The NASCAR Cup Series eliminator in the round of 12 is at the Charlotte ROVAL. However, it won’t be your usual ROVAL race as NASCAR has reconfigured the track to increase the thrill and excitement of the payoffs. One of the biggest changes is how the turn seven has been made sharper. While drivers remained concerned about the corner, the newly introduced turtle curbing has thrown a curveball.

The Charlotte ROVAL is a road course circuit that also has elements of an oval; this already makes the track challenging. With the new reconfiguration, things get even more tricky. As drivers ran the practice session and qualifying, some veterans weren’t super impressed by the changes. In fact, Martin Truex Jr. was pretty disappointed with what NASCAR did to the chicane.

Martin Truex Jr. voices concern about the reconfiguration

The 2017 Cup Series champion hasn’t seen tremendous success at the ROVAL in the past. The #19’s best finish on the road course has been P7, which came in the 2020 race. However, the venue has fond memories of the Joe Gibbs driver. After all, he led 492 out of 500 laps to win the Coca-Cola 600 race in 2016. Hence, MTJ is always excited to come to the track, this time even more so as it would be the last time in his Cup career.

Earlier this year, Truex Jr. announced his retirement, making 2024 his last season in the two-decade-long Cup career. After the sim sessions, Martin Truex Jr. felt excited. He had said, “They finally put a jump in one of these tracks for us. I was on the simulator today and you kind of get airborne there going between turn five and that new turn six. So it’s gonna be interesting for sure.” However, after being on track, his view of the reconfiguration completely changed. As part of the reconfiguration, a sharper apex in Turn 16 of the final chicane has been created along with turtles. And it was the turtles that probably troubled MTJ the most, as they proved to be rough and bumpy.

Speaking to the media after the qualifying, Martin Truex Jr.’s was asked how it was running over the chicane, to which he said, “It feels like you get a concussion every lap, basically, if you hit them. It’s not much fun.” Not to mention, he had a disappointing qualification and will be starting the race from the 30th position.

Turtles are what drivers call the plastic elevated curbing used in the chicanes. They are six-inch high rumble strips that basically act as tiny speed bumps. However, they aren’t easy for the drivers to avoid as they try to maintain the best possible line. Post the practice and qualifying, the cars were launching off the turtles at Charlotte ROVAL, causing serious safety concerns for drivers.

Similar problems were at the Watkins Glen track, where drivers voiced concerns about going over the curb at the bus stop. In the case of “The Glen” NASCAR added a smother curb transition to prevent the cars from launching off and heading into the corner following that. Brad Keselowski noticed this similarity as well. Ahead of the race, he said, “The front stretch chicane (at ROVAL) reminds me of Watkins Glen before they redid it…It doesn’t feel good, no. But I don’t know if it’s supposed to.”

Only time will tell if ROVAL will get some changes too, as Martin Truex Jr.’s and Keselowski are not the only veterans worried about the chicane.

Kyle Busch echoes MTJ’s concerns

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Busch, although qualified 11th, too complained about feeling the concussions. Post the qualifying, he said, “It’s not overblowing it. It’s 1000% correct. I don’t know when I’ll see the data, probably not until Monday but it (expletive)… my head hurts.” If the two-time Cup Series champion also felt the same, one can take his word for it, as he’s been consistent on the track. In his last three appearances, he always managed a top-5 finish, his most recent one being a P3 in the 2023 race.

While it might be too much on short notice to make changes now, Busch doesn’t understand the need for altering the chicane. “I don’t understand the reasoning behind making it tighter; just to make us slower through there so we don’t get into Turn 1 as fast? I don’t really know. But the turtles over there, the sharper corner, if you don’t ramp them, you miss the exit, you miss the second set of them. You have to ramp them to give yourself a shot to be able to miss the exit ones.”

Perhaps the reason behind the changes at the chicane is to make the cars slow in that region and allow for another passing zone. Which was initially the goal behind the reconfiguration. “Two distinct braking zones (turn 7 and the chicane in turn 16) are going to really help the competition and provide great overtaking opportunities,” was previously said by Marcus Smith, the President and CEO of Speedway Motorsports. The company that is responsible for the reconfiguration. However, only time will tell if the passing zones prove to be a success or if they become crushing zones.

What do you think about Martin Truex Jr.’s comments about the ROVAL and whether or not the racing product will be a success? Let us know in the comments below.