3 takeaways from today's NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400

NASCAR Charlotte Auto Racing — AJ Allmendinger celebrates NASCAR Cup Series victory

AJ Allmendinger won the latest NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte road course on October 8. This marks his first victory of the season and the first Cup Series win since the Indy road course in 2021.

Allmendinger qualified in the top 10 and was one of the fastest cars on the track all day. He got past Kyle Busch on pit strategy and held off the field on multiple restarts to take home the win.

Here are three takeaways from today's NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400:

#3 The good and bad of no-stage cautions

After removing stage cautions from road courses earlier in the season, NASCAR returned to that decision for the Charlotte road course. As a result, we saw the good and bad of it.

The good part was that it added some "entertainment" to the race. It was difficult to pass once again today, so bunching up the field was an opportunity for drivers to pick up some spots. It also added a chaos factor which we saw at the end of the race with the late string of cautions.

The bad was that it took away strategy from road courses again. The only strategy we saw was whether or not drivers would pass on stage points to go for the win or go for all of the stage points and pass up on a chance to win.

Along with the road course package, NASCAR needs to decide what to do with stage breaks on road courses and stick to it.

#2 The future of the Charlotte Roval

Despite rumors of Charlotte Roval returning to the playoffs in 2024 and replacing the road course, that did not happen. But a discussion does need to be had on the future of the ROVAL.

Outside of a couple of races, the Charlotte road course has not produced great racing. It was a smart decision at the time due to the lackluster racing on 1.5 tracks. However, with the Next Gen car revitalizing intermediate tracks, there really isn't a need for the road course.

While it will return in 2024, it would not be shocking if NASCAR returns to the high banks in 2025.

#1 Ding Ding Ding

For all of his road course expertise, AJ Allmendinger did not look strong on them at all this season. There were no races where he was a threat for the victory. That is until today.

Allmendinger finally put a full race together, got the strategy right, and held off a hard-charging William Byron to take home his first win since 2021.

With his 2024 plans in question, today could have been the race that makes Allmendinger take a decision to come back for another full-time Cup Series season.