On Sunday, the celebrities of the NASCAR Cup Sequence keep house on the 2.28-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the operating of the Financial institution of America Roval 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Community, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports activities App).
Here’s what you could know forward of the cutoff race within the Spherical of 12 of the playoffs.
The chances communicate for themselves with regards to what is anticipated from van Gisbergen on highway programs. In keeping with NASCAR Insights, van Gisbergen has the best road course win percentage (45.5%) of any driver all-time with a minimal of 10 begins.
All 4 of van Gisbergen’s wins this season have come on highway/road programs, together with every of the final 4 from a front-row beginning spot. Though the Charlotte Roval is not like another highway/road circuit as a consequence of its infield and oval mixture, it’ll take a near-perfect weekend for somebody to take down van Gisbergen.
Underdog: Alex Bowman (+3000, per DraftKings)
Like van Gisbergen, Bowman was eradicated from playoff competition following the opening spherical, however he’s an underrated highway racer whose success tends to get overshadowed. He has high 10s in three of the 5 highway/road races this season and has 5 such finishes in six Roval begins.
Regardless of a post-race disqualification final season, Bowman’s common end there’s 11.67, which places him eighth within the sequence. Do not sleep on Bowman this weekend, particularly with all of the methods which are positive to current themselves as playoff drivers steadiness chasing factors and going for the win.
Can anybody halt Shane van Gisbergen’s highway course dominance?
Whereas the race win will possible undergo van Gisbergen, there are a couple of drivers price keeping track of as they give the impression of being to punch their ticket to the Spherical of 8. Playoff drivers Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson every have wins there and are usually towards the entrance within the closing laps.
Do not rely out non-playoff driver AJ Allmendinger, both, with 4 finishes of seventh or higher in his 5 begins there, together with a win in 2023. Van Gisbergen is the driving force to beat, however he isn’t proof against going through a problem from a few of his opponents.
Can William Byron return to kind?
One of the crucial disappointing drivers within the playoffs has been the regular-season champion Byron, who didn’t have a single high 10 within the opening spherical and struggled to seek out the steadiness on his No. 24 Chevrolet at Kansas earlier than some late cautions helped him salvage a ninth-place end.
Following a thrilling double-overtime win from Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Elliott at Kansas, is it time for the two-time winner this season to return to Victory Lane? With back-to-back top-three finishes on the Roval, higher issues may in retailer for Byron this weekend.
Joey Logano clings to closing switch spot
Logano enters Sunday’s race within the eighth and final transfer spot (+13) over Ross Chastain, placing him in a precarious position as he appears to defend his 2024 title. Because of contact between Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace in turns 3-4, Elliott’s win saved Logano above the cutline as an alternative of dropping him beneath it had Wallace gained.
With the third-best common end (8.57) on the Roval, Logano is in an honest place. Nevertheless, with Chastain solely 13 factors behind and three-time highway course winner Tyler Reddick 29 factors out, Logano will not be secure, particularly if he doesn’t rating stage factors or encounters a problem.
