Paul Menard thinks there will be room to pass at Charlotte ROVAL
By Nick Tylwalk
No one knows exactly what to expect the second time the NASCAR Cup Series visits Charlotte Motor Speedway this season, but Paul Menard is optimistic the racing will be good.
It’s not every year that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series gets to visit a new track. It isn’t this year either, but the creation of a road course within Charlotte Motor Speedway, called the ROVAL since it also uses part of the oval, is the next best thing.
Or it could be, but it depends on whether or not the racing is entertaining. The answer to that question won’t arrive until September, but several Cup Series drivers got to put the ROVAL through its paces this week for a Goodyear tire test to get an idea.
One of them was the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Paul Menard. He called the layout “unique” but also said he thinks there will be room for passing.
“You’ll see some passing for sure,” Menard said in a press release. “Probably the best spots will be the frontstretch chicane and Turn 1, even though it’s not a really big delta from high speed to low speed. What you look for in a passing zone is going from 170 miles per hour to 100 and you have a big range to make a move. There’s not a lot of that here, but you can see somebody position it at the bus stop on the backstretch and a guy is just going to have to give it up. … There’s definitely some opportunities.”
Menard went on to explain that while Sonoma is slippery and slow and contrasts with the faster Watkins Glen, the Charlotte ROVAL will be somewhere in the middle. He also said the section in the track’s infield feels like a true road course.
“It’s pretty wide and has some nice flow to it,” Menard said. “There are some nice flowing sections and there are some real point-and-shoot sections. It should be fun.”
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Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Trevor Bayne were the other NASCAR Cup Series drivers at the tire test on Tuesday. They will be back, and hopefully passing each other, when the Bank of America 500 becomes the first ever road course race in the NASCAR Playoffs on Sep. 30.