Denny Hamlin on pole at the Charlotte Roval

Pour la dernière manche du « Round of 12 », deuxième phase des Playoffs, Denny Hamlin s’empare une nouvelle fois de la pole position. Le pilote de la Toyota Camry #11 s’élancera sur le Roval de Charlotte devant Brad Keselowski et Joey Logano de la Team Penske. Son coéquipier de la Joe Gibbs Racing Christopher Bell complète le Top 4.

Opened in 2018, the Roval is the combination of much of the oval and the inland road course at the North Carolina complex. Previous editions have been particularly spectacular with this mixture of high speeds and heavy braking before the winding sections. As is customary on road circuits, the intermediate segments are shortened. The drivers will aim to overcome this pitfall at the start of the race without damage to approach the final sprint in good conditions.

Once again, the @CLTMotorSpdwy Roval lived up to the hype.

After the carnage, it was @chaseelliott grabbing another road course win to advance to the #NASCARPlayoffs Round of 8! pic.twitter.com/1bePsTw16f

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 13, 2020

Comprising 17 turns and 24° bankings, the circuit is a physical challenge for the drivers and a real headache for the engineers. As no practice is contested before the race, any adjustment error can be crippling. 109 laps are scheduled for a total race distance of 252,88 miles (406,88 km).

First segment: 25 tours 
Second segment: 25 tours 
Final: 59 tours 

Bubba Wallace's first career victory at Talladega © Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

If the inaugural round of 2018 was won by Ryan Blaney, the following two editions fell into the pocket of Chase Elliott who will start on Sunday as the big favorite. Bubba Wallace, with his first career victory at Talladega and free from any pressure since he was eliminated from the Playoffs, will have a good card to play. William Byron and Alex Bowman, in great difficulty in the rankings after their disastrous race last Monday, have no choice but to win to qualify for the “Round of 8”. The pre-race briefing from their boss Rick Hendrick promises to be tasty…

Starting grid of Bank of America Roval 400 :