NASCAR has reportedly made a polarizing change to its playoff schedule, starting this season.
The Charlotte Roval road course, one of the 10 playoff races in the new Cup Series postseason format, will revert to the standard Oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi on Monday.
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The “Roval” at Charlotte was first introduced to NASCAR in 2018. The name is a play on the layout of the track, being about half raced on the turns of Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the other half in the infield road portion. Take “road” and “oval” and you have a name.
Many fans have hailed the Charlotte Roval among the better road courses on the circuit. Though it has been said that these stock cars are meant for oval racing, and that they should be doing so as often as possible.
To date, the Roval has hosted eight NASCAR races. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are tied as the winningest drivers with two victories each. Shane Van Gisbergen is the most recent winner in 2025. This race has also always been part of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, being raced in late September and early October.
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When Is the Charlotte Oval Race?
As always, Charlotte will host the longest race in NASCAR — the Coca-Cola 600 — on Memorial Day Weekend.
The second race, now being on the Oval, remains part of the playoff stretch. This season, it take place on Sunday, Oct. 11, as the fifth-to-last race of the season. With the exit of Watkins Glen from the Playoffs, there will now be zero road or street courses in the race for the championship.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Trackhouse Racing Take a Hit
NASCAR Cup Series driver Shane van Gisbergen (88) raises the Roval trophy in victory lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.Imagn
(Imagn)
This update is surprising, but not groundbreaking. NASCAR has seemed to force the hand of racing on road and street courses more often in recent seasons. In 2025, five races were on said circuits. The greatest beneficiary of all has been Shane Van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing. Of those five races, Van Gisbergen won four of them.
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The losers of the last month, by far, have been Van Gisbergen and the Trackhouse team. It is no secret that they signed the New Zealander for his seemingly unbeatable ability on these configurations. The old playoff format has been that of “win-and-your-in.” Van Gisbergen is virtually a lock to win a road or street race in a given year, thus securing one playoff spot.
The new playoff format no longer rewards a guaranteed postseason spot for a win. Not only does Van Gisbergen now lack a likely playoff spot, but he now has one less race to gain his points.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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