The Roval experiment: one year later
Posted September 27, 2019 6:25 p.m. EDT
Updated September 27, 2019 6:43 p.m. EDT
Erecting the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway was a roll of the dice for NASCAR, a bold move for a track steeped in tradition.
It did not come up snake eyes for a sport continuously losing eyeballs.The intrigue increased TV viewership by 13 percent, only the fourth race in all of the 2018 season to record a ratings boost.
"You have to be courageous, you have to try things," said Jeff Burton, former NASCAR driver and current NBC analyst. "The truth is, this racetrack needed some new energy and it needed something new, and the sport needed something new."
And that innovation has made Charlotte Motor Speedway perhaps the most unique stop on the tour. The paying customer buys tickets to three events and gets three very different races: a marathon, a sprint, and a road course race.
"They've heard the whispers of, maybe the All-Star-Race should travel or maybe we don't need to go to these tracks so many times," said Steve Letarte, former crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports and current NBC analyst. "So, they've found a great way to have a facility that has three very different races."
Even if this weekend's third and final isn't most drivers forte.
"And it's controversial, right?" Burton said. "Should you have a road course race in the playoffs? My opinion is, we need to test our drivers. We need to make things difficult for the drivers, we need to put them in situations that aren't predictable. Put them in situations that the best come out on top."
Fortune favors the bold. Charlotte Motor Speedway's willingness to stray from the norm with 17 turns solidifies and justifies its three stops on the senior circuit.
