Dale Earhardt Jr. should leave the detective work to the folks on the /r/NASCAR forum.
Earnhardt posted tweeted a POV video Tuesday that showed him driving a new addition at Charlotte Motor Speedway that he thought might be part of the “roval” — a road course that utilizes CMS’s banking as well as the infield — which will be used for next year’s Bank of America 500.
The left-right chicane admittedly looks like an exciting sequence of mid-speed corners, but the new section isn’t part of the “roval.”
New addition to @CLTMotorSpdwy. I wonder, is this part of next year’s “roval” pic.twitter.com/J1fbXMk2Ah
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 4, 2017
The Hendrick Motorsports driver later posted a picture of the new tarmac that he shot from the spotters’ tower. The bus stop chicane circumvents the traditional start-finish line, something the “roval” won’t do.
Roval addition from the tower. @CLTMotorSpdwy pic.twitter.com/eIXzUNwvlw
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 4, 2017
How do we know that NASCAR’s most popular driver is wrong about the course configuration?
Because it’s already been revealed.
CMS in May revealed the layout, the first turn of which is located after the exit of the mysterious chicane. As if that weren’t enough proof, the track also posted a video of A.J. Allmendinger taking a flying lap around the “roval.”
We don’t know what those newly paved turns will be used for, but it’s pretty clear that they definitely won’t be used for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
