NASCAR Cup - Round of 12 Elimination Race

A lot on the line in Playoffs’ Elimination Race at the Charlotte Road Course

 

The intense NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 comes down to this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 elimination-race at 2 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 8 on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

 

The 12-driver Playoff field will be cut to eight as four driver’s title hopes will come to an end this weekend. Ever since the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course has joined the NASCAR Cup Series postseason in 2018, it has proven to be a wildcard event with twists and turns that challenge the competitors along its multi-elevational 2.32-miles. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (Texas winner) and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney (Talladega winner) have won their way into the Round of 8, leaving six of the eight spots still available come Sunday.

 

.@TylerReddick gets it done!

He wins the #BuschLightPole and will lead the field to green tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/seLd4gYGjX

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 7, 2023

Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) in 1959 and the track’s first NASCAR Cup Series race was held on June 19, 1960 – won by Joe Lee Johnson in a Chevrolet. But it wasn’t until 2017, that the track underwent renovations to add what is now known as the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (ROVAL), a 2.32-mile, 17-turn, multi-elevational road course that incorporates the oval portion of the track.

 

This season will be the sixth-time the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course has hosted a NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race (2018-2023) and the 2.32-mile track has occupied two different spots on the series postseason schedule – from 2018-2019 the Charlotte Road Course hosted the third race in the Playoffs (Round of 16 elimination race) and from 2020-2023 the sixth race in the Playoffs (Round of 12 elimination race).

 

The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (2020-2022) is the fourth different track to host the sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (2004-Present); joining Martinsville Speedway (2004-2010), Talladega Superspeedway (2011, 2013-2016) and Kansas Speedway (2012, 2017-2019).

 

From 2018-2019, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course hosted the third race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – Ryan Blaney won the event in 2018 and Chase Elliott won the race in 2019.

 

A total of 12 different drivers have won the sixth race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, led by Jimmie Johnson with four postseason victories – all at Martinsville Speedway (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008). Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with three victories (2009, 2010, 2019) in the sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

 

Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in Charlotte ROVAL wins with two (2019, 2020). Elliott did not make the Championship ‘Chase’ this year.

 

 

Here are the playoff standings and clinching scenarios entering Charlotte:

 

1. William Byron – Clinched with win at Texas
2. Ryan Blaney – Clinched with win at Talladega
3. Denny Hamlin, +50 points above the cut line 
1. • Clinches with eight points (29th-place finish without stage points)
4. Christopher Bell, +22 points above the cut line 
1. • Clinches with 36 points
5. Chris Buescher, +19 points above the cut line 
1. • Clinches with 39 points
6. Martin Truex Jr., +17 points above the cut line 
1. • Clinches with 41 points
7. Kyle Larson, +15 points above the cut line
1. • Clinches with 43 points
8. Brad Keselowski, +2 points above the cut line
9. Tyler Reddick, -2 points below the cut line
10. Bubba Wallace, -9 points below the cut line
11. Ross Chastain, -10 points below the cut line
12. Kyle Busch, -26 points below the cut line

 

“If you have a catastrophic issue — or not even catastrophic, but just an issue — earlier in the day that puts you a lap down or something, you’re in big trouble,” Christopher Bell, who won last year’s roval race stated. “While we are in a really good spot and I’m thankful for that, we still have to dot our I’s and cross our T’s.”

 

“Me over-trying has sort of hurt my racecraft, if you will, where I haven’t been finishing, frankly,” Kyle Busch said. “With me and this Next Gen car, look at how many times I’ve spun out and crashed. It’s just stupid compared to what it has been over time. I’ve still got some work to do on figuring that out.”

 

 

source: NASCAR Media

Kyle Larson Wins Battle Royal at Charlotte ROVAL

Advances in Playoffs

 

Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 featured a frequent winner, a couple of unlikely heroes and occasional villainy.

 

Kyle Larson took the checkered flag after 109 laps at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course to win for the seventh time this season and advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

 

Larson won for the third time on a road course—the most ever in series history in a single season—in a race that featured the violent renewal of the Bristol-born rivalry between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott.

 

And Larson’s victory was no stress-free Sunday drive. Car chief Jesse Saunders and hauler driver Steven Legendre changed the battery and alternator belt on Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet under caution and kept him on the lead lap at the end of Stage 2, after the voltage dropped and put Larson in danger of elimination from the Playoff.

 

“It wasn’t looking too good,” Larson said of the electrical problems that beset his car. “Thankfully, everybody on our 5 car did a great job of staying calm. (Crew chief) Cliff (Daniels), as always, did a great job of communicating with me what was going on, getting the battery changed, the alternator—whatever was going on to get our battery running.

 

“I knew I was going to have some sketchy moments. I had to work my way through traffic, stay calm, and we had some good restarts there at the end… It was just a fun race there and a lot of craziness all day long.”

 

The victory was Larson’s first at the Charlotte Road Course and the 13th of his career.

 

Harvick failed to advance from the Round of 12 for the first time since the inception of the elimination format in 2014. His race ended in the SAFER barrier on Lap 99 after he locked up the left front tire on his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and shot straight into the wall.

 

“I just pushed it in there too hard and I got the tire locked up and I couldn’t stop it,” Harvick said. “I felt like I needed to go get a couple spots back that I had lost, and I got the left front locked up, and I couldn’t get it to turn.”

