The Charlotte Roval race on October 8th, 2023 is complete, and the Round of 8 is on. Of those eight teams, two will carry The Blue Oval toward the 2023 Cup Series championship: the No. 12 NASCAR Ford Mustang of Ryan Blaney and the No. 17 Mustang of Chris Buescher.
Blaney locked himself into the next round of the Playoffs by winning last weekend at Talladega, and looks forward to defending the Cup Series crown against the Toyotas and Chevys. He finished 12th on the Charlotte Roval. Meanwhile, Buescher’s seventh place finish was enough to propel him into the next round, where he will have a chance to make it to the Championship 4.
However, one NASCAR Ford team won’t have a shot at the Playoffs, as Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Mustang, was knocked out after the Roval. His 18th-place finish wasn’t enough to keep him ahead of the cutoff line.
“I ended up twenty-something points back,” Keselowski said in a postrace interview. “Could probably look through every one of those races and say, ‘I could’ve got five or six [points] here, or more… it certainly stinks to not advance, but it’s a lot of progress from where we were last year, and I’m looking forward to making another step coming in the next year so we can keep pushing.”
AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 16 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1, who is not a Playoffs eligible driver, won the Roval race.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Celsius Chevrolet | 109 | 46 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 14 | 24 | William Byron (P) | HP Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 5 | 8 | Kyle Busch (P) | Lenovo Chevrolet | 109 | 6 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 10 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Interstate Batteries All Battery Center Toyota | 109 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Jordan Brand Toyota | 109 | 27 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 20 | 17 | Chris Buescher (P) | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 109 | 15 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 18 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 109 | 6 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 36 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Valvoline/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 15 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Huk Performance Fishing Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | DEWALT Plumbing Solutions Toyota | 109 | 9 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 4 | 23 | Bubba Wallace (P) | Leidos Toyota | 109 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 24 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 19 | 6 | Brad Keselowski (P) | Castrol Edge Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Rheem – Chasing a Cure Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 11 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. (P) | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 109 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 21 | 10 | Aric Almirola | IHOP Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 25 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 32 | 51 | Todd Gilliland | Ruedebusch Development & Construction Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 31 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 29 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 28 | 78 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 33 | 62 | * Austin Hill(i) | United Rentals/Beard Oil Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 30 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Ford Performance Racing School Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 26 | 42 | Mike Rockenfeller | Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 34 | 38 | Zane Smith(i) | Ambetter Health Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 37 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Bon Secours Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 13 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 3 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Aguas Frescas Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 27 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Harris Teeter/Totino's Chevrolet | 96 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 35 | 15 | Andy Lally(i) | Camping World Ford | 84 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 23 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota | 76 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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