Winners and losers from a dizzying elimination race at the Charlotte Roval

Shane van Gisbergen’s road course win streak is now at five after winning by over 15 seconds in Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Roval. While Trackhouse took home the checkered flag, it wasn’t all celebrations for the organization as Ross Chastain faced a chaotic battle to transfer into the next round.

After two unforced errors on pit road, it still came down to just one point between Chastain and reigning champion Joey Logano, leading to a dramatic last-lap desperation move and Chastain reversing across the finish line. Chastain was eliminated alongside Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Austin Cindric.

Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from 109 laps of racing at the Roval: 

WINNER: SVG remains the undisputed road course king

There’s simply no stopping SVG at road and street courses. Despite how close the field is and all of the data available to the competitors, Van Gisbergen is on the cusp of toppling Jeff Gordon’s road course win streak (six). Van Gisbergen will end his rookie Cup season with five wins, winning all but one of the road/street course events on the schedule. He once again won by double-digits as well, crossing the line 15+ seconds clear of Kyle Larson.

LOSER: Ross Chastain puts on a show, but makes several unforced errors

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

Chastain is a driver who simply refuses to accept defeat. We’ve seen it before with his ‘alternate route’ at the Indy RC, his viral wallride to make the Championship 4 in 2022, and on Sunday, he dive-bombed Hamlin into the final corner in a desperate attempt to avoid elimination. Throwing the car into reverse and dragging it backwards across the line was incredible entertainment, but it doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t need to be in such a dire situation. He needed to gain 13 points on Logano entering Sunday’s race, and he managed to collect ten of those through the first two stages. However, he made two major unforced errors that made his job far harder than it needed to be. He lost 15 spots under caution when he blew the exit of pit road and was forced to come to a halt to avoid hitting the barrier. And then he sped on pit road during his final pit stop. The fact that he still had a shot after that is remarkable, but his biggest adversary on Sunday ended up being himself.

WINNER: Paul Wolfe makes bold late-race call to pit Joey Logano

Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin spin

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

This was an aggressive and risky call from the championship-winning crew chief, pitting Logano while he was above the cutline. The move put Logano on the offense instead of defense, but Wolfe recognized that staying out would have likely been worse in the end than pitting. It worked out perfectly at the very end as Logano squeezed into the Round of 8 with the door slamming shut behind him.

LOSER: Tyler Reddick unable to translate pole to race win

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota, Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Reddick started Sunday’s race from pole position, but the team abandoned stage points in an effort to go for the win. Unfortunately, he simply didn’t have the pace to battle up front against SVG, Larson, and Christopher Bell. It was a quiet end to his playoff run, and with teammate Bubba Wallace eliminated as well, 23XI has no drivers left in the title hunt.

WINNER: Kyle Larson takes the fight to SVG, at least for a moment

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Over the course of a long run, there was no stopping the New Zealander, but that didn’t stop Larson from trying. The two drivers went back-and-forth in a full-contact battle for the lead as Larson fought with everything he had to end a winless streak that dates back to May. In the end, he had to settle for second, but it was still a great showing for the No. 5 team. After the race, he said he simply wanted to put on a show as he felt like SVG was toying with him.

LOSER: Hamlin didn’t know what was going on, and he may regret that

Watch: Hamlin on contact with Chastain: ‘I don’t fault Ross’

Denny Hamlin seemed extremely confused after the race. He had no idea that he was the only driver standing between Chastain and playoff advancement, and voiced his frustration with that after the race. He also had an easy opportunity to prevent three-time and defending champion Logano from going any further, but instead, he will have to deal with him in the next round…and maybe at Phoenix too. It’s no secret that Penske looks nearly unbeatable at the finale, and any of their cars making it that far will make things difficult for the competition. That final lap may end up haunting Hamlin, depending on how the rest of this season plays out. He even indicated that he would have likely handled the situation differently if he knew what was going on.

WINNER: Goodyear for bringing a tire with significant falloff

Watch: Race Rewind: Playoff drama peaks at Charlotte Roval

The Charlotte Roval hasn’t been much of an action track with the current generation of car, but Goodyear did a great job trying to rectify that with a tire that had extremely high tire falloff. It made for a dynamic race with various strategies and constant movement throughout the field. It was exactly what this race needed, and a step in the right direction with tire development.

LOSER: Kyle Busch crashes in the first corner of the race

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

The worst season of Busch’s career is almost over, and it can’t end soon enough. He crashed in the first turn of the opening lap of the race at the Roval after contact from Carson Hocevar. This was also his first race with a new crew chief atop the pit box. Busch now has no finishes higher than 16th in the last eleven races.

WINNER: The non-playoff drivers who had quietly strong days

Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

While all the focus was on the dramatic cutline battle and SVG’s big win, most overlooked those drivers who had great showings at the Roval. Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell collected top five finishes, while Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, and A.J. Allmendinger (who also crossed the line in reverse) all scored top ten finishes.

LOSER: Riley Herbst feuds with multiple drivers, and then gets DQ’ed

Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

Herbst was involved in two notable feuds during Sunday’s race as he battled in the middle of the pack. After becoming frustrated with the way Ty Dillon raced him through the hairpin, he doored him under caution, only to cut down his own tire. Soon after, he got into it with Busch, who eventually spun Herbst out. The rookie driver was livid, and suggested Busch should retire in a radio outburst. He limped home to a 30th-place finish in his battered No. 35 Toyota, only to be disqualified for failing post-race weight checks. 

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– The Motorsport.com Team