Report: Fall Charlotte race won't be on road course in 2017
The fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway isn’t changing. For 2017, at least.
According to NBC Sports, NASCAR and CMS is leaving the 500-mile race at the track alone and it will be run on the 1.5-mile oval as usual on Oct. 7. The possibility of a road course race at the track was raised when AJ Allmendinger tested on the infield road course at the beginning of the season.
Per the report, the road course race is “likely” to happen in 2018. That makes sense, as it gives Charlotte ample time to prepare for the road course race and would make the addition of Las Vegas to the playoffs much more palatable. Vegas has set an announcement for Wednesday and it’s been reported that the speedway will get a second Cup Series race in 2018.
It stands to reason that New Hampshire would be the odd track out in the playoffs if Charlotte has a road course race in the fall of 2018 and Vegas is added. Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns Las Vegas and Charlotte, also owns New Hampshire and Texas Motor Speedway, another track with a playoff date. And it seems highly doubtful that Texas would lose a race, especially after the track announced its intentions to repave and reconfigure for the 2017 season.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
