The third of three second-round races in the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs is Sunday on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Cup Series teams will race on a 17-turn, 2.28-mile reconfigured Roval created to provide additional passing opportunities for drivers. The track has extended the straight-away coming out of Turn 5 and created a new Turn 6, sending the field toward a much sharper hairpin in Turn 7. On the frontstretch, a sharper apex in Turn 16 of the final chicane has been created.
Teams will have additional practice sessions Saturday to familiarize themselves with the reconfiguration.
After a 26th-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday, Trackhouse driver Daniel Suárez arrives at the Roval 10th of the 12 playoff drivers and 20 points behind the eighth and final transfer position. After three rounds the remaining four drivers will race in a winner-take-all championship at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10.
Trackhouse driver Ross Chastain arrives at the Roval after suffering a hard crash at Talladega on Sunday. He led 17 laps and looked to be one of the fastest cars on the track but his day ended at the start/finish line as the second stage concluded.
- Busch Light ‘Iconic’: This weekend in Charlotte, Ross Chastain will be bringing Busch Light’s ‘Iconic’ paint scheme to the track. Home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, what can be more iconic than Chastain racing in the No. 1 car with Busch Light’s recognizable blue and white design?! The ‘Iconic’ paint scheme features a vibrant mountain landscape design across the full car in Busch Light’s classic colors. The top of the trunk reads, “Race For The Mountains,” with the Busch Light logo appearing on the hood, roof, trunk and sides of the car.
- Busch Light Sweeps: Busch Light will be giving fans another chance to win this week with their #BreakForBusch#Sweepstakes. Follow @BuschBeer on X to learn more.
- Charlotte Roval Stats: Chastain has five Cup Series starts at the Charlotte Roval. He earned his best finish of 10th last year at the 2.28-mile road course located a few miles down the road from the Trackhouse Racing shop.
- Road Racer Chastain: Chastain didn’t grow up road course racing and has worked hard to improve his road racing skills. In this season’s most recent right-and-left-hand turn race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Chastain started on the pole and led 51 laps before an untimely caution made the day more challenging for track position. He ultimately finished fourth. Chastain also has one win on a road course, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March 2022.
- Watch Chastain: Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on TruTV, Chastain will appear as a guest on “NASCAR: Inside the Playoffs.”
- Most Wins for No. 1 Car in Cup Series: The No. 1 car has been to victory lane five times with Chastain since 2022. That marks the most wins by a driver in the No. 1 car. Jamie McMurray previously held the record with four wins in the No. 1 car.
- Season Stats: With five races remaining this season and a victory under his belt, Chastain currently has the seventh best average finish of 14.3 among fulltime Cup Series competitors, and is eighth in most laps led this season with 311.
- Meet Chastain: Friday at 4 p.m. ET, Chastain will sign autographs at Plan B, 390 Industrial Court, Concord, N.C. On Sunday at 10 a.m., Chastain will sign autographs at the Trackhouse merchandise hauler located in the Charlotte Motor Speedway fan midway – wristband required.
- Last Weekend at Talladega: Chastain piloted the No. 1 Busch Light Camo Chevrolet at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday. The Chevrolet driver led six times for 17 laps before he was collected in an accident at the end of Stage 2.
- NASCAR: Full Speed: Catch Chastain in the five-episode docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed on Netflix. The series documented portions of Chastain’s 2023 season on and off the track. All five episodes are currently available on Netflix.
- 2023 Season Recap: Chastain won at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June and at the Phoenix Raceway season finale in November. He posted 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in his third full time Cup season. The Alva, Florida native finished ninth in points.
Chastain Quotes:
What are your thoughts on the new reconfigured Roval at Charlotte?
“From the pictures I’ve seen, it’s definitely changed. There’s some elevation change and it is blind. You can see a car, I believe, but the track falls away steep enough that you can’t really see it. It gives me a little bit of anxiety because I can’t see the road in front of me. I’ll wait to see how it looks in real life but mentally I’m preparing to not be able to see the track in front of me.”
What do you think about the new hairpin and apex in turn 16?
“I’m still learning. The frontstretch chicane actually does not feel as different as I thought it would. Until I feel it in real life, I won’t really know. The hairpin is wild. I’m still getting used to it. I’m plugging laps away on the simulator but I need more laps. It doesn’t feel natural because its new.”
How much work have you put into refining your road course racing?
