On Sunday, the celebs of the NASCAR Cup Sequence keep house on the 2.28-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the operating of the Financial institution of America Roval 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Community, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports activities App).
Here’s what it is advisable know forward of the cutoff race within the Spherical of 12 of the playoffs.
The chances converse for themselves in terms of what is predicted from van Gisbergen on street programs. In response to NASCAR Insights, van Gisbergen has the perfect street course win share (45.5%) of any driver all-time with a minimal of 10 begins.
All 4 of van Gisbergen’s wins this season have come on street/road programs, together with every of the final 4 from a front-row beginning spot. Though the Charlotte Roval is not like every other street/road circuit resulting from its infield and oval mixture, it should take a near-perfect weekend for somebody to take down van Gisbergen.
Underdog: Alex Bowman (+3000, per DraftKings)
Like van Gisbergen, Bowman was eradicated from playoff rivalry following the opening spherical, however he’s an underrated street racer whose success tends to get overshadowed. He has high 10s in three of the 5 street/road races this season and has 5 such finishes in six Roval begins.
Regardless of a post-race disqualification final season, Bowman’s common end there’s 11.67, which places him eighth within the collection. Do not sleep on Bowman this weekend, particularly with all of the methods which are certain to current themselves as playoff drivers steadiness chasing factors and going for the win.
Can anybody halt Shane van Gisbergen’s street course dominance?
Whereas the race win will seemingly undergo van Gisbergen, there are just a few drivers value keeping track of as they appear to punch their ticket to the Spherical of 8. Playoff drivers Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson every have wins there and are usually towards the entrance within the closing laps.
Do not depend out non-playoff driver AJ Allmendinger, both, with 4 finishes of seventh or higher in his 5 begins there, together with a win in 2023. Van Gisbergen is the driving force to beat, however he isn’t resistant to dealing with a problem from a few of his opponents.
Can William Byron return to type?
One of the crucial disappointing drivers within the playoffs has been the regular-season champion Byron, who didn’t have a single high 10 within the opening spherical and struggled to seek out the steadiness on his No. 24 Chevrolet at Kansas earlier than some late cautions helped him salvage a ninth-place end.
Following an exhilarating double-overtime win from Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Elliott at Kansas, is it time for the two-time winner this season to return to Victory Lane? With back-to-back top-three finishes on the Roval, higher issues may in retailer for Byron this weekend.
Joey Logano clings to ultimate switch spot
Logano enters Sunday’s race within the eighth and ultimate switch spot (+13) over Ross Chastain, placing him in a precarious place as he appears to defend his 2024 title. Because of contact between Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace in turns 3-4, Elliott’s win stored Logano above the cutline as a substitute of dropping him beneath it had Wallace received.
With the third-best common end (8.57) on the Roval, Logano is in an honest place. Nonetheless, with Chastain solely 13 factors behind and three-time street course winner Tyler Reddick 29 factors out, Logano isn’t protected, particularly if he doesn’t rating stage factors or encounters a difficulty.
