NASCAR will move back to the oval configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway for its yearly fall race, it announced Feb. 3.
In recent years, the event had been held on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
2026 ends an eight-year run on that configuration.
“Charlotte Motor Speedway has always been about innovations and opportunity,” Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, said in a release. “The ROVAL delivered dramatic racing when many fans were calling for a road course in the playoffs.
“Now there’s an energy around the return of The Chase and fans are seeing the excitement that oval racing continues to generate on mile-and-a-half tracks. This feels like the time to bring the fall race back to the legendary oval at a place where NASCAR history is made every year.”
“Moving the fall Charlotte race back to the oval really brings the sport back to its roots,” former Charlotte winner Brad Keselowski added. “That race has so much history, and winning there is a big deal that I’ve been fortunate to do. The racing with the Next Gen car at Charlotte has been some of the best we’ve seen anywhere, and I think putting it back on the oval is going to create an incredible show. It’s the kind of race our fans expect and deserve.”
The final NASCAR Cup Series race held on the ROVAL was won by Shane van Gisbergen.
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
Thank God. Too many road courses as it is.
One less chance for an SVG win on a modified oval!