The biggest pro and con of NASCAR axing the Charlotte Roval

On Monday, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reported that NASCAR will be moving its fall race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway off the Roval configuration in 2026 and beyond and back to the oval for the first time since 2017. 

The Roval, which utilizes Charlotte's infield road course and oval to create an oval road course hybrid, was introduced in 2018 to much fanfare but has declined in popularity in recent years. Here are the pros and cons of NASCAR making the change. 

Pro: Racing product will improve

As it roared into the 2020s, NASCAR's new, bolder schedule featured more road course races and fewer events held at 1.5-mile tracks that were dubbed "cookie cutters" in the 1990s and 2000s due to their similarities. During NASCAR's boom in the 1990s and early 2000s, the sport's version of manifest destiny saw intermediate tracks such as Texas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway appear on the schedule. 

Charlotte wasn't one of those new venues — it's been around since 1960 — but it was one of the culprits on a schedule littered with cookie-cutter tracks in the mid-to-late 2010s when the racing product at those tracks began to decline. 

But that dynamic flipped with the introduction of the Next-Gen car in 2022, which raced very well at intermediate tracks and struggled to put on a good show at short tracks and road courses. The Roval, once must-see TV, became a more strung-out race, while Charlotte's Coca-Cola 600 on the oval in May became one of the best races on the calendar. Now, fans will get treated to two oval races at a track that has become one of the best on the circuit over the last five years. 

Con: A less diverse Chase schedule

NASCAR's return to the Chase format (that was used from 2004-13) for 2026 and beyond initially brought with it an exciting thought: For the first time in the history of the Chase, a road course race would be a part of the 10-race title fight. 

But that reality is no more with Bianchi's report that the Roval will be gone as soon as this year. That would leave the 2026 Chase schedule with a tally of one superspeedway (Talladega), two short tracks (Martinsville, Bristol), a one-mile venue (Phoenix) and six intermediates, including four 1.5-mile tracks (Darlington, Gateway, Homestead-Miami, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Kansas). 

The Next-Gen car does race well on intermediate tracks, which, in theory, means that the Chase will feature a solid racing product throughout. But in a format that will reward consistency throughout the entire season on a wider scale, it's disappointing that a road course — of which there are four in the 26-race regular season — won't be represented in the postseason.