Marcus Smith Blames NASCAR Next-Gen Car as Roval Lost its Cup Date

Speedway Motorsports’ Marcus Smith put the blame on NASCAR and Next-Gen car for the Roval getting dropped from the schedule.

Marcus Smith Blames NASCAR Next-Gen Car as Roval Lost its Cup Date

Marcus Smith (Via IMAGO)

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The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season will mark some big changes, including the new playoffs format and the addition of the San Diego road course race to the schedule. One race that won’t be part of the Cup schedule from the 2026 season is the Charlotte Roval, and Marcus Smith knows the reason for the drop.

Speedway Motorsports Executive Officer Marcus Smith shared his thoughts on the charlotte announcement in his recent interview. He highlighted how Roval was introduced in a time where there was a lot of crazes for the road course events in the sport and how the short track character of the venue was pretty unique.  

At the time when we introduced the Roval, it was when road courses were having this amazing surge. Fans were saying we love road courses, it kind of raced like a short track, and so we brought out the Roval and it provided another road in the schedule and the playoffs.

Marcus Smith said via motorsport.com.

The configuration was introduced to the sport in a time where the fandom was demanding something different. The risk was rewarded for a couple of years, as it became one of the most watched races in the series. Some solid racing moments it produced over the years brought in a lot of upsides for the team.

It made for something new and different. It was one of the highest rated races for TV in a couple of years. Great growth, great excitement, some great highlights from the race.

Marcus Smith added.

Further talking about the point, he pointed out that one of the major reasons behind fans falling out love with the track is the Next-Gen cars. It is no longer able to deliver great experiences as it used to do and he also put the blame on poor officiating for the drop.

But I think the new car and the way NASCAR officiates the racing isn’t as exciting as it had been, initially. We want to deliver excitement and a great event with fantastic competition.

Marcus Smith asserted.

Unlike Marcus Smith HOF Dale Earnhardt Jr. is happy with Roval losing its NASCAR date

While the Speedway Motorsport owner is not happy with the change, Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. is really excited about the change. He highlighted how only the Charlotte oval has been delivering good performance in the new era and asserted that no one is going to complain about one road course no longer being in the sport.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (via Imago)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (via Imago)

The Roval will always be there when they want to bring it back. The oval has been solid recently. No reason not to take advantage of that. One may complain about the lack of road courses in the chase. It makes zero difference to me either way.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrote on X.

The comments from the JR Motorsports owner seems too rational and on point. The sport needs some big changes for the future and one that has always seemed to be not the one for the sport’ future was Roval. It would be interesting to see how the change is going to change the racing dynamic in the coming years.

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