The first Cup race on Charlotte's 17-turn roval ended in a 15-car pile-up, a last-lap spin between Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. and a win for Blaney from third.
The 2018 Bank of America Roval 400 was the first Cup race on the 17-turn Charlotte roval and the final race of the Playoffs' Round of 16. Ryan Blaney won from third, with Jamie McMurray second and Clint Bowyer third. Johnson, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Jones were eliminated.
Ryan Blaney won the inaugural Bank of America Roval 400 on 30 September 2018, taking the win from third place after two leaders crashed in front of him. Jamie McMurray finished second and Clint Bowyer third, in a race that ended with a 15-car pile-up and a last-lap spin that knocked Martin Truex Jr. out of contention.
What was the Bank of America Roval 400?
The race was the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event on the roval configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was the 29th race of the 2018 season, the third of ten races in the Playoffs, and the final race of the Round of 16. It was run over 109 laps, which the planners had cut from 130 laps and 500 km (310 miles).
The stakes were high for the drivers at the bottom of the Playoff order. Bowyer, Johnson, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin were all in the last four positions, which meant they could be eliminated after the race. Keselowski's win at Las Vegas, Kyle Busch's win at Richmond and Truex's accumulated points had already secured places in the Round of 12 for three drivers.
Going into Sunday, Truex held the Drivers Championship lead on 2,141 points, with Kyle Busch 16 points adrift and Kevin Harvick 28 back in third. Toyota led the Manufacturers Championship with 1,015 points, ahead of Ford on 1,010 and Chevrolet on 915.
A 17-turn road course added to the Charlotte calendar produced a wreck-filled win and a Playoff field that was settled in the final laps.
Why was the roval layout built for this race?
Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith wanted something special for the fall event at Charlotte, and the roval was announced in May 2017. The 13-turn, 2.4 mi (3.9 km) circuit combined elements of the oval and the infield road course, and it was the first road course race to be part of the championship format since its introduction in 2004.
The course changed twice before the race. In October 2017 two new chicanes were added to the front stretch and the back stretch to allow more passing, and in January 2018 two of the last three infield corners were removed to boost lap times. The final layout had 17 turns and measured 2.28 mi (3.67 km).
Goodyear carried out private testing on the course on 17-18 October 2017 and 20-21 March 2018. NASCAR also held open tests on 10 and 17 July, when Kyle Busch was fastest on 17 July at 171.9 km/h (106.8 mph) and Bubba Wallace hit the turn one tyre barrier.
After the July tests NASCAR added tyre barriers and rumble strips to the front stretch chicane, because several drivers had bypassed it. Michael McDowell spun late in one afternoon session, and Ryan Blaney crashed into the barrier in turns three and four, and William Byron slammed the barrier head-on in turn one.
Who qualified on pole and how did practice go?
Kurt Busch set the fastest time in qualifying at 76.805 seconds, which gave him the pole, his fourth of the season and his 26th of his career. Allmendinger was second, only 0.041 seconds behind, with Bowman third, Elliott fourth and Larson fifth.
Forty drivers entered qualifying, the maximum allowed to race under NASCAR's procedure. The first round lasted 25 minutes and set positions 13 to forty, and after a ten-minute break the fastest 12 drivers ran in a second round for the top positions.
Truex was 13th, Kyle Busch 14th and Logano 15th, while Harvick, Almirola, Dillon, Keselowski and Hamlin finished the first round 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th and 27th. Hamlin lost control in the 13th corner three minutes into the first round, clipped a barrier and crashed into the right-side SAFER barrier, which forced him to a backup car.
In practice Kyle Busch was fastest on Friday at 77.145 seconds. On Saturday morning Johnson was quickest in the second session at 78.043 seconds, and Keselowski set the fastest time in the final session at 77.730 seconds before heavy contact with the front stretch wall ended his practice.
Five drivers went to the back of the field for unapproved changes: Keselowski, Hamlin, Jones, Wallace and Regan Smith, who had changed his engine. Keselowski used a backup car after his crash in practice.
How did the first stage unfold?
NBC began its pre-race programme at 1:00 PM, and the race began at 2:19 PM. Jordan Smith, winner of the ninth season of The Voice, sang the national anthem, and the Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera commanded the drivers to start their engines.
Kurt Busch maintained his pole advantage into the first turn, but Larson overtook Allmendinger for second and drew close to the rear of Busch's car by the 12th turn. On lap seven Larson drove around Busch on the front stretch chicane and then pulled away from the field.
The first caution came on lap 13, when Barrett locked his brakes and hit the turn one tyre barrier. Larson led the restart on lap 17 and held on to win the first stage, with Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Truex Jr., Elliott, Johnson and Kyle Busch among the top ten who earned stage points.
What happened in the second stage?
Kurt Busch won the race off pit road, but because so many drivers had pitted before the end of the first stage, he was placed 23rd. Green-flag racing resumed on lap 30, and Larson pulled ahead of Truex Jr. at the exit of turn one.
On lap 46 Harvick made a pit stop and gave up second to Logano. Byron suffered a flat right-front tyre and was given a drive-through penalty after taking the legends car course to reach pit road, and Almirola was also penalised after a tyre rolled out of his pit stall.
