After last weekend’s 28-car filled ‘Big One’, NASCAR fans may have had their fill from seeing crashes, but with the Charlotte Speedway coming around, that may not be possible. Notorious for its crashes and wrecks, the ROVAL has a new trick up its sleeve, and drivers certainly aren’t happy.

While some drivers already voiced concerns, Denny Hamlin wasn’t far behind. In the aftermath of the Talladega chaos, Hamlin has a lot to say about the Charlotte Speedway changes, and it doesn’t good look for the track.

Denny Hamlin thinks the Charlotte Speedway will see a lot of race chaos

The 17-turn, 2.28-mile long course recently received an update from Speedway Motorsports to improve the number of passing zones in such a confined track. To the disappointment of many drivers, the update has not done that at all. It might just make crashing zones more prevalent. Among the notable changes to the track, the front stretch chicane is tighter, which was already perceived as too tight, as Bowman described Turn 7 as “making a U-turn on a one-way street” as well as “100 percent blind.”

It’s not just Bowman who fears these changes. Denny Hamlin had his fair share of races at the track and he is not a fan. Most fans may attribute this to his poor luck at the track so far, ROVAL has not been a successful hunting ground for him in the past. Although he started 2024 with a fifth-place finish at the track for the spring Charlotte race, the #11 of Joe Gibbs Racing crashed out in 2023, finishing in 37th. However, Hamlin’s dislike of the track is due to a different reason, a glaring safety issue.

“I think it’s set up for chaos, truthfully,” Hamlin said speaking about the Turn 7 hairpin lefthander. “I think that they were very strategic, making sure to put us to a decision what might be fast, the normal racing line will be fast, but there will be an option to shortcut it and just wipe out whoever is in front of you.” The essential difference in the new layout is the massive change Turn 7 received. In 2023, Turn 7 was a relatively smooth left-hander while the 2024 configuration turned it into a hairpin. In case of a crash, the turn may even turn into a “parking lot” as Hamlin explained during an episode of his Actions Detrimental Podcast.

The looping turns and tight stretches will make for some bumper-to-bumper racing at the ROVAL, and Hamlin doesn’t seem to fancy that. This is understandable as, at the end of the day, drivers and fans want a clean race. Seeing someone lead the whole race just to get wiped out inadvertently can be incredibly frustrating. After the chaos of Talladega last week with 28 drivers forced to retire from the race, dealing with a risky corner such as this one may be the last thing on most drivers’ minds.

Hamlin holds the SMI accountable for this as he feels they have intentionally re-designed it this way to entice drivers to take more risks and, in turn, breed chaos. “Whatever reason would we have changed it — other than to create more chaos and things like that? I certainly think it’ll be that way.”

What makes the ROVAL such a daunting track?

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Amongst all the tracks in NASCAR, the ROVAL stands amongst the most challenging tracks to drive on. The sharp turns and long narrow straights require immense concentration and stamina to go on for over 100 laps. Drivers need the perfect corner exits on every single lap to have a fighting chance in the race, for over 100 laps. Compared to other road courses, the ROVAL also runs for significantly longer, with a total of 109 laps of racing taking place.

This will only be made tougher with the new changes coming into play this year. While Hamlin spoke extensively about the Turn 7 issue of running into the corner blind, there’s another glaring issue with the corner. Taking the curb and turning into Turn 7 the simulations showed the car has all four wheels in the air. Even if there is a tiny error in Turn 7, the teams may have to not only fend off rivals but damage the car picks up as well.

Its winners can perfectly show the track’s difficulty level. Within the last 7 years, only Chase Elliott managed to win the Bank of America ROVAL 40o  twice, with Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and A.J. Allmendinger having one win a piece. “To me, I kind of look at it like it’s a new racetrack, truthfully,” said Elliott. “The infield section of the track is going to change the entire flow of the lap there, so I’ve been kind of approaching it as a new track with my preparation.” 

Even a driver who succeeded at the track in its modern era knows how impactful the current changes will be. After Talladega’s ‘Big One’, NASCAR drivers may have had their fill of big wrecks, but the Charlotte Speedway might feel differently. With spots in the round of 8 on the line, Turn 7 may just be the biggest focus of drivers in the race.