The first practice on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series
Multiple spins from the NASCAR Cup Series drivers in their first attempt on The Charlotte Roval
Today, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will take to the track for the first practice session on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s the first official timed session for the MENCS on NASCAR’s newest race track.
View 2018 Roval practice times below.
The Roval is a 2.28 mile road course. It uses most of the oval configuration in addition to a brand new road course portion on the infield. The entire course features 17 turns.
Roval Practice – Report
It’s a brief 50 minute session at The Roval.
4 minutes in, Bubba Wallace is the first car around. That’s directly followed by Aric Almirola. Both cars spun in different areas of the track, all by themselves.
6 minutes in, Denny Hamlin has clipped the curb off turn 13. He jacked the right side of his front splitter up several inches as a result. Those blue curbs sit 6 inches high.
9 minutes in, Ricky Stenhouse Jr has spun. He’s parked in the grass after making contact with the wall. At the same time, Bubba Wallace is around for the 2nd time.
13 minutes in, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Austin Dillon are around. Earnhardt spun in turn one, no contact. Dillon spun in turn five.
Roval Lap Times at the halfway mark in the first practice session: 1. Kyle Busch (77.988); 2. Chris Buescher (78.183); 3. Jimmie Johnson (78.871); 4. Martin Truex Jr (78.921); 5. Michael McDowell (78.987); 6. Trevor Bayne (79.013); 7. Brad Keselowski (79.043); 8. Jamie McMurray (79.054); 9. AJ Allmendinger (79.189); 10. Kyle Larson (79.242)
20 remaining, the pace car has spun.
Chase Elliott is heading to the garage area after catching a bit of damage.
Jamie McMurray jumps to the top of the board.
15 minutes remain, Denny Hamlin has returned to the race track. It’s his first time back to the track after making repairs. Hamlin jumped the curb and caught splitter damage in the early minutes of the session.
8 minutes remain, Ryan Blaney has clipped the tire barrier at the exit of the chicane in turn 13. The impact was enough to crack the panel between the nose piece and the left side fender.
At the same time, Michael McDowell adds his name to the list of drivers that have clipped too much curb through the chicane. Light splitter damage on the right front.
Kyle Busch has returned to the top of the board. He’s still using the maximum amount of curb possible to do it. Multiple cars are up on two wheels as they exit the chicane in 3rd gear at 140mph.
Big damage for Austin Dillon. As the session comes to a close he made heavy contact with the wall exiting the chicane in turn 13. It ripped the left front fender clean off.
Kyle Busch wins the opening round of practice on the Roval!
Many cars are in the garage area with damage on all corners of the race car. NASCAR has gone to work on the tire barrier that Austin Dillon clipped at the end of the session.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams will return to the track later today for their final round of practice. That will be followed by qualifying for the Bank of America Roval 400.
View NASCAR Cup Series practice times from The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway below.
Roval Practice Times
NASCAR Cup Series
September 28, 2018
Time: 12:05
Pos | Driver | Time
1. Kyle Busch
77.145
2. Erik Jones
77.156
3. Joey Logano
77.345
4. Daniel Hemric
77.375
5. Clint Bowyer
77.425
6. Kyle Larson
77.430
7. Jimmie Johnson
77.467
8. Chase Elliott
77.679
9. Jamie McMurray
77.859
10. Trevor Bayne
77.882
11. Brad Keselowski
77.917
12. Chris Buescher
77.922
13. Kurt Busch
77.924
14. Alex Bowman
78.191
15. AJ Allmendinger
78.283
16. Michael McDowell
78.332
17. Martin Truex Jr
78.339
18. Daniel Suarez
78.459
19. Denny Hamlin
78.521
20. Paul Menard
78.589
21. David Ragan
79.292
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
79.365
23. Ryan Blaney
79.503
24. Aric Almirola
79.507
25. Austin Dillon
79.805
26. Justin Marks
80.163
27. Kevin Harvick
80.286
28. Ty Dillon
80.527
29. Regan Smith
80.629
30. Ryan Newman
80.633
31. Matt DiBenedetto
80.969
32. William Byron
81.194
33. Bubba Wallace
81.290
34. Cole Whitt
81.565
35. Ross Chastain
82.297
36. Timmy Hill
83.053
37. JJ Yeley
83.307
38. Jeffrey Earnhardt
83.348
39. Stanton Barrett
84.835
40. Landon Cassill
84.843
Roval Practice 1
10-lap Averages
NASCAR Cup Series
September 28, 2018
Time: 12:05
Pos | Driver | Average Speed | laps
1. Bubba Wallace
98.418 | 5-14
Bubba Wallace was the lone car to make a 10-lap run in the opening round of Roval practice.
More
Related: Roval TV Schedule (September 2018)
Related: Roval Xfinity Practice Times – September 27, 2018
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Related: NASCAR drivers told Kenseth, “The Roval is going to be a disaster.”
Related: Drivers cheat the Roval; Two hour delay in practice
Related: Bank of America Roval 400
Related: Driver have completed the Goodyear tire test at The Roval
Related: Denny Hamlin comments on The Roval
