Charlotte's Oval Is Back — but Some NASCAR Drivers Want a Road Course in the Chase

After eight seasons on the Roval road course, NASCAR's fall Charlotte race returns to the traditional 1.5-mile oval for this weekend's Bank of America 400, delighting purists like Dale Earnhardt Jr. while Tyler Reddick argues the Chase should feature every track style.

Charlotte's Oval Is Back — but Some NASCAR Drivers Want a Road Course in the Chase

Every October since 1960, NASCAR has brought its fall race to Charlotte Motor Speedway. This weekend, for the first time in eight years, it returns to the track everyone grew up on. The fall event had been run on the Roval, a 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course carved out of the infield, since 2018. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson each won there twice, and road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen took what is — for now — the final Roval checkered flag. When Speedway Motorsports put the layout into hibernation and restored the Bank of America 400 to the traditional mile-and-a-half oval, the garage celebrated. "Praise God we're not racing through the dang parking lot of the best oval in the world this weekend," Dean Thompson posted this week. Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. was blunter on his podcast: "There's some people that love the Roval out there. I ain't one of them." Not everyone is cheering, though. With the Roval gone, NASCAR's postseason Chase has no road course left, and Tyler Reddick believes the playoffs should test every style of track. Drivers in all three national touring series will race the oval this weekend, just as they did on Memorial Day weekend — while the debate over the Chase's missing twist rolls on.