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Charlotte adds two chicanes to roval layout for 2018 fall race

current layout (via CMS)
current layout (via CMS)

The Charlotte road course layout looks a bit different than it did when the design was first released.

Sunday’s fall race at Charlotte is the final fall race on the track’s 1.5-mile oval for the foreseeable future. Starting next season, the track’s playoff race will be run on a course that’s part infield road course and part standard oval. The roval, revealed when NASCAR unveiled the 2018 schedule in January, will be approximately 2.5-miles long.

Thursday, Charlotte said the roval will have two added chicanes. There will be a chicane on the backstretch and a chicane on the frontstretch after cars exit turn four. The first corner past the start/finish line is a near-90 degree left-hand turn. There was a possibility that a race to the checkered flag would be tricky as drivers racing for the win would need to be braking for the turn.

Here’s what the roval design originally looked like.

Previous layout (Via CMS)
Previous layout (Via CMS)

Here’s what it looks like now.

current layout (via CMS)
current layout (via CMS)

The 2018 race will be the final race of the first round of the playoffs. Sunday’s race is the first race of the second round.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!