Having hosted the Coca-Cola 600 in May for many years, Charlotte Motor Speedway also hosts a second race of NASCAR Cup Series. The city in North Carolina is indeed the nerve center of the championship, and the majority of the teams are based there. In 2018, the decision was made to change the track layout for the second annual race, and to hold it on the “Roval,” that is, a road course using part of the usual oval.
A true success in its early years, the Roval has lost some of its luster in recent years, and many observers have called for a return to the oval for the race, which is one of the ten races in the end-of-season Chase. These requests have been heard, as Marcus Smith, head of Speedway Motorsports, explained on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, “The Dale Jr.”
“Charlotte Motor Speedway has always been synonymous with innovation and opportunity. The ‘Roval’ delivered spectacular racing while many fans clamored for a road course in the playoffs. Now, the return of the Chase is generating a lot of excitement, and fans are seeing that oval racing continues to bring plenty of thrills to the mile-and-a-half tracks. The time seems right to bring the fall race back to the legendary oval, where NASCAR history is made every year.”
While the switch from ovals to “Roval” tracks was justified in 2018, as the sixth-generation cars weren’t known for the quality of the spectacle they offered on 1.5-mile (2,4 km) circuits, the arrival of the Next Gen in 2022 breathed new life into these particular tracks, which had proliferated on the calendar in the early 2000s. Conversely, since the new car is better suited to road courses, these circuits have become veritable processions, notably with five consecutive victories for Shane van Gisbergen in 2025. The decision to return to the oval will therefore certainly make one person unhappy, but a great many happy throughout the paddock!
ALSO READ > NASCAR is returning to the “Chase” system to decide its champion