Chase Elliott recovered from a wreck to win a wild NASCAR race in Charlotte in the Bank of America ROVAL 400.
This was only the second time ever the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series raced on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course known as the ROVAL. Half of the course winds through the infield of the track with half of it stretching around the oval part of the track.
During Sunday’s race (9/29) there were nine cars that exchanged the lead 13 times. Kyle Larson was the leader at the end of Stage One of the race while Chase Elliott won Stage Two.
Chase was the fastest car on the track as he passed cars on his way to the front. He led a race high 35 laps besting Kevin Harvick by a single lap. Chase’s laps led total would have likely been higher had it not been for a pretty major mistake.
On a re-start as the leader, Chase slid his car nose first into the turn one wall. Luckily the wall had safety padding that lessened the damage to his car. Following the incident Chase had to work his way back through the field … which he did.
Chase scored his third win of the 2019 cup season and his first win in the NASCAR Playoffs. Alex Bowman claimed second place with Kevin Harvick coming in third. Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski finished in fourth and fifth places respectively. See the complete race results for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 here.
The Charlotte ROVAL race was an elimination race in the NASCAR Playoffs. Aric Almiroal, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones were the four drivers with the lowest point total at the end of this round, the Round of 16. That means they have been eliminated from championship contention and do not advance to the Round of 12. The points for the 12 drivers that have advanced are reset and they now have three races to advance to the third round. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
Next stop for the drivers and teams is the “Monster Mile” of Dover International Speedway for the Drydene 400 Sunday, October 6th.
By: Buck Stevens