Kyle Larson dominated in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte ROVAL while other NASCAR Playoff Drivers raced to advance in the Round of 12 Elimination Race.
The race started with William Byron locked in the Round of Eight by points. The remaining 11 Playoff Drivers had varying roads to advance to the next round in the post-season. Some just needed to earn a handful of points, some needed to earn a lot of points and a few would need to win to advance.
Tyler Reddick started the race needing a good day as he was just 14 points above the cut line to advance. He appeared to be doing what he needed to do as he was the winner of Stage 1 of the race, earning 10 bonus points. However, he experienced some misfortune in the second stage of the race. Some contact with the #11 car caused a mechanical issue that put Tyler back in 26th position needing to race forward to earn an advance to the next round.
Kyle Larson clinched his spot in the next round prior to the end of stage 2. He was obviously racing to win, not racing for points to advance. AJ Almendinger was the winner in stage two of the race.
Kyle Larson led the race three times for a race high total of 62 laps in the 109-lap race. He was the leader for the final 33 laps of the race. Kyle won his second race on the ROVAL, his second 2024 Playoff race (both in elimination races), his sixth win this season and his 29th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Christopher Bell (the only driver that could stay anywhere close to Kyle) finished in second place 1.511 seconds back. William Byron claimed third-place 8.965 seconds behind at the finish. See the complete race results of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte ROVAL here.
Tyler Reddick was able to race forward enough to earn an advance to the next round by just +4 points above the cut line. That pushed Joey Logano -4 points below the cut line to be eliminated from the post-season. However, Alex Bowman’s #48 failed post-race inspection by not meeting minimum weight requirements. That disqualified him from the race as a result. That also means he will not advance to the next round in the Playoffs, allowing Joey to advance instead from below the cut line.
Joining Alex on the list of drivers eliminated at the ROVAL are Austin Cindric (-28), Daniel Suarez (-51) and Chase Briscoe (-68). See the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings heading to the Round of Eight here.
The Round of Eight starts with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday, October 20th. If any of the remaining NASCAR Playoff Drivers can win, it locks them in the Championship Four with a chance to win the 2024 title at Phoenix Raceway November 10th.
By: Buck Stevens