On lap 47 Keselowski attempted to pass Truex Jr. in turn 16, but he braked too hard and hit him, and both spun out. Blaney won the second stage on lap 50, with Johnson and Kurt Busch close behind him. Logano, Bowyer and Elliott came next, and the rest of the stage order filled out behind them before a third caution followed shortly after.
How did the third stage and the pile-up develop?
Every driver in the top eight pitted under the third caution for fresh tyres, with Johnson leaving pit road ahead of Blaney. Larson opted not to stop and reclaimed the lead for the restart on lap 55, followed by Hemric, Kyle Busch and Harvick.
On lap 58 Austin Dillon slid into the turn 13 wall, and his debris brought out the fourth caution. On the 65th lap Dillon blew a tyre and slammed the turn 15 wall, and the fifth caution came out. A sixth caution followed on lap 68 when Buescher skidded into the turn five barrier, and Almirola spun into the grass after being hit from behind.
Keselowski overtook Menard for the lead in turn 10 on lap 75, and Larson got around Menard for second four laps later. By lap 84 Larson had reeled in Keselowski, who had damaged his splitter on the curbing in turn 17, and Larson took the lead in turn one.
The seventh caution came on lap 102 when Stenhouse Jr. spun into the turn one barrier. On the lap 104 restart Keselowski braked too late and slammed the tyre barrier nose first, and Larson, Byron and Menard followed him in. Hemric spun, and Trevor Bayne, Ty Dillon, Almirola, Wallace, McDowell and Chastain were collected in the wreck that followed.
A red flag stopped the race while officials repaired the barrier. The caution was reissued after 14 minutes and 27 seconds, and Larson's team completed extensive repairs on pit road to defend its place in the Round of 12.
How did Blaney win on the final lap?
Blaney was running third when the crash ahead of him developed, and he went on to take his second career victory and his first of the 2018 season. He slipped past Johnson and Truex Jr. after the pair collided on the final lap.
Racing resumed on lap 107 with Truex Jr. leading Johnson and Elliott. On the final lap Johnson swerved to the inside line in turn 14 to set up a pass, but he overapplied the brakes and spun into the side of Truex Jr.'s car approaching turn 16. Blaney, third at the time, slipped by both drivers.
McMurray finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing, and Bowyer third for Stewart-Haas Racing. Bowman was fourth and Kurt Busch fifth, and the margin of victory was 0.792 seconds.
Which drivers were eliminated from the Playoffs?
Johnson, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Jones were the first four drivers eliminated from the Playoffs. Almirola, Larson and Johnson had been tied for the final two transfer spots, and Johnson lost the tiebreaker because his best finish in the Round of 16 was lower than the others.
Larson finished 25th after passing Jeffrey Earnhardt on the final lap despite a punctured right-front tyre. Almirola finished 19th and advanced, which left Larson and Almirola as the two drivers to move on in the tiebreaker.
How did the points and manufacturers change?
| Finish | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske, second career win and first of 2018 |
| Second | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Third | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| Fourth | Bowman | Fourth place, ahead of Kurt Busch |
| Eighth | Jimmie Johnson | Spun Truex Jr. on the last lap and was eliminated |
| 14th | Martin Truex Jr. | Spun by Johnson on the last lap, then spun Johnson after the race |
| 19th | Aric Almirola | Advanced to the Round of 12 on the tiebreaker |
| 25th | Kyle Larson | Passed Jeffrey Earnhardt on the final lap |
When the top 12 drivers had their points reset to 3,000 plus their playoff points, Kyle Busch took the Drivers Championship lead with 3,055 points. Truex Jr. was five points behind and fell to third, while Keselowski was fourth on 3,025 and Bowyer fifth on 3,015.
Ford took the manufacturers' lead from Toyota with 1,050 points, while Toyota was ten points behind and Chevrolet 90 points back, with seven races still to run in the season.
How did drivers and teams react after the race?
Blaney said it was a different way to win than he had ever known, and he called it neat to win the first race on the roval. McMurray felt his car had handled well but was slightly disappointed by a mirror that fell off with around 25 laps left. Bowyer joked that he had passed Blaney before the final caution and asked whether he could protest.
Truex Jr. said Johnson had over-driven the corner and used him as brakes, and that the pair could have raced side by side for the win. Johnson later apologised to Truex Jr. and admitted that he should have used more front brake bias heading into turn 16.
NASCAR's Steve O'Donnell explained that Blaney kept his position because he was three feet ahead of Bowyer when the caution came out and had continued despite his damage. Kyle Busch joked that the drivers in the pile-up had gone off into a 90-degree wall for something to do.
How was the roval received, and what changed next?
The media reaction was positive. The Charlotte Observer called the race a complete and total success, and the broadcast on NBC earned a rating of 1.95 with an average of 3,218,000 viewers, both up on the 2017 Bank of America 500.
NASCAR included the race in its list of 75 greatest races in 2023, to mark the sport's 75th anniversary. Blaney said the track had potential but that the curbs needed altering, because it was really hard to pass on the course.
The back stretch chicane was to be widened for 2019, growing from 32 feet (9.8 m) to 54 feet (16 m), with extra runoff added. Marcus Smith rejected the idea of adding the roval layout to other Speedway Motorsports tracks, because he wanted it to remain unique to Charlotte.
