Blaney wins the Charlotte Roval

Ryan Blaney scored his first success of the season last Sunday (the 2nd of his career after Pocono in 2017) by winning the Bank of America 400 held on the new road circuit at Charlotte Motor Speedway (North Carolina).

Le pensionnaire du Team Penske, vainqueur du 2e segment, occupait la 3e position dans le dernier tour lorsque Martin Truex Jr (Toyota) était mis sous pression par Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet). Si le septuple champion occupait une position suffisante pour s’assurer une qualification dans la deuxième phase des playoffs, le pilote Hendrick a tenté un dépassement sur le champion en titre mais a perdu le contrôle de sa Camaro ZL1 n°48 qui s’en est allé percuter la Camry n°78.

Ryan Blaney thus won ahead of Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer (Ford), 4th place going to Alex Bowman (Chevrolet) who narrowly qualified for the second phase of the playoffs unlike his teammate Jimmie Johnson who was eliminated. Austin Dillon (Chevrolet) also saw his title hopes dashed when he hit the wall. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones rounded out the list of eliminations.

Kyle Larson (Chevrolet) remained in the fight for victory for a long time until he was caught in a pileup on a restart caused by the missed braking of Brad Keselowski (Ford). The Chip Ganassi Racing resident narrowly qualified by finishing with a wreck, hitting every wall without being able to steer yet!

Discover the report on the Bank of America 400 Roval in Charlotte in issue 2185 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms and from this Wednesday on newsstands.