The 2021 Bank of America Roval 400 was a

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

held on October 10, 2021, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

. Contested over 109 laps on the road course, it was the 32nd race of the

2021 NASCAR Cup Series The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series was the 73rd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 50th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season started at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, wher ...

season, the sixth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 12.

Report

Background

Since 2018, deviating from past NASCAR events at Charlotte, the race will utilize a road course configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway, promoted and

trademarked A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others. ...

as the "Roval". The course is in length and features 17 turns, utilizing the infield road course and portions of the oval track. The race will be contested over a scheduled distance of 109 laps, . During July 2018 tests on the road course, concerns were raised over drivers "cheating" the backstretch

chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...

on the course. The chicanes were modified with additional tire barriers and rumble strips in order to encourage drivers to properly drive through them, and NASCAR will enforce drive-through penalties on drivers who illegally "short-cut" parts of the course. The chicanes will not be used during restarts. In the summer of 2019, the bus stop on the backstretch was changed and deepened, becoming a permanent part of the circuit, compared to the previous year where it was improvised. If a driver fails to legally make the backstretch bus stop, the driver must skip the frontstretch chicane and make a complete stop by the dotted line on the exit before being allowed to continue. A driver who misses the frontstretch chicane must stop before the exit. On October 9, 2021, NASCAR removed six sets of six yellow and black rumble strips from the layout after

Josh Bilicki Joshua M. Bilicki (born June 3, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Live Fast Motorsports. He has also previously competed in the ...

's No. 07 car suffered catastrophic front end damage from one set of strips during the Xfinity race earlier that day.

Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver. * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...

was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Starting Lineup

Race

Denny Hamlin was the pole sitter for the race. Chase Elliot won Stage 1 and Kyle Busch won Stage 2. Despite dealing with technical issues during the race, Kyle Larson was able to overcome it to pass Hamlin with 8 laps to go to win the race. The victory made Larson the first Cup driver in NASCAR history to win three different road courses in a single season (Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval). William Byron, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick were eliminated from the playoffs.

Stage Results

Stage One ''Laps:'' 25 Stage Two ''Laps:'' 25

Final Stage Results

Stage Three ''Laps:'' 59

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 15 among 10 different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 9 for 18 * Red flags: 0 * Time of race: 3 hours, 15 minutes and 4 seconds * Average speed:

Media

Television

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen,

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...

Steve Letarte Steven Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is an American professional NASCAR crew chief and sportscaster who works for NBC Sports as a color commentator on NASCAR on NBC, their telecasts for NASCAR. He also works as a consultant for Spire Motorsports, ...

and

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...

called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Rutledge Wood Rutledge Wood (born April 22, 1980 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an auto racing analyst and TV show host. Wood was one of three hosts for History's ''Top Gear'' along with Adam Ferrara and Tanner Foust, which premiered on November 21, 2010. Unti ...

handled the features from the track.

Radio

The

Performance Racing Network The Performance Racing Network (PRN) is a radio syndication network controlled by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) founded in 1981. PRN airs NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events held at Speedway Motorsports and Penske Corporation-owned and manag ...

had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field raced down the front straightaway. IMS Radio's Nick Yeoman was assigned the entrance to the road course and into the Bank of America bridge (Turns 1-3). Voice of the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

Mark Jaynes was assigned the action from the Bank of America bridge to the middle of the infield section. Doug Turnbull called the action exiting in infield into the oval Turn 1 banking (Turns 7-9). Pat Patterson called the action on the backstretch and into the bus stop. Rob Albright was assigned to the oval Turn 3-4 end. (Turns 13-15). Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and

Wendy Venturini Wendy Venturini (born January 30, 1979 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American reporter for the Performance Racing Network (PRN). She works as broadcaster for NASCAR Cup Series races and sometimes as a pit reporter for races on PRN. She had been a ...

had the call from the pit area for PRN.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

{{2021 NASCAR Cup

Bank of America Roval 400 The Bank of America Roval 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. As of the 201 ...

NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway