CONCORD, N.C. — Chase Elliott won Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the second playoff elimination race for his third victory of the season. The checkered flag automatically advanced the No. 9 Chevrolet driver out of the playoffs’ Round of 12 and into the Round of 8 after four drivers’ playoff chase ended. But it also gave him a fun and peculiar stat.
With two wins on Charlotte’s half-road course, half-oval, or Roval, track, Elliott is now the youngest and the oldest Roval race winner, as CBS Sports’ Matt Mayer noted.
If that doesn’t make much sense because Elliott is only 24 years old, let’s back up and explain.
Sunday’s race was only the third NASCAR Cup Series event on Charlotte’s Roval. It made its debut in the 2018 playoffs, and Ryan Blaney won that race. At the time, Blaney was 24 years and nine months old.
SOUND THE SI-REEN!@ChaseElliott WINS AGAIN at the @CLTMotorSpdwy ROVAL! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/V2WcxSZeur
— #NASCARPlayoffs on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 11, 2020
Elliott won the 2019 Roval playoff race at 23 years old, making him the youngest Roval race winner. But by winning again Sunday, he’s now the oldest Roval race winner as well at 24 and about 10 months old.
Sure, it’s a technicality on a relatively new track, but it’s funny nonetheless.
“It’s always special to win here at Charlotte with the shop being right across the street,” Elliott said after taking the checkered flag. “I appreciate all the effort there. The best way to get into the next round is to win, and so, hopefully, we can do something with it.”
Elliott is now one of eight drivers still competing for a championship.
The opening race in the Round of 8 is Sunday at Kansas Speedway, followed by races at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, after which the playoff field will shrink to the final Championship 4 drivers for the season closer at Phoenix Raceway.
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