Advancing through any of the rounds of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is no simple feat, but the Round of 12 is particularly tricky considering the attrition at the Charlotte Roval.
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This part road course, part oval has a reputation for chaos as drivers try to avoid elimination from the playoffs. This becomes only far more difficult considering how hard the course is on the Next Gen car, something Daniel Suarez has learned in two different elimination races.
The Trackhouse Racing driver lost power steering during the Round of 12 race in 2022 and failed to advance to the Round of 8 after a grueling afternoon that tested him both physically and mentally.
Two years later, he failed to advance once again due to persistent brake issues on the No. 99 Chevrolet. Suarez is not in the playoffs this season, but he fully expects even more attrition throughout the field.
"You have the banking, which the road course car is not set up for banking, so it's very harsh on it," Suarez told FanBuzz ahead of the race weekend at the Charlotte Roval. "And then you have the curves that are very, very rough on race cars.
"And it's a very difficult road course. It's a very bumpy, low grip, changing elevations kind of race track. I love the race track. For some reason, I don't think the race track loves me as much as I do love the race track."
The elevations are something Suarez's teammate, Ross Chastain, highlighted during a discussion with FanBuzz. He agreed that the Charlotte Roval has an element that does not exist at other road courses, which puts added pressure on the teams setting up the cars for the elimination races.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
"The G-forces of Charlotte is some of the highest vertical loads we see," Chastain explained. "So, going through the corner, the car's pushed down harder than almost anywhere. The setup for the (Coca-Cola) 600 is built for it. It's built to make that continued effort.
"Here, it's almost a crutch. You just want to get through the banking and then be fast. You don't want to be slow in the banking, but you just want to keep the car off the ground, basically, and then get to the infield and make all your lap times."
The banking creates an extra concern for the crew chiefs and engineers, but the hard landings become equally worrisome as teams wonder how the equipment will hold up in a pivotal race.
Bumps are common at road courses due to the track limits. Drivers tend to dip into the dirt at Sonoma Raceway out in California, and they cut the esses at Circuit of the Americas in Texas. They even catch a little air at Watkins Glen International in New York.
So why is the Roval so much harder on these Gen 7 cars?
"Big turtle curbs for not short-cutting corners," John Hunter Nemechek said. "A lot of air time I would say."
Curbing and tire pack at Charlotte frontstretch chicane and restart zone after turn until return to frontstretch. pic.twitter.com/DXcOMIEver
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 2, 2025
The hard landings due to the turtles became a prominent story last season. Multiple drivers complained about their heads hurting after a practice and qualifying session. Now-retired Martin Truex Jr., in particular, said it felt like he got a concussion every lap.
Multiple other drivers, including Todd Gilliland and Kyle Busch, noted that the car bottomed out each time they went over the turtles. This contributed both to their pain and the beating on the car.
NASCAR made changes to the track ahead of last season's playoff race. Track crews removed the 4-inch turtles in Turn 16 and replaced them with 2.25-inch versions.
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Turtles are back this season, but the track has some new additions. NASCAR has placed tire packs in certain turns to keep drivers more on the racing surface.
That doesn't mean the drivers will avoid all of the "bumps" and hard landings with which they have become very familiar in recent seasons.
Erik Jones, Nemechek's teammate at Legacy Motor Club, agreed with comments about the toll the hard landings take on the car. He actually reminisced about a pre-Next Gen test at the Roval in which he bent the roof and destroyed his test car while completing laps.
Jones also went a step further during a one-on-one conversation while pointing out why some other parts on the Cup Series cars tend to fail during the fall races at NASCAR's home track.
"I think with it being kind of a makeshift road course — it is a road course, but it's not a true real road course — it's just kind of a little bit stop gap together," Jones told FanBuzz during an event for his foundation at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "There's some corners and some areas that are curbed and walled in ways that aren't really great for race cars.
"So I think that's a lot of it. There's a ton of shifting here, which is hard on everything as well. But also some sections too where you get on the oval, the brakes get cooled way down (then) you're back hard on them again for the backstretch chicane. So just so many different variables that are pretty hard on them."
These variables will be a concern once again this weekend as the Cup Series teams take on the Charlotte Roval. Will one of the playoff drivers fall victim to this attrition? They hope the answer is no, but the track's history sets up a different outcome.
