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NASCAR: Charlotte Motor Speedway officially unveils Bank of America ROVAL 400

By Nick Tylwalk

CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 12: General view of the racetrack during a flyover before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 12, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images)
CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 12: General view of the racetrack during a flyover before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 12, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images) /
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You can even drive on the ROVAL before the Cup Series drivers race on it this fall.

What exactly is the ROVAL? Charlotte Motor Speedway showed the world exactly what it’s all about this week, unveiling the much-discussed road course layout that will be used for the first time in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition during the playoffs this fall.

Specifically, the track took the wraps off the fall race, which will be called the Bank of America ROVAL 400 and consist of 109 laps around the 2.28-mile layout. Making use of the vast majority of Charlotte’s normal oval track, the road course includes 17 turns and winds through a good chunk of the right side of the CMS infield.

It also features 35 feet of elevation change. You can take a look at the entire ROVAL course in this handy diagram provided by the track itself:

Charlotte ROVAL
Image credit: Charlotte Motor Speedway /

The Cup Series drivers won’t be tackling the ROVAL without getting some laps around it, as both July 10 and July 17 are “Test Fest” days. Drivers will be on the course both days from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and fans can check it out for free, as well as “mechanical bull rides, food and drink.”

Even better, on Saturday, July 14, fans can actually drive the ROVAL themselves from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. provided they have tickets to the Bank of America ROVAL 400. Which, by the way, they (or you) can buy now from the CMS website.

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It’s actually a really cool idea simply because you’ll be able to tell for yourself which parts of the road course drivers will be complaining about most come the playoffs, or where most of the action might take place on this unique layout. There’s no way to be sure how exciting the race will be until it actually arrives on Sept. 30, but NASCAR fans and observers will definitely be talking about it a lot both before and after the ROVAL makes its Cup Series debut.

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