A new twist: Charlotte Motor Speedway unveils plan for one-of-a-kind Roval course

Charlotte Motor Speedway has something of a legacy among NASCAR tracks as the most innovative, and Thursday’s announcement only reinforced that idea.

The speedway officially revealed its design for its new “Roval” course. The course, which includes elements of a road course and the traditional oval track, will be one of a kind. It will be introduced next fall during the Bank of America 500, thus adding a road course element to a playoff slate that currently lacks one.

The Roval is the first road course in Charlotte Motor Speedway’s history. The decision to create the Roval came after an original proposal, to build an entire road course, was criticized by teams, which complained about the additional costs of building an entirely separate road-certified car for a single playoff race.

The Roval then was a compromise, because it snakes through the infield while also incorporating a large section of the speedway’s oval. The final design is 2.4 miles long with 13 turns.

This story was originally published October 5, 2017 at 8:15 PM with the headline "A new twist: Charlotte Motor Speedway unveils plan for one-of-a-kind Roval course."