How to handicap the Roval at Charlotte: Betting odds and a longshot to consider
For the first time , NASCAR is racing at a track that’s half oval and half street program. Sunday’s race on the 17-turn, 2.28 street course/oval, the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, also marks the final event of this Round of 16 in NASCAR’s playoffs.
Crew chiefs and motorists are having a tough time figuring out how to deal with this track, and for bettors, matters are only an unpredictable. We split down the Roval out of a betting prospective below.
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The track isn’t a complete unknown to drivers, as several teams analyzed the Roval this spring and summertime. Most, though, had problems transitioning from the high rates on the large banks to slowing entering the infield for Switch 1. Let’s let Kurt Busch clarify the track from a driver’s perspective.
Yeah, it is going to be chaos, but breaking down the tight and narrow Roval, we can discover similarities to other tracks. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have earned the Maximum driver evaluations on the street courses of Sonoma and Watkins Glen over the last 3 years.
There is less margin for error on the Roval than there is at Watkins Glen and Sonoma. Sunday’s race begins on the new infield road course then uses the oval during its Turn 1 entry. The cars remain on the speedway part of the trail – tapping a chicane on the backstretch — before diving off into the street course again to complete the lap.
Concerning testing, on the final day of the final summer session, Kyle Busch set the fastest rate, followed by Joey Logano and A.J. Allmendinger.
The Roval is comparable to the Rolex 24, a 24-hour sportscar race at Daytona where cars race on the banks and on an infield course.
Many drivers in Sunday’s area have won that Daytona road program. Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Jamie McMurray and Playoff driver Kyle Larson awakened to win the 2015 Rolex 24 overall. A.J. Allmendinger won the Rolex crown in 2012 with Michael Shank Racing. Jimmie Johnson, another Playoff driver, finished runner-up in the Rolex 24 in both 2005 and 2008. Kurt Busch was third largest in 2008. And Paul Menard has a best finish of 15th at the Rolex in 2010.
Race favorite Kyle Busch led the first practice on the Charlotte road course Friday at a session that left Aric Almirola, Hamlin, Chase Elliott along with Austin Dillon with minor damage.
Together with the track offering small room to maneuver, the starting lineup is essential. Kurt Busch (15/1) and also road-warrior Allmendinger (30/1) will start on the front . Alex Bowman (60/1), Elliott (8/1), Larson (20/1) and Johnson (25/1) round from the top-6.
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