Roval Recap: Christopher Bell Wins with a Walkoff at the Roval

It was an exciting weekend of NASCAR racing from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, as the Xfinity Series and Cup Series had to set the next round of the playoffs. The Xfinity Series Playoff field went from 12 to 8 and the Cup Series went from 12 to 8.

The Xfinity Series race was won by someone you would expect, the Xfinity Series King of the Road, AJ Allmendinger. The 40-year-old keeps his perfect record on the Roval after sliding by Ty Gibbs on an overtime restart on lap 68.

“It’s unbelievable,” Allmendinger said. “Ty was really good there at the end, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get him. I knew if I could just get to one restart on the outside of him, at least we’d have a chance.”

Allmendinger was able to sneak by Ty Gibbs through turns three and four to win at the Roval for the fourth time and beat Gibbs to the checkered flag by .582 seconds. This race marks Allmendinger’s fifth win of the season and the 15th of his Xfinity Series career.

“I was wanting it pretty bad there,” Allmendinger said. “I didn’t think we had a shot, but I’m always going to put it on my back when it’s time to go. We got that one. We stole that one! I drove it in as deep as I could (on the final restart), probably used Ty up just a little bit, but I’d expect the same if the roles were reversed.”

“I just lost the lead on that one restart and didn’t execute the right way and lost it there,” Ty Gibbs said after finishing runner-up. “The last one, I caught the fence when I got ran wide, and it just kind of hurt my momentum. I feel like I gave it my best run, but I was proud of the effort.”

“I had fun out there and learned a lot.”

AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, and Brandon Jones all advanced to the Round of 8. Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst, Jeremy Clements, and defending series Champion Daniel Hemric will not advance. Also to note, it was announced that Hemric will return to Kaulig Racing in 2023.

Despite the strong qualifying run, starting in third, Hemric slammed the wall in turns 5 and 6 on lap 3. He recovered to finish 17th but wasn’t enough to defend his title.

“I made a mistake on Lap 3 that you just can’t make,” Hemric said afterward.

Marco Andretti’s Xfinity Series debut ended as he was involved in a wreck on lap 45. His No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet got heavy damage when it collided with the No. 27 Chevy of Jeb Burton in Turn 6. Andretti finished 36th in the 38-car field.

The Cup Series race had plenty of insanity and drama at the end of the race, as it ended with Christopher Bell winning the race. Bell was in a must-win situation and thanks to a strategic pit stop under caution on Lap 105, he was able to work his way quickly through the field and passed Kevin Harvick on lap 111 on an overtime restart to go on to win his second race of the season and third of his career. Bell got this first career win on a road course in 2021 at the Daytona Road Course.

With Bell’s win, defending series champion Kyle Larson ended up being eliminated from the playoffs. Larson ended up hitting the wall and breaking the right-rear toe link on his car sending him several laps down and eventually eliminating him.

Bell didn’t have the best car on Sunday, but he and crew chief Adam Stevens took advantage of two late cautions to make the winning move.

“Man, you’ve just got to be there at the end of these things,” said Bell in his post-race interview. “I keep watching all these races where the fastest car doesn’t always win. No secret that road courses have not been our strength this year.

“We were just there at the right time. We obviously weren’t in position to win (before taking tires). We rolled the dice, gambled, and it paid off for us.”

Bell entered Sunday 45 points below the cut-line, giving him the only option to advance, and that is to win.

Kyle Larson felt like he had only himself to blame for the outcome.

“I just made way too many mistakes all year long,” Larson said. “Made another one today. Ultimately cost us an opportunity to go chase another championship.

“Just extremely mad at myself. I let the team down a number of times this year, and let them down in a big way today.”

Austin Cindric and Daniel Suárez were also eliminated with Larson. Alex Bowman was also eliminated due to having to sit out for concussion-like symptoms from a wreck at Texas. Cindric, the Daytona 500 winner, spun in the backstretch chicane after the final restart on Lap 111, finishing 21st, missing the Round of 8 by 13 points. Suárez had to fight his car after his power steering failed in the final stage, resulting in a 36th-place finish. Chase Briscoe was able to grab the final transfer spot after all of the dust settled.

 Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Ross Chastain join Christopher Bell in the Round of 8, as the next three races at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, and Martinsville will determine the drivers who will make the Championship 4 at Phoenix.

Both Series will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week to start the Round of 8 for both Cup and Xfinity Series.