New Track Layout: Breaking Down Differences Between Old and New ROVAL
There has been a lot made about the new Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL track layout in the lead up to this weekend's NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400, which will serve as the final race of the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
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But what exactly is different about the 2024 version of the ROVAL compared to the previous track layout? Let's dive into it.
The overall track length of the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL will expand from 2.28 miles from 2018 to 2023 to 2.32 miles in 2024.
According to the track map above, Turn 1 will sweep out slightly wider than in previous years, as major changes in Turn 6 and 7 allowed those changes to be possible. While the track will feature no changes through Turns 2, 3, 4, and 5. The chute between Turns 5 and 6 will be lengthened under the new layout, which will send the field down to a newly redesigned hairpin Turn 7.
This section of the track is the main difference from the previous years at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Turn 7 is likely to cause a lot of big moments in Sunday's Playoff elimination event as it will be a high-braking zone. Someone is bound to overcook their brakes heading into that turn at some point throughout the weekend, and chances are it'll become a more, and more frequent situation as the race drags on.
While it appears the track lost a turn between Turns 6 and 7 from the old layout, the new layout "gained" a turn in the backstretch chicane, which is now listed as three turns instead of two as it was previously listed. The old and new layout are both 17 turns.
Following the new hairpin Turn 7, the track will sweep back from the infield road course up onto the oval turns of the Charlotte Motor Speedway for Turns 8 and 9. Coming off of Turn 9, the field will rocket down the backstretch of the Charlotte oval track, but before the field reaches Turn 3, they will encounter the backstretch chicane, which has been tweaked this year to have a slightly sharper Turn 10 and 11 section.
After taking the left hand Turn 12, drivers will once again transition into the oval Turns on the track for Turns 13 and 14. Upon exit of what is the oval track's Turns 3 and 4, drivers will have one last challenge ahead of them in the form of a new, sharper front stretch chicane.
Turn 15 will be a sweeping left hand turn, which will feed drivers into and ultra-sharp right hand Turn 16, and the lap will finish off with a very sharp left hand Turn 17.
As you can see, there are some very similar portions of the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL layout from year's past, but there are some very interesting and unique wrinkles that have been baked into the track with a repave and reconfiguration of portions of the road course layout, which occurred after the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.