2021 Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Bank of America ROVAL 400

Congratulations to Bubba Wallace for picking up his first ever Cup win and the first win for 23XI Racing. Many drivers get their first win on the restrictor plate tracks and Bubba finished second in his very first Daytona 500. This should give this team more confidence as they head to the future and grow this team.

BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400

This will be a bit of a short week for the teams as they had to compete on Monday because of the rain at Talladega. It shouldn’t be too bad though seeing they will have a totally different type of car for this week’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course as they all try to conquer the Bank of America ROVAL 400. This is also the last race in the round of twelve so four more drivers will be eliminated after this race.

Chase Elliott: Chase has won two of the three races run on this track and those were the last two. He is just so good on this type of track that it’s hard not to use him in your lineup. He should finish top five even if he doesn’t win the race. The only thing that can stop him is poor pit stops, penalties, or someone wrecking him.

Kyle Larson: After getting caught up in a wreck at the end of stage one at Talladega last week, this teams points cushion took a bit of a hit. He still sits in second place in the standings with a twenty-two point cushion which is still pretty comfortable. He would have to have some pretty serious problems this week to not make it. He has led laps in each of his two starts here, but hasn’t cracked the top ten in the race results.

Ryan Blaney: The only other driver besides Chase to win on this track. Ryan won the first race when he got a gift from Jimmie Johnson who was trying to make a pass on Martin Truex Jr. late in the first race and he just drove by them both for the win. With only a fifteen point cushion himself this week, Ryan will need to be a bit patient early on and then he can make some moves later on.

Alex Bowman: Alex has two top five and three top ten finishes at the track and has shown that he can race at places like this. He is fifty-two points below the cut line right now, so he almost has to win to make it into the round of eight. second place won’t do him any good, so if he’s in contention at the end he won’t hesitate to move everyone else out of the way.

Joey Logano: Joey finished second to Chase in this race last year and has three top ten finishes in as many starts at the Charlotte Roval. He currently sits third in the standings with a twenty-one point cushion above the cut line. Playing it safe pretty much guarantees him to move on and that’s looking at the big picture. Most of the playoff drivers who feel they have enough of a point cushion will probably play it safe.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin hasn’t won at a road course for a little bit, but he is always a contender. He fought back for a twelfth place finish last week after sustaining some damage early on. You can never count this team out and Martin never gives up. Unlike one of his teammates who gets pouty once in a while when things aren’t going as well as he would like.

Kyle Busch: Kyle currently holds the eight place position in the standings nine points ahead of Kevin Harvick. The problem here is that he hasn’t finished better than thirtieth in his three starts on this course. He’s going to have to do much better than that if he wants to have a shot at winning another title.

Kevin Harvick: On the other hand, Kevin hasn’t finished worse than eleventh in his three starts here. Will a tenth place finish be enough to get him into the round of eight. He can’t rely on points alone because if one of the three playoff drivers below him wins this race he has to pass two people on points. He doesn’t have much choice other than to go hard all day and try and win this race.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has two top five finishes in his three starts here and always seems to have a shot on the road course races. As his career winds down at Chip Ganassi Racing he would love to get Chip another win before the team changes owners at the end of the year. Already eliminated from the playoffs he has nothing left this year, but to try and win a race. Any other position has no meaning for them.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE

Driver Group Game Group A

• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Alex Bowman
• Kurt Busch

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE

1. Chase Elliott
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Joey Logano
4. Kurt Busch
5. Alex Bowman

Dark Horse: Alex Bowman

Stay Away From: Kyle Busch

Big 18: Ryan Newman