NASCAR Playoffs Charlotte ROVAL: Bank of America 400 highlights, stage results

The ROVAL is a brand new wrinkle for the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs, and we’re keeping track of who is most up for the challenge at Charlotte.

Uncertainty might not be too much fun for NASCAR drivers and teams, especially in a race that serves as a cutoff for the playoffs, but it’s fun for fans. That looks like it might be the case for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a race on a brand new hybrid road course.

With 17 turns across the infield and most of the oval, the ROVAL promises potential chaos at a time when several drivers desperately need a win to advance. Kurt Busch proved he could make his way quickly around the circuit by winning the pole, but several cars were close to his qualifying time.

Let’s see how the action unfolded in Charlotte.

Stage 1

Despite some thought that there might be a caution right away in the opening lap, everyone stayed away from each other and all the walls the first time around. Kurt Busch led the opening laps, but Kyle Larson, who quickly got to second on Lap 1, was able to make a pass and assume the lead.

The first caution for an incident came when Stanton Barrett, making his first Cup Series start in several seasons, crashed headfirst in one of the turns. Fortunately, he was slowed down before the collision and hit a tire barrier instead of a wall.

Several drivers played pit strategy toward the end of the stage, but Larson wasn’t one of them, and he claimed the stage win after leading 18 laps.

Stage 1 results

1. Kyle Larson
2. Kurt Busch
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Chase Elliott
6. Jimmie Johnson
7. Kyle Busch
8. AJ Allmendinger
9. Alex Bowman
10. Ryan Blaney

Larson elected to stay out at the end of the stage, though numerous cars came to pit road for tires and fuel, including Kurt Busch.

Stage 2

With no yellow flags for incidents in the first part of the second stage, a round of green flag pit stops was in order. That included the first one of the day for Larson, allowing Ryan Blaney to lead some laps for the first time.

Meanwhile, there was some fierce racing between playoff drivers back in the pack, including Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Clint Bowyer.

With five laps to go, some drama arrived for another playoff contender as William Byron cut a tire down and Aric Almirola banged his right side hard into the wall while swerving to avoid the 24. Almirola ran into even more trouble in the pits, as he was assessed an uncontrolled tire penalty.

Then with two laps to go, Brad Keselowski spun out going through some of the infield turns, making contact with Martin Truex Jr. Though neither driver hit any walls, Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford was smoking as he stayed out to make the end of the stage.

Up front, Blaney held on for his sixth stage win of 2018.

Stage 2 results

1. Ryan Blaney
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Kurt Busch
4. Joey Logano
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Austin Dillon
7. Chase Elliott
8. Alex Bowman
9. Daniel Hemric
10. Kyle Larson

Final stage

The varying pit strategies shuffled Larson back to the point, but the caution flag flew before too long for another playoff driver, Austin Dillon.

Larson and Kyle Busch, in the top two positions, were among the cars to stay out. The news got worse for Dillon, too, as he could not continue and will not advance to the Round of 12.

The next caution involved Almirola and non-playoff driver Chris Buescher, leading to the humorous sight of Buescher’s 37 with part of the signage sticking out from its rear bumper. Larson and all of the contenders came in for service under the yellow flag.

Some new names were on the front row thanks to pit strategy, and Kyle Busch had an adventurous restart that involved him cutting one of the corners. Erik Jones spun out with a left rear tire issue, and race leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran off-course shortly thereafter.

A fierce battle for the lead eventually emerged between Keselowski and Larson, but while the 42 was able to catch the 2 without much trouble, passing was a much different proposition.

Keselowski had pulled away from everyone but Larson, but another caution flag came out with eight laps to go as Stenhouse found one of the walls on his way into the infield. Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano were among the drivers who opted to come in for fresh tires.

The ensuing restart brought the kind of insanity that people expected early in the race. Keselowski wrecked while leading the race, and the wave of chaos swept up Larson, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Paul Menard. A secondary pile-up involved several other cars and brought out the red flag with six laps to go.

With just a few laps remaining on the final restart, there were two simultaneous dramas unfolding at the same time. One was whether Larson was going to make the minimum speed and hold on to a playoff spot. The other was up front, where Jimmie Johnson was battling Truex for the win.

That latter battle came down to the last stretch of the last lap. Johnson had trouble with the frontstretch chicane, spinning and coming back across the track to also spin Truex. Neither driver could recover in time to avoid other cars passing them, and Ryan Blaney was the beneficiary, claiming his first victory of 2018.

Incredibly, Larson, Johnson and Almirola all ended up tied in points, but tiebreakers mean that JJ will not move on to the Round of 12. Larson, even with a car that could barely drive because of all the damage to his right-front, needed to pass Jeffrey Earnhardt right before the start-finish line to make it through.

The highest of high drama, and a race no one will soon forget. Hard to ask for much more than that from the ROVAL’s debut.