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Roval live blog: All the updates from the Round of 12 elimination race

Steve Luvender
·4 min read
Roval live blog: All the updates from the Round of 12 elimination race

We‘re bringing you live updates covering Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 elimination race from Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course, the Bank of America ROVAL 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Bookmark this page and check back often as we chronicle the action from Concord, N.C.

Overview:

  • The 2.32-mile road course/oval hybrid (Roval) at Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts the 109-lap Round of 12 playoff elimination race Sunday afternoon, the final of three races in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs‘ second round.

  • Among the 12 remaining playoff contenders, four drivers will leave the weekend eliminated from championship contention. The first round of eliminations took place last month at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse and Michael McDowell found themselves in the bottom four spots to end the Round of 16.

  • By virtue of their Round of 12 race wins, William Byron (Texas) and Ryan Blaney (Talladega) are safe from elimination; the other 10 contenders are fighting for the six remaining slots for the Round of 8, which kicks off next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The easiest way for one of those drivers to move on is to win Sunday.

  • Denny Hamlin (+50 points above the elimination line), Christopher Bell (+22), Chris Buescher (+19), Martin Truex Jr. (+17), Kyle Larson (+15) and Brad Keselowski (+2) enter the weekend in the top eight spots; Tyler Reddick (-2 below the elimination line), Bubba Wallace (-9), Ross Chastain (-10) and Kyle Busch (-26) will take the green flag with some ground to make up.

Links to keep handy:

All times listed are Eastern.

Saturday, October 7

2:05 p.m.: That‘s all the Cup Series action for today (unless you‘re working on the Kyle Larson backup car), but the Xfinity Series takes to the Roval at 3 p.m. ET to close out the Round of 12 on NBC and Peacock.

2:00 p.m.: Your playoff contenders will line up as follows:

  • Tyler Reddick, first

  • Christopher Bell, second

  • Bubba Wallace, fourth

  • Kyle Busch, fifth

  • Denny Hamlin, ninth

  • Martin Truex Jr., 11th

  • Ross Chastain, 12th

  • William Byron, 14th

  • Ryan Blaney, 17th

  • Brad Keselowski, 19th

  • Chris Buescher, 20th

  • Kyle Larson, 36th

1:56 p.m.: Tyler Reddick has won the pole, the sixth of his career. Christopher Bell will start alongside him tomorrow.

1:53 p.m.: In the final minute of qualifying, Denny Hamlin went for a spin on the backstretch chicane, trying to topple Tyler Reddick‘s quick lap. It‘s an unfortunate break for Hamlin‘s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, who won‘t get to set a qualifying time in the final round.

1:32 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger paced Group B‘s opening round of qualifying. Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs will join Group A‘s fast five to compete for the pole.

1:16 p.m.: Kyle Larson update: The No. 5 will go to a backup car for Sunday‘s race after his practice crash.

1:10 p.m.: 23XI Racing continued their speedy afternoon; Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace set the fastest Group A times. They‘ll advance to the final round of qualifying with Christopher Bell, Daniel Suárez and Joey Logano. Now it‘s Group B‘s turn.

12:48 p.m.: Non-playoff drivers AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs set the quickest practice times for Group B. Next, it‘s time to set the lineup! Each group of 18 drivers will have a 15-minute window to set a quick time; the top five from each group will advance to a 10-minute final round to determine who starts from pole position tomorrow.

12:33 p.m.: Coverage of practice and qualifying has started on USA Network (as well as PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App). Group B is practicing now, and qualifying follows at 1 p.m. ET.

12:25 p.m.: Despite both drivers facing elimination, 23XI Racing looks ready to rise to the challenge Sunday. Teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick topped the leaderboard in Group A practice. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson tagged the wall and damaged the right side of his Chevrolet; he‘ll miss qualifying for repairs and start in the back of the pack tomorrow.