With the final superspeedway race of the season behind us, we turn our attention to the final road course. Charlotte Motor Speedway gets its second race of the season. However, rather than running the 1.5-mile tri-oval for the Coca Cola 600, they’ll run the road course. This is a unique layout because this track still incorporates parts of the actual oval, but also uses the road course layout within the infield. It is a bit bizarre, but here’s the layout for this year’s race to give you an idea. So we treat it as a road course at the end of the day. More importantly, this is the final race of the Round of Eight for the playoffs. Let’s take a look at this week’s drivers to target for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 preview…
Bank of America ROVAL 400 Preview: The Top Plays
A.J. Allmendinger (#16 Kaulig Racing)
Kicking off the Bank of America ROVAL 400 preview, we touch on one of the best road ringers in the field. Allmendinger ha yo-yo’d between Xfinity and Cup the last few years. But for the road courses, he usually shows up. Allmendinger is one of the best road course drivers in the Cup Series. In 2022, the first year of the NextGen car, he grabbed top 10 finishes at Road America, Indy Road Course, the ROVAL, and Watkins Glen (runner-up). Last year he finished sixth at Sonoma, fourth at Watkins Glen, and then he actually won at the ROVAL. It’s awfully hard not to go back to him once again for this race.
Shane van Gisbergen (#13 Kaulig Racing)
This recommendation gives me some pause early in the week. SVG is a terrific road racer. He won the Chicago Street Race in 2023 in his NASCAR Cup Series debut. The results elsewhere have been just okay. He’s been running a full-time schedule in the Xfinity Series to get more comfort and experience on the ovals, but he’s set to run the Cup Series full-time in 2025. With that said, he had the car to beat in this year’s race at Chicago, but he wrecked early and finished dead last. But he bounced back this summer and finished second at Watkins Glen. Be mindful, that’s he running the 13-car for Kaulig Racing, not the 16-car as he had done previously this year, but he is the favorite to win at +550.
Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
We can start to get the sense Reddick likes racing here. On top of that, he’s just proven that he’s a strong road course driver. In four Cup Series races at the ROVAL, he’s finished top 12 in all of them, including finishes of sixth and eighth the last two years. Speaking of those last two races here, he’s led 20+ laps in each. That’s pretty impressive on a road course. In the NextGen era, Reddick has wins at Indy Road Course, Road America, and COTA. He opened as an 11-1 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook which isn’t a terrible bet when you account for road course history the last handful of years and his ability to lead laps here.
Bank of America ROVAL 400 Preview: Wouldn’t Bet Against Them
Chris Buescher (#17 Ford)
Buescher is an above average road course driver. For our Bank of America ROVAL 400 preview, we have to mention him. Just a few weeks ago, he edged out Shane van Gisbergen to win at Watkins Glen. In the NextGen era, Buescher has started P20 (2023) and P21 (2022) respectively at the ROVAL and he finished seventh and sixth in those races. Buescher isn’t a playoff driver, but that didn’t keep him from winning at Watkins Glen so he is a driver that should be on our radar ahead of this race. RFK Racing typically brings very competitive cars to the road courses.
Alex Bowman (#48 Chevrolet)
It’s another week where Bowman may fly under the radar. He’s raced at the ROVAL five times in his career and has grabbed a top 10 finish in each race. As far as this year goes, Bowman finished fourth at COTA and then he won at Chicago to qualify for the 2024 playoffs. He’s sitting comfortably above the cut line to advance to the Round of 8 and if he grabs another top 10 finish, he easily advances to the next round. This is a fairly loaded field in terms of talent so I can’t say for certain he has much of a shot to win, but a sixth top 10 at this track is definitely on the table.
Kyle Busch (#8 Chevrolet)
It’s odd, but Kyle Busch has performed very well in this race. During his last two years with Joe Gibbs Racing, he finished third and fourth respectively in this race. Even last year, his first with RCR, he finished third after starting P5. He’s definitely hit a bit of a cold stretch. Back in August and September he had a nice stretch of four races finishing seventh or better. But now he’s finished outside the top 15 in the last four playoff races. That’s not great, and he may be mailing it in this year. But given the recent track history, and the fact he had a top five car at Sonoma, I think he’s worth a shot in some tournament lineups.
The Values and Sleepers
Ty Gibbs (#54 Toyota)
Gibbs is probably more of a sleeper, than a value. In his brief Cup Series career he’s had some respectable results on road courses. Last year he finished ninth at COTA, ninth at Chicago, fifth at Watkins Glen, and fifth at the ROVAL. So far in 2024 he finished third at both COTA and Chicago. Sure, there have been growing pains along the way, but there’s been speed in the car for Joe Gibbs’ grandson. Gibbs is currently getting 14-1 odds on DraftKings sportsbook, which are currently the ninth-best among the field. He’s likely priced in the mid-tier on DraftKings and FanDuel but I do think he’s a play that should garner more consideration especially if he shows up with speed in practice.
Daniel Suarez (#99 Chevrolet)
Suarez finds himself in a difficult position. Entering this weekend, he is 20 points below the cut line after some unfortunate results the last couple weeks. However, he is still a pretty good road racer throughout his career. He has a win at Sonoma from back in 2022 and top five finishes at Road America (2022), Watkins Glen (2022), and Indy Road Course (2023). The results specifically at the ROVAL have not been that great. His best career finish at this track was 13th in 2021, but in the NextGen era he’s finished outside the top 30 on two occasions. If there’s a silver lining to be found, he did qualify P3 in both those races, so he’s brought a car with speed at least.
Austin Dillon (#3 Chevrolet)
I’m definitely surprised with myself that I’m listing both RCR drivers in this article. Dillon does have a win on his resume from earlier this year at Richmond. But he lost the playoff privileges after it was determined he wrecked two drivers to advance. We don’t normally associate Dillon with being a good road course driver. However, he’s finished top 15 in each of the last three races at the ROVAL. The road course results elsewhere haven’t been great by any means, but as a value with some top 15 equity, I’m fine playing Dillon in tournaments. The team has made some personnel changes over the last couple months. The cars for Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon have been more competitive. He’s a good final piece for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 preview.