TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA
OCTOBER 11, 2020
ROVAL: RACE #32
The anticipation and unpredictability heightens as the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) has reached the elimination race for the Round of 12 of the NCS Playoffs. NASCAR’s premier series makes its third visit of the season to its hometown track for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET. The event marks the third time in NASCAR history the series has held a race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Located in Concord, North Carolina, the 2.28-mile road course is comprised of 17-turns, combining the track’s high-banked oval with a road course through the infield. The 109-lap, 248.52-mile race around the North Carolina circuit marks the 32nd race on the NCS schedule and the last chance for Playoff drivers to secure their spots into the Round of Eight of the NCS Playoffs.
The action-packed weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course also features a Saturday doubleheader with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series for the Drive for the Cure 250 gets underway on Saturday, October 10, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Playoff implications are on the line as the 67-lap, 155.3-mile event will be the first-round cutoff race for the series, reducing the Playoff field from 12 to eight drivers. In addition, for the first time in the series’ history, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series will make its debut at the ROVAL for a 100-minute race under the lights Saturday evening, October 10, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
A limited number of fans will be allowed to enjoy the action in-person for both the Saturday and Sunday events, adhering to all safety measures and protocols in place. With approval for up to seven-percent capacity for outdoor sports venues, Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 has been sold out at ‘socially-distanced capacity’.
ROAD COURSE DOMINANCE
Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver, Chase Elliott, is no stranger to success at road course events. Elliott is coming into the race weekend as the defending winner of the annual ROVAL event, after rallying from a wreck while leading the lap-64 restart and working his way back through the field to take the lead with just six laps to go.
Elliott’s most recent road course win came during the inaugural race at the Daytona International Speedway in August. The trip to victory lane was his fourth career road course win and third in a row. Elliott, the youngest road course winner in NCS history, is now just the sixth and most recent driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win three or more consecutive road course races. He also leads the way in active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in road course wins with four, tying previous NCS Champions Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. In addition, Elliott is only one of three to win at more than two different road course venues.
ROUND OF 12: THE CUT-OFF RACE
For the first time in NASCAR history, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course will be the host of the sixth race of the Playoffs, serving as the elimination race for the second of four rounds, cutting the championship contenders field from 12 to just eight drivers. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is the fourth different track to host the sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, joining Martinsville Speedway (2004-2010), Talladega Superspeedway (2011, 2013-2016), and Kansas Speedway (2012, 2017-2019).
Heading into the ROVAL race weekend, four Team Chevy drivers remain, battling to secure their spots in the Round of Eight and get one step closer to their chance of being named the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, has already captured his spot in the Round of Eight after his recent victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Here are where the Team Chevy drivers currently sit in the Playoff standings, as well as key statistics heading into the Bank of America ROVAL 400:
Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – Round of 12 win (3,048 points)
Victories: 1 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway)
Top-Fives: 5; Top-10’s: 16; Laps Led: 140; Average Finish: 13.5
Stage Wins: 1
At the ROVAL: Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 1; Poles: 1; Average Finish: 12.5
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 4th in Standings (3,097 points)
Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course)
Top-Fives: 12; Top-10’s: 18; Laps Led: 783; Average Finish: 12.6
Stage Wins: 8
At the ROVAL: Wins: 1; Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 3.5 (second-best)
Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 1LE – 7th in Standings (3,075 points)
Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway)
Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 11; Laps Led: 394; Average Finish: 15.9
Stage Wins: 4
At the ROVAL: Top-Five’s: 2; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 3.0 (series best)
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE – 10th in Standings (3,053 points)
Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway)
Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s 9; Laps Led: 135; Average Finish: 16.1
Stage Wins: 0
At the ROVAL: Average Running Position: 23.555; Average Finish: 31.0
BOWTIE BULLETS
· There have been a total of 124 NASCAR Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 122 races on the oval track and two races on the road course. Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway include:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, has eight wins (May 2003, May and October 2004, May and October 2005, October 2009, May 2014, October 2016)
Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1, has one win (May 2010)
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1, has one win (May 2017)
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, has two wins (ROVAL September 2019 and Oval May 2020)
· Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver, William Byron, is the most recent pole winner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course when he scored his first-career road course pole at the 2019 ROVAL event.
· Chip Ganassi Racing and Chevrolet driver, Kurt Busch, captured the pole at the inaugural ROVAL event in 2018, setting the current qualifying record of 106.868 mph, with a lap time of 76.805 seconds. He also leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in career road course poles with three, all being captured at different tracks on the NCS circuit.
· Career Chevrolet driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Jeff Gordon, leads the NASCAR Cup Series in overall road course wins in his NCS career with nine (five at Sonoma; four at Watkins Glen).
· Since the integration of the Playoffs into the NASCAR Cup Series, there have been four times in which the winner of the sixth race of the 10-race Playoff stretch went on to win the Series’ Championship. Three of those four times were done by Team Chevy’s Jimmie Johnson, when he won the sixth race of the Playoffs in 2006, 2007 and 2008 to go on and capture three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series titles.
STARTING LINEUP
For the remainder of the 2020 NCS season, the starting lineups will be determined by a competition-based formula, combining the following metrics from the previous race event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the Owner points position.
Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400:
2nd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
5th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE
10th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th William Byron, No. 24 Hendrickcars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE
18th Ryan Preece, No. 37 Maxwell Houses for Heroes Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-IN
NBC will telecast the 109-lap, 248.52-mile Bank of America ROVAL 400 live at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 11th. Live coverage of the Round of 12 cut-off race can also be found on the NBC Sports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS
“I don’t know why the road courses have been good to us thus far. I came from short-track racing, I did a little bit of road course racing in go karts, but I don’t know how much that translates. Most of my years coming along were short tracks around the country, asphalt racing – very different from road-course racing. I do think a lot of the credit should go to Jeff (Gordon). Jeff was a fantastic road racer, as we all know. I really think he and Alan (Gustafson) had a very good understanding of what was important at road races and what they really wanted in the cars and what mattered. As a young driver coming into a situation like that, having a good foundation has really helped me learn and learn faster because that foundation was already close. I think when you step into a situation that is good like that, as a guy that is learning, it does nothing but help you and make you better.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS
“This is a very stressful week. I mean the Roval is one thing to be stressed about, but then add a cut off race to it. One of my main goals for the 2020 season with Greg and the team was to make the Round of 8. We are so close and need to put together a solid race on Sunday and capitalize on stage points and a good finish. It is hard to believe that we have the best average finish at the Roval, but we definitely need to put a solid race together this weekend.”
“I am excited to move over to the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet next year with Greg (Ives). The support that we have been given by Mr. Hendrick and everyone at Ally is humbling to say the least. I am proud to be the driver Hendrick Motorsports chose to represent the Ally Financial brand and 48 nation. It has been an exciting week, but our focus from now until the end of the year, is making the final four and bringing home a championship to Hendrick Motorsports.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES ON BECOMING THE CREW CHIEF OF THE 48:
“It’s pretty special to be able to represent a number that gave me a lot of success early on in my career and actually built my career. (It) allowed me great opportunities to become (a) crew chief and, for a number that has affected my life so much, a team, a way of living, performing – I think it’s going to be hard to exactly put into words what I felt, other than to say it was a lot of emotion.”
IVES ON THE LEGACY OF THE 48:
“I feel like when it comes to the 48 team, it represents a young kid working hard, going through the ranks of racing, ultimately getting a shot, and that’s the 48 team. Hard work, dedication, being true to yourself, having good character, good on and off the racetrack. That’s somebody who you can look at Jimmie and say, ‘Alex is very similar to that’ and his performance on the racetrack will prove itself. The few wins that we have are quickly going to turn into more.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 10th IN STANDINGS
EVALUATE YOUR NASCAR PLAYOFFS PERFORMANCE IN THE ROUND OF 12 SO FAR.
“At Talladega Superspeedway, I got into every wreck possible. It was just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for most of the day. The week before that, we had a mechanical issue. But through both of those races, my Richard Childress Racing team has been amazing. The communication is unbelievable. They’ve been able to jump right in and fix the damage the last two weeks. At Talladega Superspeedway, we changed the oil cooler and only lost two laps. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, we knocked the belts off and only lost eight laps. I don’t know how you can make either of those repairs so fast. The communication is great with this team. Even though the last two weeks have been unfortunate, we’re still in the hunt and have a chance to advance to the Round of Eight.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEXT RACE IN THE NASCAR PLAYOFFS, THE ROVAL?
“We have the ROVAL left in the Round of 12. We just need some help from some of these guys who are higher than us in the point standings, and we have to be in the position to help ourselves some, too. We’re going to rely on our notes from the Daytona Road Course a lot. Kaz Grala was a fill in driver for me that week, and he did a great job. We will try to use that same setup moving forward. The ROVAL has never been the greatest track for us, but we’ll see what we can do. We’re going to try our hardest.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON THE NO. 24 TEAM AT ROAD COURSES:
“With road course racing, we’ve been a solid top 10 team every time we’ve gone to those races. We really just have to figure out that gap between us and guys like Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch. How they run at the road courses is phenomenal. I think really trying to close that gap to the top three is key as we’re about a fourth to seventh-place team on road courses right now. We just have to figure out those little things to take it to the next level.”
BYRON ON WHAT HE STUDIES TO PREPARE FOR A ROAD COURSE RACE:
“I think I may attention mainly to the way the other guys use the brakes and small details like how they approach each corner. I like to know what they’re looking for to make speed out of those corners. I think for me, road courses have been good overall. I’m honestly probably better in qualifying than in race trim right now. It’s just about me figuring out those details to make me better and have a shot of winning.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 19th IN STANDINGS
IS THERE ANY COMPARISON BETWEEN THE CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROVAL AND THE DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE YOU COMPETED ON EARLIER THIS YEAR?
“I really thought the two were going to be pretty similar, but they are really nothing alike. The Daytona Road Course is a really challenging track. The chicane we added to the frontstretch has some similarities to what the nature of the Charlotte ROVAL can be like, but to me, the Charlotte track feels a lot more like a street course. I’d be curious what drivers of other divisions would say to that if they ran the ROVAL. To me though, if I imagine running a street course, this is what I imagine it being like. I really enjoy both tracks even though they are nothing alike other than being two ovals we’ve turned into road courses.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Drivers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2020 STATISTICS:
Wins: 6
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,811
Top-five finishes: 43
Top-10 finishes: 105
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 792 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 236,117
Top-five finishes to date: 4,057
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,387
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,126
Chevrolet: 792
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 803
Ford: 703
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 151Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
