Home

NASCAR

WATCH: When Rain Wreaked Havoc in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Race at the Charlotte Roval

Published 12/14/2020, 9:45 AM EST

Follow Us

USA Today via Reuters

The 2020 NASCAR season had so many memorable moments and even crowned a new champion. However, one of the biggest moments was at the Charlotte Roval, when Mother Nature intervened. There was a massive downpour at the track, and the event quickly switched tones from a ‘race to win’, to a ‘race for survival’.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race was probably the worst-affected. AJ Allmendinger eventually won the race, but there were so many spins that one would have mistaken it for a re-enactment of Swan Lake. So many cars and drivers pirouetted off the track and conditions were treacherous.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Things were so bad that the race even got red-flagged for a while. At the time of the red flag, Riley Herbst was the race leader with Josh Williams and AJ Allmendinger right on his tail. It is worth noting that Allmendinger won at the Charlotte Roval last year, so he was simply biding his time.

This race was very important to some of the NASCAR Xfinity drivers

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

As it turned out, the Charlotte race was vital, in terms of the championship. Apparently, it was a Playoff elimination race and the slots were filling up quickly. Ahead of the race weekend, Chase Briscoe and Justin Haley locked their places in the Round of 8, owing to wins in previous races.

via Getty

Meanwhile, Noah Gragson clinched the third spot when the first stage concluded, based on points. In light of that, around nine drivers were battling for five available spots.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Admittedly, Allmendinger wasn’t in the playoff running, so nobody clinched a berth based on a win at Charlotte. However, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Ross Chastain, and Ryan Sieg took the final five spots. With that, they advanced to the next round.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Dhruv George

14,320Articles

One take at a time

Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
Show More>