NASCAR: Final Charlotte Motor Speedway road course layout revealed

By Asher Fair | Jan 22, 2018

CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 18: Jamie McMurray drives during testing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 18, 2017 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images for NASCAR) /

The Charlotte Motor Speedway road course layout, which will be utilized by NASCAR in September, has been officially revealed.

The second trip made to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina by the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2018 season will feature a race on the track’s road course as opposed to the 1.5-mile oval. The layout for the road course race was officially introduced today.

The first trip to the track in the 2018 season on Sunday, May 27th will still feature the Coca-Cola 600, the sport’s longest race of the year, on the 1.5-mile oval. But the second trip to the track on Sunday, September 30th will no longer feature an oval race like it has in years past.

The second trip to the track of the 2018 season will feature the Bank of America 500, which is the third of 10 playoff races, on the new 17-turn, 2.28-mile road course. This race will be the third and final race of the round of 16, the opening round of the playoffs. It is set to be the only road course race in the playoffs and the third road course race of the season.

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The new 17-turn, 2.28-mile road course layout, which is down from what was a 2.4-mile layout featuring over 18 turns thanks to the fact that what was labeled as turn 8 when the original track map was released in October was removed, will actually feature all but three short strips of the 1.5-mile oval in addition to a section of the track’s infield.

Marcus Smith, the president and chief operating officer of Speedway Motorsports Inc., believes that the new layout should save 15 to 20 seconds per lap, with this coming largely as a result of the fact that there is now a short straightaway coming off of the infield portion of the track and leading into the oval portion of the track.

Here is what Smith had to say about the new layout, according to NASCAR.

"“It’s really fun to drive, but felt like maybe the best racing would be if we bypassed that lower loop area and created a faster short chute to the turn onto the main track. It’s really fun. Driving for fun is a lot different than driving it to win a race, so the testing that’ll happen out here in March, I’m really excited to see it.”"

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How will the Bank of American 500 go when it rolls around in September? Will the decision to replace the Charlotte playoff race on the oval with a playoff race on the road course prove to be the right one? There are still more than eight months before the race is set to be held.