Road courses in the playoffs make things interesting! We all have our favorites on speedways and short tracks, but road courses can prove to be anyone’s game. The first-time addition of Watkins Glen is proof enough, as two non-playoff drivers battled for the victory (Chris Buescher vs Shane van Gisbergen). In fact, none of the top 5 finishers at “The Glen” were playoff drivers. Only Chase Briscoe (6th) and Austin Cindric (10th) finished in the top 10.

Thanks to the addition of “The Glen,” the thrill of road courses has doubled! Don’t expect anything less from the Charlotte ROVAL race later in the playoffs. And to add to the thrill, the ROVAL has been recently reconfigured. Speedway Motorsports Inc. is responsible for the changes. This has Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, taking a jab at SMI, as fans are in utter shock seeing the changes.

Chris Gabehart on Charlotte ROVAL raising the entertainment bar

Recently, the Charlotte ROVAL was reconfigured, with several changes to the corners, straights, and chicane. According to SMI CEO Marcus Smith, the changes made to the track were to enable more passing. He said, “Two distinct braking zones are going to really help the competition and provide great overtaking opportunities. One of the biggest things we’ve heard is about off-throttle time in oval racing. In road-course racing, you want as much of an opportunity as possible for a driver to play with the brake pedal, the gas pedal, and the steering wheel.”

The changes to the track were recently brought back to light. This came after a fan asked NASCAR Journalist Matt Weaver about which tracks bring in the unknown factors in the playoffs. To this, Weaver replied with the new design of the Charlotte ROVAL, highlighting the feared Turn 7! Take a look at it:

Chris Gabehart also echoed Weaver’s thoughts as he took a jab at SMI’s Marcus Smith for his ambitious new layout of the track. He wrote, “Lol. Whatever @MarcusSMI and his colleagues @CLTMotorSpdwy have dreamed up for this year Roval, I believe is what I said. 😆” 

The change being discussed the most is Turn 7. The track officials have created a new Turn 6, which sends the field towards a sharper hairpin in Turn 7, where maneuvering is going to be tricky!! According to Ryan Blaney, the turn looks even tighter than before. He had previously said, “The heaviest braking zone out there is going to be Turn 7. You’re going to see a lot of good passes there, as far as people getting runs, diving it in there, and taking chances. I thought that corner was tight the way it was before, but it’s going to be even tighter now.” The Turn 7 has many fans in disbelief as they smell carnage.

Fans predict a chaotic Charlotte ROVAL

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Road course races are rarely without crashes, and that is what makes them entertaining and thrilling. The horrific crash between Brad Keselowski and William Byron comes to mind at the recent Watkins Glen race. Byron’s car was literally atop the #6. The tighter corner at Turn 7 is bound to be chaotic too. A fan took the liberty of naming it: “Calamity Corner!” Another fan echoed the same emotion when he was eager to watch the chaos, as wrote, “This should be fun to watch.”

Looking at the track layout, some fans were reminded of the Daytona Road Course. The track was raced in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series when Christopher Bell took the win over Joey Logano. If you look at the Daytona track layout, it too features two sharp hairpin turns at Turns 3 and 5. However, they are not as sharp as Turn 7 of Charlotte but would similarly produce intense, thrilling races. The fan wrote, “Wow lol now it’s really a mini Daytona Road course.”

The corner that is Turn 7 now used to be Turn 8 in the earlier layout, and it is known for some crashes. Only last year, Kyle Larson had a nasty crash there during a practice session, and this was when it wasn’t so sharp! So you can imagine how it will play out now. Fans already have goosebumps imagining the crashes that can take place there. A fan wrote, “Turn 7 is gonna be dive bomb city.”

And the wrecks there won’t be limited to the Cup and Xfinity Series. Next year, for the first time, the Truck Series will race on the ROVAL. It will be interesting to see how the big trucks maneuver through there. Fans predict carnage as well. One fan wrote, “Next Gen or not that corner is gonna be carnage, Won’t be surprised if trucks have a goofy crash there next year.”

What do you think about the turn? Let us know in the comments below.