 

“Karma,” Elliott’s spotter, Eddie D’Hondt, said on the radio with understandable satisfaction, given that Harvick had spun Elliott into the wall in Turn 8 to jeopardize the reigning Cup champion’s chances of advancing to the next round.

 

With @chaseelliott closing in, @KevinHarvick blows the entry to Turn 1 and is out of the race! 😱 #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/PK6KKEWe3x

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) October 10, 2021

 

But Elliott did advance after recovering to finish 12th, joining Larson, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. in the Round of 8.

 

Joining Harvick on the sidelines were Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and William Byron, who led a race-high 30 laps but lost track position after a bump from race runner-up Tyler Reddick entering the backstretch chicane after a restart on Lap 90.

 

Byron missed the corner and had to come to a full stop before continuing. Later, he was running third before hitting the wall on the penultimate lap. Needing a victory to advance to the Round of 8, Byron instead finished 11th.

 

Harvick’s shot into Elliott’s back bumper on Lap 55 appeared to be retaliation for the Sept. 18 Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where, in Harvick’s view, Elliott cost him a victory by taking his line in the late stages of the race—after Harvick had run Elliott into the outside wall and cut a tire on the No. 9 Chevrolet.

 

Kevin Harvick WRECKS Chase Elliott!

Was it payback for Bristol? #NASCARPlayoffs x NBC pic.twitter.com/xfECn8Pn5V

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 10, 2021

 

Asked whether his intent was payback for the Bristol race, Harvick said, “Sometimes real life teaches you good lessons.”

 

Chris Buescher finished third on Sunday—his first top five of the season. Kyle Busch was fourth, followed by Hamlin, Matt DiBenedetto, Logano, Bell, Blaney and Bowman.

 

Notes: Larson is the first driver since Kasey Kahne in 2006 to win both the Coca-Cola 600 in May and the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kahne won both races on the 1.5-mile oval. The ROVAL became the venue for the fall race in 2018… Larson enters the Round of 8 as the No. 1 seed with 4,065 points, 35 more than second-place Hamlin… The victory was Hendrick Motorsports’ 36th at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including the oval and ROVAL events and the NASCAR All-Star Race… Team Penske is the last organization with all off its Playoff drivers still eligible for the championship—Keselowski, Logano and Blaney.

 

What a day. Until next year. ✌️#BofAROVAL | #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/VNJ9XdXMSH

— Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy) October 11, 2021

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 62nd Annual Bank of America ROVAL 400

Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course

Concord, North Carolina

Sunday, October 10, 2021

 

1. (10) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 109. 
2. (29) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 109. 
3. (16) Chris Buescher, Ford, 109. 
4. (9) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 109. 
5. (1) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 109. 
6. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 109. 
7. (3) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 109. 
8. (4) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 109. 
9. (6) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 109. 
10. (12) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 109. 
11. (11) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 109. 
12. (8) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 109. 
13. (25) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 109. 
14. (15) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 109. 
15. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 109. 
16. (19) Michael McDowell, Ford, 109. 
17. (17) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 109. 
18. (23) Cole Custer, Ford, 109. 
19. (31) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 109. 
20. (2) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 109. 
21. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 109. 
22. (22) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 109. 
23. (27) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 109. 
24. (21) Aric Almirola, Ford, 109. 
25. (13) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 109. 
26. (20) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 109. 
27. (36) Joey Hand, Ford, 109. 
28. (37) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 109. 
29. (5) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 109. 
30. (28) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 109. 
31. (35) Scott Heckert, Ford, 109. 
32. (39) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 108. 
33. (7) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, Accident, 98. 
34. (34) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 96. 
35. (26) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Accident, 93. 
36. (32) Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 90. 
37. (38) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 66. 
38. (33) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 57. 
39. (24) Ryan Newman, Ford, Accident, 19.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.783 mph. 

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 15 Mins, 4 Secs.  

Margin of Victory: .782 Seconds.  

Caution Flags: 9 for 18 laps. 

Lead Changes: 15 among 10 drivers. 

Lap Leaders: 

• D. Hamlin (P) 1-9
• J. Logano (P) 10-13
• R. Blaney (P) 14-22;
• Allmendinger(i) 23-24
• C. Elliott (P) 25-26;
• Allmendinger(i) 27-29
• Kyle Busch (P) 30-51
• R. Blaney (P) 52
• W. Byron (P) 53-75
• Kurt Busch 76
• C. Buescher 77
• D. Hamlin (P) 78-80
• W. Byron (P) 81-87
• Kurt Busch 88
• D. Hamlin (P) 89-101
• K. Larson (P) 102-109

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): 

• William Byron (P) 2 times for 30 laps
• Denny Hamlin (P) 3 times for 25 laps
• Kyle Busch (P) 1 time for 22 laps
• Ryan Blaney (P) 2 times for 10 laps
• Kyle Larson (P) 1 time for 8 laps
• AJ Allmendinger(i) 2 times for 5 laps
• Joey Logano (P) 1 time for 4 laps
• Chase Elliott (P) 1 time for 2 laps
• Kurt Busch 2 times for 2 laps
• Chris Buescher 1 time for 1 lap

Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,16,12,19,22,1,18,24,34,4  

Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,9,4,12,22,5,2,19,48,24

 

source: Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service 

 

Honorary starter, actor Daniel Craig

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's in front of the 24 of William Byron

Chase Elliott, Driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the #4 Mobil 1 Ford

Kyle Larson, Driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com takes the checkered.