NASCAR | Shane van Gisbergen, no surprise, dominates at Charlotte Roval

Road course specialist Shane van Gisbergen won the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday, but the biggest drama at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course came after the checkered flag.

Van Gisbergen recorded his fifth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course victory, but the race’s main storyline centered on Ross Chastain’s desperate, failed attempt to secure the final spot in the Round of 8.

Long after van Gisbergen took the win, Chastain made a daring move in the frontstretch chicane, wrecking Denny Hamlin’s Toyota in a bid to advance. After spinning, Chastain threw his car in reverse and sped backward across the finish line.

The effort was futile. Defending series champion Joey Logano finished 20th and advanced to the Round of 8 by four points over the Trackhouse Racing driver.

Chastain blamed two costly pit road mistakes for his elimination. At the first stage break, he missed the 90-degree turn at the pit exit, came to a stop, and lost 15 positions, restarting 30th.

After recovering from that error, Chastain was penalized for speeding on pit road on Lap 87 of 109. He then ran long to the finish, losing too many spots in the final two laps to hold off Logano.

“[Trackhouse owner] Justin [Marks] hired me to carry this No. 1 car and to drive it and to be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day,” a dejected Chastain said. “We definitely had the speed on the last lap, yeah, and missed Turn 7, and I slid the rear tires and let the No. 11 [Hamlin] by.

“Yeah, not acceptable. I just completely … you know, just completely unacceptable.”

Logano was thrilled to escape the 2.28-mile circuit with his chance at a fourth NASCAR Cup Series title intact.

“Such a close finish there,” Logano said. “Yeah, knew it was within a point there [before the last-corner collision]. I knew we were going to be tied there at the end, and Ross was going to do whatever he had to do to make it happen. Geez, just wasn’t quite fast enough today with our car.

“It’s the drama of the playoffs. If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time.”

Along with Chastain, pole winner Tyler Reddick (10th), Bubba Wallace (15th), and Austin Cindric were eliminated. Cindric, who needed a win to advance, finished last (37th) after various issues throughout the race.

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott had already advanced to the Round of 8 with respective Round of 12 victories. Kyle Larson (second), Christopher Bell (third), William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Hamlin, and Logano joined them after Sunday’s elimination race.

Both Larson and Bell made van Gisbergen’s task more difficult than usual. However, the New Zealander was adept at managing his tires, finishing the final 59-lap stage on two pit stops compared with three for his closest pursuers.

The result was a commanding 15.160-second margin of victory over Larson for van Gisbergen, the driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. The win was his fifth of the season and sixth overall. His five straight road course victories are one short of Jeff Gordon’s series record, set from 1997 through 2000.

Larson and Bell were aggressive in challenging the road course champion. On Lap 63, Larson muscled past van Gisbergen, with Bell following into second.

After a cycle of green-flag pit stops, the Kiwi passed Bell for second. Eight laps later, he drove to the inside of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet in the Turn 7 hairpin to regain the lead.

Following another round of pit stops, van Gisbergen and Larson exchanged the lead with significant contact. Van Gisbergen ultimately passed Larson through the backstretch chicane on Lap 98 and held the lead for the duration of the race.

“Yeah, just started getting hot and sliding around, but what an awesome race,” van Gisbergen said. “Kyle and Christopher driving really good and got a little rough, but, man, the battle was awesome.

“With the Chevy, I lost it a little bit at the start of Stage 3, and whatever they did for the rest of the race, unbelievable. Really enjoyed that, and that was a long time waiting, hoping the yellow wasn’t going to come out.”

Briscoe made the Round of 8 by 19 points with a 14th-place finish despite feeling ill during the race. He even asked for a bag of ice to place inside his driver’s suit.

“It was definitely an odd day,” Briscoe said. “We definitely just weren’t that great. I don’t know. They gave me a pill in the beginning, and I felt a lot better. I was just so dizzy … I’ve been fighting something all week, and I sound terrible, I’m sure.

“After those first 20 laps, I was able to kind of feel fine. At the end I was struggling a little bit, but I was just focusing on not making any mistakes. Not a super pretty day for our Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Toyota. It was good enough — that’s all we needed to do.”

Non-Playoff drivers Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez finished fourth through seventh, respectively. Elliott was eighth, followed by AJ Allmendinger and Reddick.

The Round of 8 begins next Sunday with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EDT.

** Riley Herbst was later disqualified after post-race inspections. He finished 37th, with all other drivers moving up.

Bank of America ROVAL 400

Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Concord, North Carolina
Sunday, October 5, 2025

1. (2) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 109.
2. (4) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 109.
3. (7) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 109.
4. (5) Chris Buescher, Ford, 109.
5. (6) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 109.
6. (29) Ryan Preece, Ford, 109.
7. (20) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 109.
8. (15) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 109.
9. (9) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 109.
10. (1) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 109.
11. (13) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 109.
12. (3) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 109.
13. (11) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 109.
14. (8) Chase Briscoe (P), Toyota, 109.
15. (12) Bubba Wallace (P), Toyota, 109.
16. (33) Josh Berry, Ford, 109.
17. (31) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 109.
18. (25) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 109.
19. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 109.
20. (17) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 109.
21. (10) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 109.
22. (18) Cole Custer, Ford, 109.
23. (14) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 109.
24. (24) Zane Smith, Ford, 109.
25. (21) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 109.
26. (35) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 109.
27. (16) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 108.
28. (30) Noah Gragson, Ford, 108.
29. (27) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 108.
30. (23) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 108.
31. (37) Erik Jones, Toyota, 108.
32. (36) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 108.
33. (34) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 108.
34. (32) Cody Ware, Ford, 108.
35. (28) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 100.
36. (22) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Drivetrain, 89.
37. (19) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 87.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 81.105 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 3 Mins, 51 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 15.160 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 10 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers.