Brad Keselowski is no fan of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. He is also an advocate of the All-Star Race at its traditional home.
Do the figurative math.
Earlier in the day on Friday, as part of The Sporting News asking about the state of the annual summer exhibition, Keselowski said his preference for the All-Star Race would be returning it to Concorde.
He repeated that sentiment when asked about it during his press conference for winning the pole.
“I think this needs to be a points racetrack,” Keselowski said. “I’d like to see the All-Star Race most likely return to Charlotte. That’s my personal opinion. I think the Charlotte racetrack, particularly since it only has one race on the oval, I think that’s a miss for our sport.
“It’s a great racetrack and puts on some of the best racing, so it would make sense to me if we were to revert back to that and make this a season race, and probably get rid of a race like the Roval or something like that.”
To his point, the current Cup Series car has really excelled on intermediate tracks and the Coca-Cola 600 has been one of the best showcases for this platform since its 2022 debut. Meanwhile, the Roval playoff race was introduced in 2018 as a response to the previous generation of car, which put on better short track and road course races compared to those on 1.5-miles.
Dustin Long from NBC Sports played devil’s advocate and suggested that the Roval has produced dramatic moments but Keselowski wasn’t having it?
“Has it really,” Keselowski responded. “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.”
Then, Keselowski realizing that came across as blunt, said he didn’t mean that to be a slight at Long’s question but was just a reflection of how strongly the 2012 Cup Series champion feels about the infield road course race.
“I’m very strong about the Roval has got to go.”
