If you haven't heard, Charlotte Motor Speedway has done something VERY cool. They are introducing the Roval to NASCAR.
And if you haven't heard of the Roval, you gotta be asking what in the heck a "Roval" is! Simple. Think of Charlotte Motor Speedway. It's an oval... rather, it WAS an oval with four corners, turns one, two, three, and four. But now, they have added a left turn between the end of pit road and turn one where drivers will enter a road course and turn left AND right! Road course + oval = Roval! After exiting the road course portion near where they entered, drivers will travel around turns one and two and then find a slight jog on the backstretch, they'll then take the usual turns three and four, and then find another slight chicane between turn four and the front stretch. Click here for a map.
The traditional layout of Charlotte Motor is a mile and a half. The Roval comes in at 2.28 miles and features 17 turns. There is also an elevation change of 35 feet. "Redneck Hill" located over in turns one and two is the reason for the drop. Drivers will now be driving down it instead of only speeding past it in turns one and two.
The Roval will be used for the first time September 30th at the renamed Bank of America Roval 400.
NASCAR has hosted a few tire tests, and there was general testing last week and yesterday. NASCAR had a live broadcast of yesterday's tests on You Tube. Here they are.
Here is video of AJ Allmendinger taking a lap last year. This was before turns 11 and 12 and 15, 16, and 17 were added in, but it still gives you an idea of how rigorous the course is.
Bring on September 30th. This is going to be EPIC!