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Charlie & Debbie

NASCAR Hall Of Famer Previews ‘Roval 400’ Track Changes

Author Charlie & Debbie

This is one of busiest and best times of the year for sports fans. Baseball is entering the pennant race and the chase for the World Series. Basketball is a month away from kicking off its season. Football has kicked off. And NASCAR has 10 races to determine its season champion. One of those races is the “Roval 400” at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Ricky Rudd recently conducted a drive along of the track to preview the course changes for this year’s race.

What Is The Roval 400?

Before we get to Ricky Rudd’s drive along, for those not in the know, who are confused by the name of this race, here we go. The “Roval 400” is the second of two races held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway (along with the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend). It is contested on a 2.32-mile road course constructed especially for the race that combines traditional aspects of the track and road course. The “Ro” (in the Roval 400 name) represents road course, while “val” signifies the utilization of the oval track of Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Get To Ricky Rudd’s Ride Along Already

Okay, okay, we’re getting there. First, what are the changes to the Roval 400 course? This year’s track will feature three new sharp turns and an elevation change. As far as the changes go, Ricky Rudd tells WXII during the ride along, “This is the new section right here. You see, it’s kinda like you don’t know where you are for a minute. I don’t even know where the racetrack is, and then it just appears.” The Roval 400 race takes place at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 13.

Charlie Nance is the Afternoon Drive co-host (along with his wife) of "The Charlie and Debbie Show" at WSOC, Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple have been with the radio station since 2006. Charlie has won the prestigious CMA (Country Music Association) Award for Radio Personality of the Year and has been a finalist for the Country Radio Hall of Fame four times. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Charlie (along with Debbie) spent more than a decade hosting successful morning radio shows in Greenville, SC; Augusta, Ga; and Birmingham, Al. As a content creator for Country 1037, Charlie writes about dream lottery windfalls, sports, restaurants and bars, and travel experiences in North and South Carolina.

These are the Most Wreck-Prone NASCAR Cup Drivers

Crashing ruins the promise of a race day for NASCAR betting fans as well as drivers. It is possible for multiple cars to slide sideways at some tracks, sending the unluckiest among them taking heavy damage and ending their events early. Bookies.com crunched the data and found out which NASCAR drivers wreck the most and which wreck the least.

See the rest of the current NASCAR Cup Series drivers ranked by the percentage of races they have finished in their careers here.

  • Which NASCAR Drivers Fail To Finish Most Often?

    Driver Career Starts Running At Finish (RAF) Crash Rate
    Cody Ware 66 44 33%
    Todd Gilliland 11 8 27%
    Harrison Burton 12 9 25%
    Michael McDowell 404 263 23%
    Austin Cindric 18 14 22%
    Justin Haley 47 38 20%
    B.J. McLeod 94 77 18%
    Corey Lajoie 175 145 17%
    William Byron 155 132 15%
    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 339 292 14%
    Kyle Larson 270 233 14%
    Cole Custer 86 74 14%
    Bubba Wallace 159 139 13%
    Tyler Reddick 85 74 13%
    Erik Jones 194 169 13%
    Chase Briscoe 47 41 13%
    Ross Chastain 126 111 12%
    Ryan Blaney 245 215 12%
    Josh Bilicki 77 68 12%
    Christopher Bell 83 73 12%
    Aric Almirola 399 352 12%
    Martin Truex Jr. 596 531 11%
    Daniel Suarez 190 169 11%
    Kurt Busch 767 684 11%
    Kyle Busch 617 551 11%
    Alex Bowman 236 209 10%
    Chase Elliott 232 209 10%
    Chris Buescher 233 209 10%
    Austin Dillon 311 284 9%
    Joey Logano 482 442 8%
    Brad Keselowski 460 425 8%
    Denny Hamlin 589 542 8%
    Ty Dillon 177 163 8%
    Kevin Harvick 765 723 5%

  • Behind The NASCAR Crash Numbers

    You may be surprised by some of these numbers. First, it’s obvious that the Dillon boys are grandchildren of a race team owner because they know how to take care of equipment. Harvick, for example, has averaged fewer than two DNFs per season over a period of two decades. Good drivers don’t just compete but also avoid other drivers’ messes, and the prospect of a crash shouldn’t deter any bettor from backing them.

  • McDowell in the Fast-Lane

    McDowell is on the other end of this list. Firstly, he won the 2021 Daytona 500, so we know he can race at a high level in extremely tight traffic. The reason why McDowell’s crash rates are so high is that he raced for lower-end teams during the “start-and-park” era following the 2008 financial crash-when sponsors dried up, NASCAR race fields got sparse, and shoestring teams were able to collect a few grand by taking the checkered flag, coasting at the back for a few laps, and then reporting a breakdown.

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