NASCAR race at the Roval: How to watch the playoff elimination race at Charlotte

NASCAR’s playoff Cup race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course is this Sunday. The Bank of America Roval 400 starts at 2 p.m. on NBC.

Four drivers will be eliminated from the postseason in the final race of the Round of 12. Denny Hamlin is the only playoff driver with a win in this round after non-playoff driver Bubba Wallace won last weekend’s race at Talladega. Kevin Harvick (-9), Christopher Bell (-28), William Byron (-44) and Alex Bowman (-52) sit below the cutoff in points entering Sunday’s race.

Harvick will need to beat out Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott, who are tied nine points above the cut line, in order to continue running for a championship. But Harvick, the 2020 regular season champion, said he isn’t phased by his chances of an early postseason exit.

“I’ve had a lot worse seasons,” he said this week. “I’ve lived through a whole bunch that were way worse than this one. This one has been a bit of a struggle to get the finishes that we’ve had, but in the end, I’ve raced like that for years of my career.”

“A lot of people that watch and cover (NASCAR) in this particular period forget 20 years ago,” Harvick continued, referencing his move to the Cup Series driving for Richard Childress Racing in place of the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

“My first press conference was the biggest one I’ll ever do,” Harvick said. “My first year was the most stressful I’ll ever have. 2002 was a horrendous year and somehow we won a race that year...I personally have been through some pretty tough years and this one has just been a struggle because you’ve had to work so hard to get everything you have.”

Harvick’s team has eight top five finishes and 21 top 10s this year, but the No. 4 hasn’t won a race during the 2021 season. He credited his pit crew with boosting the team’s performance when his car’s balance and speed has been off throughout the season.

Other drivers in jeopardy of missing the next round are Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell and two Hendrick drivers William Byron and Alex Bowman, who escaped elimination in the last round thanks to a strong performance in the cutoff race at Bristol. This weekend, they’ll likely be competing with teammates up front.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott is the favorite to win (+200) at the Roval followed by teammate Kyle Larson (+450), according to BetMGM odds. Elliott is the back-to-back Roval winner looking to add an eighth career Cup road course win to his resume to tie second all-time road course winner Tony Stewart. Jeff Gordon leads the category with nine road course victories.

Larson has two road course wins this year, at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. It would be no surprise to see him challenge Elliott this weekend. Elliott has just as many road course wins this season, however, at Circuit of the Americas and Road America. Given his historical dominance of track, it’s no surprise my prediction for the win this weekend lines up with the odds.

How to watch the NASCAR race at Charlotte Roval

• Race: Bank of America Roval 400
• Distance: 252.88 miles (109 Laps) with stages ending on laps 25, 50 and 109
• Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway road course
• When: 2 p.m. EST
• TV: NBC
• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

NASCAR at Charlotte Roval starting lineup

This story was originally published October 10, 2021 at 6:30 AM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription