Has Charlotte’s 600 showcase made the Roval redundant?

Marcus Smith, not unlike his legendary late father Bruton, lives by the philosophy of working for the race fan and finding ways to deliver the best show for those in attendance and watching. It’s why Smith has made no bones about enjoying having two very different races at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Coca-Cola 600 in May and the Roval in the fall.

As such, there is no indication Smith has plans to return the fall race to the oval. Again, everyone knows where he stands on the Roval, its place in the playoffs, and the drama it has provided.

But after perhaps the best intermediate race of the season Sunday night, it’s hard not to long for that to happen. The Coca-Cola 600 was another five-star race, and Charlotte again showed it might be the best match for the Next Gen car.

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It’s subjective what makes a good race. Opinions will always be varied. Is it the number of passes for the lead? Is it constant side-by-side battles? Or maybe it’s the crashes?

There were 34 lead changes Sunday night among 11 different drivers. There were battles two- and three-wide throughout the field, including from the first few laps after the green flag flew. While it was an event that is 600 miles long, it immediately saw drivers up on the wheel. And there were eight caution flags.

Some of those cautions were for drivers stepping over the line. Kyle Larson went from leading to wrecked before the race put 50 laps in the books. Larson first got loose entering Turn 3 and smacked the wall. A few laps later, he spun off Turn 4.

Jimmie Johnson got loose off Turn 4 and then, a lap later, got loose in Turn 3 and caused a crash. Denny Hamlin had an onboard camera pointed directly at him that was shown throughout the night to highlight not only his intensity behind the wheel but also how rough the track was, which could be seen in the movement of Hamlin’s body.

Oh, the bumps are becoming a legend of their own at Charlotte. Christopher Bell was radioed from the Prime Video tower during the pace laps, and while he wasn’t sure if they were looking at his onboard camera, which was also pointed directly at him, the track was bouncing the drivers around even at pace speed.

“It’s rough,” Bell said. “These Next Gen cars don’t like the bumps, but that’s what makes it so fun.”

The bumps make for a buys and bruising times for the drivers at CMS. And that just makes it more fun to watch. Logan Riely/Getty Images

It was indeed a fun night, and it was easy to see how hard the drivers had to work. That variable is part of what should hook people to watch. William Byron might have had a nine-second lead at one point, but Byron was still working behind the wheel, and plenty was still going on throughout the field.

“It’s become a great racetrack again,” Joey Logano said at the start of the weekend. “It was great, and there was a moment in time where everyone was kind of ‘eh’ about it, and that’s really why the Roval started. Now, it’s kind of like, ‘I don’t know if we need the Roval.’ The oval is fantastic. The racing that we see on this racetrack has been great.

“It’s challenging. You brought up the surface  – it’s definitely on a landfill. It’s bumpy out there. (Turns) 3 and 4, it’s rough. It shakes the heck out of you, and you do that for 600 miles, you don’t feel too good afterwards, so it’s definitely a physical racetrack at this point.”

Because it’s a track that delivers, part of the conversation over the last two weeks is that Charlotte deserves the All-Star Race back. Brad Keselowski spoke in North Wilkesboro about that happening, and then Wilkesboro could get a point race.

But what about those highlight moments pulled out each year for the Roval? To name just a few, moments like Jimmie Johnson crashing into Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap to give the win to Ryan Blaney, or Kevin Harvick’s beef with Chase Elliott, or Christopher Bell winning his way into the next round, or the field driving into the barriers in Turn 1.

“Has it really?” pushed back Keselowski on the Roval creating moments. “I look at the stands and there are more fans that come to the oval race and better ratings, too, than come to the Roval races. I thought that’s what we judge the sport by. I’m very strong about the Roval has got to go.”

It’s a fair argument and also shows the clinical nature of the sport, from the desire for more short tracks to road courses to now wanting to reverse course with a want for the intermediates. It happens, and if something works, there is no reason not to consider going back to it.

Smith created a hit with the Roval, which worked for a time. And it’s not necessarily that the Roval isn’t working, depending on your view of what makes it work, but the oval at his facility is routinely showing that it can deliver a hit. So, in a sport where tracks are suddenly no longer guaranteed to hang onto a race because they’ve had one for many years (see Chicago and Kentucky, the loss of a date from Richmond, Texas and Pocono), it would seem a better approach to sell tickets to the best show.

“I just wanted to see that last run play out, and it was still a great finish, a great race anyway,” said Denny Hamlin, who was taken out of contention Sunday night because of a fuel issue. “It was fun battling up front. Nobody could lead because everyone would get too loose. My car was better in second and fast enough to lead, but once I led, it was too loose. So, we were back and forth. Obviously, put on a great show.”

A great 600-mile show that built to a satisfying ending and is worthy of a fall sequel.