CONCORD, N.C. – Coming into Bank of America ROVAL 400 weekend at the new Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, there was a palpable level of concern for the three Hendrick Motorsports drivers in this year’s playoff field.

However, at least from the appearance of the starting grid after Bojangles’ Pole Day on Friday, the ROVAL might have been exactly what the doctor ordered for owner Rick Hendrick’s title contenders.

Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman both sit 10 points or less above the cut line with only Sunday’s playoff race on the Charlotte ROVAL still to be run in the opening round of the postseason, while teammate Jimmie Johnson comes in six points below the elimination threshold, 14th of 16 in the standings.

After qualifying on Friday, however, the trio found themselves positioned in much better places.

All three drivers advanced to the final round, with Bowman leading the way for the Hendrick contingent by qualifying third. Elliott timed in fourth-fastest, while Johnson clocked the sixth-best lap in qualifying.

Bowman, in particular, was surprised at the team’s early speed and ended the day more optimistic about his chances for Sunday’s race.

“I certainly didn’t think we would qualify third on the ROVAL, so this was a nice surprise!” Bowman noted. “Greg (Ives) and this Axalta team made some great changes after practice, which made the car a lot better in some of the turns. I messed up off the bus stop, so I think the biggest thing on Sunday will be minimizing mistakes.

“I’m glad to be up toward the front to start this race and hopefully we can stay up front all day on Sunday and have a clean Axalta Camaro ZL1 at the end of the day.”

While Johnson isn’t in a must-win situation, he recognizes that the track position he’s earned will be critical to his chances of moving on.

“Track position is going to be super important after that first stage, and we are after stage points,” Johnson said. “Strategy is going to play a huge role in this race, and the first guy with enough fuel and tires for the finish is going to be in great, great shape. We need points in each segment and then obviously a good result at the end, so starting this close to the front is a huge, huge help.”

– In the foil of the Hendrick situation, Denny Hamlin – a driver in a virtual must-win scenario – had a disastrous Friday and finds himself buried deep in the field for Sunday’s 109-lap event.

Hamlin tagged the now-infamous turn 12 tire pack, positioned at the exit of the backstretch chicane, and then spun into the outside wall at the entrance to the third turn of the 1.5-mile oval.

His No. 11 Toyota sustained heavy rear-end damage and though his crew valiantly made what repairs they could, Hamlin found himself a distant 27th at the end of qualifying.

Joe Gibbs Racing later confirmed that Hamlin will have to do to a backup car for the remainder of the weekend, which will send him to the tail of the field for the Bank of America ROVAL 400.

Hamlin enters the cutoff race last among the 16 playoff drivers in points, 29 points adrift.

– Martin Truex Jr. wanted badly to win the pole during qualifying on Friday evening, and he certainly had some extra motivation to do so.

Truex’s longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, will be the honorary pace car driver on Sunday and will lead the field prior to the green flag for the first road-course race in NASCAR playoff history.

While he’s still learning the best way to navigate the 17-turn, 2.28-mile ROVAL layout, Truex did have some advice for Pollex ahead of her run at the front of the field later in the weekend.

“I basically told her to stay on the track,” Truex said. “Sounds easy, right? I told her to stay on the track, stay off the brakes and see how it goes. Hopefully I can get the pole so before the race starts I can give her a little tap or a fender rub.”

– A.J. Allmendinger said after qualifying on Friday night that the Charlotte ROVAL evoked memories of his days in American open wheel racing, when he drove for the RuSPORT and Forsythe Racing teams.

“To me, doing this was like my Champ Car days … it’s a street course in the infield there,” explained Allmendinger. “With walls on both sides of you, if you make a small mistake … as we have seen, you are going to pay the price for it. To me, it makes it a lot of fun because you’ve got to be on point. You’ve got to be aggressive, but you can’t be over aggressive. If you overstep, you’ll find yourself in the wall.”

– Between practice and qualifying, no less than nine drivers encountered notable issues on Friday.

Among the drivers sustaining damage on the opening day of ROVAL action were Christopher Bell and J.J. Yeley in the Xfinity Series, as well as Hamlin, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola and Ryan Newman on the Cup Series side.