Oct 13, 2024; Concord, North Carolina, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (5) leads the field into turn 4 during the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

Another week, another ticket punched to the NASCAR Cup Series' Round of 8.

Chase Elliott needed two overtimes to make it to victory lane in the Cup Series playoff race at Kansas last weekend. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took the top spot over Denny Hamlin, who had dominated much of the race, thanks to a late surge on the final lap.

This marked Elliott's second win of the season and came three months after his win at Atlanta in the Quaker State 400.

His Hollywood Casino 400 win makes him the second driver to secure a spot in the next round alongside 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.

Elliott was eighth on the final restart but managed to take the win by just 0.069 seconds over Hamlin thanks to his final-lap heroics. He'll breathe a little bit easier in Charlotte this week knowing he's safely on to the next round in pursuit of a second Cup Series title.

Come the checkered flag Sunday evening in Charlotte, four drivers will be eliminated from playoff contention. Here's everything you need to know to get ready for the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday, Oct. 5:

Christopher Bell clinches berth in Round 3 of NASCAR playoffs

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has clinched enough points through three races of the second round to guarantee a spot in the Round 8 of the NASCAR playoffs. Bell joins Ryan Blaney, who won two weeks ago at New Hampshire, Chase Elliott, who won last week at Kansas, and Kyle Larson, who also clinched a spot in the third round on points.

Ryan Blaney wins Stage 2 of Charlotte Roval playoff race

Shane van Gisbergen elected to pit with two laps remaining in the second segment for new tires, giving up the lead and the stage win. Ryan Blaney, who already clinched a berth in the third round of the playoffs, took the checkered flag in Stage 2, his ninth stage win of the season, tying Kyle Larson for most in the 2025 season.

Tyler Reddick, who most likely needs a win to make the Round of 8, finished second, followed by Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain and van Gisbergen. Chastain entered the race below the eight-driver cut line but has collected a number of points to give himself an oppurtinity to advance.

Kyle Larson finished sixth, followed by Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Cole Custer.

Kyle Larson clinches berth in third round of playoffs

Kyle Larson collected enough points in the three-race second round to clinch a spot in the Round of 8 along with Ryan Blaney, who won at New Hampshire, and Chase Elliott, who won last week at Kansas. Hendrick Motorsports has a chance to add a third driver to the Round of 8, with William Byron hoping to join Larson and Elliott.

AJ Allmendinger leads field to green to start Stage 2

AJ Allmendinger elected to stay on track at the end of Stage 2 and took the lead on the restart to start the second segment. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez and Tyler Reddick also stayed on track and run in the top 5. Shane van Gisbergen, who won the opening stage, took new tires and moved up to sixth place immediately.

Kyle Larson, who also took new tires to start the stage, runs in seventh.

Shane van Gisbergen wins Stage 1 of NASCAR Roval playoff race

Shane van Gisbergen retook the lead with six laps remaining in the opening stage of the Bank of America Roval 400 and cruised to the Stage 1 win over Kyle Larson. Van Gisbergen led 17 of 25 laps, beating Larson by nearly 8 seconds. Ty Gibbs finished third, Christopher Bell fourth and Ross Chastain fifth. Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 10.

With tire falloff a big issue on the part oval-part road course circuit, the majority of drivers elected to change tires during the middle of the stage. There were a few exceptions, however, including 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace and Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric, electing to pit with three laps remaining in order to stay out on track at the end of the stage.

NASCAR Roval playoff race goes green

Playoff driver Tyler Reddick won the pole Saturday and leads the field to start the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Road course ace Shane van Gisbergen starts second.

What time does the NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte start?

The Bank of America Roval 400 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 5 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

What TV channel is the NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte on?

The Bank of America Roval 400 will be broadcast on USA Network, the home for the Round of 12 part of the Cup Series playoffs. Pre-race coverage will start at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Will there be a live stream of the NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte?

Yes, the Bank of America Roval 400 will be streamed on Peacock, HBO Max, Sling TV and Fubo, which is offering a free trial to new subscribers.

Stream the NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte on Fubo

How many laps is the NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte?

The Bank of America Roval 400 is 109 laps around the 2.32-mile track for a total of 252.9 miles. The race will have three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 25 laps; Stage 2: 25 laps; Stage 3: 59 laps.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings

Here's how things look after the playoff round in Kansas with the gap to the leader in parentheses. The bottom four drivers will be eliminated after Charlotte as the playoffs move on to the Round of 8.

  1. Kyle Larson
  2. Denny Hamlin (+6)
  3. Christopher Bell (+10)
  4. William Byron (+14)
  5. Chase Elliott (+20)
  6. Ryan Blaney (+25)
  7. Chase Briscoe (+33)
  8. Joey Logano (+41)
  9. Ross Chastain (+54)
  10. Bubba Wallace (+67)
  11. Tyler Reddick (+70)
  12. Austin Cindric (+89)

Who won the NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte last year?

Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson took his second playoff win of 2024 with a comfortable victory over Christopher Bell in last year's playoff race at Charlotte. Larson led the most laps - including most of the Stage 3 running - to take the win at the final road course event of the season. Bell, William Byron, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five runners. One of the biggest stories from the race was Alex Bowman's disqualification after he failed post-race weight inspection.

NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte starting lineup

  1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
  2. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  3. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  4. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  5. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
  6. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  7. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  8. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  9. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  10. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  11. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
  12. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
  13. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  14. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  15. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  16. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  17. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
  18. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
  19. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
  20. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  21. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  22. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
  23. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
  24. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  25. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
  27. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  28. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  29. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
  30. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  31. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  32. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
  33. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
  34. Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
  35. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
  36. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  37. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR Charlotte playoff race live updates, leaderboard for Roval

Reporting by Ayrton Ostly and Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect