Saturday Roval Xfinity race: Start time, weather, TV info
The NASCAR Xfinity Series closes out the first round of its playoffs with a Saturday afternoon race at the Charlotte Roval.
Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek have secured spots in the Round of 8 after winning at Bristol and Texas, respectively. Parker Kligerman (one point below the cutline), Jeb Burton (-19), Josh Berry (-27) and Sam Mayer (-34) are the four drivers currently in danger of elimination.
AJ Allmendinger won the last four Xfinity races at the Roval. Chase Briscoe won the inaugural event in 2018. Neither driver will be in the lineup for Saturday’s race, which will lead to a first-time Roval winner.
Cole Custer, a two-time road course winner this season, enters the weekend in the best position to join Allgaier and Nemechek in the next round. He is 63 points above the playoff cutline. Austin Hill is next at 44 points above the cutline.
Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at the Roval
(All times Eastern)
START: The command to start engines will be given by breast cancer survivors Patrice Bidgood and Destiny Medlin at 3:09 p.m. ... The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:21 p.m.
PRERACE: Xfinity garage opens at 8:30 a.m. ... Driver introductions begin at 2:40 p.m. ... The invocation will be given by Rev. Dr. Major Stewart of Greater Mount Sinai Baptist Church at 3:01 p.m. ... The national anthem will be performed by Cassandra Kliewer, a computer engineering student at the University of Alabama, at 3:02 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 67 laps (155.44 miles) on the 2.32-mile road course.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 20. Stage 2 ends at Lap 40.
STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on the NBC Sports App.
TV/RADIO: NBC and Peacock will broadcast the race at 3 p.m. … Performance Racing Network coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. … SiriusXM NASCAR Radio coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.
FORECAST: Weather Underground: Mostly sunny skies with a high of 71 degrees and no chance of precipitation at the start of the Xfinity Series race.
LAST TIME: AJ Allmendinger started from the pole, won stage 1, led 25 laps and won the race in overtime over Ty Gibbs in second and Noah Gragson in third. Brandon Jones won stage 2 and finished seventh. He moved on to the Round of 8 after beating Ryan Sieg by two positions. Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric and Sieg were all eliminated from the playoffs.
