Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken‘s picks to watch before this Sunday‘s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Changes came to Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2018, as the usual autumn affair on the oval was exchanged for a road-course configuration inside of the track.
The annual October oval event had been a staple on the schedule since the track debuted in 1960. The fresh new configuration brought a breath of excitement to the North Carolina venue, as the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs now had some new twists and turns for the first time.
To top off the anticipation, the race was the first elimination race of the playoffs. Following the race, the playoff field was set to be cut from 16 drivers to 12.
Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch won the first two races of the round, punching their ticket to the second round and allowing them to be relatively stress-free heading into the race at the Roval.
All 16 playoff drivers finished in the first 19 spots at Richmond Raceway the previous race, creating a tight battle for those drivers looking to continue their championship push. Ten drivers were separated by just 27 points, with the uncertainty of the new course looming.
The top 15 fastest qualifiers were littered with playoff drivers, as Kurt Busch put his No. 41 Ford on the pole for the race.
Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney won the first two stages of the race, while Martin Truex Jr. was collected in an incident involving Keselowski. Both drivers were able to continue.
Fast forward to the final 10 laps, and a restart with six laps remaining changed the entire landscape of the inaugural event.
Keselowski made a mistake entering the first turn, setting off a 14-car incident that involved multiple playoff drivers. This brought out the red flag as track workers cleaned up following the chaos.
Truex Jr. had control of the lead, as Jimmie Johnson followed him in second place. Johnson was in a spot to advance but was not safe, barring an unfortunate event. Johnson decided to race for the victory anyway.
Johnson made a move on Truex as the two came to the checkered flag, as both drivers spun. This allowed Blaney to pass both drivers and capture the victory. Johnson was able to get his car going rather quickly and bring it home in eighth position.
The race for the victory wasn‘t the only battle going on, as Larson and Aric Almirola were in a tight battle for a spot to advance. Larson‘s dramatic final moments on the final lap ended up pushing him into the second round and knocking out Johnson in the process.
The Busch brothers, Keselowski, Blaney, Truex and Larson all moved on, while Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman joined them.
The second annual NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Roval turned out to be yet another thriller.
Chase Elliott looked to be the most dominant car throughout the first half of the race, leading two times for 28 laps. That was until a spin just after halfway involving the No. 8 car of Daniel Hemric changed everything.
Well, almost.
On the ensuing restart, Elliott locked up his breaks heading into Turn 1 and sailed into the tire barrier, seemingly ending his chances at a victory. The incident sent Elliott to the pits and back to 37th in the running order.
What followed was an incredible march through the field for the driver from Dawsonville, Georgia.
A handful of cautions helped Elliott stay close, eventually leading the final six laps and winning the race by just over three seconds.
Another driver who came up clutch was Elliott‘s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, who started the race at the back of the field. He needed to utilize a backup car after a practice crash.
Bowman entered the race in a heated battle to advance to the next round of the playoffs and promptly started the weekend out strong by qualifying second, behind another teammate, William Byron.
His run to the front wasn‘t without excitement and controversy, as he spun on the first lap and later made contact with the No. 43 car of Bubba Wallace.
Bowman‘s second-place finish prevented Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch from advancing, while Erik Jones also failed to make the cut into the second round.
2021 looked like Kyle Larson‘s world and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series drivers were just living in it.
Larson, in his first year driving the No. 5 car for Rick Hendrick, lit the world on fire throughout the first 26 races on the schedule.
He won in his fourth start with the team at Las Vegas and later on notched three straight victories at Charlotte, Sonoma and Nashville. He almost made it four-in-a-row, if not for a last-lap flat tire at Pocono.
Overall, throughout the first 31 races of the season, Larson had visited Victory Lane six times while adding six second-place finishes and two-thirds.
Larson struggled at Talladega to a 37th-place finish but still entered the race at the Charlotte Roval in a comfortable spot to continue his quest for his first Cup Series championship.
It wasn‘t any surprise that Larson ended the race in Victory Lane, the third time in 2021 that he ended a road-course event in the same spot.
The race saw a rekindling of a new rivalry between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott, which in turn saw Harvick miss being one of the eight drivers to advance into the next round.
Harvick made contact with Elliott, sending him into the wall. Later, he locked up his front tires before hitting the wall and ending his chances of advancement.
The other drivers who saw their championship hopes dashed at the Roval included Larson‘s teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman, as well as Christopher Bell.
This set up to have Larson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski battle it out over the final four races of the season in hopes of hoisting the Cup Series trophy.
Larson continued his dominance and cemented himself as the championship frontrunner by winning the following two events at Texas and Kansas before ending his season at Phoenix with a victory and his first title.
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