NASCAR star revolts over chaotic Roval changes that ‘made a bad track even worse’

Revisions to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval have sparked debate among NASCAR drivers. When Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) introduced changes to the track just before the Bank of America ROVAL 400, drivers expressed strong opposition to the changes. Riley Herbst, an Xfinity Series driver, expressed his frustrations.

“I don’t know if you saw it, but they took a really bad race track and made it worse. That’s not good English, but that’s how I think about it. “I would feel better if it was the old layout but the new Turn 7 is dismal,” he said via Sportsnaut.com.

The Roval made its debut in 2018, introducing a half-oval, half-road course to NASCAR tracks. Throughout its history, the track has remained a point of contention and has been criticized by drivers despite promotional efforts by NASCAR and track owner SMI to reduce its appeal.

The latest changes aim to increase fan engagement by making the track more exciting, especially given its role in an elimination round. However, the changes have been met with skepticism from experienced drivers, who describe the changes as chaotic.

Denny Hamlin, a respected figure and co-owner of 23XI Racing, expressed his dissatisfaction with the latest version of the track, comparing the sharper, tighter corners to those at the LA Coliseum.

“They made the changes with the intent to stir up chaos,” he said, as Newsweek Sports previously reported. “You’ll have to convince me otherwise.

“They make the corners sharper and tighter. It was tighter in Turn 7 anyway, but now they’ve made it to a point.”

“So instead of taking the normal optimal line to make this corner, which is really, really tight, tighter than the (LA) Coliseum.”

The revised Roval track, which has been lengthened slightly to 2.32 miles, now features, among other things, a wider Turn 1 and a redesigned hairpin Turn 7. These changes, intended to create more passing options, also bring increased risks. The new layout includes longer braking zones, increasing the risk of dangerous overtaking and collisions, particularly in Turn 7.

Alex Bowman commented on these challenges.

“I just drove it in the simulation, but yes, Turn 6 is 100 percent blind. You can’t see it until you’re there, which is pretty interesting. At least in the simulation the lifting mark is before.” You can see the corner, so that’s definitely different. And Turn 7 is like a U-turn on a one-way street, so there will definitely be chaos.

As the final race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the Bank of America ROVAL 400 puts tremendous pressure on drivers fighting for a spot in the eighth round. This urgency increases the potential for aggressive driving, a concern that does not go unnoticed by the drivers or race officials.

Despite the outcry, the event will continue on the reconfigured Roval, promising fans an exciting spectacle. The likelihood of cautions at the end of the race due to the dangerous nature of the track could actually make for a thrilling conclusion to the race.