Major Storylines

A SHOT AT HISTORY: Chase Elliott could make history by claiming his third consecutive Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 trophy.
Since Charlotte Motor Speedway opened in 1960, five drivers – Junior Johnson, Fred Lorenzen, Bobby Allison, Jimmie Johnson and Elliott – have recorded back-to-back victories in the track’s fall NASCAR Cup Series race, but no one has won the event three times in a row.
After finishing sixth during the inaugural Cup Series race on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL™ in 2018, Elliott recovered from a trip into the Turn 1 tire barrier to win the following year. Last season, he took the lead from Erik Jones on lap 92 of 109 and beat Joey Logano to the checkered flag.
THANKS, CHIP: The Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 will mark Chip Ganassi’s final start at Charlotte Motor Speedway as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner.
A former Indy car driver, Ganassi was an open-wheel team owner before venturing into NASCAR’s premier series in 2001.
Chip Ganassi Racing found the winner’s circle at Charlotte Motor Speedway during its inaugural season with Sterling Marlin driving the No. 40 Dodge to victory in the fall Cup Series race. The team won the race again in 2002 with Jamie McMurray subbing for the injured Marlin.
CGR also celebrated two NASCAR All-Star Race victories (2014 McMurray and 2019 Kyle Larson) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Ganassi is in the process of selling the NASCAR portion of his racing operation to Trackhouse Racing, which is owned by Justin Mark and entertainer Pit Bull.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: Generating an additional element of excitement, the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 is an elimination race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The four lowest drivers in the playoff standings following the checkered flag will be eliminated from championship contention, leaving eight drivers to battle for the series title over the final four races.
NASCAR’s premier series has utilized a playoff format to decide its champion since the 2004 season, and Charlotte Motor Speedway’s fall race has been part of the playoff picture each year.
The track’s annual playoff race was run on the 1.5-mile quad-oval through 2017 with the three most recent editions taking place on the ROVAL™.
Under the playoff format, four drivers have won Charlotte’s fall race and the title in the same season five times – Jimmie Johnson (2009 and 2016), Kevin Harvick (2014), Martin Truex Jr. (2017) and Chase Elliott (2020).
SPEED DEMON: With NASCAR utilizing a metric to determine the starting lineup for the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400, Kurt Busch continues to be the fastest man at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In a unique twist, the Las Vegas native holds the official NASCAR Cup Series track record for both the 1.5-mile quad-oval and the 2.28-mile ROVAL™. Driving a Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, Busch set the quad-oval standard on Oct. 9, 2014, when he circled the track in 27.167 seconds (198.771 mph) during qualifying for the fall Cup Series race.
He set the ROVAL™ track record with a lap of 76.805 seconds (106.868 mph) on Sept. 28, 2018, in qualifying for the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL™ 400. That effort came behind the wheel of a Ford fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing.
FANTASY FAVORITES: It’s no surprise that two-time winner Chase Elliott tops the list with an average finish of 2.67. Ryan Blaney, winner of the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 in 2018, and Alex Bowman are next as each has an average finish of 4.67. Joey Logano rounds out the quartet with an average finish of 7.33. And don’t forget Kyle Larson, who won the Coca-Cola 600 in May. While his finishing stats are not pretty, Larson has led 52 total laps in his two ROVAL™ starts.