Charlotte Motor Speedway is expected to shift its 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race off the track’s Roval road-course layout and will instead use the track’s popular intermediate-sized oval, multiple sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic.

In addition to the premier Cup Series, NASCAR’s other two national divisions, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series, will also shift their playoff races from the Roval to Charlotte’s oval. All three races remain scheduled for mid-October.

An announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

Since Charlotte first opened its doors in 1960, it has annually hosted two Cup race weekends. And up until 2018, both those races were held on its 1.5-mile oval. This changed in 2018, when Speedway Motorsports, the venue owner, moved Charlotte’s fall playoff race off the oval to the Roval. This 2.3-mile, 17-turn circuit combined parts of the existing oval with a road course built through the infield (the Roval was named for its hybrid oval-road course).

When the Roval was first introduced, its early races proved popular, heightening the entertainment factor while also differentiating the track’s two Cup race weekends. Charlotte’s other Cup race is the popular Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events.

The novelty of the Roval, though, has waned in recent years, especially since the advent of the Next Gen car in 2022, which many believe has diminished the quality of road-course racing. This coincided with significantly improved racing on intermediate-sized ovals, leading to an increased clamoring for Charlotte to return its fall playoff race to the oval.

“The best racing you are going to find is the oval,” Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who also co-owns 23XI Racing, said in the fall. “It’s really hard to bring an example of when the Roval will be better, unless you throw in a green-white-checkered (finish), and then you can have some chaos at the end that saves the day.

“The oval and this car work well together. I believe the reason the Roval is staying is because NASCAR wants to keep a road course in the playoffs, just as a competitive balance. Other than that, I can’t really see where it has a place.”

In recent years, the Roval has served as the final race in the Round of 12, giving road-course specialists a theoretical pathway to the final eight — win their way into the playoffs, survive the Round of 16, then win at the Roval. Last year, Shane van Gisbergen came close to pulling it off, winning four regular-season road races and the Roval, but he was eliminated in the Round of 16.

Now, with the change, the 10-race Cup playoff schedule, which will switch from an elimination-style format to a “Chase” format this year, consists entirely of races held on ovals.

NASCAR’s 2026 season begins with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.