“So much work has gone into it. Turning right seems simple, but it’s been something that’s been such a challenge for me. I’ve gone to Skip Barber’s Driving School to learn how to turn right. I’ve leaned on Josh Wise and Scott Speed so much. Chevrolet has taken us out to Spring Mountain and has done schooling with Ron Fellows and the instructors there. It wasn’t any one thing, it was just so many years of trying to learn how to do this.”
Suárez Notes
- Playoffs: Daniel Suárez arrives in Charlotte 10th of the 12 playoff drivers and 20 points behind the eighth and final transfer position with one race remaining in the second round when four of the 16 drivers will be eliminated from playoff contention.
- Roval Success: Suárez has qualified third at the last two races on the Roval.
- Back in 2025: Trackhouse Racing announced in August that Suárez and Freeway Insurance will return to the No. 99 Chevrolet racing team for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, marking their fifth season together. Freeway will be the primary sponsor for one-third of the 2025 season, including the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR All-Star race.
- Married Man/Racer: Suárez married his fiancé Julia Piquet at a ceremony on July 30 in Brazil. Four days later he raced in the NASCAR Brazil race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos. He won one of the three races and battled for victory in the other two races.
- Making History: Suárez now has the unique accomplishment of winning in NASCAR Mexico and Brazil in addition to all three American series.
Suárez is Now a Dual Citizen of Mexico and the United States:Suárez took the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony on June 18 in front of media, friends, the NASCAR industry and NASCAR President Steve Phelps who gave the keynote address to the 48 new citizens from 28 countries who joined Suárez at the ceremony. The 32-year-old, Monterrey, Mexico native came to America about 13 years ago without speaking English. He passed the United States Citizenship test on April 29 in Charlotte before taking the final step on June 18. He is now a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States.
- New Choice Privileges® Paint Scheme: The Choice Privileges “Night Mode” paint scheme makes its second appearance of the season on Sunday. The traditional orange and white paint scheme that has appeared on NASCAR tracks in 2024 will again feature a dark stripe on Sunday.
- Choice Privileges®: Choice Privileges®, the award-winning rewards program of Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), makes its second appearance as a primary sponsor with Daniel Suárez and Trackhouse Racing on Sunday. As part of the continued reinvigoration of the program, Choice Privileges® is offering exclusive VIP experience passes for races throughout the season. Choice Privileges® is increasingly strengthening rewards and opportunities for members following the successful college football, basketball, baseball and hockey experiences previously offered.
- Join Choice Privileges®: Throughout the season Choice Privileges® is offering exclusive redeemable experiences for members. The new experiences will include: access to the Trackhouse garage and pit road prior to the race; a tour of the garage and pit road; meet and greet with the pit crew and driver, Daniel Suarez; and pre-race hospitality with food and drink. For more information or to enroll in Choice Privileges®, visit www.choicehotels.com/choice-privileges.
- Atlanta Victory: At Atlanta, he and runner-up Ryan Blaney were separated by 0.003 seconds at the finish line. It was the fourth-closest finish in series history, and with third-place Kyle Busch just 0.007 seconds behind the winner, it also stands as the closest finish among three cars in the history of auto racing.
- Mexico Series Victory: Suárez won the 150-lap Mexico Series race at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Feb. 3. It was his 11th victory.
- First Mexican to Win in Cup: Suárez became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022, at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
- International Driver: He is one of six drivers not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race: Shane van Gisbergen (New Zealand), Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy). Ambrose, Montoya, and Suárez own two victories each.
- Cup Career Highlights: Suárez owns two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024) and three Busch Light Pole Awards – Pocono (Pa.) Raceway July 2018, Kentucky Speedway July 2019, and on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August 2023.
Suárez Quotes:
How do approach this weekend in Charlotte?
“This is a big week for us. We have already put in a lot of work on Charlotte on the simulator. This Roval race is going to be different for sure. I think the changes to the track will create passing zones. Right now, our work is in the virtual world. We are doing this on a simulator. Nobody has been running laps in real life. So we are going to find out what these changes mean on Saturday.”
Are you happy with the changes?
“It’s going to be interesting. I am actually happy. I’m happy that SMI and NASCAR are allowing these changes. We have been racing at the Roval for six years and it’s been an amazing race, but changes like these will spice things up even more. I’m happy everyone continues to think outside the box and makes the sport even more exciting.”
Trackhouse Racing PR
