps to go when Ricky Stenhouse Jr spins out.
Ryan Newman gets stalled on pit road and has to be pushed to get restarted.
Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag restart with 18 laps remaining in the race and holds on to the lead. Drivers are getting aggressive on the track as they vie for postion…and points. Chase Elliott is now in fifth place behind team mate William Byron.
Ryan Blaney gets locked up on the track but the track stays green and he recovers.
Seventeen to go, Kevin Harvick has a half second lead on Martine Truex Jr.
The caution flag comes out for a wreck involving Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Preece, Paul Menard, and sends many others scattering to avo.id the melee.
Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag restart with 15 laps remaining in the race. Harvick holds on to the lead. Chase Elliott gets around team mate William Byron to take fourth place.
Daniel Suarez spins out and brings out the caution flag after he was unable to get the car moving again.
A few drivers bring their cars down pit road for fresh tires.
Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag restart with Martin Truex Jr alongside on the front row and Chase Elliott right behind them. With eleven laps remaining in the race, Kevin Harvick gets out in front for the lead.
Chris Buescher brings out the caution flag when he spins out and leaves a cloud of smoke. Ryan Newman hits the nose and causes more damage to the front of his car.
NASCAR finds some fluid on the track which is extending the caution flag laps.
NASCAR has red flagged the race to get the track cleaned up from the fluid that possibly came from Garrett Smithley’s car.
Already three laps down, Kyle Busch brings his car to the garage and is out of the race.
A very hot day, the red flag is very rough for the drivers; NASCAR officials are passing out bottles of water to the drivers parked on the track.
After a eight minute red flag, the drivers fire up the engines and prepare to get moving again.
With only six laps remaining in the race, Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag restart and holds on to his lead but Chase Elliott is on Harvick’s bumper and challenging for the lead.
Chase Elliott passes Kevin Harvick for the lead going into the chicane.
Desperate to make it into the next round of the playoffs, Alex Bowman passes Kevin Harvick for second with Chase Elliott nearly a second and a half out in front.
Three to go, Chase Elliott has a lead of over a second on Alex Bowman.
Only three laps to go and Ryan Newman misses the chicane and will have to make a pass through penalty, crushing his chances to move on to the next round of the playoffs.
Chase Elliott takes the white flag as cars crash. Daniel Suarez gets his wrecked car going again.
An the siren on top of the Fire Hall in Dawsonville will ring once again as Chase Elliott recovers from a crash into the barriers to win at The Roval for his second road course win of the season – third win of the season. Elliott drives his car to the barrier where he wrecked for a burn out. He exits the car and it rolled down the track.
Bank of America Roval 400 results:
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Kevin Harvick
Clint Bowyer
Brad Keselowski
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Ryan Blaney
Jimmie Johnson
Joey Logano
Matt DiBenedetto
Michael McDowell
Kyle Larson
Aric Almirola
Ty Dillon
Paul Menard
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Chris Buescher
Denny Hamlin
Kurt Busch
Ryan Preece
Ross Chastain
Austin Dillon
Bubba Wallace
Matt Tifft
Parker Kligerman
Corey LaJoie
Landon Cassill
JJ Yeley
Timmy Hill
Joe Nemechek
Ryan Newman
Daniel Hemric
Daniel Suarez
David Ragan
Garrett Smithley
Kyle Busch
Josh Bilicki
Reed Sorenson
Erik Jones
After the three races in round one of the playoffs Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, and Erik Jones have all been eliminated.
With the playoff points reset,
Martin Truex Jr
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Brad Keselowski
Denny Hamlin
Joey Logano
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Clint Bowyer
Ryan Blaney
and Alex Bowman are all moving on to the round of 12.