Bank of America ROVAL 400 Preview and Best Bet
NASCAR Cup Series: Bank of America ROVAL 400
Sunday, October 10, 2021 at 1 p.m. ET at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Playoff Update
We are currently on the third race of the second round of the playoffs, which is the Round of 12.
Still only one driver, Denny Hamlin, automatically qualified for the next round of the playoffs because a driver who is not in the playoffs won the last race.
Everything is on the line, therefore, for the remaining drivers. One could automatically secure his spot for the next round by winning Sunday's race.
The other seven will advance based on points remaining. As it stands, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Alex Bowman stand to be eliminated. But, because of how tight the standings are, every remaining driver has to be on edge.
Our betting approach should remain the same: there is no good reason to invest in Hamlin in any positive form because he has less incentive to perform well than other drivers. His claim that he will still try because he is a "professional" is just rhetoric: it's something that he has to say.
There are still 11 other drivers who have more incentive to perform well and are therefore more worth investing in. These are the 11 drivers remaining in playoff contention.
Race Info
For Sunday's race, drivers must complete a total of 109 laps.
As has nearly always been the case this season, there will be three stages for this event.
Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 25 laps. Stage 2 consists in 25 more laps. Stage 3 consists in the remaining 59 laps.
An entry list is published at the start of every week for the upcoming race. So, barring any unexpected circumstances, we already know which drivers will compete in this event.
The starting lineup, meanwhile, gets posted on Wednesday morning. Because drivers are already familiar with this track, there will not be any qualifying or practice session.
Instead, the starting lining lineup will be determined by NASCAR's usual predetermined formula.
Track Info
Charlotte's motorsport complex hosts a variety of different types of races on different courses.
For Sunday's NASCAR race, the road course, also called the "road oval" or "roval" will be in use, as it has been since 2018.
The surface of this road course is asphalt. There are 17 turns per lap.
Each lap requires 2.280 miles. So, in completing 109 laps, drivers will have accumulated approximately 248 miles or 400 km.
What is innovative about this track is that it is not simply a road course, but also an oval. So, uniquely, there is also banking here.
Each oval turn is banked at 24 degrees while the oval straightaways are banked at five degrees.
Banking helps the drivers reach higher speeds as they use it to corral more momentum for their cars.
Driver to Avoid
One driver you should avoid relying on to do well is Kyle Busch.
Since competing here for NASCAR became a possibility in 2018, he has always performed atrociously both overall and relative to his starting position.
In all three races at the Charlotte ROVAL, he failed to finish better than 30th. He also always finished at least 18 spots behind his starting position.
My Guy
Chase Elliott is the guy who people automatically think of backing on road courses because he has cultivated a reputation for thriving particularly on road courses.
This course presents no exception. He won both of his last races at Charlotte's ROVAL course. His win in 2019 was particularly impressive because he had started in 19th place. That was a very tall ladder for him to climb.
He's currently sitting in seventh place, literally on the edge of elimination.
Given his history and reputation on road courses, including on Charlotte's, you should expect him to come through in a big way.
Best Bet: Elliott to Win at +200 with Bovada
NASCAR Cup Series: Bank of America ROVAL 400
Sunday, October 10, 2021 at 1 p.m. ET at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Playoff Update
We are currently on the third race of the second round of the playoffs, which is the Round of 12.
Still only one driver, Denny Hamlin, automatically qualified for the next round of the playoffs because a driver who is not in the playoffs won the last race.
Everything is on the line, therefore, for the remaining drivers. One could automatically secure his spot for the next round by winning Sunday's race.
The other seven will advance based on points remaining. As it stands, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Alex Bowman stand to be eliminated. But, because of how tight the standings are, every remaining driver has to be on edge.
Our betting approach should remain the same: there is no good reason to invest in Hamlin in any positive form because he has less incentive to perform well than other drivers. His claim that he will still try because he is a "professional" is just rhetoric: it's something that he has to say.
There are still 11 other drivers who have more incentive to perform well and are therefore more worth investing in. These are the 11 drivers remaining in playoff contention.
Race Info
For Sunday's race, drivers must complete a total of 109 laps.
As has nearly always been the case this season, there will be three stages for this event.
Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 25 laps. Stage 2 consists in 25 more laps. Stage 3 consists in the remaining 59 laps.
An entry list is published at the start of every week for the upcoming race. So, barring any unexpected circumstances, we already know which drivers will compete in this event.
The starting lineup, meanwhile, gets posted on Wednesday morning. Because drivers are already familiar with this track, there will not be any qualifying or practice session.
Instead, the starting lining lineup will be determined by NASCAR's usual predetermined formula.
Track Info
Charlotte's motorsport complex hosts a variety of different types of races on different courses.
For Sunday's NASCAR race, the road course, also called the "road oval" or "roval" will be in use, as it has been since 2018.
The surface of this road course is asphalt. There are 17 turns per lap.
Each lap requires 2.280 miles. So, in completing 109 laps, drivers will have accumulated approximately 248 miles or 400 km.
What is innovative about this track is that it is not simply a road course, but also an oval. So, uniquely, there is also banking here.
Each oval turn is banked at 24 degrees while the oval straightaways are banked at five degrees.
Banking helps the drivers reach higher speeds as they use it to corral more momentum for their cars.
Driver to Avoid
One driver you should avoid relying on to do well is Kyle Busch.
Since competing here for NASCAR became a possibility in 2018, he has always performed atrociously both overall and relative to his starting position.
In all three races at the Charlotte ROVAL, he failed to finish better than 30th. He also always finished at least 18 spots behind his starting position.
My Guy
Chase Elliott is the guy who people automatically think of backing on road courses because he has cultivated a reputation for thriving particularly on road courses.
This course presents no exception. He won both of his last races at Charlotte's ROVAL course. His win in 2019 was particularly impressive because he had started in 19th place. That was a very tall ladder for him to climb.
He's currently sitting in seventh place, literally on the edge of elimination.
Given his history and reputation on road courses, including on Charlotte's, you should expect him to come through in a big way.
Best Bet: Elliott to Win at +200 with Bovada
