There have been seven NASCAR Cup Series races held on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval since its debut in 2018, but Cody Ware has only taken the green flag in one of them – the 2021 Bank of America Roval 400. While tangible seat time at the 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course has been limited for the 29-year-old from Greensboro, North Carolina, seat time in the simulator has not.

Ware, driver of the No. 51 Parts Plus/Pronto Auto Service Center Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing (RWR), is leveraging the race simulator at the Ford Racing Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina, to re-acclimate himself to a track he hasn’t been to in four years. He will also get a helping hand from Joey Hand, the former Ford GT driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner who made his Cup Series debut at the Roval in 2021 as Ware’s RWR teammate.

“Our sim session on Thursday will be more valuable than our track time on Saturday for practice and qualifying,” Ware said. “Saturday will be about putting into practice what I learned in the sim. I want to replicate the run plan Joey gave me for the Roval and hit all my marks when we’re they’re on the track. There’s a lot to learn going into this race weekend, and Joey’s insights will be super important as I learn how the current Cup car responds to the Roval.”

Ware’s singular Cup start at the Roval came with the previous generation racecar, as the current NextGen car didn’t arrive until 2022. Additionally, the Roval layout Ware experienced in 2021 has been upgraded, with a reconfiguration that debuted ahead of last year’s race where several portions of the track were altered.

From the exit of turn five, an elongated straightaway now greets drivers before funneling them into turn six. From that standard, right-hand corner, drivers shoot down another short straight before navigating a super-tight, left-hand hairpin that sends drivers back onto the NASCAR oval in traditional turn one. And then toward the end of the lap as they exit off the NASCAR oval in traditional turn four, drivers navigate a reshaped chicane which created a harder and more emphatic braking zone before transitioning back onto the frontstretch and crossing the start/finish line.

“The Roval is kind of a hybrid street course and road course,” Ware said. “The infield is very street course-esque, especially going through turns one, two and three. There’s very little room for error – a lot of walls you can hit, both in the infield and around the oval. There’s definitely the potential for carnage, not unlike the Chicago Street Course.

“Restarts are also kind of violent at the Roval. It seems like there’s never really a smooth, clean restart there. You’re definitely up on your toes more so than normal. There really aren’t any places where you can run off and try to avoid something on a restart, other than maybe the bus stop. You have to be super heads-up, almost anticipating the ‘big one,’ kind of like you would at a superspeedway.”

Prior to his lone Cup start on the Roval, Ware made two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track. His first taste of the Roval came in 2019 driving for car owner B.J. McLeod. Ware returned in 2020 with RWR, scoring a well-earned seventh-place finish in a rain-soaked drive.

“I do like the Roval, and I wouldn’t mind another rainy race,” Ware said. “I’ve had success there in the rain. My road-racing background kicks in in those kind of environments. I look forward to any race at the Roval, but always welcome some adversity in the weather.”

Road racing is where Ware not only began his racing career, but earned considerable success. He won the 2019-2020 LMP2 championship in the Asian Le Mans Series with co-driver Gustas Grinbergas, and in a prelude to that title, Ware was the 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Rookie of the Year. In January 2024 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Ware piloted a Ligier JS P320 to a podium finish in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge LMP3 class. Ware has also competed in Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup and the NTT IndyCar Series.

“There are a lot of things you can’t really learn about a road course until you’re in a car that’s really been built to attack a road course, and the current Cup car drives a lot more like a sportscar than they ever have before,” Ware said.

Ware’s eclectic sportscar background makes him the ideal student, one who is eager to lean into Hand’s insights and offerings.

“Cody is always eager to learn and comes into the sim prepared and ready to go,” Hand said. “Even with a road-course background, he’s very open to any insights that will help improve his lap times. He’s diligent in his approach and really maximizes his time in the sim. When you’re investing your time in another driver’s development, that kind of effort and dedication is very rewarding to see.”

Before Hand began racing the Ford GT in 2016, he competed in DTM (2012-2014), the American Le Mans Series (2004-2011) and select Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races, twice winning the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona (DP in 2011 and GTLM in 2017), earning a pair of GT victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring (2001 and 2012) and securing the 2011 ALMS GT championship.

“Joey does a really good job of explaining to you and showing you how to hit your marks consistently,” Ware said. “Misplacing your car by just 12 inches can have pretty significant consequences on your lap time. Properly managing throttle control, car placement on the racetrack, and then consistently managing tire deg – those are things that Joey does extremely well, given the endurance racing background he has, where all of those things are so important.”

With 17 turns necessitating a mix of technical skill and full-throttle bluster, racing at the Roval rewards perfection.

“When you run a good lap and you put yourself high up on the board, it’s very satisfying. You don’t accidentally go fast at the Roval,” Ware said.

Fast laps from Ware and his Cup Series counterparts begin in earnest on Saturday with practice at 2 p.m. EDT followed by qualifying at 3:10 p.m. TruTV and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live coverage of both. The Bank of America Roval 400 goes green on Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT with flag-to-flag coverage delivered by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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