Steering issues may have led Denny Hamlin to take a NASCAR Cup Series championship detour.
After leading for 159 laps and sweeping the stages during Sunday’s middle Round of 12 event at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin started enduring mechanical problems with about 50 laps to go. The No. 11 Toyota driver was forced into fighting the machine on each turn.
Despite the problems, Hamlin remained in the lead pack and on the final double overtime start, Hamlin bumped Bubba Wallace, allowing Chase Elliott to cap his rally and secure a trip to Victory Lane.
“I’m thinking all race, it’s just our race,” Hamlin said, as reported by NBCSports.com. “Just massive disappointment.”
Hamlin placed second and enters Sunday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course ranked No. 4, 49 points above the cutoff line.
Reigning champion Joey Logano ranks No. 8, 13 points ahead of No. 9 Ross Chastain.
The way they look at the finish. @BubbaWallace | @dennyhamlin pic.twitter.com/lAGgwz6I9j
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 29, 2025
NASCAR National Series Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR National Series events this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (All Times ET):
Friday
- 11:05 a.m.: Truck Series practice
- 12:10 p.m.: Truck Series qualifying
- 3:30 p.m.: Truck Series EcoSave 250 race
Saturday
- 11:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 12:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 2 p.m.: Cup Series practice
- 3:10 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying
- 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Blue Cross NC 250 race
Sunday
- 3 p.m.: Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 race
WE’VE GOT NEXT. 😤😤 #BofAROVAL pic.twitter.com/AiklF0eFqD
— Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy) September 28, 2025
NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 Entry List
NASCAR Cup Series officials released the entry list for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course:
Entry, Driver, Car No.
- 1, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 2, Austin Cindric No. 2 Ford
- 3, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
- 4, Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
- 5, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
- 6, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
- 7, Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 8, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
- 9, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
- 10, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
- 11, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
- 12, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
- 13, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
- 14, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
- 15, Chase Briscoe, No. 19, Toyota
- 16, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
- 17, Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
- 18, Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
- 19, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
- 20, William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
- 21, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
- 22, Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
- 23, Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
- 24, Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
- 25, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
- 26, Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
- 27, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
- 28, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Ford
- 29, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 30, Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
- 31, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
- 32, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
- 33, Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Ford
- 34, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 35, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 36, Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
- 37, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
GOOD MORNING RACE WEEK. 🤩@BankofAmerica | #BofAROVAL pic.twitter.com/IhajRHMxF5
— Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy) September 29, 2025
