Connor Zilisch is taking the big step up in 2026 after making waves in the Xfinity series last season. His expectations are grounded, but he will still be looking for winning races, which may just be a tad too difficult considering the ROVAL’s removal this season.
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What would have helped Zilisch a lot in his goal to win a race was to have a road course in the Chase. Unfortunately, NASCAR decided to remove the Charlotte ROVAL from the schedule.
It’s not that Zilisch is only good on road courses, but they’re his strong suit. Ahead of the Daytona 500, his first race as a Cup Series full-timer, the Trackhouse Racing driver was asked if he was worried about there being no road courses in the Chase.
Zilisch’s answer spelled confidence, and carried a strong opinion about the Charlotte ROVAL. He said, “Yeah, I don’t really stress too much about… it is what it is. You know, the writing was on the wall that it was going to happen.
“It would be nice to have a road course, but I think there’s definitely better options to go to than the (Charlotte) Roval. I think there’s a lot of really great tracks in the United States and around the world that would be really cool to go to,” Zilisch added.
He acknowledged that many drivers would like to see at least one road course in the Chase. At the same time, he believes most would prefer a road course other than the ROVAL. While he agreed that it is a decent track, he was firm in saying it does not produce as good a race as Charlotte’s oval.
Why was the ROVAL removed from the schedule?
NASCAR spent eight seasons going to the Charlotte ROVAL but decided to exit the stage in 2026 and race in the oval instead. The biggest reason behind this move was the loss of excitement about the track. Marcus Smith, the CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., explained this in an episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast.
He said, “I think the new car and the way NASCAR officiates, the racing hasn’t been as exciting as it had been initially. We want to deliver excitement. We want to deliver a great event that has fantastic competition and those amazing highlight-worthy moments in racing.”
The sport is always trying to bring new changes that it believes will appeal better to racing fans. The introduction of the ROVAL was one such change and the removal of it is as well. Hopefully, this will prove to be a good move in the long run.
