Key Takeaways from the ROVAL

The Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL served up another weekend of great weather and exciting race moments for fans in attendance. If you were not there, you missed a great time and I highly suggest you plan to go next year!

A few things that stuck out from the weekend definitely made for hot topics between fans, competitors, and media. Let us take a look at a few of those.

The round of 12 in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series showed how every point can matter during the season, and can certainly affect the Playoffs. Going into the weekend, there were definite long shots in must-win situations and close-point battles near the cut line for the round of 8.

In the Xfinity Series, Sheldon Creed’s runner-up finishes proved to be costly to his championship hopes. Those extra points could have saved him from elimination. Shane Van Gisbergen missed a golden opportunity to win his way into the Round of 8 after starting on the pole, pacing the opening part of the race only to see the win slip away in the final stage.

The misfortunes of others and some well-timed cautions allowed Justin Allgaier to gain spots on track and ultimately point his way into the next round. Many have Allgaier as the favorite for the Xfinity Championship this year, however, I am not one of those. I would give the nod to Cole Custer and Austin Hill as they have performed better overall so far in the Playoffs.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a non-playoff driver win a race or two during the Round of 8. That would make Martinsville Speedway the must-watch race of the year if there is more than one spot still available for the Championship Four.

In the Cup Series, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell have asserted themselves as the two Championship favorites. Many thought thought polesitter Shane Van Gisbergen or AJ Allmendinger would win the ROVAL, but once again Kyle Larson found his way to the front and never looked back.

It was a dismal day for Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez. Austin Cindric saw his Championship hopes slip away with a good run, but not enough speed to contend for the win, which was what he needed to move to the next round.

Tyler Reddick proved why every point matters. The final spot in the Round of 8 came down to the final few laps between Joey Logano and Reddick. If Reddick had not secured the extra points for being the regular season points leader, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Additionally, if Kyle Larson had raced in the Coca-Cola 600 back in May, Reddick wouldn’t have those extra points banked. Every point matters.

What no one anticipated was Alex Bowman’s disqualification post-race giving Logano the final spot in the Round of 8. You don’t want to miss the race at Las Vegas this weekend. Eight drivers want to secure their Championship 4 spot, and the rest of the field wants to be spoilers. Las Vegas could prove to be the most important race of the Playoffs.

This is the topic everyone has an opinion on. The 2024 season has offered up many head-scratching moments for drivers, teams, and fans. The newest gripe added to the list came during the Xfinity Series race this past weekend.

With a car buried under tires, NASCAR waited until right as the white flag waved to call a caution and set up an overtime finish. There was a good 20-25 seconds for NASCAR officials to bring out the caution. What were they looking at? Why were there no eyes on every part of the track? Isn’t that what they have a slew of track officials for?

The feel-good story of the year was stripped away from Parker Kligerman and his team by 0.05 seconds. Those of us on pit road and in the stands didn’t understand what was going on because we saw the white flag wave. It was a total flub-up that resulted in a green-white-checkered finish with Sam Mayer taking the win much to the dismay of those in attendance.

Fans went from, “What a great win!” to “Meh, that sucked,” in a matter of minutes. These last-second decisions are avoidable. What if this had been the Championship Race? Can you imagine the uproar?

The attitude of the NASCAR brass doesn’t help the situation. A little remorse or at least, “Hey we will try to do better next time. We didn’t make the call in a timely manner” would make a world of difference.

NASCAR has to do better. The competitors and fans deserve it. The so-called integrity of the sport demands it.

As they made their way through the infield and NASCAR garage before the race, fans were trying to steal a moment with each to shake their hands or grab a selfie.

When they were brought out before driver introductions, they received thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd. A bigger reception than the majority of the Cup Series drivers when they were introduced.

It was great to see people wearing old Rudd and Edwards shirts and hats at the racetrack. It warmed my heart that fans could show them that they were not forgotten and still loved after all these years.

Both Rudd and Edwards expressed during their media availability that the fan reception this year was not something they expected and both felt proud to be able to represent NASCAR as Hall of Fame members and be able to give back to the sport that had given so much to them.

Side note, as a long-time Carl Edwards fan, I was so happy to see the fan reaction to Carl at the racetrack this weekend. Personally, my special moment came as I stood at the back of the deadline room. Carl had finished his media availability and was headed out the door. He stopped for a brief moment, winked at me, and said hi. It brought the biggest smile to my face.