Fans cheer at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

NASCAR's Charlotte Roval is not gone for good

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Feb 3, 2026 4:50 PM ET

This fall, NASCAR will not run the road course-oval hybrid, dubbed the Roval, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The road course, which has been used for Charlotte's fall race weekend since 2018, was reportedly nixed from the NASCAR schedule and replaced with the oval on Jan. 26. Now, that move is official.

On Tuesday, Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith appeared on the "Dale Jr. Download" to talk about the change and why it was made.

Why Charlotte is changing things up

"When we introduced the Roval, it was at a time when road courses were having this amazing surge," Smith told Kelley Earnhardt Miller. "...So we brought out the Roval and it provided another road course in the schedule, a road course in the playoffs.

"It made for something new and different ... But I think the new car and the way NASCAR officiates, the racing hasn't been as exciting as it had been initially (at the Roval)."

NEWS: In the fall, we return to @CLTMotorSpdwy's roots!

Speedway Motorsports announces all three NASCAR national series will race on the 1.5-mile oval. pic.twitter.com/MwGuB3LkMk
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 3, 2026

With the advent of NASCAR's Next-Gen car in 2022, intermediate tracks such as the Charlotte oval put on more engaging racing, with short tracks and road courses seeing their products suffer. Over the last four years, Charlotte's Coca-Cola 600 has become one of the best races on the schedule, while the Roval is no longer must-see TV.

"We want to deliver excitement," Smith said. "...We've got a wonderful racetrack in the classic oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We've got a fantastic world-class road course with the Roval. And we'll bring that back at different times, but for now, we're running the oval and we'll see what happens."

The Roval might be excluded from the 2026 calendar, but as Smith noted, it's certainly not gone forever and could be revived in the years to come.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

This article first appeared on Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: