The setup at CMS is a hybrid that uses the existing speedway along with a winding course through the infieldgetty images
Charlotte Motor Speedway's roval course will debut Sunday in a "critical playoff race," and the setup creates a track "unlike anything used before in NASCAR," according to Jenna Fryer of the AP. The setup at CMS is a "hybrid" that uses the "existing speedway along with a winding course through the infield." Fans "haven't been this excited for a race, for a track, in forever." The roval has the "potential to be one of the most memorable NASCAR events in decades, but it also could be a disaster or a demolition derby that makes professional race car drivers look like comedic amateurs." Still, this is "already a winning moment for NASCAR." Drivers may "ultimately hate the course and whatever havoc it may wreak on the championship picture," but that is "not a bad thing in this current climate." Fryer: "Who wants to see more of the same old Charlotte racing with so much on the line?" The roval, "boom or bust, is a hopeful alternative that might go down as the race of the season" (AP, 9/25). In Richmond, Randy Hallman wrote the roval is generating the "biggest buzz about a new stock car racing event in nearly a quarter of a century," dating back to the initial race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in '94. Hallman: "Before that, to find this much interest in a new racing surface, you might have to go back a full 30 years to 1988 and Richmond Raceway’s reopening as the circuit’s only 3/4-mile track" (RICHMOND.com, 9/26).
NEEDED CHANGE: In Charlotte, Brendan Marks wrote the roval is "exactly what NASCAR needs." It is a "shakeup" and "unpredictable, and in a sport in which that irregularity and spontaneity is rapidly being crushed by rulebooks and ruts, you can never have enough newness." Maybe the roval will be a "little too out there." If there is "no passing, or a wreck every lap, or it takes seven hours, maybe we scrap it and go back to the drawing board for innovation." Marks: "I bet this won’t be a failure. A wreck-fest, perhaps. A nightmare for drivers? Yeah, I’d buy that, too. I’d also buy a ticket, though, or tune in on the TV from home" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/26). USA TODAY's Michelle Martinelli writes although it is "stressful to compete in a cutoff race on a new, wacky and unpredictable course, everyone on the track is at least in the same boat this first time out" (USA TODAY, 9/28). ESPN's Ricky Craven wrote, "In all my years in this sport, I cannot remember drivers, crew chiefs and spotters expressing this high level of apprehension in advance of one specific race" (ESPN.com, 9/25).
NEW COLORWAY: MOTORSPORT.com's Jim Utter noted British track surface painters RoadGrip "painted the course" that features an "array of Grand Prix-style visuals." There are also "ornate, patriotic paint designs to the speedway’s walls as well as painting track signage and the synthetic turf in the speedway’s infield." RoadGrip Contract Dir Hugh Blackburn said, “We’re going to bring a flavor of the Formula 1 circuits to the Roval. We'll put some edge lines in, some color and we’ll break up the massive asphalt with some branding and longitudinal striking to give it some continuity from the oval to the road course. Hopefully, that color and that variety will engage the fans in a different way" (MOTORSPORT.com, 9/26).
