CONCORD, N.C. – Heading into the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 at the Charlotte ROVAL, the four Hendrick Motorsports teams will do what they can to maximize stage and playoff points to transfer to the next round of the postseason.
Currently, No. 5 driver Kyle Larson leads his teammates in second place in the standings with 3,097 points, just one point ahead of the third-place driver. Chase Elliott is seventh and William Byron and Alex Bowman are 11th and 12th, respectively. Cliff Daniels, the crew chief of the No. 5 team, will use the organization’s past successes at road courses to try and execute a flawless day on Sunday.
“I think the ROVAL really stands out as a place that we can go and have a good run because we have been pretty strong on road courses, and credit to (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and Chase and the No. 9 team,” Daniels said. “They’ve dominated road courses for the last two or three years. We are spoiled in the sense that we have some of their notes that we can lean on, plus we have our own notes from strong races for the No. 5 car for this year at other road courses.”
Elliott has won the last two events at the Charlotte ROVAL, with both of them being playoff races. The 25-year-old driver has the best average finish of 2.67 at the 2.28-mile road course and has led a total of 62 laps across the three races the Cup Series has hosted at the venue.
“Any win is great, they are way too hard to get so I try to enjoy them all,” Elliott said. “The ROVAL has been a good track for us and I’m glad the race fell our way.”
Byron, who is also in the hunt for a spot in the Round of 8, is eager to run well and collect enough playoff points at his hometown track to transfer to the next round. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has two top-10 finishes after placing sixth both times in his last two appearances at Charlotte ROVAL and will do what he can to place even better so his championship dreams remain alive.
“Charlotte’s important to me because it’s my home track,” Byron said. “I always want to run well at the ROVAL … We just have to try to get through it clean.”
Be sure to tune in this Sunday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC to see the Hendrick Motorsports teams take on Charlotte ROVAL in the elimination race in the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.