Twists and turns await the Round of 12 drivers at the Charlotte Roval

As if four turns at both Texas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway weren’t enough for the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 playoff drivers, they will have to navigate 17 of them across 109 laps Sunday afternoon during the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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In its four years of existence, the Charlotte road course layout has already provided some of the most dramatic moments in the NASCAR playoff era.

From leaders taking each other out in the final turn, a driver wrecking and bouncing back to win to a playoff driver eliminating themselves with a crucial mistake, every turn — left or right — already has stories to tell that will be added to NASCAR’s endless lore.

The initial turn that leads into the infield section of the course has seen the most drama unfold as drivers have to quickly adapt from going full throttle at the line to hitting the brakes promptly into the sharp, narrow corner. The inaugural race appeared to go without much playoff pandemonium but the final laps saw a series of events unfold that not even the best authors could craft into their most dramatic stories. On a restart with six to go, a handful of the then-Round of 16 playoff field locked their brakes entering Turn 1 and crashed, sending the standings into a spiral.

Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski were among those involved but they had already advanced to the Round of 12 with prior wins at Richmond and Las Vegas.

However, Kyle Larson still needed to finish the race and in a decent spot if he wanted to keep his championship hopes alive. With Jimmie Johnson contending for the race win and Larson’s car with heavy damage, Larson’s playoff run was all but over. Until the final lap, that was.

The enthralling final seconds of the race followed the battle for the win and the final playoff spots that were split by a point between Larson, Alex Bowman and Aric Almirola.

With Jimmie Johnson seemingly locked into the Round of 12 with a multi-point advantage on the final lap, the seven-time champion pushed the issue and engaged in close-quarter action with 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. After exiting the backstretch chicane better than Truex, Johnson got to the inside of Truex entering the frontstretch chicane and that’s when the standings flipped upside down. Johnson spun after locking the brakes and his No. 48 Chevrolet hit Truex, spinning the No. 78 Toyota.

`Instead of a guaranteed 1-2 finish for the pair, Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag while Johnson finished eighth and Truex fell to a 14th-place result. In that short span of time, Johnson lost the points advantage he had over the elimination line that sent Almirola to the Round of 12 and by sheer willpower, Larson wheeled his No. 42 to a 25th-place finish, gaining one spot at the finish line to eliminate Bowman from the playoffs.

While the Roval sequels didn’t hit the dramatic peaks of its original, each one had its own moments that impacted who eventually went on to compete for a championship.

The 2019 edition saw a reversal of the ‘checkers-to-wreckers’ moniker as Chase Elliott locked his brakes entering Turn 1 and hit the barriers. However, the No. 9 Chevy rebounded within the 45-lap Final Stage to score the victory.

A year later, the Cup Series saw its first race under wet weather conditions since 1956.

But the 2021 Roval event arguably saw the biggest playoff shift take place in the course’s short history. Tensions were high between Elliott and Kevin Harvick after a run-in at Bristol. The rivalry between the two champions elevated in the Round of 12 elimination race as Harvick spun Elliott early in the final Stage that put the 2020 champion below the elimination line.

As he did in 2019, Elliott quickly rallied to return above the elimination line and with 11 laps to go, Elliott had caught the No. 4 but Harvick overdrove Turn 1 and slammed the barrier, ending his race and postseason run.

So what awaits in this year’s edition at the Charlotte Roval?

There are story lines aplenty to follow throughout Sunday’s elimination race including defending Roval winner and Cup champion Kyle Larson only being 18 points above the elimination line and the possible emergence of a 20th winner in 2022 with Ryan Blaney, who is still winless this year but was the inaugural Roval winner in 2018.

On Thursday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel amended William Byron’s post-Texas penalty. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet saw an increase in his fine to $100,000 but received no points penalty and is now back above the elimination line by 14 points. Chase Briscoe goes from being eighth in a tie over Austin Cindric to 12 points below the elimination line.

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Maximizing points is always the name of the game on a track that can see multiple events transpire in just one lap, and varying strategies will play out among all 12 remaining championship-eligible drivers to solidify their position in the Round of 8.

Best Average Finish at Charlotte Roval All-Time (more than two starts):

Source: Racing Insights