CHARLOTTE ROVAL
Saturday, October 12 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, October 13 — NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)
Four drivers will be eliminated in the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend as the Round of 12 comes to a conclusion on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Ford has four drivers in contention for the Cup Series championship in Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe while Cole Custer and Riley Herbst are still in it on the Xfinity side.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP PLAYOFFS
Ryan Blaney – 6th (+25 above cut line)
Joey Logano – 9th (-13 below cut line)
Austin Cindric – 11th (-29)
Chase Briscoe – 12th (-32)
Note: Top 8 advance after Charlotte
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS ON THE CHARLOTTE ROVAL
Joey Logano: 6 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-10, 5 top-10
Ryan Blaney: 6 starts, 1 wins, 2 top-5, 4 top-10
Chase Briscoe: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 1 top-10
Austin Cindric: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10
BUESCHER GOING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT ROAD COURSE WIN
Chris Buescher’s win last month at Watkins Glen International was his first career Cup Series win on a road course, but his record on road and street courses the past two years has been stellar. The Texas native has finished 10th or better in 13 of the last 15 events, including a streak of eight straight at one point. Buescher’s victory also marked Ford’s 35th all-time road course win and was the first since Michael McDowell’s triumph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022. Dan Gurney is Ford’s all-time road course leader with five career wins.
RYAN BLANEY: “I haven’t walked the track. I have done sim work. It’s a little different. The frontstretch chicane is a little bit tighter. I don’t think that’s the biggest change. Obviously, five, six, seven are the biggest changes. I think you opened up a passing zone in seven. It’s gonna be kind of a dive bomb central corner, for sure, just the way it’s shaped, so that will be interesting to see how it races. You’re gonna have to drive that corner very differently if you have pressure or not behind you, and, honestly, I think the frontstretch chicane is gonna be a slower corner, so I feel like you might have some more out-braking potential there. I think it’s good they changed it up. Whenever you add passing zones, that’s good for a race. It’s the same for everybody. It’s gonna be different for everyone and just who can adapt to it the quickest.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL: “I have had an opportunity to study it and I’m looking forward to it. The Roval hasn’t been super strong for me and us and so I’m glad that there is some change because sometimes change is exactly what you need to turn the ship and get to where you want to be. But the Roval is super challenging. It’s not your typical road course. It’s a challenge technical, tight, twisty, big curbs, the turtles they call them. There are a lot of challenges at those places, so I’m looking forward to it. Anytime I get to race on a road course I’m happy about it and it’s an opportunity again to try to go there and win the race.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC: “I’ve definitely gotten a bit of a preview. I walked over to the speedway after playing some golf on Thursday and saw what was going on there. I’ve done some laps on the sim in prep for the weekend. Obviously, we won’t get to see the finished product until we get there for the track walk on the weekend, but I’m looking forward to it. The change will be interesting. Personally, I hated the old turn eight, just from my own personal experience – not for how it raced, it was my worst corner on the racetrack, so I’m cool with the changes.”
BLANEY CAPTURES INAUGURAL CUP ROVAL RACE
The debut of the Charlotte Roval didn’t disappoint as Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. wrecked each other in the final chicane heading to the checkered flag, allowing Ryan Blaney to sneak past both and win the inaugural Bank of America Roval 400. Blaney put himself in position to win thanks to some sound strategy that enabled him to stretch his fuel mileage and win Stage 2. He round himself in 25th place with 38 laps to go after a trip to pit road, but cycled his way back up to the front before being in the right place at the right time. That capped a weekend in which Ford won the pole and race in the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup Series. In six career Roval starts, Blaney has four top 10 and two top 5 finishes.
CUSTER AND HERBST LOOKING TO ADVANCE
The first elimination race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season takes place this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Ford’s two championship contenders find themselves above the cut line. Defending series champion Cole Custer is third in the playoff standings and has a 37-point cushion while Riley Herbst is seventh overall and is 20 points ahead of ninth-place Justin Allgaier. In three career series starts on the Roval, Custer has registered finishes of seventh, eighth and second. Herbst has made four starts on the road course with his best finish coming a year ago when he was fourth.
FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS ON THE ROVAL
2018 – Ryan Blaney
FORD’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS ON THE ROVAL
2018 – Chase Briscoe
